[vince217]

Now that the air is turning cooler, i am hoping someone can enlighten me on the benefits of cold air going into the engine, especially into an NA engine. better gas mileage? better hp / torque?

this is without changing the intake into a cold air type, this is just from having the ambient air temperature drop.

what further gains could i get by then converting to a cold air intake?

[Eric335]

Colder air is denser (and therefore creates more combustion, not sure if im using the right word), creating more horsepower/tq, which theoretically could grant you a little MPG as long as you dont change your driving style. Most likely negligable.

Colder air in FI cars is a bigger deal, and i personally can 'butt-dyno' the difference between 70*F and 100*F. Big leap there.

Cold air intakes are intakes where the filter (and inlet) is located farther away from the engine or in another area unaffected by the engines heat dissipation. This allows your engine to receive cooler air that was not molested by the heat that the engine throws off. Typically these are also less restrictive than stock and allow more airflow (think of the stock intake as being like sucking in air through a straw. an aftermaketintake is more akin to sucking in air through a big tube. Kind of a bad example since our stock intake is pretty good). Combining these three characteristics (temp, restriction, air-flow) allows your car to utilize more air effectively and create more powaa.

[e92oholic]

you'll get better mileage until they fuck with the gas and we get winter blend

screw the gas companies

[ctuna]

More oxygen per cc = more power and more fuel burn .
A turbo accomplishes the same thing by compressing the air for even
more oxygen per cc.

[335BBS]

Originally Posted by e60oholic

you'll get better mileage until they fuck with the gas and we get winter blend

screw the gas companies

Good intelligent post.

[ChipB]

While it may seem that a naturaly-aspirated car should get better mileage in winter than in summer due to the higher density of cold air, I think most people actually experience worse mileage. Why? Yes, winter blend fuel plays a part, but also remember that if the air is denser it takes more work for the car to push through the air, as air drag is proportional to air density. So whatever power increase your may enjoy from colder, denser air in the winter is wasted on increased air drag. Add in the detrimental effects of cold engine performance (thicker oil and transmission fluid that rob HP), and the result is your gas mileage may actually be lower in winter than summer.

[CombatNinja]

Denser combustion charge = more pow-ah. Further, you probably are not running the air con now, so another 5hp or so is freed up.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Might be idiosyncratic, but it feels as though my car runs like crap in the cold, and seems to run its best in 65- 80 degree weather.
Coincidentally, these are the times I'm riding with the top down

[F104]

Yes colder air is able to create more bhp, as there is more oxygen per volume, but only if you inject more fuel. Just oxygen doesn't make power - unfortunately..

And then what most seem to forget is you also need substantialy more power & fuel to move that frontal area of the car thru that same colder, and more dense air. That's one reason why fuel eonomy in winter is worse