While I am a huge fan of PT Tuning and I have seen this new piece live, here's my understanding of cold air intakes after doing a ton of online research.
1. The best source for cold/fresh air, without adding hood scoops, cowl induction, etc. is the factory setup via the front wheel well.
2. PTDiy has a great article on rising temps under the hood in stop/go traffic. In a nutshell - it gets HOT under the hood if you aren't blowing air through it.
3. Air flow, velocity, etc are greatly affected by the configuration of the intake hose. The factory accordian is not as desirable as a smooth pipe.
4. K&N (or equivalent) filters allow more air through with less restriction than the factory filter. More air = good.
5. Basically you want cooler air and a smooth flow to the intake.
Aftermarket options appear to be:
1. BTG (and similar) CAI with the smooth pipe and the K&N style filter. The downside I see to this is that the filter isn't really drawing a lot of truly cool air; it's just sitting in the engine bay which gets mighty hot in stop/go. About $260.00
2. Airaid CAI. I like the fact that it attempts to insulate itself from the engine compartment as much as possible and draw more air from the wheel well, but it uses the stock factory snorkel, which has the accordion and thus impedes air flow to a degree. About $140.00
3. Use the Airaid coupled with the BrandX pipe. Cooler air, low restriction filter, smooth pipe. About $240.00 for the combo.
4. Leave the factory air box, drop in a K&N (or equivalent) and use the BrandX pipe. Cool air in, low restriction filter, smooth path to the intake. About $130.00 for filter and pipe combo.
I think I've finally made up my mind.
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