R2C Air Intake Installed

R2C Performance Products air filters are race proven and a trusted choice with a good amount of high dollar off-road race teams and many other off-road applications. As of recent, they've broken into the cold air intake market for every day cars and trucks.

The guys over at R2C were nice enough to let me try out their newly designed system for the Raptor. Overall, the kit is nicely designed and all the included components are quality. The filter itself is oversized and pulls plenty of air.

As far as drivability and sound, I'm very pleased. I've run other companies air systems in the past and there was a noticeable sound increase through the cab but the R2C is no louder than the stock system and doesn't overpower my Black Widow exhaust. It feels like there's a nice balance of air flow between the two systems.

There are no stats on HP or torque increases with this system but there's an undoubtedly noticeable gain. From a 20 mph roll to full throttle, the 37" BFG tires break loose and unleash all the axle hop glory that these trucks are known for. Hahaaa. But really, it feels like there's some added giddy up with the system.

Check em' out for yourself. Off Road






https://vimeo.com/141605165

@Raptizzle Any update on this kit? I was researching R2C filters and just came across this, but I don't see any Ford Raptor-specific applications on the R2C website or elsewhere. I sent them an email inquiry.

Ya, any updates? [emoji848]

I did finally find via Google that Ghost Classic Performance, an authorized R2C dealer, has the Ford 6.2L specific kit for sale via their eBay store. https://www.ebay.com/itm/122009767532

The eBay listing shows it as part CAI10571. Options available by messaging the seller are polished intake tube and/or Severe-Duty Off-Road Extreme Series Filter instead of the standard Black Hex Filter.

Decided to go ahead and purchase the R2C with the optional Extreme Series filter on a whim. I was previously considering Airaid or S&B. Not sure about performance gains, but I do like that R2C designs and builds their intakes and filters in the USA with an emphasis on filtration performance plus the ability to clean using compressed air. I'll provide my impressions after receiving and installing the kit.

Intake Installed and 1st Impressions

Installed the R2C intake today. Shipping was fast. I ordered from Ghost Classic Performance via eBay and everything arrived as stated in the item description. The package was actually drop shipped directly from the manufacturer.

Instructions were pretty good. Granted, a lot of the steps force you to refer to the exploded part diagram which was a little challenging at times because certain things like fasteners and washers are very small on the diagram and it's hard to keep track of all the arrows pointing from the parts list to the actual diagram. Install took maybe 1-2 hours, but that was taking my time and triple checking everything. Although not specific in the instructions, I added blue loctite to the few fasteners that can be fully tightened immediately without leaving loose for adjustment for fitment.

Driving impressions. I can hear a wooshing sound from the exterior of the vehicle when on throttle, but I don't notice it at all when in the cab since I have MBRP turndown exhaust. The intake does add a bit of noise at WOT, but it's enjoyable and I've heard no "intake honk". Not sure about performance gains, but there maybe a slight improvement in throttle response, but that could also be placebo effect. I just tooled around town afterward, so any mpg observations will have to wait until a longer trip.

The overall construction quality is good. Almost all parts are metal except the flexible tube couplers and obvious portions of the filter. The filter is very substantial. Hexagonal metal grid reinforcement on both the interior and exterior of the filter. I went with the Severe Duty Offroad Extreme Series filter since my focus is on filtration performance. I also have the water resistant prefilter (R2C0210A83) on order direct from R2C.

Now, some maybe question the use of metal for the intake tube due to heat soak. However, based on my very minimal research the air velocity through the filter and tube quickly reaches a point that negates the temperature of the tube. Honestly, any material under the hood will absorb heat. On the flipside, the heat of the minimal CAI components will decrease faster than a more substantial intake. If your idea of performance is how much power your engine makes while your vehicle is sitting still in traffic then the factory system might be better?

My factory intake was spotless inside including the throttle body. I hope that supposed filtration performance of the R2C maintains that level of cleanliness or better. Is this upgrade worth it? From a pure performance perspective, maybe not. If you're bored and feel like blowing some money to install a quick bolt on then this ranks right up there with the best.

Last, I have SVC's tune on my engine. They do not have flow bench test results for this intake. R2C has, however, been very responsive via email and phone thus far and appears to be willing to help @svc fill in this information based on their in-house testing. Looking forward to seeing if there's any noticeable difference after my tune has been modified to take advantage of this particular intake model.

My main draw to this particular intake was that they use a dry synthetic fiber filter element that only requires compressed air for cleaning. It's also comforting to see that R2C's filter technology has been real world tested by the military and various types of on and offroad racing.

Quick morning observation. The IAT's on my short drive to work were consistent with my expectations. When stopped, the IAT quickly starts to raise to meet the engine bay temp, but quickly drops once the vehicle is in motion. Ambient air temp was about 76-78 degrees when I started work. IAT starts there got up to about 88 after start up and then dropped to 81 once moving at minimal speeds of 30-50mph. Once I got to the parking lot at work, the IAT steadily rose to 120 while stationary.

From a mpg perspective, this was the first trip I'd taken where I wasn't just romping on the throttle to test sound at different RPM's and throttle response. It was a short trip and a sample of only one, but I drove 4.2 miles in 10 min at an avg of 12.2 mpg including at least one or two aggressive accelerations. Typically, the same drive in the past has ranged between 9.6 and 11.2 mpg. I'll keep tabs on my mpg trend for my drive to work and I'll also hopefully get a longer drive in later in the week. I'll also continue to watch my IAT readings.

Last, I sent some data logs from my SCT X4 to @svc so hopefully they can fine tune my engine calibration based on that and additional input from the folks at R2C Performance.

Got 12.6 mpg this AM on the way to work (4.5 miles). Granted, it was raining so I was a bit easier on the throttle. Maybe only one moderately hard acceleration. I did not monitor IAT during the drive, but ambient temps were much cooler due to the storm this morning. Around 70 degrees. Typically the CAI seems to run ~3 degrees above ambient while moving.

R2C Filtergard prefilter arrived in the mail today and was installed after work. I should also be getting some highway miles in with cruise around ~60-75mph. I'll watch IAT and mpg and report back.

Didn't get a chance to track IAT and won't be able to for a little bit due to some other testing I'm doing with my OBD2 Bluetooth module, but I did track mpg. Based on my OBD2 module, I got 13.4 mpg one way and 15.5 mpg returning the opposite direction. About 32.5 miles each direction. The same trip before the intake was 13.2 and 15.1 mpg each direction. So, that's 14.45 combined trip mpg vs 14.15 trip mpg for a difference of .3 mpg, so a difference but nothing huge. Also, likely statistically insignificant. I will, however, continue to track my observations. Regardless, I'm happy with the sound and the Made in USA build quality. If that's the only tangibles I get, then I'm OK with that.

Last, I removed the filter to install the prefilter. The intake tube and Venturi are still clean as a whistle. I haven't driven through any heavy dust etc., but normal daily driving appears to be a non-issue as far as the intake seal and filtration performance.