K&N vs AEM

[Qubicon]

I need to replace my air filter. I am going to go with an intake system. Anybody use the K&N or AEM Brute Force. I'm trying to decide between the two, and need info. Who's got what, and what do you think about it?

[rick]

I'm assuming you want a "cold air intake"...or a psuedo unit in the case of the Jeep versions... they are technically not really cold air intakes because they still sit in the engine compartment and aren't really drawing in cold air the way the rice burner folks do it...

I just saw the AEM on a Rubi at Jim's shop (JCFab & Design in Sylmar) this weekend. It looked like a well built setup, with the divider placed along the coil side of the block to shield the filter from heat and help keep the filter sucking cooler air. I haven't seen a K&N CAI. I don't know exactly what you pick up with these setups on a stock engine, but I would definitely look into a bored throttle body to make the most of the high cost of one of these. Anything you do to minimize the restriction is good, but the t-body on these motors really is the bottleneck. Anything you do once you remove that restriction just gives that much bigger bang for the buck. nailer341 has more info on boring your t-body if you are interested - I'm sure he'll chime in here...or send him a PM.

rick

[Qubicon]

Yeah Cold Air/ Air Filter call it what you may, I need to replace the filter, so an upgrade is in order. I'm a little wary of a TB mod, as from my experience, this makes the throttle a little more finicky and I'm not sure if its in my best interest. I'd have to go for a ride or drive one before, to see if I'd like it. To me throttle finesse while wheeling is very important. I work at AFR, so grinding on mine up is the least of my worries.

[king4wd]

One thing about the K&N- its C.A.R.B. approved and 50-state legal. The intake from rock-it parts works well and is also 50-state legal. The AEM may be legal now, but when I last saw something on it, it was still pending C.A.R.B. approval . Good luck with it. The testing I saw showed substantial low-end to midrange power improvement- especially low-end torque

[Qubicon]

Thanks, the 50 state isn't a worry, I plan on keeping all the stock parts for when I need to smog it. I noticed the same thing online about the pendng CARB approval. Any idea on how much the bottom end improves, is it noticable, or just more noisy?

[king4wd]

The rock-it parts intake and TB spacer together had the greatest effect at 1900rpm- approx 15ftlb torque increase. This was on the 4-banger. I don't recall the increase on the 6. But it should be similar as far as the percentage increase in available torque at that speed.