Best CAI?
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walter
Founding Member
It has been said before if you gotta get a cold air intake make sure you get a tune or you won't get hardly any effect from it. That said if you insist on keeping the car stock there are kits out there that can be upgraded later in case you change your mind. I believe the Roush CAI (which I think is manufactured by someone else I'm not sure who) has a restrictor inside that can be removed if you decide to get the car tuned and gain more power.
'08GTcaRED
New Member
C&L also has a 'no tune' insert. The intake will cost you about 400$. Roush I'm assuming is about the same...honestly just save your money and wait til you can get a tuner with it...
JLT is the best CAI for mustangs, just do research. Everyone will tell you what they think or what they have is the best. Do the research and it will show that JLT will give you the most horsepower. It does require a tune, but you might as well do it right the first time. When I first got my mustang I didnt have alot of money and I was just gonna get the JLT but I ended up saving a little more and got a color matched JLT with SCT tuner. The tuner will also come in handy a lot along the way with other parts down the road. Worth the little extra money. Now there are a lot of good CAI out there so its up to you on money you want spent and your plans down the road. C&L is good, roush is good but definately wont give you as much as a aftermarket one, steeda has been pretty good. Just research a lot before you buy.
jlttruecoldair.com
Also this is my opinion but I think the JLT looks a lot better than the rest. But that is my opinion..
JLT claims up to 32 horsepower gains with a tune. Mine without a custom tune and running on regular gas I got over 20 and with the custom tune on regular gas im getting almost 30
jlttruecoldair.com
Also this is my opinion but I think the JLT looks a lot better than the rest. But that is my opinion..
JLT claims up to 32 horsepower gains with a tune. Mine without a custom tune and running on regular gas I got over 20 and with the custom tune on regular gas im getting almost 30
'08GTcaRED
New Member
Yes it will void it. However if you have the dealership install the part(not one that requires a tune obviously) they have to honor the warranty as if that part was stock on the car when you bought it. That's if you want to pay 80+$ an hour for install to keep you warranty.
With a tuner you can do lots of things yes and having that tune in your car when you go for warranty work etc. will piss them off to no end, but you can just change everything back to stock like most of us do before you go in, get the work done and then change it back when you get home...a lot of work yes, but to some worth it.
With a tuner you can do lots of things yes and having that tune in your car when you go for warranty work etc. will piss them off to no end, but you can just change everything back to stock like most of us do before you go in, get the work done and then change it back when you get home...a lot of work yes, but to some worth it.
garbledwords
Member
WMS sells a CAI that does not need a tune. Check them out. I have gotten may nice comments about it. And I know of another Stang that also has this CAI. This was one of the first mods I put and haven't had any problems with it. Although it is a bit more in terms of installations, the kit is complete and the instructions were reasonable good.
NastyStang113
New Member
The best cold air intakes out there are the C&L Racer and JLT, IMO.. The C&L is definitely a higher quality and costs more to manufacture so realize that when you are shopping.
Now as far as tuning goes... If the cold air intake changes the MAF housing's size than it needs a tune. If you increase the size of the MAF tube and do not tune for it than you will run leaner. It can create a CEL but know that some times it does not. This doesn't mean you're not running lean. The C&L Racer uses a 95mm MAF tube which is much larger than stock so it needs a tune. Any cold air intake out on the market that gains any power is going to have a larger than stock MAF tube. So if you're going to spend the money on a cold air intake than you're going to need to spend the money on a programmer.
If a company advertises no tune than be skeptical. This could mean anything from that it comes with an insert that uses the stock MAF tube size or it just means the company is interesting in nothing more than a sale and doesn't care about the well being of your car. Again, running a larger MAF tube without tuning will absolutely cause the motor to run leaner. Running lean will cause detonation and like any motor, especially modular motors, detonation is what destroys motors.
As far as power, my car made 290 rwhp with a C&L Racer and VMP 93 octane mail order tune. This is a gain of about 25 rwhp but it does make a big difference in the way the car drove and feel. It feels like a Mustang! It's also worth noting that VMP Tuning dyno tuned my car after and it only made approximately 3 rwhp more than the mail order tune. Just goes to show you how well the reputable tuners can tune for these mods without ever strapping the car to a dyno.
I hope this helps everyone who is curious about this issue.
Now as far as tuning goes... If the cold air intake changes the MAF housing's size than it needs a tune. If you increase the size of the MAF tube and do not tune for it than you will run leaner. It can create a CEL but know that some times it does not. This doesn't mean you're not running lean. The C&L Racer uses a 95mm MAF tube which is much larger than stock so it needs a tune. Any cold air intake out on the market that gains any power is going to have a larger than stock MAF tube. So if you're going to spend the money on a cold air intake than you're going to need to spend the money on a programmer.
If a company advertises no tune than be skeptical. This could mean anything from that it comes with an insert that uses the stock MAF tube size or it just means the company is interesting in nothing more than a sale and doesn't care about the well being of your car. Again, running a larger MAF tube without tuning will absolutely cause the motor to run leaner. Running lean will cause detonation and like any motor, especially modular motors, detonation is what destroys motors.
As far as power, my car made 290 rwhp with a C&L Racer and VMP 93 octane mail order tune. This is a gain of about 25 rwhp but it does make a big difference in the way the car drove and feel. It feels like a Mustang! It's also worth noting that VMP Tuning dyno tuned my car after and it only made approximately 3 rwhp more than the mail order tune. Just goes to show you how well the reputable tuners can tune for these mods without ever strapping the car to a dyno.
I hope this helps everyone who is curious about this issue.
This does help at least I know I will have to get a tune. I am having a Borla Catback stinger exhaust installed on my 2010 GT with Track Pac. Some moron was on his cell phone texting and rear ended me at a light. In any case the impact bent the stock pipe on the rear left side, so in addition to replacing the bumper, bumper cover, and reinforcing bar. they are replacing the stock system with a Borla. I am going to install a CAI now that the car will have a less restrictive exhaust, and I have been looking at the Steeda and C&L. Both use the existing ram opening in the front bumper and both dont require the relocation of the power steering reservoir. I am leaning towards the Steeda however. My question to the forum is about tuning. Both CAI's can be purchased with an SCT tuner with BAMA tunes. My other option is to take the car to a local tuner who does reallyu good work and have them do it. What would you recommend, the canned tunes or having one performed on a dyno?
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