6.7 Cummins Cold Air Intake Upgrade Guide

Whether you have an earlier model Cummins, or four-digits of torque, you might still be searching for additional power. Upgrading the 6.7 Cummins with a cold air intake system is one of the best performance modifications you can make.

In addition to increasing air flow and adding horsepower, a cold air intake reduces stress on the turbo, improves efficiency, provides better throttle response, and even improves gas mileage.

Our 6.7 Cummins cold air intake upgrade will cover the performance benefits of upgrading the stock intake system, differences between open and closed intakes, and provide recommendations on our favorite intake systems.

Looking for additional intake upgrades? Check out our 6.7 Cummins Intake Horn Upgrade guide.

6.7 Cummins Cold Air Intake Benefits

• 5-10whp and 20-30wtq power gains
• 1-2mpg fuel economy increases
• Significant air flow increases (30%-50%+)
• Quicker turbo spool
• Better throttle response
• Cool engine intake noises

The benefit of upgrading the 6.7 Cummins intake is in the increased air flow. More air reduces stress on the turbo which allows it to spool more quickly. Additionally, it increases the turbo efficiency which therefore increases horsepower.

Furthermore the increased efficiency and added air density result in solid 1-2 mpg fuel economy increases among other benefits like faster turbo spool and better throttle response.

When you are completely stock you should expect to get closer to 3-5whp and 10-12wtq gains. However, when tuned you can see closer to 10whp and 30wtq gains depending on the tune you are running.

Open vs. Closed Intake Systems

As the names suggest, an open intake has the air filter directly exposed to the engine bay. Closed intakes house the filter within a box, therefore protecting it from sucking in hot engine bay air. You will also see open intakes that come with heat shields. Heat shield supposedly protect the intake from the hot engine air, although we call bull on some of this.

We highly recommend open intake systems. To help you see why, here are the pro’s and con’s:

Open Intake Pro’s

• >20% more air flow than closed intakes
• Better power gains due to greater air flow
• Biggest improvement in turbo efficiency
• Usually slightly cheaper due to less materials and engineering
• Provide more cool intake noises

Open Intake Con’s

• Draws in air that is maybe 1-3 degrees warmer
  • This doesn’t really matter as the factory intercooler is strong and reduces these higher temps before the air enters the engine

Open intake systems are always our recommendation. They provide better power gains, reduce the most stress on the turbo, and sound cool. Not to mention they provide better bang-for-the-buck since they are often cheaper.

Best 6.7 Cummins Cold Air Intakes

We always recommend open intake systems because they provide the most power for the lowest price. Additionally, they reduce the most stress on the turbo and have greater impacts on turbo spool, throttle response, and so on. With that being said, there are some good closed intakes on the market if you want a quieter system. And, at the end of the day, a closed intake still provides ample performance benefits.

Here are a few of our favorite open and closed 6.7 Cummins cold air intake systems:

1) Best Open Intake: Boosted Performance

The Boosted Performance 6.7 Cummins 4″ Open Intake offers a great balance of price, quality, and performance. This intake uses an open-design for the best possible airflow and power. It features 4″ aluminum piping with mandrel bends and a clean wrinkle black finish. It also uses a quality, brand-name filter from S&B Filters.

Ultimately, the quality is there. Top that off with the fact this 6.7 Cummins intake is only $299 and it’s hard to beat the Boosted Performance 4″ intake. The only flaw is that this intake is only available for 2007.5-2018 Dodge/Ram trucks with the 6.7L diesel.

Price: $299.00 & free shipping

Buy Here: Boosted Performance 6.7 Cummins Intake (2007.5-2018)
Or Boosted Performance 2019-2024 6.7 Cummins Intake

2) Best Closed Intakes: Banks Power & S&B

If you’re opting for the quieter and slightly less powerful closed intake system, Banks Power and S&B are the two best on the market. S&B is one of the most respected names in the industry and they actually manufacture the air filters used on both GDP and WCFab intakes mentioned above. While S&B tends to focus on intakes and filters, Banks Power is well known for providing a range of diesel performance products from tunes to intercoolers and so on.

If you are looking for a closed intake system these are the only two systems we would personally consider. Both great options for those wanting a quieter intake. Despite providing less air flow and power gains these intakes are good enough for 99% of the people just looking for some slight power increases.

Cold Air Intake Upgrade Summary

Stock or tuned a cold air intake system is one of our favorite 6.7 Cummins performance mods. When tuned it can provide up to 10whp and 30wtq power gains. In addition to power gains, an upgraded intake also reduces turbo stress, improves efficiency, increases gas mileage by 1-2mpg, and makes for better engine responsiveness. Outside of the 10whp and 30wtq peak power gains, an intake also has greater increases on low-end power making it an awesome mod for towing and acceleration.

Open intakes are the way to go unless you really want less noise. Open intakes usually flow about 20% better than closed intakes, and 50% better than the stock intake. Therefore power gains are better on open intakes and they are also usually a bit less expensive as well providing better bang-for-the-buck.