Volant Performance now offers an aftermarket air intake for  Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon trucks equipped with the 3.6-liter LFX V6.
It’s unclear what sort of performance gains this would yield for an otherwise completely stock Colorado or Canyon. But we would totally install this on our imaginary Mallet supercharged Colorado with the Z71 Midnight Edition package.
For the price of $356.25 plus shipping, you get the Volant Air Filter Box, Air Duct, Pro 5 Filter, high-performance silicon hose, and stainless steel clamp. We like the box design, particularly the fact that it keeps dirt, moisture, and other debris out. It gives the trucks a slightly more appealing engine bay, too.
Comments
Gains are generally 7-12 HP on most full intake filter kits. Some with really poor factory set ups can see 16 HP.
What you generally notice is a little better mid range RPM gain.
Some companies will post dyno results on their web sites.
Note these will make the intake much more noisy which some folks like and some folks hate just depending on taste.
I have used these and I have seen around 1 MPG gain over the stock set up.
“Gains are generally 7-12 HP on most full intake filter kits. Some with really poor factory set ups can see 16 HP.”
That is a very bold claim.
No I work in the industry and check the dyno results.
You can visit the KNN site and they post their results.
Most intakes are dampened for sound as cars have to meet drive by noise standards and they will not pass with an open intake. Even years ago the Trans Am shaker scoop had to be closed off due to the drive by noise standards.
The intake are baffled to a point in most cars they can lose some power. How much depends on the car and how well the MFG tuned it.
Some cars I have seen have done up to 16 HP not because the KNN intake was that good but because the factory intake was that bad.
Many intakes like on my 2.0 Turbo the gains are modest at 8 HP because the factory intake is pretty good and little is to be gained.
7-12 HP is not really that much in the big picture with engines making at or over 300 HP.
Engine power is easy to understand more air in more power out if your car can be tuned to adjust for it.
Now on some cars today they have what is called a learn feature that if you replace the intake you may get a temporary improvement but it will learn down back to the original settings.
I have a GM tune that has the learn feature disabled and it will retain any changes made and tune adjustments with all emissions still in place.
Even if I change the intake pipes and put on a larger inter cooler it will retain the changes.
So be warned on some vehicles some gains may not be as good as others as the system could relearn back to the original setting.
No bold claims just how it is. Real HP gains are of this nature are not real seat of the pants gains. Most people do not feel the change and those who do are mostly imagining it. Real HP gains for feel start more at 25-50 HP and more.
But again if you have 650 HP you may not notice as much if you add 25 HP as if you add 25 HP to a 200 HP engine.
Note most performance cars see the least gains as they are already well tuned. The standard cars and trucks tend to see the greatest gains with they bolt on deals. They are generally baffled more and tuned more for sound vs. performance.
Also some folks make the mistake of thinking if they add a 10 HP intake kit and a programmer claiming 15 HP they will get 25 HP. Well that usually does not work that way. results are not always cumulative .
Then you do get to things like Tornado’s and Splitfire plugs and they really add little to nothing. Some companies like this have been ordered by the FTC to stop making HP claims. The Tornado if anything may add a small bit of torque just because it moves the Throttle body a little.
You want real power aftermarket intakes, heads and Cams along with Supercharger kits make the most power. There is some good stuff out there and much is still emissions legal to use.
The trick is to do your home work and read up on what works and what does not work or work as well. Weight that with how much you want to spend and how much you want to change.
Right now turbo engines are the real trick. With a simple change in mass air sensors and a computer flash I am up to 23 PSI of boost and right at 300 HP on 2.0 liters. It was a GM tune and did not void any warranties or emissions. More could be had with a better tranny as the Solstice get 340 FT LBS vs my 315 FT LBS of torque.
Exhaust are the same as the intakes as some show great gains others not so much. Just depends on the car and tune.
Case in point the old 4th gen F body make 7-10 more HP with a single outlet Flowmaster or GM exhaust than the duel outlet. The flow is a little better and that is why it was optional on the WS6 package at one time. Some folks wonder why it is offered and that is why it makes a little more power.
The new Camaro with the by pass exhaust is pretty good and the new exhaust manifolds are pretty efficient. Some headers are better but the factory is pretty good. just depends on how far you are wanting to go on power.
Where/how did you get the GM tune? I have a GM CAI I want to put on my new Colorado but don’t know how to get the flash. The dealer hasn’t been able to nail down any info either…
Ypu gotta put a bigger throttle body on, I have 80mm oon LFX, its a 2014 lacrosse premium and it iz a very noticeable difference, gm bottle necked it to a 72mm via the air cleaner box, i disconneected and designed my own intake, its 80mm all the way, also hogged out the adapter plate and intake, pig pulls some air, its kinda nuts and i havent even tuned it, lol, its a buick, who woulda thought
Note just going with say a KNN filer with out the full replacement intake yield little gains. It is the intake that makes up most of the gain not as much with filter only. You can clean them but they still have to push air in the factory intake tubes and that is where the trouble is.
“Now on some cars today they have what is called a learn feature that if you replace the intake you may get a temporary improvement but it will learn down back to the original settings.”
This is primarily what I was getting at – even with an entire intake system (not just the filter) many new cars will see no gains without a tweak in calibration. This is true for cars built back before 2010, including my Saab 2.8T and the Cobalt SS (LSJ and LNF). I’d say, generally, most intake systems sold today are nothing more than noise makers or engine bay bling.
In my eyes, most intake systems sold today are for applications where a recalibration is required even for those insubstantial gains. Then at that point you realize if you’re paying for a tune you may as well do all the bolt-ons, then you start pondering a turbo swap… you know how it goes.
Depends on the car, the computer and the engine.
Best to read the KNN site on their dyno test as they are legit and give you some idea of real world gains.
Also today dyno shops are getting to be very common and getting a car tuned is not all that difficult or expensive anymore.
Also there are many programmers that will open the learn feature to adapt to these systems.
The key to know the car you have and what it takes to properly get it tuned or updated.
I for sure know how it goes.
But there is also the psychological factor where some people have no idea on some cars and think they have gained when nothing has really happened.
Again even 7-10 HP is really nothing for a gain in real world terms. My tune took my from 235 to right at 300 HP. That is noticeable.
Also with so many engine management safe guards you have to be careful as one mistake in tuning can wipe a tranny or engine out fast.
One unproven tune for the Gen III 3800 SC wiped out trannys and pistons as it made the cars faster removing the engine management. But it killed the cars as they needed these to protect the trannys at the shift points and the pistons from cracking under higher boost detonation.
It is really getting to where you need to again know what you are doing to max out gains and not break things. No more just plug and play.