Cold Air Intake improve mpg?

41858 Views 34 Replies 19 Participants Last post by IDoMy0wnRacing, Jul 5, 2020

The_Warlin

Discussion Starter · Apr 2, 2015

I know that Mopar will be offering a cold air intake for the Renegade. My question is, will this improve mpg, assuming I drive the Jeep responsibly? I will be getting the 9-speed auto if that makes a difference. I cannot find a definitive answer online so I'm turning to you guys!

1 - 20 of 35 Posts

bwbike

· #2 · Apr 3, 2015

Cold air intakes are for looks and don't improve anything at all.

Think about it. In the car market today, don't you think the engineers would put the accessories on the car that provide the most MPG?

If you pay attention to the so-called cold air intakes that claim more HP, it is always at or near the maximum RPM, not where you drive 98% of the time.

I never put those on my cars.

Reactions: 1

The_Warlin

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 3, 2015

bwbike said:
Cold air intakes are for looks and don't improve anything at all.

Think about it. In the car market today, don't you think the engineers would put the accessories on the car that provide the most MPG?

Well Jeep would try to put as much as they could to help the mpg that wouldn't hurt the bottom line. For instance you can get different exhausts or better tires to improve mpg, but Jeep wouldn't do that.

However I do believe after reading more that you are correct that the cold air intake won't do anything, especially for the Renegade anyway. They only add a max of 2-4 HP, and the mpg increase, if at all, would never even be enough to recuperate the cost of intake which is probably $300-$500. And I'm definitely not looking to try to make the 4 cylinder engine in the Renegade look cooler lol. I'd rather put the money towards something else.

CalTom

· #4 · Apr 3, 2015

Perhaps the money is better spent towards a K&N Air Filter?

Reactions: 1

The_Warlin

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 3, 2015

CalTom said:
Perhaps the money is better spent towards a K&N Air Filter?

Had some recommendations from my family for a K&N as well. However once again I don't see the money being recuperated.

raz-0

· #6 · Apr 3, 2015

You need to know how your car monitors air intake before using a K&N or any other oiled filter on a non carburated vehicle. The oil can screw up MAF sensors, and bad airflow readings can cause the car to run lean or rich. Either way you probably burn more gas as lean will likely get the knock sensor to go off more (which causes the car to pull timing and feel sluggish an makes you stomp on the gas more), and rich just wastes fuel directly.

Like most modern cars, the renegade has an air box. The air box doesn't pull in from under the hood air, which mean that's cold air going in there. Unless you are exceeding the flow rate of the stock air filter, there's no point in swapping anything.

Reactions: 3

Rivmage

· #7 · Apr 3, 2015

The_Warlin said:
Had some recommendations from my family for a K&N as well. However once again I don't see the money being recuperated.

The K&N filters are reusable so you save cost of buying a new air filter when it is time to replace a normal one.

Scott

Rivmage

· #8 · Apr 3, 2015

I put a SAI in my Dart with the 1.4T It didn't improve anything but it sure does sound nice.

If you get a tune, a CAI is worth it.

Scott

raz-0

· #9 · Apr 3, 2015

Rivmage said:
I put a SAI in my Dart with the 1.4T It didn't improve anything but it sure does sound nice.

If you get a tune, a CAI is worth it.

Scott

Only on turbo charged engines IMO. and it needs to be an ACTUAL cold air intake, not a filter on the end of a tube sucking hot engine bay air type of cold air intake.

Reactions: 1

Rivmage

· #10 · Apr 3, 2015

raz-0 said:
Only on turbo charged engines IMO. and it needs to be an ACTUAL cold air intake, not a filter on the end of a tube sucking hot engine bay air type of cold air intake.

If the Renegade intake for the 1.4T is anything like the Dart's it is very restricting.

See photo below:

Scott

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CalTom

· #11 · Apr 3, 2015

raz-0 said:
You need to know how your car monitors air intake before using a K&N or any other oiled filter on a non carburated vehicle. The oil can screw up MAF sensors, and bad airflow readings can cause the car to run lean or rich.

Hi raz-0, thanks for the great explanation, good to know it is best to avoid them.

raz-0

· #12 · Apr 3, 2015

CalTom said:
Hi raz-0, thanks for the great explanation, good to know it is best to avoid them.

Well, they flow really well. You should just avoid them if you don't know their limitations for the application. They were a no brainer with my cars with carburated v-8s. I had to learn the lessons when I moved to turbo charged 4-bangers.

Indiana Jones

· #13 · Apr 3, 2015 (Edited)

Cold air intakes do offer improvements. Like raz-o said you have to be careful with the oil especially with direct injection. Anytime you help an engine breath easier/ more dense of charge, you will see improvements, period. You will see bigger gains when adding things like headers and exhaust. With my Abarth I noticed a small gain but the biggest gain I saw was with my Copper S. With intake, reduction pulley, and exhaust I saw a 6 MPG gain.

The question was, " If they worked, why doesn't Jeep do it from the factory? " The simple answer is cost. Stamped correlated plastic is **** of a lot cheaper and than steel, manderal bent tubing with a high flow reusable filter. Example; on my Abarth I had to replace a section of intake tubing going from the radiator support to the filter box because I had to modify it for my current CAI and I want a stock piece on hand for smog purposes. You know how much that section cost when it makes up half the intake system? $20.00.

The plastic stock system is thin and also is very sceptical to heat soak. A well designed CAI will be insulated by ceramic coating our silicone hoses.

CAI by themselves are good under five- less than a 5 hp gain and less than 5 for mpg's, but do better in conjunction with other mods.

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Skylane765

· #14 · Apr 4, 2015 (Edited)

bwbike said:
Cold air intakes are for looks and don't improve anything at all.

Think about it. In the car market today, don't you think the engineers would put the accessories on the car that provide the most MPG?

If you pay attention to the so-called cold air intakes that claim more HP, it is always at or near the maximum RPM, not where you drive 98% of the time.

I never put those on my cars.

That is some what true, for a Jeep a CAI is not needed, only WOT would it do maybe very little if anything at all. The manufacturer would do all they can to get more MPG to get the car higher on the list. Now you can add HP by losing MPG.

Reactions: 1

cam101

· #15 · Dec 17, 2015

This is my first Jeep. But not my first time experience in modding a vehicle for better performance. If I were to get a CAI I would definitely need to have the vehicle tuned. The tune alone is what makes the car get better horsepower and torque gains through out the band. My first mustang a 2006 v6 had a BBK CAI. Once I was able to have it tuned I felt a considerable difference. Of course on my current mustang its the same way. My 2013 mustang gt with JLT CAI 405RWHP and 381torque. This was natural aspirated. Same car now with blower 607rwhp and 480torque. The key is it needs to be tuned.

27665

· #16 · Dec 18, 2015

The Renegade doesn't have a MAF, so no worries on potentially over-oiling the filter.

lamont

· #17 · Dec 18, 2015

77cherokee said:
The Renegade doesn't have a MAF, so no worries on potentially over-oiling the filter.

Does this engine use a MAP sensor?

27665

· #18 · Dec 18, 2015

lamont said:
Does this engine use a MAP sensor?

Yep. I have to look again to see if it is a TMAP, but there is also an IAT just before the throttle body.

lamont

· #19 · Dec 18, 2015 (Edited)

77cherokee said:
Yep. I have to look again to see if it is a TMAP, but there is also an IAT just before the throttle body.

If there's an IAT sensor there's likely only a MAP and not a TMAP sensor. Do you know if this engine has an ICV?

joejamiejeep

· #20 · Dec 18, 2015

I installed cold air intakes on two vehicles in the past; I did not notice any increase in anything, horse power or otherwise. Save your money.....I will never purchase another cold air intake. Even if there is a slight increase in HP, you will never notice it and the price of $200-$300 is not worth the investment IMO.

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