I have heard that a snorkel gives slightly better gas mileage. I was wondering if anyone has seen a difference with and without a snorkel. And by how much. I would be putting it on my 1998 100 series.
Snorkel MPG Increase? (1 Viewer)
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spend several hundred dollars to save a MPG or two of gas? going to take a bunch of tanks to pay itself off. I suggest cleaning out the throttle body and checking air filter if you want to keep up your mpgs.
*seven kittens have been slaughtered*
*seven kittens have been slaughtered*
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I would be getting the snorkel for offroading purposes not for the mpg, I was just curious if anyone had noticed any difference.
Trunk Monkey
Moderator
There's wives tales about it having a ram air effect, it bringing in colder intake air, etc. The only thing I'd say would be certain is that the air it's drawing in may be cleaner on the trail since it's coming in higher up. The rest sounds like justification.
It does drop intake temps. We put one on a friend's 60 series with a ZZ4 350 and the Edlebrock 1000cfm efi system. It allows you to monitor intake temps. I can't remember what the exact intake temps dropped but it was a crazy amount. I'm thinking it was over 10 degrees difference, it has been like 8 years. Whether or not this translates into better mileage or not I'm not sure it really would. It does help on dust. I noticed that when I installed one on my 60. I would think the loss of aerodynamic air flow would cost you any gain you'd get from cooler intake temps.
OH alright that makes better sense
Well, start crunching the numbers now, get a solid # for mpg before snork, and then give us some numbers after, try to keep everything else controlled.
Drive slower for increased mpg. Has anyone ever tried to insulate the air box to decrease intake temps? How about a snorkel and an insulated air box?
I cleaned my tb and was extremely dirty after 140k miles.
I cleaned my tb and was extremely dirty after 140k miles.
My two cents... I think the small MPG increase that is theoretically possible from the cooler air (cooler=denser=more O2) would be offset by the aerodynamic inefficiencies of the snorkel.
I would love to see this tested out in a controlled setting with a new air filter prior to the testing and a Scangauge for instantaneous fuel consumption.
The big thing that keeps me from believing this is that if the snorkel increases MPG by even 1-2, why wouldn't we be seeing this pushed for most vehicles on the highway? Even a $400 snorkel could pay itself off in ~2 years on most SUVs by adding 1-2 MPG.
I would love to see this tested out in a controlled setting with a new air filter prior to the testing and a Scangauge for instantaneous fuel consumption.
The big thing that keeps me from believing this is that if the snorkel increases MPG by even 1-2, why wouldn't we be seeing this pushed for most vehicles on the highway? Even a $400 snorkel could pay itself off in ~2 years on most SUVs by adding 1-2 MPG.
Trunk Monkey
Moderator
That would increase temps (insulation = less heat loss). That's why the cold air intakes you see remove the filter from a air cleaner can and put it out in the open.
Because 99.9% of the general public in the US wouldn't drive with a periscope/exhaust/missile launcher running up the side of their vehicle.
Cold air intakes dont just remove the airbox, they completely relocate the position of the inlet. The intake I have isnt a "cold air" its just an open intake to allow MORE air to flow, but not colder air.
A snorkel would be a 100 series answer to the cold air intake. Civics and such put it down low in front of a wheel, we jsut dont have that room and most of us would end up taking on water offroad if we did that.
Trunk Monkey
Moderator
utahFJ62's rig has or had a piece of mandrel bent exhaust for routing to the throttle body and a cone air filter where the plastic air box would be. And not to nit pick, but where the stock air intake is is about 3' up, I bet most peeps here wouldn't sink their trucks into that kind of water.
Cory, I was talking about if you re'routed the intake to behind the front bumper/foglight area to create a true "cold air" system. That would drop it clear down to 1-2ft off the ground...something like that I know I would have flooded the intake. So, for us, our "cold air" option is to go up, not down.
Utahfj62's intake was by no definition a "cold air" just a open air intake, what I have with my K&N kit.
Utahfj62's intake was by no definition a "cold air" just a open air intake, what I have with my K&N kit.
the k&n sounds cool i think ,mpg at this point who gives a sh!t
Trunk Monkey
Moderator
Fair enough loud, I'm not up on the ricer terminology. 
I have tried fruitlessly to will my snorkel to give me better gas mileage, but i have yet to see my MPG improve due to the snorkel. I will say that I agree that it does lower your intake temps by quite a bit. I did a before and after reading on both my 80 and 100 snorkel installs and noticed a nice decrease in my intake temps.
I installed the performance software and a CAI on my BMW and saw a boost to my fuel economy, especially at highway speeds.
Highway MPG was rated at 27-29 by the EPA (1996 methodology) and I consistently see 30-32 MPG for a full tank of gas cruising on the Interstate at 70-80 MPH. I actually had a 300+ mile run recently from NM to Denver averaging 35.1 MPG with at least 200 pounds of stuff in the rear seat and trunk.
edit... I'm not sure you're going to get much benefit though if the stock ECU software can't adapt to the increased and/or cooler, denser flow of air.
Highway MPG was rated at 27-29 by the EPA (1996 methodology) and I consistently see 30-32 MPG for a full tank of gas cruising on the Interstate at 70-80 MPH. I actually had a 300+ mile run recently from NM to Denver averaging 35.1 MPG with at least 200 pounds of stuff in the rear seat and trunk.
edit... I'm not sure you're going to get much benefit though if the stock ECU software can't adapt to the increased and/or cooler, denser flow of air.
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I'm in the same boat, I haven't seen any indication of an MPG increase due to the snorkel. The larger tires don't help much either.
So to answer your question, the MPG (if any) is negligible at best and doesn't realistically come into play.
The cooler/cleaner air is however an added bonus.
So to answer your question, the MPG (if any) is negligible at best and doesn't realistically come into play.
The cooler/cleaner air is however an added bonus.
Yep - it still does and it sounds bad A** with out running through the air box - you hear and feel the V8.
What I have noticed is that the snorkel really increases the SQPG - Stupid Questions Per Gallon.
I insulated the metal filter can and intake hose on my 80. It sits right next to the exhaust. It seemed to make a minor difference per my scangauge, but other than the few temps I recorded prior to doing it, I don't really have anything to compare, so I don't know if it's worth it. I did also insulate a bunch of wiring and other critical components and I think that was definately worth it, but I don't know if you guys have some of the same issues with your 100 as we do with our 80s.
I did have a snorkle on my mini-truck. At speed, if you flipped the snorkle around and turned it backwards, there was a definate decrease in power, sort of like when you turn on/off the AC, so the snorkle added some amount of power, but how much I don't know. Probably fairly minimal. Of course, having the snorkle reversed might actually make it even harder to suck in air at highway speed, than the stock intake, so it could have just been that.
