howarmat

you want a 600-700 combo....

sactown

I have not heard anything good about them, even my installer mentioned to me when I was shopping for the SC not to get anything from them.

GT Bob

Another thing to point out about intakes... If you think about the intake and exhaust as one long flow (which you really have to, seeing as thats how the physics work), you have to remember that the whole setup will only flow as well as the biggest restriction. In the case of the stock setup, the MAF is the restriction in the entire system.With the "No Tune" setups, the MAF stays the same size and most of the gains you see from them are from less turbulence and (due to the heat sheilding) are getting cooler air. Once you increase the size of the MAF to a point where it's no longer the restriction, your allowing the entire intake, heads, and exhaust to flow at the capacity of the next biggest restriction (which I think most would agree are the Exhaust Manifolds).

So while you are right Ritchie that a CAI will give ya the best bang for the dollar, LBJay is also right, in that the restriction is not from the airbox but in the MAF. Believe me, I am not disputing that the CAI and tune are the best first mod you can do. Just pointing out why.

damquick1

So....bottom line? Seriously with just an aftermarket intake you aren't going to gain much HP, you just will have that irratating sucking sound upon acceleration.Sure with a tune added you will gain HP from the program, not so much the CAI. I'm wonderinghas ANYONE added a tune without an intake? If so what were the results? Seems to me like these 4.6's breathe pretty good from the factory.

Can't you can upgrade the MAF without adding a CAI? Ford spends a LOT of money on engineering these cars and the designs for the air induction for the best performance, do others manufacture better, of course...but to have the full effects we all know we need air induction changes, fuel induction changes, ignition spark changes,oignition timing changes,(all controlled by the ECU)and of course we need to extract that combustion at an equal/greater rate as well, to gain better performance. I'm thinking that a greater MAF, good plug wires & plugs, (possibly a tuner/tune, if Mrs. Money allows it)and headers/exhaust are the best ways to economically get the best performance out of a GT for a reasonable price......any other thoughts on this?


Understandbly some folks have an endless supply of time/cash to do all the mods, but some people still have car payments x2, mortgages, child support, insurance (medical & vehicular) and other pain in the *** bills to cover as well.

howarmat

Yes you can run just a tune but your gains are not going to be near as much. cai/tune 25+ with a good tune....just a tune 15ish....you cant get the air if there with the stock box to get the gains

mcburns36

I was always told that the best horsepower was free................... or cheap

mcburns36

Seriously Thanks for all the great replys

Mikes_BLK_GT

I like the whistle that comes with WOT, I turn off the stereo sometimes to hear it

One thing to remember is that the aftermarket does not have to worry about the different standards the auto- makers do when designing thier cars. Also its a fairly small percentage of people that really want the agrresive performance some of us are getting from the aftermarket tuners. Might be best under the restrictions they have placed on them but best overall performance is not necessarily on thier radar.

GT Bob

Ok..highlighted the three things that I wanna comment on..

1. These 4.6's do breath VERY well from the factory. Everything is matched pretty closely, especially the Cam with the heads. The onlyexceptions are the Exhaust Manifold and the Intake.

2. The reason you can't upgrade JUST the MAF is that the MAF sensor no longer uses it's own housing. Its now like a probe that is stuck into the air intake. Two torx bit looking screws hold it in place. Also remember that the intake pipe is corrugated... the amount of turbulence this puts into the air is a MAJOR hinderance to efficient combustion.

3. No more Spark plug wires man.. Coil on Plug . Plus, most will tell ya, the hotter coils are a waste. they really don't do anything for lightly modded guys. I would think above 8 PSI of forced induction you may wanna think about getting them, but thats purely speculative on my part.

IMO, the best mods you will do to a 'stang:
1. Intake and Tune
2. Lower Control Arms
3. Long Tube Headers.
4. If you don't live in a Smog **** state: some kinda Off road X or H pipe. If ya do, and (like me) are so over scheduled already that you don't have time to be bothered with swapping the cats back on every year, I would say Under Drive Pulleys. On my buddies car, with just the first 3he was pulling an easy 1.5 cars as we trapped every time we raced.

damquick1

Understood about what your saying, as for the wires I was in general saying to gain performance in ANY vehicle these are things that can be done without "breaking" your wallet. I agree underdrive pulleys and a better intake along with good quality headers are a definate, however for the 'average" guy with limited fundsI can see a great deal of mods going for the price of a tune to start. You can easily justify the tune if you have accomplished LT headers, a set of UD pulleys and an OR pipe. The results of just the pulleys and the headers will make any stock stang driver smile, then adding the CAI and a tune at a latter time is reasonable.