Is Your S2000 Cold Air Intake Really a Hot Air Intake?

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The cold air intake on this Honda S2000 is precariously close to heat sources. But does that make a difference?

Perhaps no other aftermarket modification remains more controversial than the cold air intake. The premise of which is pretty simple. Cold air is more dense than hot air, which means more oxygen can cram into your engine. And they also improve overall air flow. And more air equals more power, right? Well, sure. But some folks still label cold air intakes as worthless wastes of money. So for the real truth, we turn to the experts at Engineering Explained and their newly supercharged Honda S2000.

When installing the supercharger on their S2000, EE also installed a cold air intake that mounts directly to the blower. But there was just one problem. This moves the intake closer to the engine than the stock air box and places it right near the exhaust. Thus, EE wonders aloud if their cold air intake is now more of a “hot air” intake. And then, they set to find out.

Honda S2000

And they do so by using a temperature datalogger to measure temps at four different positions – the front of the car, front and back of the intake, and top of the engine. And then they take measurements when the car is cold, at various speeds, and under hard acceleration.

So how does this scientific experiment turn out? Well, it’s clear that increasing speed also decreases the temperature of the air coming into the engine. But the real difference comes in hard driving. At that point, air temperatures increase a whopping 30 degrees Celsius. At which point it becomes obvious that relocating your “cold air” intake might be a good idea.

Honda S2000

Pretty fascinating stuff, indeed. And something to take into consideration if you’re looking to extract maximum power from your S2000!

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