Quote:
Originally Posted by tjts1
Every car I've had thus far got better fuel economy with cold air intake of my own design. Warm air might help fuel vaporize better in extreme cold but it also takes more energy (pumping losses) to breath in that air. If your car has a knock sensor, hot air will cause the computer to retard timing and reduce power hence efficiency.
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The idea of the WAI is to reduce pumping losses (and increase fuel vaporization in some cases). Since the air is less dense the throttle must be opened further to maintain the same amount of power. This will reduce pumping losses, not increase them.
Yes, warm air will tend to retard timing on
some engines. However, on others it won't. It depends on their design and how the engine is tuned. I believe its fairly well known that Saturns react very well to WAIs. Other cars won't. You really just have to try and see if it works.