[oaktonarcher]

hi, i have a 2003(auto) now will i actually see any difference between a mac cai, a dense charger cai, a BBK cai, and a ebay knock off of these? i have read so many diffrent opinions and all but i just want the truth. any dynos would help out alot.

 

[01mineralgrey6]

I don't have any dyno information, but i know that Corey(Dangerdude) had a Densecharger , then got a MAC and there was NO change in power...

 

[Danger Dude]

That is correct I had a Densecharger for over a year and switched over to a MAC. I had Zero Loss or gain in power with the swap. It is a matter if you want bling or black. I will say I have a 98 and so I did not have the advantage of a full length like the 99+ have. I also had issues with the Densecharger coming off a couple of times once on the interstate. John Demolet sent me a replacement part to prevent that from happening. I have been doing some research and have found that most of the CAI's that bend before the MAF might actually be causing slight power losses do to disrupting the even flow of air across the MAF. But still researching.

 

[stangin99]

Cory, your on the right track.

The whole problem with the bend is that it alters the air that enters/goes past the MAF and changes the sample. This ends up leaning out the car. Now, in stock form, our cars are tuned rich form the factory. So by adding a CAI like a densecharger that happens to lean ou tthe car, you make more power from the altering of the a/f than the "cold air" part.

Hence why I am interested in swapping out to a K&N FIPK, or at the very least, cutting the flange off of my maf and running a small piece of straight pipe with a filer on the end, similar to that of the K&N kit.

 

[slvr2000stang]

That is what I like about the design of the K&N fipk.

 

[Falcon]

ive always heard they all give u about the same gains there is just two factors whether u want bling or black, or name brand or not

 

[01mineralgrey6]

K&N = Teh Win

 

[Cajunsix]

There's always the C&L 73mm MAF kit. Better flowing MAF plus it's kinda like the K&N fipk except it's not sealed off from the engine compartment nearly as well and without the MAF to throttle body pipe. But I swapped a densecharger for that because the C&L kit flows straight and is not messin' around with my a/f ratio.

 

[mesagsxbkr]

has anybody dyno'd the k&n?does it show any gains? the only thing that bothers me about it is that it isnt sealed off from the engine....

 

[BlueDonkey]

the K&N is sealed off from the engine. there's a box that surrounds the filter. It's open at the top, but you can see a rubber piece on the top edge that makes contact with the hood.

 

[Danger Dude]

Guys you are really missing the point. the fact is + or - 1 to 3 HP is all we are talking about. Deside which one you want as far as looks because you can actually get better performance gains by indexing and cleaning your spark plugs. I was on the dyno getting lower than expected readings and decided to take a exhaust temp reading at the Header pipe to Head attachment point and found one cylinder 80* colder and one 105* colder. Pulled the spark plugs out and both had silver tracks on the insulators. I then noticed each plug had a little tiny piece of metal flashing sticking up where the thread stopped on the plug. I filed them down and gained 6hp

So in the larger picture the type of CAI should be more driven by what you want because gains are so close they are within error zone.

 

[slvr2000stang]

In my opinion the only discussion should be the difference between the design difference of straight in front of the MAF or a bend into the fender.

Other than that I agree with Corey, pick one based on looks.

 

[Laser02]

I then noticed each plug had a little tiny piece of metal flashing sticking up where the thread stopped on the plug. I filed them down and gained 6hp

Is this a rare occurance or would you recommend the spark-plug-filing-mod to everyone?
ancake:

 

[Danger Dude]

I would inspect every sparkplug before buying them. Make sure the dont have tiny little metal bumps that stick up along the metal landing where the threads end and will be in the combustion chamber. Believe it or not but in my case some of the spark was jumping off onto the head and not to the electrode. Sparkplugs are massed produced and as such small stuff gets by inspectors. Look for any imperfection and no this is not a rare occurance and the cost of the plugs does not change the frequency of occurance.

I know racers and hobbiest who index there plugs so all plugs are facing the same direction.