CAI Question
 

On my 2nd stang and still loving it. Had the stang now for a bit and I am ready to start upgrading. Going to start with the small things. First on the list is a Cold Air Intake. Still pondering on the PVC, Composite, or polished steel CAI. Second will be the pullies. Then, the short shifter. Going to get into superchargers, Heads and suspensions later when the budget is higher. For now, I'm going small HP increase. If anyone here is trying to get rid of a CAI, either composite, PVC or steel,(and the price is right) send me a PM. Thanks. Cheers.

hey just a thought, if you plan on S/C your car in the future, you will be just wasting your money, because i do beleive you will have to remove the pulleys and CAI when the S/C goes on.

but a short throw shifter is good. have you thought about changing your rear end gears? lots of ppl say they are the best bang for the $$$. if you are planing on S/C later, then go for 3:73.

P.S welsome to the site! :thumb1:

good advise by WhiteSnake

CAI's don't do much but look nicer....and pullies....what 4 hp maybe

put in a set of 4:10s....it'll feel like you just bolted on 75hp

and the shifter swap is a must

exhaust and suspension should be on the list too

if you're prepping for a blower....lot's of stuff to do that are nowhere close to being under the hood

I'm guessing that you won't be doing the serious mods for a while, so the small stuff is a good idea, I always say every little bit helps, it could be the difference between seeing taillights and showing taillights. Yes, gears will give you a nice kick in the pants, but it depends how and where you drive, if you're on the highway for long periods of time every day, you will surely notice the difference in fuel mileage, but if you do mostly city driving, go for it, it really is the best bang for the buck upgrade, on a GT I'd go 3.73.

I wouldnt bother it if your looking for the horsepower gain factor cuz there is pretty much none. If you want a nice polished piece under your hood then I would get a Mac CAI cuz they do look pretty nice.

welcome to CMOC btw

Thanks guys. Good to be here. The reason I just want to go small for now is because, The mods I would have made will only be temporary without spending a fortune and putting alot of work into it. Down the road, I will do the permanant pricey stuff. I am just looking to give it a small boost for now. The rear end is another option I was looking at. I don't like to race it, but I do like to step on it a bit every now and then. Plus, my buddy has a Grand prix gt with supercharger, and he almost took me the other day. I took him of course, but it was pretty close. I cannot let that happen again...lol. Cheers guys. Thanks for the welcome.

a CAI or pulleys won't help you there....but a set of gears sure will :4:

If you do mostly city driving get 4.10's, i had them in my cobra and it was a blast :teeth: , but then i blew the rearend and i had to go back to stock 3.27's which sucked :thunder: but made my highway mileage better, but my city economy worse. :crutch. for a CAI, no point if you are charging it down the road, even in general they are more for show. a short throw though should be at the very top of your list!

well in that case, get a shifter and U/D pullies.
what about full exhaust?from headers all the way back...make it sound better plus free up a little more power. :teeth:

dice, you have a pm.

I have thought about the exaust. Actually, my brother-n-law has an x pipe that I can have if I want it. But he took it off his 02 gt because it was too noisy. Plus, I got to go to Florida to get it. Right now, I'm happy with the origional. It doesn't have alot of restriction in it. But later, I will probably go from 2.5 to 3 inch. Now it has the 2.5 inch with 3 inch tailpipes. That is something I will think about for later on. I'm thinking the shifter and pulleys are on my top priority list now. I may scratch the CAI altogether. Unless I get one for a good deal. In that case, probably K&N or Demolet. Not steel. From what I hear, I want to stay away from steel CAI's. Thanks for the input guys.

well, you might get about the same increase in power (minimal) if you just get a K&N drop in filter...
your in trenton right?

Yep. I've seen you around a few times. Usually with the ws6 guy. That is a sweet car. But he should change those rims..lol. My father has an 02 ws6 black convertable down in Florida. Only thing I don't like is it is automatic. But Last time I drove it, I took a car like yours on the interstate from the light, so I cannot diss them. He's got it tuned up a little. I'll try an stick it in my user cp if I can so you can have a look. It is a sweet ride. So I think I may as well turf the idea of the CAI and start investing in the S/C. The short shifter is a definate for now. Maybe the pulleys as well because it is a simple mod. Thanks for the advise.

If you have stock exhaust it isn't 2.5". A 3" exhaust would be a little overkill unless you are going to a very built motor.

Consider a nice 2.5" aftermarket midpipe and catback. It can stay with the car be it N/A, Nitrous or forced induction.

CAI's, while not big HP gainers on thier own, are an important part of your total package. One thing I most tuners will say is to saty away from the fenderwell CAI. Too much turbulance with the MAF and tuning is a bitch. Go for a straight shot in the engine compartment. The slightly warmer air has negligable impact on performance.

Thanks for the advise. I think I am going to turf the idea and just invest in a super charger. Going to take me a while, but if I am going to mod the car, I may as well do it right. Thanks. :thumb1:

best bang for the buck
 

if you want some pony's without tearing apart your diff or a bottle go with a chip and a off road X pipe, cats are hugely restrictive. your stock pipe dia. should be 2.25" but be prepared it will be louder but if you keep the factory cat back it might be reasonable. ive got 2.5" front to back with no cats and shorty's its alittle "in your face loud". i noticed some better throttle response out of a CAI and changed the sound of the engine alittle also.

Best combo for n/a cars looking to make good power:

JLT Cold Air
Kooks LT's w/ Catted X
Magnaflow Catback
Pulleys
Xcalibrator2

This works with both 2v and 4v. Exhaust combo is not crazy loud, and worth a lot of power. The JLT is the only fenderwell intake that works without causing problems with the maf and it makes killer power.

That is a very good idea..LOL bashcp:

Modern cats are not restrictive, maybe 2hp per cat at best, most guys pull them for sound. A cat-back will give you maybe 10hp and a much better sound, Magnaflow and Bassani are nice systems.

What about when an 05 Mustang GT comes with 6 cat's? Switching to a high flow setup has proven to pickup great power

I haven't had too much experience with those, but I stand by my original post. Cats of late are very efficient from what I've seen, if you have any examples I'm interested to hear them. thumb:

Quote:
Modern cats are not restrictive, maybe 2hp per cat at best, most guys pull them for sound. A cat-back will give you maybe 10hp and a much better sound, Magnaflow and Bassani are nice systems.???????




have you ever cut one apart? the magnaflow rep at the Powerama show in edmonton went over cats with me i was shown how restrictive they are even the supposed "high flow" cats . 99-04 comes with 4 so ya cant tell me you make power by obstructing your exhaust flow .I do realise you need a certain amout for backpressure. thumb:

Yes I have, if you don't believe me then prove me wrong, I'm talking about a stock or mildly modded car and I stand by my 2hp loss per cat, even so if you have 4 cats on your car and change the h-pipe only, I would doubt your power increase would be more than 8hp. I know everyone thinks you lose tons of power with them on, truth is you don't lose that much. I'm not trying to fight with anyone here, but if anyone has any proof of how much power they actually cost a stock or mildly modded car, I'm up for seeing it. A catted race car would lose some power for sure, a mild street car would not lose much is all I'm saying.
Even look at your 1/4 mile times, with your mods your best is low-14, I ran a cat-back equipped otherwise stock '01 to a 13.9@100mph with the headlight and silencer removed.

8hp is a lot and standard for an exhaust upgrade.

Most do it for sound anyway

i never claimed it was going to launch you back in your seat for starters 8hp
is alot when your nickle and diming with bolt ons correct?
and before you Hack on my ET you might wanna take a look at altatude in
edmonton a stock 99-04 GT auto runs 15.5 fingers: