Well I'm ready to order a CAI for my 05 stang 4.6-3v but would like 1 last opinion, please. After going threw all the adds & fourms, reading as much as I can I think I'll be going with the C&L & tuner from Brendspeed but does this set up really make all the difference between night & day like I read about? Here in So. Cal. all we have is 87, 89, & 91 gas. I hear the Brendspeed C&L is the best & prob. go with them but saw that the BBK unit has a aluminum heat shield around the air filter instead of the plastic? 1 from BBK. Both units sell from Brendspeed & I'm going to ask them to. Right now its a flip up between the CAI or new rims for my stang. The rims cost as much as the CAI & I really want to get rid of my chrome rims (hate chrome!!) but I'm also into the preformance end of things & know my stang has hidden potentional under the hood. Right now its ok but I wouldn't race a Vette with it. So if the CAI makes that much of a difference between stock & a CAI with a Brendspeed tune I'll go with the CAI. Heres a couple pics of my stang & the G*d awful chrome rims & a pic of the rims I want from "American Muscle". Thanks for your input. Its a $700.00 decision

 

Hi Robie,

I agree, those are hideous looking wheels. But you will need more than just the cost of wheels you will need money for good tires and mounting/balancing to keep up with the performance of your car. The stock 17" Pirelli P-Zero and18" BFGg-Force tires are better tires than almost any of the cheap tires on the market.The only virtue of a cheap tire isthey are cheap, there is no free lunch and sadlygood tires are not cheap tires.

Are you more into the looks ofyour car or real performance? If you want looks20" wheels arecool looking but 18's are a much more practical and performance oriented wheel size not to mention they ride better and are much more durable with taller aspect ratio sidewalls. More power is funbut useless unless you have the wheels and tires working well with the suspension you simply cannot get the power to the ground. A carwith much less power butbetter wheels/tires/suspension will beat your car every time because it can use all the power it has instead of wasting it. Think about it before youjump in and buy that CAI and tuner.

Cheers!

 

The reason I was going to stick with 20" wheels is the tires are brand new 255/35R20 & could save about $500.00 on tires. The rims are "Enkei" 20x8.5. The American Muscle rims I was thinking of are also 20"x8.5. I was also tossing the idea of getting 2-20x8.5 for the front & 2-20x10 for the rear but was told I couldn't use my new tires on the rear, I'd have to get new tires. I could opt for going 18" American Muscle rims & new tires, (geeze) I can order 2 rims at a time if I have to. Mounting & bal. is no problem. U see the tire options I have tossing around in my head & getting the C&L CAI & tuner now would be 1 thing done with. I'm into performance alot & my stang sounds great & looks quick & I get alot of guys wanting to race but I hate losing. Thats why the CAI from what I read & heard it really opens the stang up, just hate looking at those wheels, thought about painting em flat black-lol,lol,lol

 

ugh. I'm in the same boat as you, only I am not concerned with looks.


Yes, night and day.

I am buying the c&l and brenspeed tune in a few weeks.

 

The only differences you'll notice when it comes to the top CAI's is styling, cost, and personal preference. Those wheels just aint cutting it lol, seriously 18's are probably the best to go with IMO.......and yes it is most definitely night and day.

 

Hi Robie,

Bite the bullet and dump those ugly 20"'s they will hurt your accelleration and cornering performance for as long as you keep using them not to mention your eyes! 20" wheels and tires add rotating mass exactly where it hurts you the most, where you have to accellerate and deccellerate them over and overin addition to the extra dead weight they represent. A typical cast 20" wheel and tire can easily weight 10-20lbs. more PER corner than the '05stock 17" wheels and tires. Do the math, it is not pretty andthat extra mass also hurts you in terms of cornering grip and ride.

I know that it hurts to have to spend$1,500on good wheels and tires but that iswhat it will take if performance is your guide and you buy them new with good performance tires. You can probably buy a set of original 17" Ford 2005 Bullitts or maybe even 2006 18" Bullits wor a bit morecomplete withO.E. tires as take offs for $400-$500 and I can assure you they will out perform thewheels and tires you have now. The wheels and tires on the car now are probably the reason the previous owner sold the car, they hurt performance and arenot very attactive. Do yourself a favor and saveup your money for better wheels and tires first. I don't know what your tastes run but there are some very good inexpensive 18"x9"Bullits withproper fitting45mm offset for our cars which should also allow fitting a pin guided caliperbig brake upgrade down the road. The correct size tire for these are 255/45x18", look at these silver 18"x9" 45mm offset Bullitt wheels from Mustangs unlimited:



Or if you want to for a high-performance10" widewheel there are these anthracitedeep dish 18"x10" Bullitts with a 45mm offset which IMO is getting a little close to the edge ofnot enough offset to fully tuck in under the wheel wells. With the deep dish wheels you may not be able to fit a big brake kit unless it is something like the Baer Eradaspeed Plus 2's. This wheel will need a 275/40x18 or ideallyif you can find a decent tire in 285/40x18 MPTY (more power to you).



I hope this helps you to decide where you are going to go with your pony.

Cheers!

 

20's are much heavier and will slow you down and rob you of power compared to 18's and 17's. If you like to race and hate loosing, I'd reconsider on the 20's. JMO, I think 18's are a great combo of looks but still not too large.

 

expect a 10% increase in rwhp, no more
no less. you may even gain 1 -2 mpg as
a side benefit.

do i think it's worth it? heck ya, i loved
my jlt2.

 

thanks guys for all the input. I went ahead & ordered the C&L CAI & tuner from Brenspeed last night. Now after reading your input I'm thinking of maybe unloading both the 20" wheels &TIRES & opting for the "American Muscle" 18" rims & tires. This way maybe I can go 18x8.5 on the front & 18x10 on the rear. I'm leaning toward "American Muscle" cause they have free shipping & if u buy the tires from them its free mounting & bal, so maybe I can buy 2 at a time (money's real tight right now) then when I get all 4 change all at once. I'll just have to live with riding around with a bag over my head for a bit longer. Besides with the CAI & tune maybe I'll go faster & people wont see my God awful wheels I have now. There oughta be a tire shop around here where I can off load these guys for a couple hunderd & recoop some money for my MGW shifter I want. Thanks again, robie

 

get the 18x9's