Well, I decided to save a couple paychecks and I have about $1000 saved up!

I want to buy a CAI and tuner, and ford racing gears. I think I'd like to buy from american muscle..

-They sell a JLT-XCal3 combo for $529.99.
-They sell a Steeda-XCal3 combo for $638.95
-They sell a Ford Racing 4.10 Gear-XCal3-3 Quarts of royal purple for $539.99

I'm not sure what CAI to buy, but as I was told all CAIs perform the same so I may just buy the JLT combo and buy the 4.10s by themselves, if this isn't the best way to go someone tell me.

Also, I was wondering if the CAI install is simple enough for a DYI job, I'm pretty sure the gears are NOT a DYI job, and I know tuning is apparently simple.

Comments or advice?

 

American Muscle is a very good company and they sell good parts so don't take what I'm going to say as me bashing on them. If you MUST have a mail order tune go with Brenspeed. They seem to be really good at mail order tunes. To me, the only thing that would steer me away from one CAI to another is build quality, looks, and durability. So go with whatever you think is best. On my 08 GT I went with the Steeda because I really liked the quality. On my 09 Shelby I will be going with the FRPP CAI. Anyways, that's that. I've heard that you can get some more power if you go with Brenspeed or Bamachips. I've never tried Bama so I can't speak for them. I went with Brenspeed for my GT and I'm not dissapointed. I made 300 RWHP and 313 RWTQ on just Steeda CAI, and o/r H pipe and one of their tunes. I was satisfied with that. For my Shelby I will be going with Justin@VMP. He's done a lot of R&D on the car and he seems to be reputable.

As far as the gears, check with local shops. Down here in South Florida, a lot of shops are offering specials on gears for like $460 which includes gears of choice, Royal purple lube, and installation. Now what I would do is see if a local shop can do just the gears and try to get an intake/tuner package from Brenspeed (tell them you'll have whatever gear ratios you're going with). If possible, you could also work a deal with a local shop for all 3 products at a good price. The intake installation is as easy as pie and all you'll need is a screw driver and maybe a ratchet.


All in all, if I was in your shoes and there was a local shop that could do my gears at a good price but wouldn't really give me a deal on the intake/tuner or you don't trust them tuning wise I would do the following:

Order intake/tuner package from Brenspeed. I would tell them that I'm going with 4.10's or whatever gear ratios you're going with. And then have the shop do the gears, receive my intake/tuner package, install it myself in 10 minutes and then be good to go.

It's always easier to deal with someone locally than someone far away so escalate all of your options before making a decision. Also remember that the search feature is one of your best friends. Take some time one night and just sit on the forums and search intakes and tuners. There have been many threads and many knowledgeable people have shared their thoughts.


Just my $.02

Good luck,
yc420

 

I agree in getting a CAI combo from Brenspeed as well. Definitely save up the money and install the CAI yourself. I recently installed mine and it wasnt very hard and I'm no mechanic. You can probably find some nice instructions with pictures for whatever intake you get either in this forum or somewhere online...which will be easier then the instructions that come with it. My C&L was just a lot of paragraphs but for the novice pics were nice to know exactly what part I needed to remove next.

Good luck and let us know how you like your new stuff...I'm thinking about 4.10s down the road one day.

 

Get whichever combo you LIKE from Brenspeed or Bama. You're correct that the CAI's that require a tune are eqivalent in performance. Buy what appeals to your eyes and wallet.The install is pretty simple. There's a how-to video on the Brenspeed website. Even a caveman can do it...

 

Pure cavemen, they got geico after them and now you haha.

I went with the JLT combo because it's all black, didn't like the blue from steeda and it's cheaper, they're both very good cai.

Like everyone said installing that is very easy, as far as gears they range from 200-300, the cheapest one I could find near me was 275 kinda pricey but he's the only person I hear good things about in my area.

 

Same problem I had. Wound up with the JLT in the end.

 

go with bama tune, easy and doug was the only one who could fix my header lean code, after local shop tried 3 times, oh what a wasted of $250

 

The SCT tuner holds 3 tunes and if you buy it from Brenspeed or Bama, they send you 3 tunes, usually an 87, 89 and 93 octaine. You can adjust the tune yourself to account for other aftermarket parts such as the gears.

I bought my Steeda CAI/SCT Tuner combo from Brenspeed (and if I can install, so can you! ) but had the 4.10 gears installed by local performance shop.