CX9 SportOwner
Member
We've come a long way from the days when the intake was a big round air cleaner that drew air directly from the engine compartment. When I started owning cars, there were no computers or electronics of any kind, and engine components were designed to fit the car more than perform as well as possible. That's why we could do something as simple as flip the air cleaner lid and get more horsepower, or change the mufflers to glasspacks, etc. So little engineering was done by the manufacturers. That's why you had big V8s putting out 120 to 200 HP and getting 8mpg.
If you look at the intake on the CX9, you see that it has a CAI already: A large air scoop above the grill, then a wide cross section tube into a good sized air box, with generous filter area. Then a 4" insulated tube all the way through the MAF sensor, and around into a composite intake manifold, before entering the engine. Other than being slightly crooked, Mazda did everything to make sure the ait entering the engine was as cold as possible.
Bolting on a short metal tube with a cone filter inside the engine compartment is going to INCREASE the temperature of the air, not decrease it. Denser air does, indeed, make the CX9 run slightly better, but the only way to get it, is to move to a lower elevation, or somewhere a lot colder.
An oiled filter MAY give you a slight boost, but only slight. I use them more for that fact that they filter better with less restriction, particularly as they get dirty. Paper filters start clogging and reducing air flow with each particle they trap. Oiled filters keep breathing, until they are black and gooey. Then you just clean and re-oil them. with 23k on our '9, I have cleaned it once, so far, at 20k.
There just isn't any such thing as bolt on horsepower for modern cars, unless you replace the entire intake and exhaust systems, adjust the valve and ignition timing, and reprogram the computer to the new component specifications. That's why fart can exhaust systems usually make the cars you see them on even slower, and puffing out smoke.
If you look at the intake on the CX9, you see that it has a CAI already: A large air scoop above the grill, then a wide cross section tube into a good sized air box, with generous filter area. Then a 4" insulated tube all the way through the MAF sensor, and around into a composite intake manifold, before entering the engine. Other than being slightly crooked, Mazda did everything to make sure the ait entering the engine was as cold as possible.
Bolting on a short metal tube with a cone filter inside the engine compartment is going to INCREASE the temperature of the air, not decrease it. Denser air does, indeed, make the CX9 run slightly better, but the only way to get it, is to move to a lower elevation, or somewhere a lot colder.
An oiled filter MAY give you a slight boost, but only slight. I use them more for that fact that they filter better with less restriction, particularly as they get dirty. Paper filters start clogging and reducing air flow with each particle they trap. Oiled filters keep breathing, until they are black and gooey. Then you just clean and re-oil them. with 23k on our '9, I have cleaned it once, so far, at 20k.
There just isn't any such thing as bolt on horsepower for modern cars, unless you replace the entire intake and exhaust systems, adjust the valve and ignition timing, and reprogram the computer to the new component specifications. That's why fart can exhaust systems usually make the cars you see them on even slower, and puffing out smoke.
