lemonademaker

so i see all those 180$+ cold air intakes for all sorts of cars, from civics, to my stang or my f150. I don't have the money to blow like that on a intake, but would htere be a way to custom fabricate it? I havent even seen one in person, are they metal? Any ideas? thanks! and how exactly do they "add" horsepower? It would appear that they would decrease it because they would be sucking warmer (thereby, less dense) air from the engine compartment, rather than the more "external" air through the stock intake. Whatcha'll think?

Colorado_Mustang

Yes, you can make your own. Most use PVC pipe with rubber/silicone connectors to the factory MAF and throttle body. A couple nipples will allow you to hook up the IAC and PCV. If you have no fab skills, however, you're better off calling a place like Tunable Induction.

lemonademaker

ok, yeah, i can make anything, just didn't know the ins and outs about it. is it a good idea? beneficial?

GreyStang

The thing about it is,, the factory Mustang intake tract is a pretty good design all by itself, it's fairly open for free breathing, and does get air (mostly) from the fender where it should. Take the factory system & add a performance air filter like a K&N, and perhaps remove the air intake silencer and, you wind up with an excellent "CAI like" intake,, no need to spend $$'s buying a full CAI or making your own..

Maybe some other cars have more restrictive factory intake systems, but the stang isn't one of them. K&N's adversisement claims a 15 hp gain by using their kit,, I really would LOVE to know what car they used to make that claim because it sure isn't a Mustang lol, Stick the worlds best CAI on a stang and you MIGHT get 3-5 extra horsepower... maybe

lemonademaker

to be honest with you, it's not my stang i'm looking to mod. My pony has a 351W with a massive 4 barrel carb on it. It's my lil 4.2L V-6 in my F-150 that i'm trying to squeeze every last bit of horsepower out of.

dastangman

And yet, all these rice boys in town have been telling me that when they get their CAI system they should jump up above 200 horses. If that's the case, I should have about 450 HP. I also think it's funny how most of these same guys believe super/turbochargers add straight up horsepower numbers like say a shot of nitrous; however, the truth is, it's mostly in percentages. I wish all automakers would advertise their parts that add HP using this method.

Anyways, yeah. My girlfriends uncle uses this method you talked about. He has a K&N air filter and removed the air intake silencer. I don't know what provoked him to do so, but he did, and he said it's fine. But he is also looking to get an actual CAI kit, just for no more reason than to say he has one. I don't know reliability on using the version without CAI? Do you think it's safe to add other mods with this, or what about this PVC pipe deal? It just doesn't seem like the thing to do for a serious or even causal racer. I don't really see much point in getting a cold air intake unless you are really gun hoe about performance. Are you really gonna notice an extra 3 horses? On the other hand, he did say he was trying to squeeze every ounce of power, so he is worried about performance, and I can't say I disagree with saving afew bucks while getting the same results. later

GreyStang

The truth is, most people buy aftermarket CAI's just for the "shiny neat-o bling-bling look" of an aluminum/steel intake tube under their hood. Now I don't have a problem with that, it does add cool factor to the engine bay. It's just too bad the money and effort spent doesn't wind up getting you power that you're ever gonna feel. Your better off saving your $'s & get something like underdrive pullies instead, that mod will get you around +10hp gain, but (oh oh!) won't add as much bling under the hood

Colorado_Mustang

I can definitely feel the difference between the stock MAF-TB tube and the Tunable Induction one. It may not be much in the dyno room, but the throttle response is definitely improved....and it's enough of a differene to show an increase of almost 2mpg.