MAC straight Shot CAI Questions for a newbie

[rpayne20]

I am kinda new to all this modification stuff and am filled with questions as i am sure all newbies are. With this new MAC Straight Shot CAI kit is the filter similiar to a K&N filter where it is re-usable and needs to be cleaned and oiled periodicly???? Can a K&N filter be used in place of the MAC filter that comes with the kit??? If you buy the kit with the MAF sensor who do you take it to to have the "tuning" done so it does'nt fill your computer with error codes??? It is a bit scary to me to have mods put on my 04 GT 40th anniv. and not know what to do about thigs like error codes or even worse the car not running right at all.....you would think that living 30 miles south of Detroit it would be easy to find out this kind of info but it has been difficult for me.....help a newbie out!!!! Thanks

 

[KronicRacer]

ygpm!

 

[turboscrew]

The filter they use is similar to a K&N filter. They have to be cleaned and oiled after about 50,000 miles. As far as using a K&N in place of theirs, I dont know because theirs has a large mouth opening at the back. Im not sure if K&N has one the same size. Ahy speed shop with a dyno can tune it but just that one mod wouldnt need tuning. When I put mine on i didnt get any codes but I did get some pinging on acceleration. I actually had to switch back to the stock mass air to get the pinging to stop. Using the kit that has the mass air with it wont really give you that much more power. I would just use the kit that uses the stock mass air. I couldnt tell any difference between the two kits. I may switch back to the MAF that came with it once i put on all my mods and then have it tuned on the dyno.

Alot of people talk bad of Mac but this kit works pretty good and ive been trying different combinations with it to find one that runs the best. Stangfreak has one with the Maf and hasnt had any problems with it so far that i know of. Mine just didnt want to run right with the MAF.

 

[billyfe390]

The filter they use is similar to a K&N filter. They have to be cleaned and oiled after about 50,000 miles. As far as using a K&N in place of theirs, I dont know because theirs has a large mouth opening at the back. Im not sure if K&N has one the same size. Ahy speed shop with a dyno can tune it but just that one mod wouldnt need tuning. When I put mine on i didnt get any codes but I did get some pinging on acceleration. I actually had to switch back to the stock mass air to get the pinging to stop. Using the kit that has the mass air with it wont really give you that much more power. I would just use the kit that uses the stock mass air. I couldnt tell any difference between the two kits. I may switch back to the MAF that came with it once i put on all my mods and then have it tuned on the dyno.

Alot of people talk bad of Mac but this kit works pretty good and ive been trying different combinations with it to find one that runs the best. Stangfreak has one with the Maf and hasnt had any problems with it so far that i know of. Mine just didnt want to run right with the MAF.

You have seen the light.

 

[billyfe390]

I am kinda new to all this modification stuff and am filled with questions as i am sure all newbies are. With this new MAC Straight Shot CAI kit is the filter similiar to a K&N filter where it is re-usable and needs to be cleaned and oiled periodicly???? Can a K&N filter be used in place of the MAC filter that comes with the kit??? If you buy the kit with the MAF sensor who do you take it to to have the "tuning" done so it does'nt fill your computer with error codes??? It is a bit scary to me to have mods put on my 04 GT 40th anniv. and not know what to do about thigs like error codes or even worse the car not running right at all.....you would think that living 30 miles south of Detroit it would be easy to find out this kind of info but it has been difficult for me.....help a newbie out!!!! Thanks

Dont get the one with the maf just use your stocker there is no power to be seen with a larget maf on a car with minimal mods.

 

[Ilsimen]

One of the things I've learned in my couple months on Stangnet is that most people agree that replacing the stock MAF on an NA car is pretty much worthless, if not harmful. I just installed the SS the other day, and IMO it was well worth the money. But I would stear clear of the kit with the MAF and save the extra money. Just my $0.02.

 

[turboscrew]

Just for kicks, I read somewhere the other day that the Straight shot with the MAF flows about 100 cfm more than the stock maf. That was performed on a benchflow test. Not sure how much more power gain that will give you but it is interesting to see how much more it flows. Mac said that the maf could possibly incorrectly calibrated so im sending it back to them to be recalibrated. Ill try it then and if it doesnt work then Ill wait to use it until I get a tune.

Steeda says the stock maf is good for up to 400hp.

 

[2Stock]

Well this answers my questions I had about the SS. Once again, thanks to those who replied, I was just about to order the kit with the maf but now I can save money, woo-hoo.

 

[billyfe390]

Just for kicks, I read somewhere the other day that the Straight shot with the MAF flows about 100 cfm more than the stock maf. That was performed on a benchflow test. Not sure how much more power gain that will give you but it is interesting to see how much more it flows. Mac said that the maf could possibly incorrectly calibrated so im sending it back to them to be recalibrated. Ill try it then and if it doesnt work then Ill wait to use it until I get a tune.

Steeda says the stock maf is good for up to 400hp.

The stock tube can supply more than enough air than the midly modified 4.6 can use so really it wont matter.

As far as MAF's go there is no hp limit that they are good for only the output voltage. When it reaches about 4.8v it is considered maxed it is all relative to the size and rpm limits of the motor.
All of the aftermarket maf's FOOL the computer into thinking that there is less airflow going into the motor by reducing the voltage coming out of the maf electronics. When you do this the computer doesnt know anybetter so it pulls fuel out and thats where you are getting your detonation. The better route to take would be to keep the maf if you ever consider supercharging that way you have it and stick with the stocker. When you tune it it will just cost you more at the tuner because he will have more time in it and you wont gain anything.

 

[KronicRacer]

Just for kicks, I read somewhere the other day that the Straight shot with the MAF flows about 100 cfm more than the stock maf. That was performed on a benchflow test. Not sure how much more power gain that will give you but it is interesting to see how much more it flows. Mac said that the maf could possibly incorrectly calibrated so im sending it back to them to be recalibrated. Ill try it then and if it doesnt work then Ill wait to use it until I get a tune.

Steeda says the stock maf is good for up to 400hp.

but mac says bigger MAF's are better as you can see the bigger maf's are not worth it. Stick with steeda cai imo those guys know what they are doing.

 

[StangFreak32]

ive had my straight shot with the maf on for two months now and havent had one problem yet and i drive it every day.....no pinging or anything...although i will say that the first week every now and then when id go to take off and when i first hit the throttle it would gain rpms but not go anywhere for about a second then it would go away and that only happen when the engine was cold....but it hasnt done that since that first week after install.....so no problems here with my new maf..so dont let the others scare ya away

 

[billyfe390]

ive had my straight shot with the maf on for two months now and havent had one problem yet and i drive it every day.....no pinging or anything...although i will say that the first week every now and then when id go to take off and when i first hit the throttle it would gain rpms but not go anywhere for about a second then it would go away and that only happen when the engine was cold....but it hasnt done that since that first week after install.....so no problems here with my new maf..so dont let the others scare ya away

We are not trying to scare anybody just giving the facts that an aftermarket maf on a midly modified or stock 4.6 is not going to gain you anything.

 

[StangFreak32]

We are not trying to scare anybody just giving the facts that an aftermarket maf on a midly modified or stock 4.6 is not going to gain you anything.

most likely true......but deff gotta love the look of a silver maf rather than the black plastic maf

 

[turboscrew]

Yeah I hated to put the stock piece back on. it takes some of the bling out of the whole system. But id have to admit that when I switched back I couldnt tell a difference power wise between the 2. Just that one looked better than the other.

 

[StangFreak32]

Yeah I hated to put the stock piece back on. it takes some of the bling out of the whole system. But id have to admit that when I switched back I couldnt tell a difference power wise between the 2. Just that one looked better than the other.

also i hate to put the stock one back on because i paid an extra 100 bucks for the maf we all do dumb things

 

[twogts4us]

also i hate to put the stock one back on because i paid an extra 100 bucks for the maf we all do dumb things

I'm in the same boat as StangFreak32 and turboscrew with my C&L setup. And I noticed absolutely no difference going back to the OEM MAF. I'm already pretty lean with my SCT tune, so I didn't need any help from this lump of expensive aluminum.

 

[turboscrew]

Mac said i could get the difference back or they could recalibrate it and then i could use it when i get ready to do a tune on the dyno and possibly pick up a little more hp.

 

[twogts4us]

Mac said i could get the difference back or they could recalibrate it and then i could use it when i get ready to do a tune on the dyno and possibly pick up a little more hp.

Recalibrate it? What year Mustang is this on? How exactly would they calibrate it?
I know some of the C&L MAFs can be calibrated for different size fuel injectors, but it seems that you're talking about something else. Honestly, I think they are jerking you around. IMO, send it back.

 

[billyfe390]

Mac said i could get the difference back or they could recalibrate it and then i could use it when i get ready to do a tune on the dyno and possibly pick up a little more hp.

Actually unless they give you one that is identical to the stock one there is no maf that is calibrated to the car the car is actually calibrated for the maf.

 

[turboscrew]

Yeah they kind of confused me too about recalibrating it. The car is a 02 GT but they said they could calibrate it to whatever size injectors you want to use it with. I really dont know how they do it but I'll probably send it to them and get the difference back on the 2 kits.