If you’re thinking about upgrading your car’s intake but afraid that it might void the vehicle’s warranty then you’ve come to the right place!
Adding a cold air intake will not void your vehicle’s manufacturer warranty. The Consumer Products Warranty Act ensures that vehicle warranties must still be honored even with the use of an aftermarket accessory.
Adding a cold air intake can improve the performance of your car if it has an internal combustion engine. Most modern cars don’t have wide intakes. So, they’re not able to fully saturate fuel as it enters the combustion chamber.
By modifying its intake, you’re able to get more air in there, increasing your engine’s power. You’re only going to notice a bit of an increase if you upgrade its intake. Without changing anything else, most cars encounter other limitations.
A lot of modern cars also have limited fuel injectors if you’re still using stock parts!
Will a Cold Air Intake Void a Warranty?
You can get a new intake without voiding your car’s warranty. Anyone that has a new car can put a cold air intake on it without a problem. You can still put them on a used car if it has a valid warranty anyway, too.
Congress passed the Magnuson-Moss act back in the 1970s to protect consumers. Some of them had warranty problems after they had installed aftermarket parts.
This made it impossible for them to void a warranty unless they could prove what caused any damage. So, you can still make warranty claims if you’ve put aftermarket parts on your car because of this act.
Adding a cold air intake can improve the engine’s airflow if it still has the stock one installed. Whatever they have on their intake when they’re first made doesn’t let enough airflow into them.
Using a cold air intake can also increase your car’s horsepower. By changing the air’s temperature as it’s entering the engine, it contains more oxygen.
You can fit more oxygen into a given volume if you’re able to lower the air’s temp. That’s because air begins to condense as it gets colder.
Another reason a lot of drivers seem to love them is the way they make driving sound after you’ve installed one. Opening up the car’s intake can give the engine a deep, rich tone that’s hard to match with a stock model.
It can even make the car sound louder if you’re able to find an aftermarket part that has a shorter pipe. The shorter you’re able to make it, the louder the car will sound.
The best thing is how none of this does anything to your warranty. K&N has a ton of models, so you can find one that fits your car.
Driving with a cold air intake might help you improve the fuel economy of your car, too. Since they’re able to get more oxygen into the engine, more fuel combusts. So, you won’t waste as much of it.
What Modifications Void a Warranty?
Generally speaking, you can’t void your warranty by modifying your car. The way the law is written states that manufacturers must prove the cause of damage to void a warranty.
You do have to follow a few emissions laws if you’re trying to modify your car, though! For example, you can’t straight pipe your car if you’d like to legally drive it on public roads.
Doing anything to a car’s catalytic converter would void its warranty and break the law. So, figure out where it is by looking in the manual and don’t touch it.
The only other way you’d void the warranty by adding a mod is by putting too much stress on your drivetrain. There are tons of mods that you can install on your car that will increase its power. But, each of them will add a little more stress to the car’s drivetrain, too.
Putting too much stress on it would damage it in a way that’s really easy for the manufacturer to prove. So, you wouldn’t be able to make a warranty claim if this happened to you.
Anything that modifies the odometer of your car will also void its warranty. You can’t modify its odometer unless you’re replacing the whole engine.
Don’t put the wrong fluids in your car when you’re servicing it unless you’re willing to lose coverage. A lot of carmakers put a clause in their warranties, specifying which fluids you’ve got to use.
What Modifications Do Not Void a Warranty?
You can put a ton of mods on your car without voiding its warranty. Most of them enhance its power output and efficiency, so they’re worthwhile investments.
Obviously, installing a cold air intake can boost your car’s horsepower without issue.
You can also add a high-flow air filter, to further enhance the intake’s effect. Adding one of them to the car’s intake would let more air enter the engine and decrease its resistance.
Try finding a cold air intake that’s designed to utilize laminar flow, too. The air will begin to flow in parallel as it’s passing through your filter. That’s able to decrease both resistance and friction.
Drilling a few holes into a car’s muffler can make it sound louder. That’s not going to void its warranty, and it’s a legal modification!
Lowering your suspension can make it feel like you’re hugging the ground. Don’t lower the car too much, or it will be tough to go over speed bumps.
We’ve always loved upgrading a car’s AV system if we’re planning to use it as a daily driver. Nothing feels better than blasting your favorite songs when you have a car, filled to the brim with subs.
A lot of people enjoy how it looks when they’ve installed neon lighting on the bottom of their cars. You’ll have to learn how to hook them up to your car’s electrical system if you’d like to do everything yourself. Hire a technician if you’re short on time. It’s not too expensive.
You can also put a camera on the tailgate to make driving the car in reverse a lot easier. Installing a rearview camera has a ton of benefits if your car doesn’t have one of them already. Whenever you’re trying to pull into a tight parking spot, an alert sounds if you get too close to something.
Putting a spoiler on your car can improve its handling by increasing how much pressure the air puts on it. The pressure travels through the car and into its wheels, making them grip the ground better.
A ton of people have been tuning their cars, too. This doesn’t change your car’s appearance at all, but it can make a big difference in performance.
Tuning a car reprograms its ECU. That can change how much fuel it uses during each of the piston’s rotations. It can also change the piston’s timing. You can really change nearly any aspect of the car’s timing change if you’ve got a tuner and the knowledge.
A skilled tuner can improve a car’s HP by simply plugging a small, handheld device into its OBII port. They’ll download a new tuning program after they’ve had it plugged in for just a few minutes.
