| Ford Super Duty Engine Compartment Aftermarket Intake System
Whether gas or diesel, the power principle remains the same: More air in and more air out equals improved horsepower and torque. In order to understand this philosophy, you have to get down to basics.
First and foremost, an engine, whether gas or diesel, is essentially a giant air pump. The up and down motion of the pistons moves specific volumes of air though the engine. The quantity of air depends on a lot of factors: the displacement of the engine, the size of the intake system, the camshaft configuration, and the efficiency of the powerplant's exhaust side.
| 1. AIRAID's intake system for the '03-'05 Ford Power Stroke V-8 diesel is a complete replacement setup that uses the factory air inlet location and has provisions for the OEM mass air meter.
On a typical four-cylinder engine, the atomized fuel mixture is drawn into the cylinder and past the open intake valve by the piston's downward motion. As the piston moves upward, the air/fuel mixture is compressed and ignited. The force of the explosion pushes the piston downward. This is called the power stroke. On the piston's return upward, the burnt gases are pushed out through the open exhaust valve, and the process repeats.
By improving the efficiency of the engine in any one of the critical areas, such as intake, valve timing (camshaft), ignition, exhaust, you can produce more power. Most manufacturers face quite a challenge when it comes to designing intake systems for today's trucks. First off, they have to fit the platform (model) they are for. Second, they have to thoroughly filter air coming into the engine, and third, in order to reduce the vehicle's overall NHV (noise, harshness, and vibration), they have to be somewhat quiet. What's left is what you get on your new truck. Does it work? Yes. Is there room for improvement? Definitely.
| 2. The stock air intake system uses a large filter that sits inside a plastic housing on the driver side of the engine bay.
On a stock air-intake system, the main airflow restrictions are caused by the intake box's design itself: the actual air inlet where the box meets either the inner fender or the radiator bulkhead, and the factory, paper-style filter inside the box.
The easiest upgrade to any intake system is to simply change the filter from a paper-style element to a high-flow-style filter. The most common performance air filter is an oiled, cotton-gauze style that flows more air dirty than the stock paper-style flows clean. Filter specialist AIRAID has taken the standard cotton-gauze filter to the next level by adding a synthetic layer of filter material that improves filtration (down to 2 microns) without affecting airflow. The company's SynthaFlow layer is now standard on AIRAID's line of direct replacement filters as well as all of its intake system filters.
| 6. The rear section of the factory intake housing was unbolted from the flexible ducting and removed. The factory filter minder was saved; it was used on the new intake.
The next step to better breathing is to change out the complete airbox with an aftermarket intake system. Since the stock airbox and the airbox lid themselves are the major restrictions on most trucks, removing them and replacing the assembly with a high-flow air intake usually generates a big improvement not only in horsepower and torque but also in throttle response as well.
On the Power Stroke diesel found in many of today's Ford Super Duty pickups, the flow bench results also yielded gains over stock when the entire intake was swapped out. The factory Ford intake system on the Power Stroke-equipped Super Duty is one of the best factory systems on the market. It uses a fresh-air snorkel through the radiator core and a large, commercial-style air filter in front of the turbo inlet.
| 7. The AIRAID intake kit includes a special bit to remove the factory mass air meter from the original housing.
On the flow bench, the stock system flowed a whopping 766.15 cfm. In comparison, the new '05 AIRAID Power Stroke intake system flowed nearly 1,000 cfm--997.39 cfm--at 20 inches of water on the flow bench. That's a 30 percent gain over stock that can be felt at the drop of the throttle, without sacrificing filtration. On the dyno, with the AIRAID intake installed on a '05 Ford Super Duty, the system yielded 21.2 rear-wheel horsepower and 35 lb-ft of torque with no other changes.
When it comes to a better air/fuel ratio for your truck, the bottom line is to somehow improve the engine's pumping efficiency. Whether with an aftermarket air filter, exhaust system, or even headers, improved efficiencies mean more usable horsepower and torque, when you press down the throttle, and oftentimes as a byproduct, improved fuel economy.
Follow along as we install the new AIRAID Power Stroke intake system--replacing the restrictive and expensive factory inline air filter with a high-flow, high-filtration SynthaFlow filter. The SynthaFlow filter is located in a heat-resistant housing that draws cool air from the factory location, while providing additional airflow through the Cool Air Dam on top. The installation can be accomplished with ordinary handtools in less than an hour.
