Are there any CAI's that utilize (or can utilize) the factory airbox?

The reason I ask is that I've been exploring the idea of putting a ram-air hood on my 'Stang and many of them force air to, or into, the factory airbox enclosure. (Such as Cervini's ram-air hoods which actually seal with the airbox when the hood's closed.)

I'm in the market for a new CAI, really enjoyed the sound and performance out of my last one.

 

I suppose there's a way to somehow fabricate the stock airbox, however there are currently no CAI conversion kits available, that are designed exclusively for the stock airbox !

 

I think the only thing keeping my old Granatelli from working with the factory airbox was the original pipe hole. I'll have to take a look at it the next time I have the old CAI pipe and the hood open.

 

if going with the Cervinis ram air system, you need the stock air box for it to work. The only things I would recomend would be an K&N replacement filter for the stock airbox, and if poss. change out the intake tube from the airbox to the intake.
I have a Cervinis ram air set up I am willing to sell if I can find a box big enough to ship it in. Tried to make it work with a K&N CIA with no luck, did not want to start cutting so I left it alone.

 

The problem with what your asking is that the whole gain from the CAI is the removal of the restrictive factory box and increase in MAF size.The Stock Box is about maxed out for airflow at the diameter of the stock MAF.

Honestly, Ram Air is something of a Myth anyway. The gain you see from 90% of the systems out there is from the fact that the airbox has a freer flowing source of air than from where the stock box gets it. Any "RAM" effect is a placebo, and if you datalog with a MAP sensor, yo uwon't find any increase in pressure from having one. Don't beleive me? Ask anyone who ever had a shaker setup installed if they get any power gains from it... It's the same thing.

 

Not debating the value of either, but how is ram air and a shaker the same thing?

I will debate it after all, lol. There can be no doubt that at speed, ram air will supply "some cooler air" than the filter sucking it from the engine compartment. Question is, how much cooler and how much benefit.

 

If you prefer the factory airbox, but want a larger MAF, and more airflow. Perhaps the factory airbox used on the Saleen, may just be what your looking for. It has a larger MAF housing, along with a larger airbox, and intake tube.

You may also want to consider the new FRPP CAI, that's used on the 2008 Bullitt as well.

 

Shaker hood setup.. sticks thru the hood into the "cold" air of outside the engine bay, and ducts the cold air into the filter box...

Ram air setup... opening in the hood that ducts the "cold" air of outside the engine bay,into the filter box...

Debating the difference between them is kinda like debating the difference between Toe-may-toe and Toe-Mah-Toe. One might look a bit different than the other and offer a couple of fru-fru-frills that the other doesn't, but if you get down to the exact function and they are the same.

 

Let's see. The result is the "same thing", not the parts or how they work.

1. Shaker/Cowl Induction, etc... rear facing, draws air from the vacuum created near the base of the windshield.

2. Ram Air .. front facing, air "rammed" into it with vehicle movement/air passing thru it.

While both were designed (arguable) to get air to the intake, they do it in different ways. Seems to me, the statement that they are the same thing is way to generalized. Yes, a Porsche is the same thing as a Yugo.

 

The issue is the factory airbox itself, not the tube or MAF which can probably be swapped out.

This is not the hood I'm after, but this image shows the Cervini ram-air system:



Here's the installation manual for the ram-air factory airbox modification.

Hopefully that clears up what I'm talking about, for those who are off on other tangents...

The whole point of this effort is to link up the ram-air kit (you can see the design of the module in the manual) effectively to a CAI. The only way I can see this happening is to utilize the factory airbox as a junction between the ram and the TB, either via the stock intake pipe/MAF or perhaps an aftermarket CAI that can be integrated into the stock airbox.

 

Ram air is something from the past when they used to force air into the carb directly or sometimes indirectly. If you look at the stock box you will see the air is pulled in from outside the left fender. If you putting enough pressure in from the hood you will be pushing air out the inlet of the box. To raise the pressure in the box you would have to fab some sort of flapper door to close at a certain pressure to raise the pressure in the box. Then it is also related to how many bends are in the hood system and at what speed you will be getting any pressure.
You will be getting some additional source of cooler air.

 

........

Like the pic and the manual shows, the Cervini ram-air hood pipes the air directly into the stock airbox using a bolt-on unit that seals with the hood's outlet when closed. This essentially makes the hood's ram-air pathway seamless with the rest of the intake.

Not using the stock airbox would....aw fking forget it...must be rocket science or something.

 

It's not neccessarily a bad idea. But extensive datalogging of IAT's should be done in order to see how well it functions. A simple Steeda intake w/HF elbow is more than enough for me! The popular intakes out there, GMS, JLT, Steeda, WMS, Airaid, etc. all have kind of extracted about as much power out of an intake as you're gonna see (naturally aspirated).

CR

 

The magnacharger airbox is a stock looking airbox with a 90mm maf. I have one for sale and will throw in the k&n filter. I will sell it to you for $80 you pay shipping.

 

Performance is not the issue. The issue is, why have a ram-air hood and just have it blowing on the ABS box? Why not actually use it, performance gain or not?

We all know that a CAI with a fatter pipe and MAF = performance. That...I'm WELL aware of, since I already have Granatelli CAI.

However, now the question comes to the air reaching the intake filter (be it a CAI filter or the fugly stock setup).

So there's the hood bringing in air from the outside, and the CAI taking the air into the TB.

The Cervini hood has a component that makes it possible to connect the hood directly to the factory airbox. However, we all know the factory setup sucks (and also sounds like crap, too).

So, the question is how to rig a CAI pipe to the factory airbox, so you get the benefits of the CAI, while utilizing that fresh airflow from the hood.

It would, in effect, be no different than the Shaker setups. The shakers have an intake outside the engine bay, which sends air into a pipe which connects to the factory airbox (in many applications) and then the airbox takes over from there.

This would be no different...except maybe for the fact that the ram-air hood would be a shorter pipeline to the TB.

I suppose it's a moot point since you can just mutilate the airbox tube opening to fit on a larger pipe (a CAI pipe) even if you had to make a rubber skirt to mate the ends up. It's just a fugly solution. That's why the question: is there a CAI that uses the factory airbox?

Faber (banned?) is on the right track it seems.

Anyway, I'll pop the hood this weekend and do some fiddling around. My Granatelli's filter is hosed, which is why it's not on my 'Stang right now. I suppose if I was able to get the Granatelli pipe mated with the factory airbox, the factory filter might suffice. Don't know. Wish I had a way to gage the fuel-air mixture other than hearing the engine die.

 

And once again, there are currently no CAI's that use the factory airbox.

Both MRT and Streetsmart design, used to have a CAI, which included a carbon fiber airbox, that looked almost exactly identical to the stock airbox.

However it retailed for $464.00, and has since been discontinued !