Hi everyone, i bought a rugged ridge cold air intake about 2 months ago for my '95 yj and noticed more fuel consumption (to put this simple, a full tank of gas w/stock filter 250 miles; with cold air intake, 200). Anyone have this issue? Im thinking of maybe switching back to stock!!!
2 issues with the way you measure it
- is it a full tank until you run out of gas or a full tank until you refuel? to be consistent the amount of fuel going in has to be the same between the 2 tests or to literally run out of gas (would be nearly impossible to exactly guess when the same amount of fuel was used by looking at the gauge, so you should fill the tank, reset the odometer, drive 200 miles and refuel - calculate the mpg by dividing the odo reading to the amount of fuel you put in, redo the test with the other airbox/filter).
- the other issue is the temperature, not sure where you live but there is a big difference (at least with the Jeep) when the temperature drops.
i doubt the filter can make that much of a difference unless your stock one was really filthy and was choking the intake, in that case yes it can make a difference but is due to lack of air and less power and that's not a good thing at all, just lean on the pedal less and you'll get the same performance as before if that's the reason for the increase in fuel usage.