Do normal cars bought from a dealer have a cold air intake system? If not, would it be wise to add one to say a Toyota Highlander or a Honda Civic to improve the mileage and horsepower? Thanks everyone!
In both cases the two vehicles you describe come standard with factory cold air intake systems. If ever in doubt look for yourself at the air intake plumbing. Many people fail to pull the flat pleated air cleaner out of the cold air box to actually see where the air enters the box. It's somewhat difficult to see in mose cases but there is an intake air snorkel between the inner and outer right front fender to pick up cold air. Granted some very expensive cold air intake systems may have large straighter intake tube diameter with a boxed in flat air cleaner which may pick up cold air in a higher air pressure location when the car is moving but horsepower gains would be minuscule at best.
Truthe be told, all cars have a cold air induction set up. The stock components however, may not allow airflow to enter smoothly enough or allow enough air to enter the intake. Yes it increases horsepower and yes it would be wise to air to a Civic, and maybe wise for the Highlanderjust don't take the Toyota offroading with a cold air intake and get the filter wet, otherwise you'll suck water into the engine.
When someone asked me a question I answer by the following. I think of all the answers and I put them in a circle around me. I look at all the possible answers from all directions. This is a little complicated to explain. Cold air intake can be a benefit in some situations. At a point the colder the climate the less benefit would be derived. This would be when a diverter would be used to redirect air from a warm air source such as the exhaust manifold. This would be to facilitate improved cold weather warm up. Vehicles that use this system vary but also may use cold start injectors and temp. and or hot wire potentiometers, along with the computer and other sensors, to adjust air flow and fuel for optimum operation. Vehicles that use a potentiometer and an air gate, usually have a cold air intake system. Cold air is directed across a hot wire or hot plate and signals are sent to the computer. The computer monitors the recorded difference in the air that crosses through the plate or wire and makes engine adjustments. It would be my opinion that cold forced air would be of greater benefit than just cold air. The difference would be that the air intake would run to the front of the engine bay instead of maybe the inner fender. It would usually run to the top of the radiator or core support so that the cold air is directed to the engine by force. The faster a vehicle travels the more force air has when entering the intake. It is simple to see if air is directed to the engine by cold air, from the engine bay, or forced cold air. Most systems that use cold air also used forced cold air. Trivia: cold air(ram air) and forced cold air(tunnel rams) have been around a long time. To answer your question: If a late model vehicle is not equipped with a cold air intake system it would not be of any significant benefit to alter it, and may, depending on the system, be a disadvantage, especially when the engine is stock. i
