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The lack of a heat shield will cause a CAI to produce lower numbers with the hood closed. But since dyno runs are normally made with the hood raised and fans blowing into the engine compartment, a heat shield is not a critical component.
Last summer I performed heat soak tests on my C&L using the Predator's data logging feature. With the ambient temperature hovering around 90 F, I allowed the C&L to heat soak for 30 minutes with the engine off and the hood closed immediately after doing a long hard run. Then, with the hood still closed and the car at a standstill, I monitored the air inlet temperature, and found that it dropped at a very slow rate with the engine running at 750 rpm idle speed, and that it dropped at increasingly faster rates with increasingly faster rpms.
I then went for another hard run, and again allowed it to heat soak for 1/2 hour. But this time I monitored the air inlet temperature with the hood opened, and found that it immediately dropped like a rock with the engine running at only idle speed(750 rpm).
In addition, the Murillo dyno runs showed that the TI produced its best numbers with a 12.9-13.1 A/F ratio, which is very lean, and can possibly cause pinging during the hot summer months.(The Murillo runs were made in Nov. when temps are cooler.)