Losing MPG with CAI?

[Without Remorse]

OK, so I am no mechanic. I have never had a true muscle car and therefore have never moded. I am functional with a wrench in my hand but let me repeat......I am no mechanic.

So I installed a Cold Air Incuctions CAI in my LS3 Vert. I am very proud of myself and really didn't have too much trouble with it. It took me about an hour. It looks great, sounds better at idel, and has a wonderful new sound under WOT.

My question is this.....As I watch my Avg MPG meter, it seems that I now may be getting worse MPG's. Is that possible? Especially when I get on it. When I give it a lot of gas, it seems to suck much more gas now then it did before. Is this possible?

I haven't done any scientific test to try to prove this, only watching the meter and comparing it to what it did prior. Is there any way that I F'd something up or something isn't sealed properly? Or is it all in my head and I need to just chill out for a second?

[BowlingSS]

I did not not see any change in mileage after installing my CAI. INC CAI. How long have you had it installed? The PCM might need a little time to settle down to the added air. How much of a drop are you seeing?

Bill

[Pollock]

You MPG will go down if you floor it all the time.

[axis]

So you're watching your gas mileage while you're flooring it? You're joking right? The ONLY way to tell if you're getting different gas mileage is to datalog over a few tank fulls. The DIS will give you a idea of your average but watching your mileage while you floor it is worthess.

[IndeedSS1]

I didn't see any change in mpg with any of the three cai I've ran. Not likely you messed anything up as you would probably set a CEL. You are playing with the throttle too much to gauge any average mgp differences...and yes just chill it will be fine.

[bottjeremy]

By adding a CAI, you are most likely creating more horsepower. By adding more horsepower, you are most likely consuming more gasoline. You will see a reduction in MPG when driving fast since you now consume more gas under WOT. And since you like the new sound of your CAI, you probably are nailing it a bit more than you had been previously, so your loss in MPG might be noticable.

[cab2g]

This winter I thought I was getting worse mileage with my CAI, which I had installed late fall. So I switched back to the stock airbox and noticed NO improvement. The loss in mileage was due to the engine running cold/winter gas blend, not the CAI. I lost about 2-3 MPG.

There should be no noticeable difference in MPG. You may just be driving more aggressively due to the improved WOT sound. I know it's hard to resist

[talon6900]

I lost a bit too, but it was 100% my doing... Enjoying the sound makes you want to press the skinny pedal farther to the floor more often. Once I regained self control, I found that my mileage came back to normal.

[blkngldbabe]

My fuel economy had improved with my Intake.

[CamaroFemme]

What I've seen from reading C5 is if you drive in exactly the same way (not probable with your new CAI!) your intake should actually increase your mpg by 1 or 2 because your car can breathe better.

[Without Remorse]

Originally Posted by Pollock

You MPG will go down if you floor it all the time.

I think you are being sarcastic, but in case your not......I was comparing "getting on it" without CAI to "getting on it" with CAI. I realize that my MPG's will go down when my foot is on the gas.

Originally Posted by axis

So you're watching your gas mileage while you're flooring it? You're joking right? The ONLY way to tell if you're getting different gas mileage is to datalog over a few tank fulls. The DIS will give you a idea of your average but watching your mileage while you floor it is worthess.

I keep my DIC on MPG's.....I dont know where else to keep it. I really don't need another speedometer, as i already have 2. I have been resetting it every 500 miles or so to see if I notice any change as the engine breaks in. As such, I feel that I have a pretty good feel of how my MPG's are effected by city/highway, coasting, gunning it, etc. I can be a bit OCD. Like I said, nothing scientific.

Originally Posted by bottjeremy

By adding a CAI, you are most likely creating more horsepower. By adding more horsepower, you are most likely consuming more gasoline. You will see a reduction in MPG when driving fast since you now consume more gas under WOT. And since you like the new sound of your CAI, you probably are nailing it a bit more than you had been previously, so your loss in MPG might be noticable.

This makes sence to me and what I was thinking. More/colder air --> More gas --> More HP --> More fun. I'm going with this....

[4.0=SS]

I have a Borla cat-back is a cai going to change the exhaust note? I paid good money for the sound ;-)

[morepowerjoe]

Did you install your maf sensor in the right direction?

[Avenging Orange]

Originally Posted by 4.0=SS

I have a Borla cat-back is a cai going to change the exhaust note? I paid good money for the sound ;-)

No