What is the difference between the 2? Example: C&L - they do not come with electronics so basically it's just a meter with a sampling tube. So why couldn't you use am 02 85mm on and 01 stang?
Different electronics. The 01 electronics will physically not fit into the opening on an 02+ MAF. In 02, besides moving to an 85mm MAF, they added a incoming air temp sensor, so the electronics, wiring, etc are different.
Back to stock. The C&L simply tricks the computer and leans the motor out. I was already quite lean with my SCT dyno tuned chip and I feared the MAF was aggravating the issue, so better safe than sorry for now...live and learn.
My wife's 01 with an older, mildly tuned Diablo chip seems to be OK with the 80mm C&L MAF, and since we don't have the OEM for hers, the C&L is staying in...at least for now. (One of these days, we gotta go junk yard hunting!)
My advice...save you money and don't buy a C&L (or any other MAF that uses the stock electronics) they all just lean you out. The OEM MAF is good for 350+ HP. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the OEM MAF. I lost no noticable power by going back to the OEM MAF. Matt (TruBlu02 and king of the plenum shootouts...) over on ModularDepot just stated today that he lost 5 (peak) HP going back to the OEM MAF, but also gained 2 MPH trap speed at the same ET. http://forums.modulardepot.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32257