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Hotshot’s Cold Air Intake
Finally, we installed Hotshots cold air intake system (CAI). Unlike the generic brands of intake systems, Hotshot spent a lot of time on R&D to fine tune their CAI’s. Hotshot made my CAI with 3″ stainless steel mandrel bent tubing – a critical aspect that was responsible for efficient airflow and thus higher horsepower gains on the racecar. Hotshot had been proven to be the most powerful intake on the market for a car beyond basic bolt-ons minimally equipped with camshafts and headers. It boasted gains of around 6 – 9 ponies, and an increase of around 5 ft. lbs. of torque. This was a great bang for the buck! Especially since there was no loss of power at low end rpm, which was a common compromise with horsepower upgrades. As with all Hotshot performance parts, I was provided a complete installation kit which contained a high flow air filter, billet CNC machined MAF adapter plates, and all the necessary couplings, hoses and clamps needed for a smooth one-stop installation. Whether or not I should’ve gotten the CAI wasn’t even the question. The question was which style to get – their aerospace approved ceramic coated system, or their show quality polished chrome finished system. Since bling has been the word of the day, you know which style I opted for.
With these upgrades, was I satisfied with my horsepower gains? Of course not! No enthusiast could leave well enough alone, forever thirsting for the next possible advantage is a curse that all car addicts suffer from. For now, this has temporarily quenched my hunger. For next month, we’ll whip up a batch of S4 cams. These cams, coupled with tuning have been proven to be the most popular combination used by Performance Touring racers to obtain the class maximum power to weight ratio. So until then, bon a petit!
Be sure to check out the rest of the Project Racer series!
