cruisin5268d

Let's agree to disagree. I don't have anything to gain or lose if someone does/does not buy a CAI whereas you are a retailer / producer and a forum sponsor.

I do not see how there is any way any one can "feel" better performance from just the CAI. If replacing the Ford CAI with an aftermarket unit was the magic genie in a bottle then all the OEMs would surely do something differently. Ex: Boss 302.

I swear my car is faster and handles when she is freshly detailed. Of course that is not the case but it sure feels like it at the time.

cruisin5268d

Ambient air = cooler than air in engine compartment. Under the hood there lies a large flame breathing beast that produces copious amounts of heat.

PNYXPRESS

A stand alone CAI will give you a HP gain. It wont be much but it will give a gain, at least the K&N one does.

Nuke

The FRPP tunes are weak compared to most others. AM and Brenspeed are 2 good choices for CAI & tune combos. The bulk of the gains are from the tune but the CAI is a good companion for a tune. Any exhaust work beyond the H-pipe are for exhaust note gains only, NOT performance. And that FRPP oil filter may look nice (to someone you run over) but it doesn't do anything beyond the OE filter, other than having a higher burst rating and that only matters under severe track conditions.

CMcNam

I'm aware of both those facts.

Your statement that the intake is drawing in the hot air around the engine is only true while the car is not moving. The air under the hood is not stagnant. It is being replaced continuously by outside (ambient) air while the car is in motion.

We can agree that the "cold" portion of the title is a misnomer at least.

Present evidence to back up your claims that a new intake will do nothing. There is quite a bit of dyno-proven evidence that says otherwise.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack OP. An intake and a tune is always a good place to start, Bama, Steeda, and a large number of other folks offer great packages to get you started.

Edit: Another advantage to an aftermarket intake is the smoother, larger intake allows for more air to be drawn in.

cruisin5268d

You could buy an intake with an inside diameter of 24" and it wouldn't give you a hundreds of more horses under the hood as you would still have the same diameter throttle body and, quite simply, the engine can only use so much at a given RPM.

CMcNam

In fact the equivalent to your 24" intake is called a supercharger, and it does give you hundreds more horsepower. The stock throttle body is good past 500 horsepower, so it's not the choke point. My point still stands, an aftermarket intake will benefit the OP. The stock intake is restrictive, though not enormously so, and replacing it with a less restrictive intake, combined with a tune (which is where a majority of the benefits lie), will increase power.

bstang14

Just have to disagree that the 24" intake and an SC are "equivalent". Where in the world did you get that information? If that were so, then removing the cai altogether and running open at the TB would give you 500+ hp as the SC does. Imo, an aftermarket intake and proper tune will provide a measurable increase in hp. Just "alllowing" more air in with an aftermarket cai will do little more than create a sucking sound that will be perceived as more power. I will agree that you may be able to "measure" it on a dyno, but temperature variations will produce similar gains/losses.

CMcNam

Mostly just referring to the amount of air that flows through both. I'm not saying that you can just slap a big intake on there and call it good, just illustrating that more air (and the tune to utilize it) means more horsepower. Of course in a supercharger the air is being forced in instead of just whatever the engine draws through the intake. The straw man argument regarding the 24" intake was just absurd, but there are things that provide an equivalent amount of air, i.e., a supercharger.

The stock intakes are nowhere near perfect, but Cruisin5268d seems to think they are. They restrict the amount of air the engine can pull in, and thus, restrict power. It is more complex than that, sorry for the confusion.

Paratrooper34

Thanks again for the input everyone.

I ordered an AirRaid CAI with a Bama tuner and a set of Flowmaster mufflers. I think this is a good start. I doubt I will ever dig into engine internals for modifications unless forced to do a rebuild. Next step for the car will be exterior cosmetics. Lots of pics on here for inspiration!