Why You Don’t Need A Tune With A K&N Cold Air Intake: How We Get The Most Horsepower On A Stock Tune

Two way road with red 1967 Chevy Chevelle and bright red MKR Toyota Supra smoking the tires with a huge burnout on either side of the double yellow line in the middle of the road

You may have erroneously heard people on social media or online forums spout off that you need to get a custom tune to take advantage of a Cold Air Intake. We’re here to dispel this myth and give you all the information you need so you can confidently upgrade your vehicle with a new K&N intake system without worrying about the need for a tune.

 


Specialized Faro Arm being used to scan under the hood of a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 at the K&N Engineering to design a High Flow K&N Cold Air IntakeSpecialized Faro Arm being used to scan under the hood of a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 at the K&N Engineering to design a High Flow K&N Cold Air Intake
The K&N Engineering team digitally scans the engine bay to get every dimension accounted for in order to design the highest flowing cold air intake system that will fit under the hood around the factory components.

Digitally Scanning The Engine Bay

The first step in creating more horsepower on a stock tune starts with the K&N Engineering team using special scanning equipment to create a digital file with the exact dimensions of the engine and factory components under the hood. They can then use this data to design an all new cold air intake system that will fit like a glove. Once the new intake design is ready, the team will 3D print a prototype and start real world testing.

 

K&N Engineers closely examine the factory airbox and intake system brand new Ford Bronco to see where they can improve airflow to make more horsepowerK&N Engineers closely examine the factory airbox and intake system brand new Ford Bronco to see where they can improve airflow to make more horsepower
K&N Engineers examine the factory intake system on a new 6th Generation Ford Bronco and start looking for clues where they can improve airflow to make more horsepower.

Air Flow Testing and Mass Air Compatibility

The first test begins on the SuperFlow SF-1020 flow bench with the Mass Air Flow sensor installed in the new K&N® Cold Air Intake prototype to ensure that the added airflow is within the tolerance of the factory settings. The goal is to allow a significant airflow increase, but not such a big increase that the sensor will be out of factory tolerances and create driveability issues. Once the engineers verify that the new air intake is within spec and the air flow testing checks out, the team takes it over to the vehicle for the next phase of testing.

 

Curved 4 lane road with with bright red Dodge Challenger SRT powering through the curve as a lush green treeline lines both sides of the road with the San Bernardino Mountains standing proud in the background under a blue sky with very few clouds presentCurved 4 lane road with with bright red Dodge Challenger SRT powering through the curve as a lush green treeline lines both sides of the road with the San Bernardino Mountains standing proud in the background under a blue sky with very few clouds present
To gain valuable real world data, an identical 50-mile drive loop is run in both stock configuration and modified form with a K&N Cold Air Intake fresh off the 3D printer.

Drive Loop Testing

The Team then connects a scan tool to the factory vehicle and takes it on a 50-mile drive loop for datalogging purposes. Once that drive loop is complete, the new K&N® Cold Air Intake is installed and the vehicle is taken back out on the same 50-mile drive loop to compare the data of both drive loops. Extensive data is collected and reviewed through this process including inlet air temperatures, fuel trims, timing, mass air readings, and more. The engineers will also look for any possible issues that might trigger a check engine light or drivability problems.

 

Bikini Pearl Jeep Wrangler JLU EcoDiesel is strapped to the Dynomometer at K&N Engineering for product testingBikini Pearl Jeep Wrangler JLU EcoDiesel is strapped to the Dynomometer at K&N Engineering for product testing

Dyno Testing

Once the vehicle passes the drive loop testing, it is loaded onto the dynamometer for performance testing to obtain the most horsepower out of the stock tune. The dynos at K&N® can accommodate a multitude of vehicles from front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and even all-wheel-drive platforms including trucks and 4x4’s, and even motorcyles. With the vehicle hooked up, the team will test the vehicle in stock condition three to five times to get consistent data to benchmark against. Once the stock dyno testing is complete, the new K&N® Cold Air Intake is installed and the vehicle will undergo three to five more dyno runs. Once that’s done, the engineers will compare the results to see how much horsepower they were able to gain and where the gains appeared in the vehicle’s powerband.  

 

Looking through the passenger window of 2021 Ford Bronco as an engineer captures data from the vehicle undergoing dyno testing at K&N Engineering Looking through the passenger window of 2021 Ford Bronco as an engineer captures data from the vehicle undergoing dyno testing at K&N Engineering

Redesign, Retest, Repeat Until Most Horsepower Is Achieved

If the team believes there are improvements that can be had, the engineers will redesign the cold air intake from scratch and restart the previous test procedures. This process is repeated as many times as necessary to ensure they are achieving the most horsepower on the vehicle’s stock tune.

 

Low angle view of a bright yellow 2022 Toyota Supra GR with wide rear tires, a carbon fiber diffuser and spoiler as well as large exhaust tips on either side secured to the K&N dyno to measure how much horsepower it's makingLow angle view of a bright yellow 2022 Toyota Supra GR with wide rear tires, a carbon fiber diffuser and spoiler as well as large exhaust tips on either side secured to the K&N dyno to measure how much horsepower it's making

Production Approval

Once the final design is completed, the K&N® Cold Air Intake will go into production right here in the USA. K&N further backs up its claims with real proven dyno results you can see for yourself by selecting your year, make, model and engine from the vehicle selection tool and clicking on the Dyno Chart under the product image. https://www.knfilters.com/cold-air-intakes

 

*Note: Some intakes are not legal for sale or use on any pollution controlled motor vehicle in California. See knfilters.com for CARB status on each part for a specific vehicle.