Cold air intake 1990 GT

The first bottle neck in a fully stock 90 GT is not the factory air filter or box. The first bottle neck restricting performance is the stock 55mm MAF.

Remove the air silencer inside the inner fender that attaches to the stock air box.
Then, install a K&N or similar air filter.

I had a cold air intake that ran into the fender. Just take out that big black plug in the fender well. Then you put a cone filter on the end of it through the hole from the original intake box. Its a little tight, but doable. Never take in hot engine air again! In terms of performance, taking in cold air vs hot air is a no brainer!!! Cold air = HP.

gkomo said:

Piggybacking on this thread: Is a K&N really that much better than a stock filter? I only ask because (and its major apples to oranges) but on my Tacoma and 4runner there isn't much, if any gain on using a 'performance' filter, only the addition of potentially fouling up the MAF sensor with filter lube or whatever.

My Fox currently has the OEM airbox with a K&N, was just curious.

Click to expand...

I used the TRD filter on my 2011 Tacoma, which is a K&N style filter that you spray with oil. It took a long time, but I had the MAF sensor fail (probably about 70k miles after installing the filter, with about 100k total miles on the truck). The mechanic at my local Toyota dealer said it was most likely the filter oil that caused the failure. He said the MAF's can last a lot longer than 100k miles.

Take that for what it's worth, which may be nothing

BrightVa said:

I used the TRD filter on my 2011 Tacoma, which is a K&N style filter that you spray with oil. It took a long time, but I had the MAF sensor fail (probably about 70k miles after installing the filter, with about 100k total miles on the truck). The mechanic at my local Toyota dealer said it was most likely the filter oil that caused the failure. He said the MAF's can last a lot longer than 100k miles.

Take that for what it's worth, which may be nothing

Click to expand...

I got 253k on my 2004 v8 4Runner so I can attest they can last a lot longer lol

For the stang tho, I was just curious. I’ll keep running the stock air box with K&N and just keep an eye on the oil on the MAF. I don’t see myself buying an aftermarket intake (at my current power levels at least).

When I clean the K&N on the cold air setup on my Coupe I remove the MAF sensor and clean it with MAF sensor cleaner. Never have an issue.

The factory air intake is a cold air intake so just put in a quality filter. There is also a factory silencer you can remove to help increase airflow but don't toss it, store it somewhere. I wish I would've kept my stock intake.

Functional Ram Air ...

KRUISR said:

Functional Ram Air ...

Click to expand...

That's cool. Did you have any before or after numbers in HP?

On a stock setup, a K&N is probably worth a few hp. Holdener's book showed that, back in the day.

I would only address upgrading the CAI as package with the intake, Throttle Body, & MAF. And, if you don't have the means to tune it yourself, replacing the MAF should be done with the injectors so you can get one that is properly calibrated to them. And, the injectors should be sized to the power you expect from your final combo's power rating.

Back to CAIs, I like the AFM power pipes, but they're pricey. The Old March boxes were cool, with or without ram air. I think the best setup would be one that runs as straight as possible from the TB to the stock air box mounting location.