2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Gains 11hp, 27tq from a Cold Air Intake

Before getting into the impact of an aftermarket cold air intake setup on the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS, I want to point out that in no way am I endorsing any particular brand of intake systems. Super Chevy used a specific brand of cold air intake for their project car, but I am not so interested in promoting a brand of cold air intake so much as I want to feature the positive impact of a simple air intake setup swap. Results can most certainly vary based on the vehicle, engine and intake brand, but this is definitive proof that cold air intakes can make a significant difference in your engine’s output.

Cold Air Intake on the 2016 Camaro SS
The 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS is powered by the LT1 V8, which builds 455hp and 455lb-ft of torque at the transmission and – according to the baseline on the Super Chevy dyno graph – 384.3 rear wheel horsepower and 379lb-ft of rear wheel torque. Those numbers are a little lower than some of the wheel power figures that we have seen from other outlets who were testing the 2016 Camaro SS, but that doesn’t really matter for this discussion.

What does matter is that after the cold air intake kit was added to the 2016 Camaro SS, it laid down 395.4 horsepower and 405.8lb-ft of rear wheel torque. Compared to the baseline numbers, adding the cold air intake and doing nothing else to the new Camaro SS increased the power figures at the wheel by 11.1 horsepower and 26.8lb-ft of torque. Best of all, those numbers were recorded while testing with the hood closed, so the increased air flow that led to the increased power came through the same openings that the engine will use during real world driving.

It should be noted that the cold air intake setup used in this test of the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS is an especially nice unit, with aluminum piping and an enclosed air filter box – all of which are finished in a thermal coating which keeps the heat of the engine out of the intake system. Because of this enclosed air box and insulated piping, this intake might offered greater gains than the systems with uncoated piping and an air filter just hanging out in the engine bay, but in the case of the 2016 Camaro SS – there is no question that a cold air intake provides enough extra power to the worth the time and money.

Again, some engines have cold air intake systems which will outperform others, so results of a cold air intake will vary from vehicle to vehicle and engine to engine, but if you are looking to add horsepower and torque to your new Camaro SS – a quality cold air intake setup is a good place to start.

Source: Super Chevy