You and your JK can take on the world one hill at a time!
And if the itch to increase your horse power has overtaken you, a cold air intake is calling your name.
In addition to making your engine look beefier when you pop the hood, cold air intakes are designed to feed your engine more air which will give it a performance boost.
Lets take a look at the 4 Best Cold Air Intakes for Jeep Wrangler JKs on the market:
K&N is one of the leading companies in the after part market, especially intakes. This is the Performance Intake Kit for Jeep Wrangler JKs.
A well-built model won’t need to be cleaned regularly – it can last up to 100k miles under ideal conditions. You’ll get a beefier sounding engine and a better throttle response.
Along with an easy installation, you should be done with this in under two hours.
This curves past your radiator, with a strong plastic shield, so that it’s not affected by heat as much as the stock option.
Air filters on these do tend to accumulate particles at a higher rate than stock units, but it’s a washable lifetime filter so as long as you take care of it, it’ll take care of you. If you want your engine to growl a little more – this is a great choice.
This aFe Power Momentum Intake kit is the leading competitor to K&N with good reason.
It’s a neat design with thick tubing and shielding, gives it the appearance of a heavy duty construction that will boost your performance.
It comes with 3 options; a 3-layer filter dry, a 5-layer filter oiled, and a 7-layer filter oiled.
If you live in the desert or an environment that gets lots of particles in the air, we recommend getting a higher filter just in case. The air-box has openings but they include a plug if you wish to close it off. You can bank on a slight improvement in mpg, a better throttle sound, and a better response when you punch the gas. Among all listed intakes this is one of the easiest to install.
Airaid uses a dry air filter in their cold air intake kit. This model is one of the more expensive options, but it has some very satisfied customers.
With a dry filter, you don’t have to worry as much about cleaning and maintenance and that’s always a big plus. Included in the kit are clamps, heat shield, filter, and the body.
Their filter IS washable, which isn’t always the case when it comes to dry filtration. One of the best parts about buying from Airaid is their products are made in the USA and their filters are covered by a lifetime warranty.
Looking for a budget option air intake? This Spectre Performance kit is the most affordable one we could find.
It’s a simple design with a thinner shield than most, but it’s not going to cost as much. You’ll have all the necessary hardware included to make this fit snugly on your Jeep JK.
It doesn’t have the same thick housing or construction as the others we featured, but if you’re planning on a performance upgrade and want to save some cash – this could be your pick. Installation should take half an hour to an hour.
What's the difference between a dry and an oiled air filter?
Oiled air filters are usually able to pull more air compared to their dry counterparts. Dry air filters aren’t reusable in most cases, but their plus side is that they don’t require as much maintenance.
The stock air filter in your car is almost always going to be dry because of the reliability of this filter type.
Oiled filters can be a pain in the butt to clean, and you have to re-oil them after. After all that, you’ve got to let it dry. Some people that run oiled filters have two for this reason. One ready to use when they have to pull out the other one for a cleaning.
Do you need a cold air intake for your Jeep Wrangler?
My biggest knock on a cold air intake is that if you’re using a Jeep – chances are you’re going to go offroading or get into some water. If you plan on doing that EVER then do not get an intake.
It is more likely to suck up the water and your engine could turn into toast real quick. Even snow, accumulated in the wrong area of your engine bay could lead to problems.
They get their name because cold air intakes are designed to take air away from the path of the stock filter, which may be at a higher temperature. So relative to the air they would be grabbing, it’s “cooler”.
The air isn’t actually cold and there is nothing in an intake that is going to magically turn down the air temperature. There are advantages and disadvantages to a cold air intake.
One of the main disadvantages of an open filter is if you off road an intake will open you up to potential water damage susceptibility if you ever plan on going through high water. Plan on doing that often? In that case look into getting a snorkel for your Jeep.
If you’re looking for a slight performance increase or you just like the look of a cold air intake, you’re not alone. They are visually appealing and it’s one of the easiest performance enhancing mods that a car owner can install.
If you’ve done your homework you know that it has positives and negatives(if you offroad often), but if you’re aware of that it can be a great addition to a vehicle.
With a high-performance kit, you will see increases in throttle response(when you hit the gas) and power overall. If you do install one of these and you want a more beastly sound, an upgrade to your exhaust should be next on the list.