Best flowing intake manifold?

Sklander · Oct 4, 2006

Which is it guys? I almost had an Edelbrock RPM II on ebay for $400.00 but got outbid at the last second. I am open to other intakes, though.

Any opinions? Holley? GT40? Trick Flow?

Let me know your opnion or experiences with any at all.

Lightning Struck · Oct 4, 2006

Oh boy the things we are going to hear :

well for me I have had .......Cobra / GT-40 / Holley / Edelbrock RPM the first one, in all they were great intakes. It depends on where you want your power band, the RPM intakes are great for mid to upper rpm performance. The Cobra and GT40 are great for low end tq and mid range hp. I honestly think the Gt-40 is the measuring stick for all 5.0 intakes, but thats just my opinion the other guys may not think the same :dunno:. I can tell you it has been around FOREVER and is still around on many street cars today and it flows well and maintains that low end tq that many other high rev intakes will loose. Bottom line I liked it best out of the ones I have had and all the ones I have seen that were on cars I have rode in ........................and that is about every one there is includeing the old truck lower with a box upper

Sklander · Oct 4, 2006

Good info!!!

I have been looking at the Trick flow and they look great for the money. The GT40 has also been high on the list. I think I am going with some AFR 165's, is there a certain intake that works best with this set of heads?

Lightning Struck · Oct 4, 2006

I have seen quite a few GT-40 intakes on those heads

but I'm sure any of the intakes would work great on them, like the Trick Flow your looking at. So do you want the street heat or track heat? I think the street operates at a lower rpm band if I'm not mistaken ???

Sklander · Oct 4, 2006

What is the benefit of going ot the 185cc AFR's? Simply more power? I have the money and am looking for optimal performance.

Can someone explain this to me?

Sklander · Oct 4, 2006

Snakebit said:
I have seen quite a few GT-40 intakes on those heads but I'm sure any of the intakes would work great on them, like the Trick Flow your looking at. So do you want the street heat or track heat? I think the street operates at a lower rpm band if I'm not mistaken ???

Street. This car is going to be a highway warrior and won't see the track too often.

Will the Trick FLow worl well with AFR 185's?

Lightning Struck · Oct 4, 2006

Sklander said:
What is the benefit of going ot the 185cc AFR's? Simply more power? I have the money and am looking for optimal performance.

Can someone explain this to me?

the 185's have bigger valves = more hp but you might have to have notched pistons to clear those big valves. Especially if your going to run a cam with lift around .500

Lightning Struck · Oct 4, 2006

Sklander said:
Snakebit said:

I have seen quite a few GT-40 intakes on those heads but I'm sure any of the intakes would work great on them, like the Trick Flow your looking at. So do you want the street heat or track heat? I think the street operates at a lower rpm band if I'm not mistaken ???

Click to expand...

Street. This car is going to be a highway warrior and won't see the track too often.

Will the Trick FLow worl well with AFR 185's?

I don't see why not ;D ;D there is some guys here with the AFR's maybe they will see your thread and give you some advise on what to get, from what they have on their cars

MeanGrn Gt · Oct 4, 2006

One intake that hasnt been mentioned is the bbk ssi. I had heard a few good things about it and i belive mmff did a test with it compared to a ported cobra and the ssi picked up around 15 hp & tq and the whole curve was better.

Also i think the 165's would be good enough depending on what else you are going to do. If you are staying with a 302 and not going to a 331/347 i think 165's would fit pretty well

Lightning Struck · Oct 4, 2006

MeanGrn Gt said:
One intake that hasnt been mentioned is the bbk ssi. I had heard a few good things about it and i belive mmff did a test with it compared to a ported cobra and the ssi picked up around 15 hp & tq and the whole curve was better.

Also i think the 165's would be good enough depending on what else you are going to do. If you are staying with a 302 and not going to a 331/347 i think 165's would fit pretty well

+1 on everything meanGrn said, and hes right MM&FF did a comparison test and the BBK did very well

Sklander · Oct 4, 2006

The Edelbrok RPM II is what I'm going with. I just got the okay from my dad. AFR 165's, too. So, I guess thats whats gonna go on the car.

Are there any supporting mods I will need? 24# injectors? The Edelbrock RPM II says it requires a 75MM throttle body, so I guess thats on the agenda too. May as well get a bigger MAF while I am at it, huh? I think I am gonna get a custom grind cam from FTI. He can direct me in the direction of roller rockers, valve spring tension and pushrod length and hardness.

I am finding out that eBay is my best friend in the world.

Thanks for the help guys and let me know if you see something I am doing that you might feel would be better if done differently.

This is a great forum. Very knowledagble.

Sklander · Oct 5, 2006

That is the plan. Set in stone. I will try and get pics of th set up as the build up goes along.

I have a few questions. What is the stock MAF and where do I get a new one? How big? I know where to get the 24# injectors (eBay works wonders) and the people at FTI who are going to custom grind the cam and should be able to direct me on roller rockers, pushrods and valve springs.

What Throttle body should I go with? Oh, and I almost completely forgot out about the tune... DUH!!! Since the car is much out of warranty, I was thinking of having a chip burnt for the new dyno tune that I know is a must. However, I have had good luck with the external tuners such as SCT and Diablo Predator. Anyone know anyone in the area of HOuston that tunes with either of these tuners?

SvtBlack95 · Oct 5, 2006

holley systemax has the biggest ports flows the best in my book everyone who has a mustang around where i live which is a city with mustang fanatics have a holley they cost almost $600.... do you plan on adding a charger or keep it all motor?

Sklander · Oct 5, 2006

The eventual plan is to run a vortech at low boost, but that is down the road.

Any links to the holley? Does it outperform the RPM II? I am very open to suggestions.

SvtBlack95 · Oct 5, 2006

you can only benefit from a holley if you get some goos heads to port match and they do out perform any intake manifold with the right setup.. here's an ebay link goin for alot cheaper brand new free shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Holl...020QQitemZ300034777938QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Lightning Struck · Oct 5, 2006

Jperran said:
From what I have heard, the holley is the best manifold to run with a boosted car, but I have never seen or heard anyone say that the holley is better than the rpm fo n/a

I have heard the same about the Holley

Sklander · Oct 5, 2006

I am gonna go with the RPM II intake for now.

I am thinking if I decide to blow the car the mileage on the block simply won't hold up so a shortblock would be the plan for that. If that happens, I can always sell the RPM II and get the holley. But, for now, I am going N/A.

I got my entire MAC exhaust system today (THANKS ART) and couldn't be happier. I need to order the AFR 165s asap so that they can be installed together. Is eBay my best bet for prices on AFR heads?

When I get this combo, FTI can match any thing I need as far as rockers, pushrod hardness/length and so forth to optomize the performance of this package, right?

What is the stock MAF size on a 1995 5.0 and what size do I need to get? Any brand that people have had good experiences with?