Dyno video of new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 before and after the installation of cold air intake and catback exhaust system yields disappointing results.
There are plenty of people in the automotive world who will insist that a cold air intake and catback exhaust don’t do much in terms of adding performance. This week’s Dyno Blast Wednesday feature supports those who question the usefulness of those simple modifications.
The first video shows the new Camaro ZL1 making a dyno run in factory stock form. As it came off of the assembly line, this supercharged Chevy muscle car laid down 570 horsepower and 545lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Mind you, the new ZL1 is rated as having 650 horsepower and 650lb-ft of torque at the crankshaft, so those wheel numbers point to a drivetrain loss ratio of about 12%. Considering that this Camaro has a manual transmission, that 12% loss seems reasonable, as do the wheel power numbers.
Next, the owner added a cold air intake and a catback exhaust system to his new Camaro ZL1 before making another trip to the dyno shop. With the freer flowing intake and exhaust, the Camaro which made 570/545 stock saw an increase in power – to 575 horsepower and 545lb-ft of torque.
In other words, this Camaro ZL1 gained 5 horsepower at the wheels from a cold air intake and a catback exhaust system, but there are more variables at work here. Most notably, the temperature for the stock runs was 49 degrees but when the Camaro owner went back with the intake and exhaust, the temperature was in the low 70s. That hotter air should lead to lower power numbers, so if the temps had been the same, we would have likely seen bigger gains from the new intake and exhaust system.
Next, it is safe to assume that this Camaro ZL1 has not been tuned to make the most of that added air flow. Simply tuning a ZL1 over stock will yield more than 5 extra wheel horsepower, so adding an intake, exhaust system and a tune will yield real gains. However, as we see in these videos, adding an intake and catback setup without tuning the engine leads to almost no power increases – especially with the difference in temperatures.
Fortunately, even without impressive gains, this Camaro ZL1 sounds fantastic on the rollers so crank up your speakers and enjoy!
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
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