HAI Experiment

[GasSavers_NovaResource]

Early findings: power way down. It totally sucks. Much more throttle input to get up to highway speeds. Very sluggish feeling.

[dkjones96]

Originally Posted by NovaResource

Early findings: power way down. It totally sucks. Much more throttle input to get up to highway speeds. Very sluggish feeling.

That's what made me reverse it in the tracker. According to the theory behind HAI working, the worse the power the more the gain. The Durango has enough power that even with 200 degree air going down its throat it has ample power.

[Jay2TheRescue]

"The tingle lets you know its working"... LOL. You will have reduced power, but you reduce pumping losses by having the throttle open wider. If you can tough it out for one tank you should have some interesting results.

-Jay

[GasSavers_NovaResource]

The power loss wasn't unexpected. I knew it would happen and that's one of my problems with a WAI. That and I don't think there is any real measurable difference. All "butt-dyno" improvements.

The 173-hp V6 in my Tucson now barely feels as powerful as the base 140-hp 4-cyl. If I wanted that lousy performance I would have just bought the 4-cyl model that got 2-mpg better fuel economy. I highly doubt I'll see a 2-mpg improvement from a WAI. We shall see.

[dkjones96]

Originally Posted by NovaResource

If I wanted that lousy performance I would have just bought the 4-cyl model that got 2-mpg better fuel economy.

Excellent point.

But only valid for those of us that don't have the base, smaller engine.

[GasSavers_NovaResource]

Originally Posted by NovaResource

Here goes. Last week my milage was 192.1 miles and I used 8.339 gallons for an MPG of 23.03. That will be baseline #1 for using the stock cold air inlet.

Today I filled up again:
256.4 miles


11.207 gallons used:


For an MPG of 22.87. That will be baseline #2 for the stock cold air inlet. Both numbers are similar and fairly typical for me in the winter.

Removing the factory cold air inlet. Here's the stock setup:




Closeup of the inlet on the outside of the radiator support:


Here the hose connecting the inlet to the air box is disconnected from the inlet and pointed towards the radiator and exhaust manifold to pick up warm, engine air:




Here the inlet is blocked off with duct tape to prevent any cool air from entering.


The inlet was secured in place with a wiretie to prevent it from moving. One week from today I'll have my first data from a WAI. My schedule for next week is almost identical to this past week so mileage should be close to the same.

8 days later of a WAI and here are the results.

Today I filled up again.
263.0 miles (difference of 6.6 miles or 2.5% from last test):


11.566 gallons used (exact same station and pump uesd):


For an MPG of 22.73. That's a loss of 0.14 mpg with the WAI.

Conclusion: FAILURE

There is statistically ZERO benefit from a WAI. It doesn't appear to hurt mileage but it does not help. And with the obvious loss of power this is not a modification anyone should do unless the engine and computer are designed for lean burn.

I'm hooking the cold air duct back up and seeing the difference next week.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Did you ever get a measure of the actual air temperature to verify that your setup was significantly raising it?

[GasSavers_NovaResource]

The substantial loss of power was proof it was getting significantly warmer air.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

I guess that's true. It'd be interesting data, though.

[R.I.D.E.]

LOL, lets see if your mileage improves in the summer months, but I would venture a guess that you need AC, unless the AC robs you of all that power that is so essential. Of course if you have been logging mileage for any significant amount of time then you would already know if your summer mileage was better.

My setup on the Insight is not WAI. I used it on my Civic VX to good effect, and it was lean burn. On the Insight I use a 40% grille block, which also serves to increase underhood temperatures and provide WAI.

With the 4 simultaneous methods of measuring fuel consumption on the Insight, it's easy to determine the effectiveness on any modification. In the last few days the temps here were approaching 75 degrees, so I took the grille block out and noticed an immediate drop in mileage. Maybe in the next few days I will get a chance to do identical trips under the same weather conditions to get real data on the difference.

The cars I have driven for mileage in the last year were not powerhouses by any stretch of the imagination. When I want to drive a nice performance car I just take my 98 230 SLK Mercedes out for a spin, and still get close to 30 MPG, which was the original highway rating, with 0-60 in 7 seconds.

I did manage a 18 mile trip in the Insight at 79.6 MPG, but you probably couldn't stand driving that way.

regards
gary