Hi. Anyone have experience with any of the major sealed air intake and throttle body kits? Good reviews, bad experiences, tips, tricks? I've seen a couple that look interesting but I don't know enough about them to make a decision. I like what I see of the AFE stage 2 Dry kit. Rugged Ridge makes a kit. As does S&B and AirRaid. Anyone?

Thanks in advance.

 

Flashpaq...

 

Thats incredibly helpful. Thanks.
Anyone else with insight into sealed air intakes?

 

I am using the aFe (sorry don't remember the model off the top of my head) and the Helix Power Tower. I have used this combo on my last 5 vehicles and I have been very impressed by it.
I like the Helix Power Tower because they will not release one unless there are significant gains.

 

It is helpful, for those who don't know what a Flashpaq is. Google it. Search the forums for it.

People report good results with the Flashpaq.

 

Actually it's not. I know what the flashpaq is. What I asked for help/experience with was sealed air intakes. I'll be sure to look at the flashpaq feedback in a thread dedicated to that. As I recall there is a very thorough review of it somewhere on the forum.

 

I'm not a fan of snorkels. I don't care for the look and I spend a lot of time on the trail and in deep snow. I don't find myself door deep in mud or water very often... in fact I avoid it when I can.

I looked at the aFe and they seem like a good unit. I asked about the difference between their filter types and was told the 3 dry filters go from:

highly filterd air/somewhat restrictive;
to medium filtered air / less restrictive;
to very little filtering / least restrictive.

So you'd choose your filter depending on your use. I wish I could remember which was which. I'll go back through my emails and post what I find as it was good info about the aFe line.

Still looking for someone to comment on their experience with a particular sealed unit and throttle body spacer.

 

Any input between AFE, Banks and KN air intake systems?? Any benefits or negative points?

 

OK. So I found the email on aFe intake units and filters.

The cold air intake system Stage 2 Si (Si stands for "sealed intake" vs. the Stage 2 which is an open unit. Not sealed. ) is sold with one of three filter types depending on your need.

1. Pro Dry S - Oil free n"dry" filter. No maintenance or re-oiling needed. Downside??
2. Pro 5R - Oiled cotton media. Maximum airflow. Some sacrifice in filtration.
3. Pro Guard 7 - Oiled cotton media. Maximum filtration. Some sacrifice in airflow.

Hope folks find this useful. It'd be great to hear if anyone has read about dyno results on any sealed air intakes from aFe, AirRaid, S&B, K&N, etc etc.

 

Finally made a decision on what to buy. I picked up the aFe unit with the Pro Dry S filter system and the throttle body spacer. Not because I came to any definitive conclusion as to which manufacturer makes the best unit, but because it was readily available at Quadratec and the guy who took my order said it was the most popular unit by far. I suppose it's as good a criteria as any given there are so few people willing to comment on their own installs.

So here's my observation after 3 weeks: The first thing you notice is the sound. Engine noise is louder under throttle. You can hear the engine breathing big gulps of air. The sound is hollow and wheezy. But in a good way. I didn't notice any huge jump in power but I'm running 35's on 4.10:1 gearing so torque is a luxury I gave up a while back. Maybe it went from crap to merely bad but I didn't notice. I can say my fuel efficiency increased though. I haven't figured out how much but it was noticeable. At least enough to keep me away from the gas pump for an extra day over the course of a regular driving week.

So that's my real-world review. For $250 the aFe unit will increase your mileage noticeably, it sounds cool, looks cool under the hood, and may or may not deliver a performance increase that you won't notice if you're running 35's on 4.10's.