I have ford racing dual exhaust. I want to get a CAI I dont notice any horsepower improvement with just my dual exhaust. I was told a CAI could fix it and give me a little more power. I DO NOT want a tuner. If I install the CAI and get a check engine light what is the worse that can happen? Can it really screw my car up or will i maybe not even throw any codes?
__________________
2008 v6, black fuel door, rear black out panel, 8 inch antenna, Ford racing dual exhaust, 3rd brake light mustang decal, sequential taillights
Future- 4.10 gear kit from ford racing, eventually a CAI and tuner combo
I know the BBk Cai is a tune-less CAI as that was the one I had bought. I went the same route...gt takeoff dual exhaust first, then the cai. I never had a check engine light come on but was having some issues every now and then getting the car to start. Figured it was sucking in too much air at start and not enuff gas to compensate. So I bought a tuner and holy crap what a difference. The cai actually to me did not make too big a difference until the tune..the exhaust did sound better with just the cai but didnt notice too much of a hp difference. I know if you trip a light with a cai cause your running too lean then your engine could eventually go bye bye...just a thought
A conversion to dual exhaust will net you around 10 horsepower, which is noticeable, but nothing that is going to throw you back in the seat. Its akin to the difference between driving with the A/C off versus Max A/C. That's probably why you haven't felt any difference.
An intake without a tuner isn't going to do anything good for you. It'll lean out your motor which will probably cause you to lose a few horsepower, rather than gaining any. Running a leaned out motor can drastically reduce the life of the motor. Tuners (with custom tunes) can get you upwards of 20 horsepower when coupled with an intake. You can expect an easy 15 horsepower from a tuner by itself.
A Screamin' Demon coil and set of Livewires can get you 5-10 horsepower as well and another good performance option is a set of gears and a limited slip differential. Beyond that you're looking at underdrive pulleys which wont do much and an aluminum driveshaft which will help to lighten you up a bit, but wont add any power.
Just out of curiousity, why are you so against getting a tuner? Aside from adding custom tunes to enhance your cars performance, you can also check your own error codes, make adjustments to your speed and rev limiters and adjust your speedometer for gear/tire changes.
__________________
Black 2005 Mustang v6, 5 speed, IUP, EUP and Leather.
Razzi 1/4 window scoops, Mustang GT Sway Bars, Flowmaster American Thunder Single Exhaust, Clear Front Turn Signal Lenses, Demolet CAI, X-cal2 91 tune, Hurst Comp/Plus Shifter, FRPP T-Lock, Ford 3.73 gears
A conversion to dual exhaust will net you around 10 horsepower, which is noticeable, but nothing that is going to throw you back in the seat. Its akin to the difference between driving with the A/C off versus Max A/C. That's probably why you haven't felt any difference.
An intake without a tuner isn't going to do anything good for you. It'll lean out your motor which will probably cause you to lose a few horsepower, rather than gaining any. Running a leaned out motor can drastically reduce the life of the motor. Tuners (with custom tunes) can get you upwards of 20 horsepower when coupled with an intake. You can expect an easy 15 horsepower from a tuner by itself.
A Screamin' Demon coil and set of Livewires can get you 5-10 horsepower as well and another good performance option is a set of gears and a limited slip differential. Beyond that you're looking at underdrive pulleys which wont do much and an aluminum driveshaft which will help to lighten you up a bit, but wont add any power.
Just out of curiousity, why are you so against getting a tuner? Aside from adding custom tunes to enhance your cars performance, you can also check your own error codes, make adjustments to your speed and rev limiters and adjust your speedometer for gear/tire changes.
Well I have read alot about tuners and it seems its to easy for something to go wrong. You can use the wrong fuel you can void your warranty you have to get a new tune everytime you add a new mod when buying a tuner you have to give so much information about your car down to tire air and size. If one thing changes on your car and you dont get a new tune you can screw your car up right? For 20 horsepower it just doesnt seem worth it. I just want to keep my car i got now for about a year and trade it for a V8. When I bought my mustang I didnt know the diffrence in power I just liked how the car looked. Now I wish I would have just gotten an 06-08 GT instead of the 08 V6 I bought only a month ago. I spent $700 on dual exhaust 90 for a fuel door I got sequential taillights ect. ect. I should have just gotten a GT. Oh well I love how my car looks but I want more power if a tuner and CAI will only give me 25 horses its not worth it. I will just wait a year to 1.5 years and get me a car with more power. Thanks for all the advice though I really appreciate it if it werent for this site I wouldnt know anything about cars I have learned alot in only a month.
__________________
2008 v6, black fuel door, rear black out panel, 8 inch antenna, Ford racing dual exhaust, 3rd brake light mustang decal, sequential taillights
Future- 4.10 gear kit from ford racing, eventually a CAI and tuner combo
Well I have read alot about tuners and it seems its to easy for something to go wrong. You can use the wrong fuel you can void your warranty you have to get a new tune everytime you add a new mod when buying a tuner you have to give so much information about your car down to tire air and size. If one thing changes on your car and you dont get a new tune you can screw your car up right? For 20 horsepower it just doesnt seem worth it. I just want to keep my car i got now for about a year and trade it for a V8. When I bought my mustang I didnt know the diffrence in power I just liked how the car looked. Now I wish I would have just gotten an 06-08 GT instead of the 08 V6 I bought only a month ago. I spent $700 on dual exhaust 90 for a fuel door I got sequential taillights ect. ect. I should have just gotten a GT. Oh well I love how my car looks but I want more power if a tuner and CAI will only give me 25 horses its not worth it. I will just wait a year to 1.5 years and get me a car with more power. Thanks for all the advice though I really appreciate it if it werent for this site I wouldnt know anything about cars I have learned alot in only a month.
Well no. You don't need a tune for every mod. If you change one thing that can ruin your car if you tune it, that same mod will ruin the stock car as well. Remember, the tuner simply changes the already set perimeters that the PCM has. Like instead of the car shifting at 2000rpm it will shift at 4000rpm (not that it will it is just a example).
And any mod will void your warranty if they can prove that the mod was the cause.
And if you don't think that 500 bucks is worth the 25-30 horses and torque, does 200-300 worth the 8? Or the possibility of running lean and loosing not only the horses but also hurts the engine (depending on how bad the A/F ratio is off)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Black05Pony
A conversion to dual exhaust will net you around 10 horsepower, which is noticeable, but nothing that is going to throw you back in the seat. Its akin to the difference between driving with the A/C off versus Max A/C. That's probably why you haven't felt any difference.
...
So which is better?
__________________
2006 Ford Mustang V6 Premium w/ Pony Package (Windveil Blue) - Auto Tran
most tuning companies, if you buy the tuner from them, they will provide you with free tunes for life. so you dont need to worry about that.
you could buy a BBK CAI for 250 bucks and get yourself 4-5 horsepower, or you could buy a JLT cai/tuner combo from american muscle for 500, and gain 20-25 horsepower, and have free tunes for life.
a tuner really is the way to go.....
__________________
2007 Satin silver 4.0-"Sadie"- Dual Pypes Violators, JLT CAI and 93 bama race tune, motive 4.10 gears and FRPP T Lok BEST E.T.- 14.485 AT 94.1
1985 Regatta Blue 'vert 5.0 LX-"Sally" 87 5.0 motor, Holley 600 4bbl carb, edelbrock high rise intake, MSD ignition, 1.7 Roller Rockers, underdrive pulleys, A/C and smog delete,BBK O/R H-pipe, flowmaster American thunders. transformed from a 3.8 to a 5.0!
most tuning companies, if you buy the tuner from them, they will provide you with free tunes for life. so you dont need to worry about that.
you could buy a BBK CAI for 250 bucks and get yourself 4-5 horsepower, or you could buy a JLT cai/tuner combo from american muscle for 500, and gain 20-25 horsepower, and have free tunes for life.
a tuner really is the way to go.....
don't you need to buy the mod from them for them to give you a free tune.
__________________
2006 Ford Mustang V6 Premium w/ Pony Package (Windveil Blue) - Auto Tran
don't you need to buy the mod from them for them to give you a free tune.
yeah, but american muscle has everything under the sun, so you are pretty much set on that. yeah, american muscle isnt bamachips, but still, a free tune is a free tune.
__________________
2007 Satin silver 4.0-"Sadie"- Dual Pypes Violators, JLT CAI and 93 bama race tune, motive 4.10 gears and FRPP T Lok BEST E.T.- 14.485 AT 94.1
1985 Regatta Blue 'vert 5.0 LX-"Sally" 87 5.0 motor, Holley 600 4bbl carb, edelbrock high rise intake, MSD ignition, 1.7 Roller Rockers, underdrive pulleys, A/C and smog delete,BBK O/R H-pipe, flowmaster American thunders. transformed from a 3.8 to a 5.0!
most places, like tillman, will update your tune for free if you change something that needs it down the road and email it to you. it does not include huge mods like superchargers. thats called good customer service.
__________________
goina hundred in a 55, and i dont know why..
some things were just meant to be..
05 V6 auto, torch red, basic, a few mods
06 V6 stick, vista, premium (g/f`s car)
if your dead set on offing the car in a yr or so the best thing you could do to the drivetrain and the rest of the car is nothing. nothing you put on it will add and maybe decrease the value of your car and mess with the warranty. you wont get your money back on the mods. there are some, but not alot of people who want to buy a car ( unless its selling cheap) thats been screwed with by someone. just keep it clean and maintained and drive it.
food for thought on the "want more" note, why do you think the v8 guys are buying tuners,cai`s,gears, pulleys, headers, ect for the v8`s? why does someone running 940 h.p. at 9.1 seconds want to break into the 8 seconds? its a addiction
__________________
goina hundred in a 55, and i dont know why..
some things were just meant to be..
05 V6 auto, torch red, basic, a few mods
06 V6 stick, vista, premium (g/f`s car)
if your dead set on offing the car in a yr or so the best thing you could do to the drivetrain and the rest of the car is nothing. nothing you put on it will add and maybe decrease the value of your car and mess with the warranty. you wont get your money back on the mods. there are some, but not alot of people who want to buy a car ( unless its selling cheap) thats been screwed with by someone. just keep it clean and maintained and drive it.
food for thought on the "want more" note, why do you think the v8 guys are buying tuners,cai`s,gears, pulleys, headers, ect for the v8`s? why does someone running 940 h.p. at 9.1 seconds want to break into the 8 seconds? its a addiction
Yeah I thought about that even if I had the V8 I would try to mod it out for more power. The tuner just makes me nervous they all say I can get emailed a tune later if I get a new mod but could I not drive my car until I recieve the new tune? If I get a tuner now and later on add a CAI would I have to install the CAI and get a new tune before I drive it because the old tune was meant for my car before I got the CAI?
__________________
2008 v6, black fuel door, rear black out panel, 8 inch antenna, Ford racing dual exhaust, 3rd brake light mustang decal, sequential taillights
Future- 4.10 gear kit from ford racing, eventually a CAI and tuner combo
Here's the deal with tuners and some info that may help to ease your mind a bit...
The most popular 'bolt on' mods for the 4.0 2005+ mustangs are intake, exhaust, coilpack/wires, gears/lsd, aluminum driveshaft, underdrive pulleys and a good custom tune. Let me break it down by mod for you.
Intake - Requires a tune to work properly and see an increase in performance. Will make your motor run lean which is an undesirable effect in the best case. Worse case scenario, you run lean without a tune and need a new motor after a few years.
Exhaust - Doesn't require a tune. Single exhaust tends to perform a bit better off the line than true dual setups, due to a loss of backpressure.
Coilpack/Wires - Doesn't require a tune. Provides a small performance increase and makes the motor run smooth as butter.
Gears/LSD - Taller gears (3.73 or 4.10 from your stock 3.31) gives your motor more mechanical advantage over your wheels. This makes your mustang get up and go much faster from a stop. LSD (limited slip differential) will send power to both rear tires instead of 1 like it does stock. Buck for buck this mod is better than a CAI/tuner combo. Requires adjustment to your tune, which can be done at home via your tuner, to adjust your speedometer for the new gear ratio.
Aluminum driveshaft - Lightens the car by about 30 lbs and sheds lots of rotational mass, making it easier for your motor to get the wheels turning. Also eliminates the 2-piece stock driveshaft which tends to fall apart at 125mph or faster. Does not require a tune.
Underdrive pulleys - Turns your accessories at a slower speed, freeing up horsepower. May require you to adjust your idle RPMs via your tuner at home, but only if you have an aftermarket sound system which would be drawing in excess of 500 watts RMS.
I'd like to finish by saying that if you buy a new mod but don't have a tune for it, just don't install it until you have the tune and then you won't be out of your car while you wait for the tune.
__________________
Black 2005 Mustang v6, 5 speed, IUP, EUP and Leather.
Razzi 1/4 window scoops, Mustang GT Sway Bars, Flowmaster American Thunder Single Exhaust, Clear Front Turn Signal Lenses, Demolet CAI, X-cal2 91 tune, Hurst Comp/Plus Shifter, FRPP T-Lock, Ford 3.73 gears
And to add to what Black05Pony said, the necessity of a proper tune due to a mod is not a by-product of the tuner.
I don't know maybe it is just me or I misread your posts, but I get the feeling that you have the impression that if you get a tuner, you will need a new tune for every mod. This is not true. If you get a mod that would require you to change your tune, you would have to do that regardless if you have tuned your car or not.
__________________
2006 Ford Mustang V6 Premium w/ Pony Package (Windveil Blue) - Auto Tran
CAI and ford racing exhaust engine light 
