Just wondering what cold air intake people are liking on their ST so far? I want warranty approved first and foremost, and sound/performance second. And yes I know the performance isn't a big gain, I'm just looking for the little things to do.
Aftermarket CAI's are worthless, mythbusted nonsense till you swap out to a bigger turbocharger. I've been dyno'ing/tuning all kinds of cars and unlike many tuning, speed shops, I was never in it for just the $$ like 95% of them are. They SAY and post numbers that show huge gains with upgraded CAI's, but that's just not possible. They alter the tune, that's it, to make it LOOK like the CAI is making more pwr. It deceptive business practices. Also, proper dyno's are done "hood closed". We don't drive down the road with our hoods open, so why dyno that way? It just creates false numbers.
Sure, with the hood wide open, and fans blowing a 20 mph breeze on to the engine, false air flow and false cooling occurs. When you vehicle is moving, the hot air escapes through the the gap between hood and windshield, and through the little vents on the plastic dust shield that surrounds the wiper blades and covers the hood area at the windshield. With a hood open, heat just goes straight up and out, thus creating that false cooling, and generating over inflated dyno numbers. I've been dynoing cars like I said, over 27 yrs. I know what works and what does not a dhow dyno's are done in Europe and Austrailia, all hood closed.
About the only thing you can do that won't void your power train is the K&N drop-in replacement, muffler swap/axle back or the Ford Racing tune. Be aware too, the Ford tune reduces power train warranty from 5/60k to 3/36k. The rest of any mods, you either wait for warranty expiration, or you have to pay to play, and lastly, just wait for the forthcoming, (premium mustang GT level expensive) RS. After market CAI and a cat back might, MIGHT net you a whopping 5-7 hp total. To me, not worth it. If you want some cheap sound change, play with the pipes out back and resonator.
