06GT

Hey Guys:

Is there any negative effect of using the C&L Racer 95mm intake with a stock intake & throttlebody, if a tune is paired with it?

Or should I be focusing on the Aluminum C&L that has the 90mm intake?

Both are available w/ tunes from Brenspeed, but the "Racer" intake is about 70$ cheaper!

Any actual forum experience with the Racer?

Thanks,

70MACH1OWNER

I believe if you do some more investigating that unless you intend to go forced induction, nitrous or larger cams and head work that the racer intake with its 95 mm mass air meter is too much for the stock engine. I think I have read on a stock motor it will actually cost you some ponies. Bigger is not always better. At least in this case. You need to decide where your mods will end up and buy the intake to work best with those mods.
Scott

frodaddi

I've had the C&L racer + tune installed for a couple weeks now, no problems so far. Like you I preferred the lower cost and actually I prefer the appearance as well - to me it seems more 'businesslike' than the aluminum tube. Here's a picture:



More & bigger pictures here: http://www.pbase.com/frodaddi/mustang

The combination does seem to really 'wake up' the car as I am sure you have seen posted here many times. Of course I have only driven the car on the street since installing the combo. Going to a track day this weekend which will be the real test.

One thing I can definitely say is that the elimination of throttle lag is a HUGE help for heel-toe shifting, if you do that kind of thing. Of course that's a function of the tune, not the intake as such.

Kevin.

mot250

I have the Racer version and love it with my Brenspeed 93 octane tune. I went with the Racer version to support better breathing for the future normally aspirated mods I am planning like LT headers, UD pulleys, CM delete, etc. Even C&L can't say that on an otherwise stock 4.6 3-valve motor the Racer performs any better than the aluminum version (C&L noted minor HP and TQ differences, with the Racer slightly higher, but not more than what could be considered normal dyno variation).

The only real benefit of the aluminum version would be tapping the elbow for Nitrous.

Also, the racer version is lighter and does not require the addition of a bracket to hold up the elbow. That bracket has been termed "ugly" by some.

There is debate over heat soak of the aluminum elbow raising the incoming air temperature but that has not been substantiated while the car is running.

Then, there is the looks... do you prefer black plastic over aluminum?

Lowe!

Good timing!
I was about to ask a very similar question. Mine being the 90mm Steeda w/ Tube vs. the C&L 95mm Racer. I hope to someday get a Saleen s/c so I got to wondering, will the C&L Racer work just as good now, on my n/a engine, then would be the better option later when blown?

From the way it sounds, the C&L Racer CAI would work just as well as the other CAIs on a n/a engine (all w/ the right tune of course).

06GT

This is what I was worried about, that I would be supplying TOO much air to the engine. Looks like a few others have some positive comments on this situation though!

06GT

I prefer the black look!

You have no other "power" mods, right?

Do you have a before/after dyno graph?

I definitely plan on doing a full exhaust sometime in the next year or two, including Long Tube Headers, so maybe the 95mm MAF wouldn't go to waste!

06GT

For those of you that have the Racer, how sturdy is the material? Is it strong enough to hold up under 6-10lbs of boost?

If it's the same wall thickness as the intake manifold, it should be ok...

mrkabc

Aluminum C&L here.

I asked Doug from Bamachips this very question when I purchased my aluminum intake. His reply was that for n/a engines the racer intake will do absolutely nothing for performance. The only benefit would be that if some time down the road you wish to add a supercharger, the racer intake will be adequate for the task, and the aluminum one will not.

06GT

The reason I'm interested in the Racer is the reduced price, I'm not expecting any power gain over the Aluminum C&L.

However, it is nice to know that it allows a little more room for modification if I want to really ramp up the power later on.

I WOULD be concerned if there was a power loss over stock by using the Racer, though.

mot250

You won't see a loss with the racer version if tuned properly. I can vouch for Brenspeed's tunes. I'll try to dig up my before and after dyno graphs and repost later.

Oh yeah, the price is another good factor. Save $100 on the racer version to put toward other mods!!!

Shaun81

I have the C&L racer and I really like it, I picked it for the same reasons as most here it was a little cheaper and I liked the black look on my car better. Doug did my tunning and from everything I've read and heard about both intakes is that the gains are similar you just wont get anymore power from the larger intake unless you decided to add a supercharger like a Saleen.

06GT

Dyno graphs would be GREAT!

Sounds like it's Racer time come January

mot250

Sorry that the graphs are not on the same scale and the stock run does not include A/F ratio. These are both from the same Mustang Dyno about 4 months apart.

The stock runs are graphed with the weather correction to 261.4 HP and 276.7 TQ.

The after CAI and tune run shown was weather corrected to 281.1 HP and 297.5 TQ even though the graph seems to say it includes the weather correction (WC) in the table at the bottom.

06GT

Cool man, at least we have SOME data to work with. Looks like this solidifies my purchase plans

Which tune were you running during the dyno session?

mot250

93 octane tune from Brenspeed. The only modifiaction I made to the Brenspeed tune was to reduce the idle RMP from 850 to 750. 750 matched the factory stock idle rpm I had to begin with and the change has not yet caused any trouble codes (unless it has something to do with the P0171 and P0174 codes that were thrown today).

Edit: I just found in another thread that the P0171 and P0174 codes are related to a lean condition. This is the first time this has popped up for me and I've been running the C&L Racer and Brenspeed 93 tune since September. I'll clear them and see if it happens again.

06GT

Any re-occurrence of the lean codes?

SuperMach1

I have the C&L Racer from brenspeed. Its awesome no complaints! They told me to go with the Racer if i was planning to do more mods than the average person, headers, cams, upds, etc etc. Just my .02 go for it!

Cheese302

i have thew aluminum one, i like it a lot

mot250

Sorry, I forgot about this thread. The lean codes have not resurfaced.