New Mustang Owner, CAI or K&N replacement?

BickerC · 10-31-2006

Hello everyone, I recently traded in my 2002 Ranger 4.0L for a 2003 Mustang 3.8L. It is my first Mustang and so far I love it. I put a K&N on my pickup, then later a CAI, and besides the sound, I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference with gas mileage or any power versus the K&N. Does anyone have experience with this on a car similar to mine, I see that it pulls air from the fender well, but I am not sure how restricted it is under there. I don't know if a replacement would be sufficient or would a CAI make a noticable difference, since it is a little more $. Thank you for your opinions!

Snake Pliskin · 11-01-2006

Every drop in replacement I have ever bought was a waste of my money since I would eventually buy a real CAI. It's your call since your mustang is not a major hot rod. On my 03 Cobra the K&N FIPK was worth 30 documented horses over the stock system. I wasted 40 bucks on a drop in K&N prior to buying the FIPK.

shinerstang · 11-01-2006

Welcome to the forum. I had a K&N drop in too, and it did make a difference, but not a huge one until I went with the cai. If you're on a budget, americanmuscle.com has one for around $75.00. Easy to install, just make sure your mass air sensor is level when bolting it to the tubes, and you disconnect your battery to reset the computer.

kscoyote · 11-01-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snake Pliskin

Every drop in replacement I have ever bought was a waste of my money since I would eventually buy a real CAI. It's your call since your mustang is not a major hot rod. On my 03 Cobra the K&N FIPK was worth 30 documented horses over the stock system. I wasted 40 bucks on a drop in K&N prior to buying the FIPK.

It's a percentage.

30 hp is still only 7%

a DeMolet is worth 6% on a v6.

You can generally "feel" increases of 10% or more. So even in the Terminator Cobra you wouldn't likely "feel" the increase unless you had a practiced butt.

BickerC · 11-01-2006

Thank you all for your responses. I think I will just save my money and go for a CAI at some point. I never thought about it as a percentage, I was looking at the number gains for v8s versus v6s and debating since gains werent as high for a 6, but it makes a really good poin kscoyote! Thank you