Best intake manifold for a stockish engine?

Personally, I think that lifters and pushrods are a waste of money at this point. I'd put that money towards something that will actually improve your performance.

As far as a manifold goes, I'd recommend a Cobra or GT40. On my friends otherwise bone stock 88 Saleen, he picked up 23 dyno-proven horsepower with nothing except a Cobra intake swap. The Cobra, Explorer and GT40 are all essentially identical in performance.

Or a edelbrock performer. Whatever you can pick up for a reasonable price out of those options would be fine.

I concur with all of the above, but would also add that the BBK intake is supposed to target the same rpm range that the others mentioned to, and would be a good match as well.

Explorer intake.

95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.

94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a flange adapter to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1 *2

*1.) Metal flange adapter Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports, Inc. KKM Buy the TR70 for $44.95. Or spend some time on eBay looking for one that may fit.
Try AutoZone and ask for 81413 - Spectre / 3 in. Aluminum Intake Mass Air Flow Sensor Adapter at $12.00. You may have to order it online.

*2.) MAF & sensor interchange
The 94-95 Mustang 5.0 MAF & sensor is also found on:
1995-94 Mustang 3.8L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Crown Victoria 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1995-94 Mustang, Mustang Cobra 5.0L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Town Car 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Grand Marquis 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
Evidently the –A1A, -A2A, AA, etc. on the end of the part number is a minor variant that did not change the operating specs. You should be able to ignore it and have everything work good.

the new cobra intakes are junk go with trick flow or edelbrock, or a older "real" cobra intake (I.e the us made ones)

I have a trick flow and felt a big difference

50specialist said:

Explorer intake.

Click to expand...

I agree.I got mine a couple of years ago ,and after the install,there was an actual difference you could feel.I converted the Explorer 65mm t-body for the Fox body setup.

Nice! I installed one also with Explorer 65mm TB and 65mm EGR spacer from Professional Products. Woke up my stang. I also installed the Explorer injectors, since the ones that came with the intake were also 19 pounds.

I used the skinny Explorer injectors as well.It was a great upgrade for cheap that actually made a difference.

Yup. They atomize the fuel a lot better. In fact, after completing the swap, my exhaust fumes are not even half has potent as they used to be with the stock intake and fuel injectors.