It’s tough to know which aftermarket parts are legit and which are just for show. To find out, the team at K&N Filters recently staged a definitive shootout between four popular cold air intakes for the Chevy Silverado.

Hosted by Christian and K&N intake expert Bert, the test was a rigorous, data-driven competition to see which design delivered real, measurable performance. They put the K&N NextGen intake up against the stock unit, a competitor’s closed airbox, and a competitor’s open-air element in a three-part test.

The Tale of the Tape: Flow Bench and Dyno

The competition started on the flow bench, where the K&N NextGen intake immediately established its dominance by flowing 745 cfm, significantly more than the stock unit’s 527 cfm and both competitors. But as Christian noted, airflow numbers are only half the story. “Sounds like it’s time to see how these CFM numbers convert to performance.” 

“It’s dyno time,” he said. On the chassis dyno, the results were even clearer. The K&N NextGen delivered a massive 27-horsepower and 39 lb-ft of torque gain over stock. The competitor’s closed airbox made a respectable 17 horsepower but lost power at low rpm, while the open-air intake only managed a minimal six horsepower gain.

Real-World Results: Drag Strip Testing the Cold Air Intakes

With the lab tests complete, the team headed to a 1/8-mile dragstrip for a real-world showdown. To keep the test unbiased, Bert, the driver, was not told which intake was on the truck for each set of runs. The results were dramatic. While the competitor intakes shaved a tenth of a second or so off the stock truck’s 10.34-second time, the K&N NextGen blew them away. It was the only intake to break into the nine-second range, a huge improvement.

The Engineering Difference

The K&N intake won every single category, a result that Christian asked Bert to explain. “So, K&N came out on top. Can you explain why K&N is above the rest of our competitors?” Bert attributed the win to their engineering process that focuses on the entire system—the intake tube, the filter, and the airbox—and is validated by rigorous airflow and horsepower testing.

More Than Just a Filter

An effective system needs to balance airflow with protection and proper mass airflow (MAF) sensor calibration to deliver gains across the entire powerband without causing drivability issues. K&N’s decisive, data-backed victory in all three tests showed that their engineering-first approach to cold air intakes provides real, measurable results that a driver can actually feel, both on the dyno and at the track.