m05fastbackGT

Hey everyone ! I've been running the Steeda 90mm CAI with plastic inlet elbow for over 7 years, but I've been thinking about upgrading to either the JLT series 3 or Airaid's race intake.. Anyhow my concern is this, being that my Stang is Naturally Aspirated, would I notice any substantial performance improvements over my current Steeda CAI, even though the Airaid CAI has a larger 100mm MAF, and with the JLT series 3 having an even larger 110mm housing.. I'm assuming that both intakes would not only provide substantial more airflow due to their larger MAF housings, but also from the design of their heat shields which also allow for more airflow to enter from the gap between the hood and grille sections as well.. In the meantime, I'd be really grateful for any advice and feedback provided.. Thanks, Rocky

JerryG2163

I have the air raid race intake and I'll be the first to say it rocks. I'm assuming you have a tuner that went with the Steeda CAI. To be honest, I'm not sure you will see any large gains that make it worthwhile to swap to a different intake and Steeda makes quality parts. You might want to looks into a supplemental mod to the CAI/tune like underdrive pulleys instead of spending so much on another intake. That's just my .02.

stupidgenius36

You'd have to dig up dyno charts to really know. But I don't think you'd see anything noticeable, if anything at all...

m05fastbackGT

Thanks for your reply Jerry and yes I've also been running the X-cal II programmer with Bama 93 race tune and Steeda underdrive pulleys.. Although Steeda does make quality parts, I can honestly say that if I hadn't gone with my Steeda intake over 7 years ago, I most definitely would had went with the Airaid intake instead.. In my honest opinion the Airaid intake design is a bit more of a higher quality over the Steeda overall, as the Airaid seems much closer to OEM design..

metroplex

The Steeda CAI was used by Shelby for the Shelby GT, and was included in the FRPP Power Pack for years before it was replaced with the Bullitt cold air intake.

m05fastbackGT

Your 100% right on the money there, but on the other hand, Roush has been using the Airaid intake for years as well and still do to this day...

metroplex

I don't know much about Roush's cars, but I trust FRPP/Shelby as well as Steeda more.

m05fastbackGT

So why did FRPP replace the Steeda CAI in it's power pack with the Bullitt cold air intake ? IMHO it seems the Bullitt intake is far more restrictive over the Steeda CAI that was replaced

metroplex

I don't know.

The FRPP power pack also used to include the GTA Mufflers but now it is replaced with the FR500S mufflers. This is a HUGE difference because the GTAs are just slightly louder than stock with no drone. The FR500S mufflers are homologated race mufflers about the size of the Stingers that only drone around 1000 RPM but are straight through with no perforated tubes/baffles. It uses a series of chambers surrounding a straight tube with different sections.

I wanted to buy the Bullitt intake because it used a paper media and because it seemed like a more sealed design (against hot air) than the Steeda/Shelby. What stopped me was no one had the MAF transfer function for it, I had to buy the $400+ tuner package even though I already have the SCT Pro Racer Package.

My best guess is that Ford Racing was able to get the current FRPP power pack parts at a lower cost or because the older parts aren't available anymore or a combination of both.

m05fastbackGT

When the Bullitt intake first came out, I was considering upgrading to it and although it is a more sealed design against hot air, what turned me away from switching to the Bullitt CAI was this.. It still uses the same OEM S shaped rubber inlet tube which restricts airflow but my main concern is other than receiving it's cold air only from the gap between the hood and grille section, it is completely sealed and also prevents cold air from entering through the fender well.. At least the Steeda CAI still permits it's cold air to enter through the fender well sections and not just between the hood and grille alone..

metroplex

The inlet tube doesn't seem to be a restriction. The Shelby GT still uses the stock tube. The Steeda elbows and tubes didn't provide any gains on the dyno from what I have read.

m05fastbackGT

The reason for the Shelby GT using the stock tube, is FRPP just was not interested in including the Steeda inlet elbow for it's power pack and IMHO it was more than likely due to cost cutting bean counters.. At any rate, just how much cold air is the Bullitt CAI really getting to the air filter other than from just the gap between the hood and grille section, heck at least the stock air box would actually pull in some air from the fender well.. Anyhow on the other hand, if your interested in getting the air transfer function for the Bullitt CAI, I believe that any reputable tuner such as Brenspeed or Bama could get it for you !

metroplex

SCT didn't even have the air transfer function and I had asked around at the time.

Just doing a search, there are numerous complaints about the Steeda elbow warping.

m05fastbackGT

Humm that's strange ! as I've been running my Steeda elbow for over 7 years and haven't encountered any issues at all, but in the event it ever does warp, I can always reinstall the stock inlet tube or upgrade to Steeda's carbon fiber elbow lol.. Anyhow I would check back with SCT again and perhaps now they have the air transfer function available for the Bullitt CAI

metroplex

Funny, I did a search on the elbow issue and you were involved in a lot of the discussions. This was around 2007 and 2008 when the elbows were warping left and right. I thought I read somewhere that this was an issue with earlier elbows but I couldn't find that again. Most of the blame was on consumers overtightening the clamps, but the elbows tend to come loose as well.

I've been using the Steeda CAI for nearly 2 years, there's no point in looking for the Bullitt transfer function now.

m05fastbackGT

The discussions you mention about being involved had nothing to do with the elbow warping issues, in fact I don't even remember being aware of them to be honest with you.. My main concern back then was debating on whether or not to upgrade from the stock inlet tube to Steeda's inlet elbow but after all the discussions I was involved with, I decided in the end to do the elbow upgrade.. I do understand and agree that after 2 years of running your Steeda CAI there is really no purpose behind switching over to the Bullitt intake now, as you wouldn't really gain anything over your Steeda intake anyhow..

Music man in Pcola

I had a AM/BAMA/SCT tune on my '12 GT Premium w/auto. I had my car dyno-ed four days ago and found that the AM/BAMASCT tune was off more than 30% air/fuel at 2200rpm. I had my car on the dyno and had it adjusted every 100 rpm. My car runs SO much better with a tune actually made for the actual car! Invest your bucks in a REAL dyno-tune. Canned tunes are dangerous.

Flagstang

depends on the canned tune. As we all know not all things are created equally

m05fastbackGT

Did you consider contacting AM/BAMA about your tuning issues ? I know whenever I had any tuning problems, they would always resolve them by making all the required adjustments and then e-mail the revised tuning files !