Cold Air Intake Article in TDR Issue 59

[gfresh]

Like a kid on Christmas morning, I installed my S & B Cold Air Intake system last Sunday. I was a little puzzled by the gaping hole in the bottom of it (not shown on their website photos), but I'm not an engineer, figured this must be a well designed system, and thought little more of it. On Monday, I got my first ever issue of TDR magazine. Tonight I was not happy to "learn" about the limitations of after market intake systems (see pages 130 to 134) and the cold air advantages of the OEM system that now sits in a box in the basement. After reading the article I was beating myself up for getting duped into buying something that will actually decrease the performance of my truck significantly in the mountainous region I live in.

Then I read it again and realized it's an article in the "product showcase" section, written by someone who makes alternatives to the typical aftermarket cold air intakes. Though much of it sounded quite logical and perhaps even balanced, I'm now really confused and thinking "bias" may or may not be a problem in that particular section. I had just read Jim Anderson's article on pages 111 to 112, "Quest for Power" that sounded sensible and confirmed to me that an air intake was a proper step in the upgrade journey.

So here are 3 questions:

1 - What is the truth on after market "cold air intakes" with gaping holes in the bottom of the filter boxes for sucking, presumably, warm air out of the engine compartment?

2 - Has anyone modified their OEM or after market box with a snorkel for picking up air from under the truck?

3- Should I be careful with what I read in the Product Showcase section?