A little intake help please

silver2v · Jun 23, 2010

I've got a 2002 Gt that is bone stock except for 2 chamber flows. Now I want to get a new air intake but i'm not sure which one. I like the JLT Ram Air but I have heard that for nearly stock cars it will cause them to run lean. Is this so? Also give me your thoughts on any other Cold Air/Ram air kits please.

N8Dogg98 · Jun 23, 2010

Save your money CAI's are worthless. THey are for show only. Remove the air silencer and get a K&N drop in instead. Use the money you didn't have to spend on the CAI to get yourself a set of 4.10's, a handheld tuner, or a nice midpipe.

03_TrueBlue_GT · Jun 23, 2010

^^
I agree getting a CAI should be the least of your worries, Id go with some 3.73 gears or 4.10's and a handheld tuner....

Have fun with the car though!

Stumbaugh · Jun 24, 2010

I have a JLT cold air kit on mine, not the ram air kit. I noticed a gain on mine, plus, plus it looks sick. Mine did not run lean at all. The fenderwell JLT is a pain in the butt to install, but it was worth it. The only way I would use an intake such as the ram air intake is if it has a heat shield to block the engine heat. The main reason I went with the fenderwell style was because the fact that it's sucking in air from outside. It can suck driving in the rain if you are not careful tho.

IMO, I would go ahead and purchase the Fenderwell cold air intake from JLT. They are the best IMO.

Deleted member 38176 · Jun 24, 2010

I have a K&N FIPK and it is awesome.....but I'd much rather prefer a JLT system. JLT FTW! Get the JLT and dont look back.

GettinThere · Jun 24, 2010

N8Dogg98 said:
Save your money CAI's are worthless. THey are for show only. Remove the air silencer and get a K&N drop in instead. Use the money you didn't have to spend on the CAI to get yourself a set of 4.10's, a handheld tuner, AND a nice midpipe.

+1 corrected

03_TrueBlue_GT said:
^^
I agree getting a CAI should be the least of your worries, Id go with some 4.10's and a handheld tuner....

also corrected

BetterBaGT · Jun 25, 2010

N8Dogg98 said:
Save your money CAI's are worthless.

Really? I wouldn't say worthless. They do exist for some reason. Better/more air flow increases HP and efficiency of the engine. Far from worthless if you ask me. Now I'm not saying you should spend a bunch of money on one, but a basic intake is worth it in my opinion.

N8Dogg98 · Jun 25, 2010

If you want to spend 200-300 dollars on 2-3 HP that's fine, but to me that's worthless when there are many other mods for similar money that will provide much better results.

If you spend that money on a tuner, gears, or a mid-pipe you'll get much more bang for your buck.

Someone on here a couple years ago did a dyno comparison between the stock intake, a chrome CAI, and a plastic CAI and found that the chrome CAI actually lost power over stock (likely due to heat soak) and the plastic CAI added maybe 2-3 HP. They are mostly for show. Your best bet is to spend that money elsewhere, remove the factory air silencer, and get a K&N drop in.

mransr · Jun 25, 2010

that may be your best bet, but not everybody's

I picked up a used C&L and got a very pleasant (and very surprising) SOTP improvement over just the K&N drop in...I do agree that the price of most nice CAI is too high, but just leaving 3-5 HP (more or less) "on the table" doesn't seem like a very good idea either...

I'd definitely avoid the chrome ebay ones though

N8Dogg98 · Jun 25, 2010

mransr said:
that may be your best bet, but not everybody's

I picked up a used C&L and got a very pleasant (and very surprising) SOTP improvement over just the K&N drop in...I do agree that the price of most nice CAI is too high, but just leaving 3-5 HP (more or less) "on the table" doesn't seem like a very good idea either...

I'd definitely avoid the chrome ebay ones though

+1, all I am saying is most people on this site will agree that if they had to choose from spending $300 on a tuner, gears, CAI, or a midpipe, the CAI would be the last item on the list.

1fun281 · Jun 25, 2010

The CAI is just a support mod, It will greatly help you down the road one day when your motor has alot more mods to it, like tb/plenum/cams/injectors/with offroad midpipe, gears and a tune, and a JLT ram air intake, you have yourself a 12 second mustang!

streethorse · Jun 25, 2010

$50. CAI - K&N drop in .... remove snorkle..... done.

BetterBaGT · Jun 25, 2010

N8Dogg98 said:
Someone on here a couple years ago did a dyno comparison between the stock intake, a chrome CAI, and a plastic CAI and found that the chrome CAI actually lost power over stock (likely due to heat soak) and the plastic CAI added maybe 2-3 HP.

You sure about this? Sounds kind of fishy. I've always heard it adds 10-15 HP depending on the brand. Plus the other mods that you have on your engine will affect this as well.

BurningRubber · Jun 25, 2010

10-15hp is the manufacturers claim. That claim is often based on a test they ran on a built motor that would benefit greatly from a single mod over the stock part.

Manufacturers claims are a joke most of the time until you get into the big money parts.

N8Dogg98 · Jun 26, 2010

If the manufacturers claims were true, I would have gained 14 HP from the MAC CAI, 18 HP from the MAC o/r h-pipe, 12 HP from the MAC cat-back, 10 HP from the UD pulleys, 10 HP from the professional products plenum, and of course the additional 30 HP from the PI cams and intake.

For a grand total of 94 HP!

not likely....

flstang65 · Jun 26, 2010

+1 on removing the air silencer and dropping in a K&N.

Midnight2V · Jun 26, 2010

Here's the thing, most of the bolt on intake items worked pretty good on the old 5.0. The parts developed a reputation before the 4.6 ever arrived. In order for the 4.6 to hit the same power as the 5.0, Ford gave it a free breathing intake system all the way to the throttle body.

The 5.0 at 302CID got a 65mm maf and a 55 mm TB. The 4.6 got a 80mm maf and a 65mm TB. These factory sizes were necessary to release the 4.6 and claim similar power to the 5 liter.

With stock heads and cams, a 4.6 CANNOT move enough air for the filter, maf, or TB to cause a restriction.....no matter how many articles the magazines print and no matter how many butt dynos are performed. Every CONTROLLED test of a stock engine CAI compared to oem has shown no gain beyond the margin of error of the dyno itself.

Once you tackle the real restriction in the engine - the heads and cams and to a slightly lesser extent the intake/exhaust manifolds - the little things will be worth significantly more power. Unless you do the big things first - specifically heads and cams, intake tract items are wasted money. It's as simple as that.

N8Dogg98 · Jun 28, 2010

Midnight2V said:
Here's the thing, most of the bolt on intake items worked pretty good on the old 5.0. The parts developed a reputation before the 4.6 ever arrived. In order for the 4.6 to hit the same power as the 5.0, Ford gave it a free breathing intake system all the way to the throttle body.

The 5.0 at 302CID got a 65mm maf and a 55 mm TB. The 4.6 got a 80mm maf and a 65mm TB. These factory sizes were necessary to release the 4.6 and claim similar power to the 5 liter.

With stock heads and cams, a 4.6 CANNOT move enough air for the filter, maf, or TB to cause a restriction.....no matter how many articles the magazines print and no matter how many butt dynos are performed. Every CONTROLLED test of a stock engine CAI compared to oem has shown no gain beyond the margin of error of the dyno itself.

Once you tackle the real restriction in the engine - the heads and cams and to a slightly lesser extent the intake/exhaust manifolds - the little things will be worth significantly more power. Unless you do the big things first - specifically heads and cams, intake tract items are wasted money. It's as simple as that.

+1, With a built motor (ported heads, nice set of cams, larger plenum, 70 or 75mm throttle body, full exhaust including LT headers) your stock intake tube/MAF is still not much of a restriction. Best case scenario, you gain 5 - 10 HP with a CAI on a fully built motor.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, spend your money elsewhere. If/when you do add ported heads/cams/full exhaust, you can then go back and get a CAI.

It really is too bad the advertised HP gains are false... would be nice to just add them up... wouldn't cost more than $1,200 bucks to be over 300 RWHP

trombonedemon · Jun 28, 2010

26 dollar CAI from ebay FTMFW, tape that bad boy up w/heat resistant tape and there you go, no more "heat soak," you have to make your own heat shield though, plastic drawer from Walmart 5 bucks, if you must have a CAI.

joshjwc9 · Jun 28, 2010

I am on the side of just getting a K&N until you are sick of looking at the stock intake tube and after you have a midpipe/catback/TB & Plenum. That's what I did, but between the stock tube and my current Steeda CAI, intake temps actually decreased, so the heat soak arguement is BS.

A little intake help please

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