If you're looking to do some upgrades to the escalade, the first thing i'd do is find a forum or a group who are knowledgable about upgrading escalades. Even without knowing anything about escalades, i can already tell you a group of them exists out there.
Secondly, find out what upgrades are the best bang for the buck, without sacrificing reliability, or if you're trying to get serious about upgrades, find out which upgrades you should do first (with a lot of cars, adding a chip requires you to already have an exhaust for full gain, certain upgrades might even require a new clutch first, new cams often require new valve-springs, etc. etc.) There's a proper sequence to upgrades to maximize your $, and someone out there already knows more than you do at any one time.
Another thing you should know is that all horsepower is not the same. For instance, exhausts and intakes generally don't increase torque, they simply allow the engine to breathe easier at higher rpm's, increasing the airflow rate, and allowing power to be created into higher rpms, which increase hp. But if the head on your escalade flows, say, 10 cfm of air, and comes from the factory with an intake and exhaust that already flow 11cfm, adding an intake and exhaust that flow 15cfm will do nothing to increase hp, since the head still can't flow any more air without compression, and not only that, higher flowing intake and exhaust decrease the velocity of air entering and leaving the engine, which decreases the power your engine can make at low rpm's, so with your 'upgrades' you actually slowed your engine down! Not only that, a lot of cars come from the factory with intakes that draw air from the from air dam of the car, which is cool, high-pressure air at the front of the engine bay, and a lot of cheap ebay 'upgrade' intakes are simply pieces of pipe that place the air filter in the engine bay, ******* in less dense 'hot' air, which ALSO decreases horsepower. A 120-odd hp 2.0 jetta comes with the exact same intake system that a 300-hp v8 s4 comes with, which is WAY more than adequate.
And the last thing i'll mention, is that all horsepower is NOT the same. Horsepower is a measure of how many times per minute a certain amount of work (torque) is being exerted on the crank, so horsepower can be increased without actually adding any extra energy inside the engine simply by removing the rev-limiter on the engine, which is often there for a reason, and most engines, a 1.8 liter 8v vw engine, for example, is already done making any real power before you hit the factory rev limiter. So say the 8v makes 100hp at 5000rpms, but it's torque curve is already past it's peak and declining rapidy, if you rev the same engine to 8000rpms, it might make 120hp, but the amount of torque is more and more disproportional to the amount of horsepower being created, so even tho 120hp is a bigger number than 100hp, the car is actually accelerating slower and slower the higher you rev it, and you would've accelerated faster simply shifting into the next gear. Another 'cheat' hp is permanently advancing the computer-controlled timing, which is supposed to be controllable by the engine's computer depending on the quality of the gasoline to prevent knock, and by increasing the quantity of gasoline injected into the cylinders, which is supposed to be controlled by the computer depending on the ambient air temperature (colder air has more oxygen) and also for emissions reasons.
Long story short, you need to learn about what upgrades make REAL horsepower, and which upgrades produce real numbers at the track, and which upgrades are really just numbers on paper. It's going to depend on your car, engine, maybe even year, the factory emissions systems, etc. etc., so i can't tell you which upgrades are worth it or not worth it, but which air intake should be the last thing you're worried about if you want to upgrade.
Secondly, find out what upgrades are the best bang for the buck, without sacrificing reliability, or if you're trying to get serious about upgrades, find out which upgrades you should do first (with a lot of cars, adding a chip requires you to already have an exhaust for full gain, certain upgrades might even require a new clutch first, new cams often require new valve-springs, etc. etc.) There's a proper sequence to upgrades to maximize your $, and someone out there already knows more than you do at any one time.
Another thing you should know is that all horsepower is not the same. For instance, exhausts and intakes generally don't increase torque, they simply allow the engine to breathe easier at higher rpm's, increasing the airflow rate, and allowing power to be created into higher rpms, which increase hp. But if the head on your escalade flows, say, 10 cfm of air, and comes from the factory with an intake and exhaust that already flow 11cfm, adding an intake and exhaust that flow 15cfm will do nothing to increase hp, since the head still can't flow any more air without compression, and not only that, higher flowing intake and exhaust decrease the velocity of air entering and leaving the engine, which decreases the power your engine can make at low rpm's, so with your 'upgrades' you actually slowed your engine down! Not only that, a lot of cars come from the factory with intakes that draw air from the from air dam of the car, which is cool, high-pressure air at the front of the engine bay, and a lot of cheap ebay 'upgrade' intakes are simply pieces of pipe that place the air filter in the engine bay, ******* in less dense 'hot' air, which ALSO decreases horsepower. A 120-odd hp 2.0 jetta comes with the exact same intake system that a 300-hp v8 s4 comes with, which is WAY more than adequate.
And the last thing i'll mention, is that all horsepower is NOT the same. Horsepower is a measure of how many times per minute a certain amount of work (torque) is being exerted on the crank, so horsepower can be increased without actually adding any extra energy inside the engine simply by removing the rev-limiter on the engine, which is often there for a reason, and most engines, a 1.8 liter 8v vw engine, for example, is already done making any real power before you hit the factory rev limiter. So say the 8v makes 100hp at 5000rpms, but it's torque curve is already past it's peak and declining rapidy, if you rev the same engine to 8000rpms, it might make 120hp, but the amount of torque is more and more disproportional to the amount of horsepower being created, so even tho 120hp is a bigger number than 100hp, the car is actually accelerating slower and slower the higher you rev it, and you would've accelerated faster simply shifting into the next gear. Another 'cheat' hp is permanently advancing the computer-controlled timing, which is supposed to be controllable by the engine's computer depending on the quality of the gasoline to prevent knock, and by increasing the quantity of gasoline injected into the cylinders, which is supposed to be controlled by the computer depending on the ambient air temperature (colder air has more oxygen) and also for emissions reasons.
Long story short, you need to learn about what upgrades make REAL horsepower, and which upgrades produce real numbers at the track, and which upgrades are really just numbers on paper. It's going to depend on your car, engine, maybe even year, the factory emissions systems, etc. etc., so i can't tell you which upgrades are worth it or not worth it, but which air intake should be the last thing you're worried about if you want to upgrade.
