Do cold air intakes allow you to boost mpg? Or do they just increase your horsepower and make you waste more gasoline?
Yes, a bicycle pump can be used to inflate any kind of tire.
A bike tire has less volume than a car but much more pressure. Car tires go to 32 psi while bike tires go to 100-120 psi for road bikes. The mountain bike tires go at about 40-50 psi. So you can't fully inflate the road tires because the pump can deliver volume but not pressure. Mountain tires will be a bit better, but doesn't go by time, you need a gauge.
The truth is that usually when you increase engine efficiency, higher MPG follows as well. This is also true of cooling the intake manifold. Cool dense air tends to burn easier and save gas. Also, on some older cars, it helps a great deal if you disconnect the EGR valve, since it tries to burn hot exhaust gas through the intake system. Installing a good set of Platinum or iridium plugs will lower emissions all by themselves, since they react chemically with the fuel in the combustion chamber. Cool and clean are the best!!!
Neither they only make you waste money. You already have a cold air intake. All of the idiots out there who pay for a cold air intake usually have an open air filter element in the engine compartment. While some think it looks cool, now you just installed a hot air intake. Factory air intake systems take cold air usually from under the fender. Save your money
Cold air is denser - it allows for more fuel to be mixed with the air while still maintaining the desired air/fuel mixture ratio - roughly 14.7:1. Needless to say, that's why race cars typically run quicker on a cool evening than under the mid day sun. Whether this will translate into a noticeable increase in MPG's - I doubt that it would be an appreciable difference in real world, around town driving - but, hey, it will make more horsepower and it certainly won't hurt the overall fuel economy.
