shiznit2001

hey everyone, it's coming down to crunch time ( ;-) ) and i have just one question...brenspeed or bamachips for a CAI and tune...and why? trying to weight the pros and cons of both. thanks guys.

shiznit2001

also, i know this is going to sound stupid, but im going to ask anyways. what is the worst thing that will happen if i get a CAI without a tune? i was told the check engine light will come on but is that all? and im going to get a tuner also, just can't afford a lot just yet. thanks again

06stangGT

ive heard that you will be running too rich/lean with only a CAI and no tune , unless the CAI states no tune required

Nuke

Bama and Brenspeed are both tops. If you think you'll need new tunes later down the road, probably Bama tips the scale since he'll provide free tunes whether you buy the new mods from him or not. Brenspeed will only supply free mods if they're bought from him..

A stand-alone CAI, depending on the make and model, may not need a tune. Some that claim to not need one still throw a code. Regardless, a stand-alone CAI will only gain you about 5 or so RWHP so don't bother. Get the combo.

jahudso2

If you get an intake that says "Tune required" it is because the intake where the Mass Airflow Sensor or "MAF" has been increased in diameter. The mass airflow sensor tells the car how much air is coming into the engine which in turn tells how much fuel to inject. If the stock intake is 3" in diameter and the maf sees the air flowing at say 5mph, then it knows to calculate that speed times the cross sectional area of the intake and it gets the volume of airflow at that time. If you mount the MAF in a 4" intake, it will see air 5mph and multiply that by the cross sectional area of a 3" pipe, not a 4" pipe. Since the car thinks there is less air flowing in than there actually is, the car will lean out because it wont add enough fuel. I have datalogged brenspeeds 93 octane tune and bamas 93 race tune and my logs showed that bama had 4 more ftlbs of torque and 1 more hp at peak, but brenspeed had more torque under the curve. They are pretty even no matter who you go with.

Nuke

And as far as which CAI, all those that require a tune are equivalent in performance so chose based on which one appeals most to your eyes and wallet. Remember that the kicker is the tune, not the CAI.

shiznit2001

thanks guys, i'll just wait then and get it all at once. :-) anothing thing, im looking into getting a new throttle body and a spacer...im wondering, if i were to do just those, would that be required to have a tune? i didn't see on there anywhere that said whether they did require one or not. any recommendations? thanks again

BRENSPEED

In all of our tests, a CAI alone only added around 5 rwhp like Nuke said where you get another 10 to 20 rwhp is with a CAI and Tune. If money is tight right now, you could always purchase a C&L street with a "no tune required" insert (it would be free) and run your car that way untill you had the funds for a custom tune. When ordering a custom tune you could either run the intake with the insert still in or run the intake without the insert just specify in your order. Either way the tune will make a huge difference.

hope this helps

Mudflap

I've used both (and currently running a Brenspeed Vortech package). If you have an automatic, I would have to recommend BamaChips however. I had a 2007 auto GT before this manual 09, and as much as I love Brenspeed, I have to tell you that the BamaChips race tune was better than the Brenspeed tune. I tried both vendors on this manual back when I first got it (I moved the JLT2 CAI over to this car initially), and found much less of a difference between the Bama and Brenspeed tunes. I believe I eventually settled on the Brenspeed tune because the Bama was too touchy in terms of throttle response on the manual.... HTH

Nuke

You'll gain little to nothing with an aftermarket TB as long as you're not heavily modded internally and/or not aspirated. The stock TB flows well. Plus many have reported issues with their install of aftermarket TB's.

If you get a spacer, feel free to give it away as scrap or keep it as a paper weight. It's useless.