ARTICLE IN A BOX    
Your Cool with a Cold Air Intake

Keep Your Cool with a Cold Air Intake Staying cool these days doesn’t mean following goofy fashion trends or name-dropping the latest bands. In fact, when it comes to your automobile, staying cool’s a matter of installing the right parts. Not only do you stay cool, you get a big kick in the performance pants and some extra gas mileage, too.

The cool we’re talking about comes in the form of a Performance Cold Air Intake System. By scrapping the stock air box installed by the factory and replacing it with a performance system, you’ll add more power, increase fuel mileage and up your cool points exponentially.

Performance cold air intakes work by simply letting your engine breathe. They remove factory restrictions caused by paper filters, air boxes and twisted intake tubes. A quality cold air intake is all about giving your engine straight shots of pure air. And, not just any air. We’re talking about huge gulps of fresh, cool, power-producing air.

Just what does all this air mean? Well, your engine is basically a giant air pump; the more air you can pump in and out, the more efficiently it runs. And, an engine that runs efficiently produces much more power and torque than it would with a restrictive intake. All this adds up to increased throttle response, faster acceleration, a throaty sound and more spirited driving.

Along with the fun that comes from the extra power, you can also see an increase in fuel efficiency with a cold air intake system. Since your engine is more powerful, it has to work less to do the same job. In theory, you use less throttle to get your car moving, and once up to speed, less throttle to keep moving. Plus, fresh cool air burns cleaner than warm air, leading to more complete combustion and increased engine life.

Now of course, as with anything cool, there’s a trade off. With the new-found power and torque you have, it’s harder to keep your foot out of it. No matter how efficiently your engine runs, mashing the pedal is not going to increase mileage. It all depends on what you’re after. A bona fide mileage miser can use a cold air intake and careful driving to stretch time between pump visits. On the other hand, if you’re a speed freak, a new intake can make a dramatic performance difference—mileage be damned!

Performance intakes are one of the most popular aftermarket accessories available. As such, there’s a wealth of manufactures who craft ‘em for a whole spectrum of vehicles. Since they’re designed as a bolt-on replacement, most kits are perfect for the do-it-yourself wrench. A couple hundred bucks and a few hours spent tinkering in your driveway is all it takes to transform your ride into a lean, mean air-gulping machine.

Finally, a performance cold air intake just looks cool. Some kits use steel or aluminum tubing, and most feature a large, colorful performance filter. Couple this with a stylish logo and the cool factor goes through the roof, or in this case, the hood. So forget about trendy restaurants and making the latest scene, the new way to stay ultra cool is to equip your ride with a performance cold air intake system.

Thanks to AutoAnything.com for providing this week's article.
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