Best 2025 Ram 1500 Hurricane TT Cold Air Intakes: Guide

The 2025 Ram 1500 walked away from the V8 era and showed up with the new Hurricane 3.0L Twin-Turbo inline-six — 420 hp standard, 540 hp in HO trim for the RHO. It is a boosted engine, not a naturally aspirated one, and that changes how a cold air intake earns its keep. A well-engineered intake on the Hurricane TT keeps inlet air temperatures (IAT) lower under sustained boost, drops restriction across the airbox and tube, and lets the engine pull more aggressive timing before knock control intervenes. At NLP Performance in Tampa, FL, we have sold every kit on this list and seen the install reports come back. Below are the five best cold air intakes for the 2025 Ram 1500 Hurricane TT, ranked by value, performance, and fitment for both the standard 420 hp truck and the 540 hp RHO.

Why a Cold Air Intake Matters on the Hurricane Twin-Turbo

The 2025 Ram 1500's Hurricane 3.0L is a force-induction six. Two low-inertia turbos hit positive boost before 1,500 rpm, which means the engine is dependent on a clean, dense, cool air charge at almost every part of the rpm range. The factory airbox is restrictive by design — Stellantis prioritizes induction noise damping and a fixed service interval over peak flow. Independent flow-bench testing on the OE 50-series airbox shows a measurable drop in CFM above 4,500 rpm, which is exactly where the Hurricane is asking for the most air to feed its twin-scroll turbos.

A properly engineered cold air intake addresses three things at once on this platform. First, it removes a series of OE pressure drops — tract diameter changes, internal baffles, and the small-opening conical inlet on the factory filter housing. Second, it relocates the filter behind a sealed heat shield or into the fender well so the turbos are pulling cooler ambient air instead of recirculated under-hood air. Third, the larger filter media area extends service life and reduces the rate of filter restriction over time, which keeps the intake gain consistent at the 5,000-mile and 10,000-mile marks instead of trailing off.

The 5 Best 2025 Ram 1500 Hurricane TT Cold Air Intakes

1. K&N Gen 3 Performance Intake System — Best Value

K&N's 57 Series Gen 3 is the rare aftermarket intake that hits every box at the entry price point. The kit retains the factory heat shield orientation, uses K&N's 5.5-inch tapered High-Flow cotton-gauze filter (RU-1028 element), and the molded polyethylene tube swaps in with the factory clamps. K&N rates it for a 50%-better airflow score over the OE tract, and our customers running the kit on stock-tune trucks report a noticeable on-throttle response improvement below 3,000 rpm — right where the Hurricane needs to spool both turbos quickly. The washable filter element pays for itself: one cleaning cycle every 100,000 miles instead of a replaceable paper element every 30,000 miles.

2. aFe Momentum GT with Pro 5R Filter — Best All-Around

aFe's Momentum GT is the most popular full-housing intake we ship for the new Ram. It replaces the entire factory airbox with a sealed one-piece housing — rotomolded for high heat resistance — and routes through a large-diameter mass airflow tube into the turbo inlet. The Pro 5R variant uses aFe's 5-layer oiled cotton media for higher peak flow than the dry option. aFe publishes a 49% airflow improvement over the OE intake and a 1.3 horsepower-per-cubic-foot-per-minute conversion on flow gains.

3. aFe Momentum GT with Pro DRY S — Best for Daily Drivers

Same Momentum GT housing as the Pro 5R, but with aFe's 3-layer Pro DRY S synthetic media instead of oiled cotton. The dry filter is the right call for a Hurricane TT that lives as a daily driver or work truck — no risk of oiling the mass airflow sensor at service time, no recharge kit to buy, and the cleaning interval is "shake out, vacuum, or low-pressure air blow" every 25,000 miles. You give up roughly 3% peak flow vs. the Pro 5R, which is irrelevant under 90% load but matters on a tuned dyno pull. For 95% of buyers, the Dry S is the smarter long-term choice.

4. aFe Magnum FORCE Stage-2 Pro DRY S (RHO) — Best for the 540 hp HO Engine

The RHO is a different engine than the standard Hurricane TT. Higher peak boost, larger turbo housings, and a calibration that asks for more air at every part of the band. The Momentum GT does not fit the RHO — the airbox geometry and intake tube routing are unique to the HO truck. The Magnum FORCE Stage-2 is aFe's RHO-specific answer: a sealed Stage-2 housing with a 360-degree Pro DRY S synthetic media filter, large-radius aluminum intake tube, and direct fitment for the OE air horn. Independent shop dyno results we have seen on the RHO put gains in the 11-14 wheel horsepower range on stock tune, with bigger numbers behind a flash.

5. aFe Track Series Carbon Fiber (RHO) — Best Premium

aFe's Track Series is the flagship for the RHO. The housing is hand-laid 2x2 twill carbon fiber, the intake tube is a CNC-mandrel-bent aluminum runner finished to a polished texture, and the filter is the same Pro DRY S 360-degree element used on the Stage-2. The carbon-fiber housing is not just for looks — carbon fiber has a 10x lower thermal conductivity than aluminum, which keeps the housing wall closer to ambient and the air charge cooler at long-duration heat soak (think towing a trailer up I-75 in August). It is the most expensive intake on this list and it is the one you buy when the build is heading toward 600+ wheel horsepower or when you want the show-quality finish under the hood.

2025 Ram 1500 Hurricane TT Intake Comparison Table

Rows are products, columns are the three attributes that matter most for buying decisions. Both the product name and the price link straight to the product page in our Tampa shop.

How to Choose: Standard Hurricane TT vs. RHO HO

The first decision is the engine variant in your truck. The standard 420 hp Hurricane TT (in trims like the Big Horn, Laramie, and Limited) accepts the K&N Gen 3 and the aFe Momentum GT family. The RHO — the 540 hp performance trim that replaced the TRX in the Ram lineup — needs an RHO-specific intake because Stellantis routes the air horn and airbox differently to feed the higher-output turbos. Putting a non-RHO Momentum GT on an RHO truck will not work; the housing physically does not fit and the calibration will throw codes.

Within the standard TT family, the choice between the K&N and the aFe kits comes down to two things. If the truck is a daily driver and you want the simplest, cheapest reliable upgrade, the K&N Gen 3 is the right call — the retained heat shield handles 90% of the work for less money. If the truck sees boost regularly — trailer hauling, hot ambient temperatures, towing in Florida summers — the sealed aFe Momentum GT housing is worth the $75 premium because it isolates the filter from radiant under-hood heat that the OE-style shield cannot fully block.

Within the RHO family, both options are excellent. The Stage-2 aluminum housing delivers the same airflow numbers as the Track Series; the carbon fiber upgrade is about thermal stability under sustained load and the appearance of a finished engine bay. If you tow heavy or live somewhere hot, the Track Series carbon housing earns its premium. If the RHO is a weekend truck, the Stage-2 is plenty.

Installation: What to Expect on the 2025 Ram 1500

Every kit on this list installs in 45 to 75 minutes with basic hand tools — a flat screwdriver, an 8 mm socket, a 10 mm socket, and a Phillips driver. The Hurricane TT's stock intake exits the airbox into a flexible accordion tube that disconnects with two spring clamps. The factory MAF sensor lives on a small bracket and re-clips into all five intake kits in the same orientation. No tuning is required for the K&N and the standard-TT aFe Momentum GT options — the factory PCM accepts the higher flow without re-flash.

On the RHO, the factory PCM also accepts these intakes without a re-flash, but customers running an aftermarket tune (HP Tuners, DiabloSport, or the Stellantis Direct Connection RHO calibration) will see the biggest gains. Across all kits, allow an extra 15 minutes if you have never disconnected an OE airbox before — the top retention clip on the Hurricane airbox sits behind the cowl trim and is easy to miss on the first pass. Our Tampa shop offers shop install at appointment if you want to skip the driveway work.