by dominoSLEV6 » Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:16 am
Yury. With my Injen on my old auto Solara I myself believe that I lost MPG. I'm nearly positive this had nothign to do with the intake itself, and mostly the fact that I liked the sound so I hit it more often, but that's up in the air.
Now as for the CP-e intake, I know the same thing is happening because I love to hear it and get thrown back in my car now and then. However I believe even without flooring it more often, the CP-e intake does use a VERY slight amount more fuel because of the re-tuned fuel map, but IMO it's so little of a difference that it is well worth it.
Many intakes actually do help your mileage by allowing better airflow for combustion in the engine, thereby requiring less fuel to do the same amount of work, but only to a very slight degree. It's no coinsidence that the power gain is also to a very slight degree. The CP-e intake utilizes the tuned fuel map to make more power, which I also believe descreases fuel efficiency ever so slightly.
So yes, I guess that is the one downfall I can think of with that intake. It all just comes down to whether or not you want the power. If you're looking for the best value on a performance intake, then you'lll get the CP-e. Yes the Injen is cheaper, but for what it actually does (or doesn't do) in performance, and knowing a better intake exists means to me that you're selling yourself short. If you're going to continue to spend money elsewhere to mod your car and make it fast, you'll be hard pressed to get the bang for your buck that you do out of the CP-e.
That's a lot to read, but it's what I believe in with our cars. I don't know who else has had both intakes, but if anyone else has they can tell you too. I'm not a salesman for CP-e or anything, just someone who knows something good when they see it.
As a frame of refference, I saw a TV show where they put an enitrely new tuned ECU into a Matrix to work hand in hand with a new intake, and it cost them right around $1K for the whole setup, then they added an exhaust to the mix and still barely held up to the gains the CP-e system does for just around $600. That's pretty much all I have to say about the system, it's a good product and a good deal. It's not like deciding between Injen or Weapon R. It's on the table for all V6 Solara owners to take or leave. You just have to decide whether you want it or not.
-chris
It will run one day, RPMs EVERYWHERE!
You always wite a lot and well.