Cold Air Intake Yes or No?

[thaliabobalia]

I have a stock 2000 GT convertible 5 speed with only 35,000 miles. I have always been a fan of cold air intakes and have them on my F150 and my wife's Durango. I have been considering buying one for the Mustang but have read on this forum the mixed results. By the sounds of it, accessing the filter to clean it is a pain but I'm not too concerned about that.

I like the deeper tone the CAI gives you as well as the increased torque and HP. I have been looking at the K&N, BBK, and Steeda.

What thoughts do you guys have?

 

[badass98svt]

Drop a K&N I n the OEM location and you'll see the same gains, or damn close to it.
Most of those CAIs are a gimmick. Definitely stay away from any metal kits.

 

[ttocs]

At the moment you are not going to feel any/much difference in performance except for the fact that your wallet is lighter and you might be able to convince yourself that it is faster. But if you like the way it looks and have the cash do what you want, that is the fun of this. Don't forget anderson power pipe if they still make them and the budget allows. They are ceramic coated for heat and just big shiney mofo's if that is what ya like

 

[cobrajeff96]

Try to get one that still tucks the filter itself into the fenderwell. Always avoid that ones with open filters inside the engine bay, the motor will just pull hot air and fuck up your computer's fuel trims and you'll actually lose power (and reliability!).

 

[TrickVert]

As @ttocs says above, there will be no gains changing from the stock intake tract. You'll also see no difference installing a K&N in your stock air box other than the opportunity to mess up your MAF sensor with excess oil and allowing more dirt into the engine. (I used to be a K&N believ... sucker.)

EDIT: As for intake noise, do the mod-motored cars still have the silencer snorkel in the fender well?

EDIT 2: Plastic, aluminum, titanium, unobtainium, ceramic-coated, or not, you'll see no (or negligible) difference in IAT's. The air is moving too fast to pick up heat from the tubing.

https://help.summitracing.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5264

 

[badass98svt]

Yes oil on the MAFS is common if you over-oil the filter, or don't give it long enough to soak in.

 

[cobrajeff96]

They do make dry filters nowadays, AEM is one of them (and one I use currently).

 

[thaliabobalia]

Thank you all for your feedback and input. I think I may go for an AEM dryflow in the stock box if I can find one.

 

[i86hotdogs]

Thank you all for your feedback and input. I think I may go for an AEM dryflow in the stock box if I can find one.

If you're interested, I'm selling my stock intake with a K&N cone filter. Went with a CAI system. Filter has less than 200 miles on it. Let me know!