Arrow

1. The stock intake is extremely restrictive. Just one look at it and you know an asthmatic with the flu is breathing better. A CAI is designed to allow more air to reach the engine, which has obvious advantages. (This also gives the engine a nice growl at WOT!)

2. The stock intake addresses the engine bay heat issue by simply boxing the intake inlet in a box...with a little hole to let air peak in. A CAI system "properly" positions the intake and provides heat shielding without enclosing the intake inlet, maximizing air flow while minimizing heat from the engine getting into the intake. This results in a relatively colder air temperature entering the intake, pulled from an isolated region of the engine bay where the ambient air temperature is lower than the rest of the bay.

3. Adding a CAI means that your engine can now breath better and get more air in each "breath." To take full advantage of this, your engine needs to be tuned, mainly because of the increase in airflow. The air sensor in the intake measures the amount of air coming in and the computer ratios the fuel accordingly. If left without a tune, the engine will run too lean, and you'll have issues. This is why so many distributors sell CAI's with a tuner...unless you buy a self-intelligent CAI system (no tune required), such as the ones made by Granatelli.

4. As long as yer adding a CAI, it might as well look decent, too...which is where the aesthetic value comes in. Some like the chromed look, and pay for it. Others just like the plain vanilla. Aesthetics don't matter because this is a performance part with obvious gains.

phatphil

You know what, if people who doubt that a cold air intake and a tune from a reputable tuner doesn't make a difference, they need to take a ride in someones who does. Then get back into their car and realize how slow their car is. I don't think I've seen to many disappointed threads on here that say, Oh my car is way too fast now since I've added the intake and tune. Most of the time the question is what can I do next? Eventually we all come to the big dollar ? Do I S/C or Turbo Charge. It's all just a matter of time and money before that ? raises its little ugly head. So quit beating around the bush and put the damn C/L intake and tune from Brenspeed on your car. And if your lucky the rest of us will tell you what part you need to buy next to satisfy the addiction you'll have. Have a good day.

Arrow

Yeah, a good CAI is a must. The stock intake is a checkbox build, IMHO. It fullfills the need of an intake, but is far from ideal.

Anyone who's got a grain of interest in their 'Stang should get rid of that stock intake and put in a nice CAI. You'll get better HP, torque, gas mileage, better throttle response time, and I wouldn't doubt that having a proper intake helps keep your engine alive longer.

When I first got my 'Stang, I had a new CAI in it as fast as I could get one delivered. Trust me, the GT was great before, but now it's awesome! I could definately feel the difference, the engine responded more sharply, and it sounded incredible! Plus I even saw a 1-3mpg increase. Not much, but at the time gas was almost $4 a gallon here, so that was excellent.

CaptRestless

I'm convinced! Thanks guys.

My car is new so I'm just being careful with her... you know?

Hey, does anyone have the C&L with Brenspeed tune plus Flowmaster? How does it sound?

howarmat

Congrats.....you just purchased a new mustang for only $660!!

steamfish

Get the JLT from Evo, only $525 for that combo.

sneppahtihs2005

does anybody have this? this is the one i have been most interested in.

howarmat

A couple people have but you have to cut some wires and the intall is not as easy. You will never be able to return to stock with it and the gains are not better than the JLT or C&L

sneppahtihs2005

i am not worried about the install i just like that it makes about the same amount of power with out a tune. and jmo it looks better.

Shaman

I'm getting the ice box option that matches my car's paint...