HFCA

Ok I've been researching and the AEK CAI sounds pretty good, I have an 06 GT, 4.6, 5 speed auto, lowered all factory options, dual exhaust, it's quick - I dont need to go crazy, just a bit faster! LOL Perhaps a tune by local shop?

danzcool

So a tuner and tune is the starting point, you will get a better performance with a dyno tune, but you'll only gain a few horsepower over a mail order tune for a couple of hundred dollars more. Cold air intake in itself pretty much only gives you 5-10, the tune gives you about 25.
beyond that, probably the best is adding nitrous oxide, but you have to pay to fill the bottle all the time, going up from there it's probably forced induction supercharger/turbo... when you go there, then the supporting mods really start meaning something.
However people usually have a budget and never plan on even spending for a supercharger kit, and so going at it $400 at a time with bolt-ons that add a few horsepower each until they've spent supercharger prices and only have +75RWHP instead of the 200+ RWHP they would have with a supercharger. Take a look at the typical bolt-ons and you can see how it can add up quick, headers, offroad X or H pipe, cat back exhaust, cold air intake, throttle body, intake manifold, cams, electric water pump, underdrive pulley...

The best thing is to take a step back and decide what you really want so you don't spend twice for something, like if you get an intake manifold and then get a positive displacement blower, you can't use the intake manifold anymore, or getting the underdrive pulley and then deciding to go supercharger since the belt now spins slower...

ghunt

I always contest this point. I have almost all the bolt-ons thrown at my engine and I've spent a total of ~$1500 on everything. That's over the course of 5 years and that won't even buy you the base plate for a DOB blower setup.

Now yes, I do all my own work, and I did buy some of the parts used, but I don't see how you could approach supercharger money unless you're buying heads and really getting into the engine. I'm not saying n/a is the way to go at all because it does get REALLY expensive for minimal gains beyond bolt-ons. But a supercharger is a good chunk of money.

movielover40

3.73 rear end.

danzcool

you've got to compare apples to apples, so going for new parts from American Muscle & Brenspeed an full out NA build, less porting the heads, runs up to for just the parts alone...
$399.99 SCT X4 + tunes for life
$299.99 C&L CAI w/83mm MAF
$599.99 Ford Racing twin 62mm Throttle body
$614.99 Ford Racing High Performance intake (
$279.95 Steeda Charge Motion Control Plates
$839.99 Ford Racing Hot Rod Cams
$249.99 Steeda Underdrive PUlleys
$419.68 Meziere Electric water pump
$1259.99 JBA 3" off-road full exhaust system (long tubes/off-road X-pipe, over axle tubes, mufflers)
$400 Naturally aspirated dyno tune
for a grand total of $5364.56

So yeah, approaching supercharger prices without supercharger performance. Some people take pride in an all motor solution and to them it's worth it because that's what they want, but it's not the best bang for the buck.
NA build bumps RWHP from about 275RWHP to 375RWHP
NA build gains 100RWHP so $53.65 per HP

Supercharger build: Roush TVS form Brenspeed 560R pack + tuner = $6916.41
560 is crank HP, so give it the typical 15% drivetrain loss and you get 476 RWHP
Supercharger build gains 201RWHP so $34.41 per HP


Now that said, a lot of money can be saved by buying used... for that case one of those ebay ON3 turbo kits can be had for a song (I wouldn't recommend the ON3 kit though).

HFCA

Thanks for the replies guys! I think for now I'll go with the AEM Brute Force Cold Air Intake - Gunmetal (05-06 GT) w/o a tune just yet, 4.10's sound pretty good too (mine auto 3.31's now)

bl817

if your not going to buy a CAI that needs a tune then stick with your stocker and save your money. any CAI that doesn't need a tune isn't going to get you any noticeable results. spend the money on a quality gear swap, which you'll need a tune/tuner to calibrate your speedo. so your fairly new to your car. I'm glad your doing research and asking questions.

HFCA

I'll prob tune it later. baby steps

bl817

I went thru the same scenario that your in right now. I spent 80$ on a cheap no tune cai, it was fine for me cuz I was new. the more I read and learned I got frustrated I wasted that 80$ I could have put to a tuner or cai. so now I had that cheap no tune cai. I found a sct 3015 that was unmarried on my local CL for 200$. i tried to tune for the cheap no tune cai but all that would work was the stock tune as the cai was a no tune piece. so i bit the bullet and got the Steeda cai for 340$. so now i have a badass cai and tuner for 540$, oh wait, add 80$ for the cheap cai i don't need and your at 620$. now take full advantage of the cai i now need custom tunes. went to Brenspeed and got their 87,91 and 93 tunes for 150$. so now I'm all in for 770$. get it all installed and car runs amazing and i can feel the response is better and hp is up a bit. crap now i don't need that cheap cai. aha- ill put it on CL and eventually get 50$ out of it. I'm trying to keep your babysteps from costing you money you don't need to spend. if you must get a cai right now, spend the money on a good one, (JLT, Steeda, C&L, Airraid, etc) but make sure they have the insert that can be removed later when you do get your tuner and tune. my $.02. good luck

ghunt

Eh...I still contest it.

For one, you don't need the CMDP's if you get the Ford Racing Intake. (side note, did Steeda stop selling their "economy" CMDP's?). I made mine for $50, I would never spend $280 on those.

Additionally I'd knock $1200 off for the TB and Ford Racing intake anyway. The throttle body nets almost nothing and the intake isn't worth getting for a street car IMO. And how many people really buy the electric water pump? Plus, I don't know why you would buy a $400 dyno tune for a bolt-on n/a setup (not to mention the fact Lito can do a tune for you for $150 if you really want one). And you need the tuner with a supercharger too.

IMO that's still not an apples to apples comparison. Superchargers come as a complete package,, whereas you're a bit more free to piece together an n/a setup and shop around for the best deals on parts. Not trying to be a dick but I feel like all of you guys that try to show the comparison of n/a parts prices vs a supercharger cherry-pick the most expensive parts to make the comparison. For example, the $1260 you have listed for the JBA system...you don't need the over axle pipes (not to mention you really don't need a 3" system) and everyone gets an axle back regardless. You can buy the JBA natural headers (with 2.5" collector) and 2.5" off road H pipe for $688, and that's only if you can't find a better deal on them somewhere else like I did.

Just my 2 cents.