principalpony

I have been reading a lot on this site about the CAI's for s197 GT's. Most of them require a custom tune, but what I really want to know is just how much hp & torque do you really get from just a CAI? It seems one can expect 20-30 hp from CAI w/tune, but what about just the custom tune? In other words, is the CAI worth the $$$, or is the tune alone the better bang for the buck???

traffic142

Good Point.

Most of the tunes maximize the higher air flow potential of the CAI's. They are probably more of a HAI (high flow air induction). Plus Ford built in some safety factor in the tune and put the delay in WOT that the tune gets rid of.

I am sure BAMA will accomidate you on that.

70MACH1OWNER

CAI with no tune is only worth about 5-7 rwhp. Add a good tune and you are up to 25-27 rwhp. Noone makes a tune for the stock intake system that I know of. It is all about how everything works together not just one mod verses the other.
Scott

tom281

My opinion would be to buy both the CAI and a tuner as a kit; something like Brenspeed offers. If you can only buy one, I would buy the tuner first. You can use it with the stock airbox, and you'll get MUCH BETTER throttle response. That alone, in my opinion, is a huge improvement over stock.

Plus, if you have an automatic tranny, a tuner will let you adjust the shift points and firmness levels. Nothin' like chirping the tires when it shifts into 2nd gear!!!

mlgstang

Alternative auto in Michigan offers a tune for the stock intake system.
Claims to be worth 20rwhp. they also offer the c&l intake with tune with gains of approx 25-30rwhp.
you can read about it on thier webpage.

www.alternativeauto.com

300HPGT

the C&L intake with Predator tuner brought me from 265 RWHP to 300 RWHP. Thats on a out of the box tune. I dont think thats too bad for 650$. that was with 2000 miles on the car. I have 50,000 miles now and am going to dyno again to see how she is holding up.

Rebel73

Wow! 35rwhp ??

NOT BAD!! I have the same setup but I have never dynoed it. I DID, however, feel a tremendous SOTP difference. It really awoke the beast, so to speak!

RPM

The people at SCT told me that the CAI part of a CAI/tune combo is worth about 25% of the gain. So, IMHO, the tune alone with a stock intake would be the best in terms of HP per dollar spent.

principalpony

Thanks for the info and advice. I've considering this for a while. $$$ is not so much the issue as is warranty (as in not voiding it). My dealer's service dept told me that if I go to their recommended speed shop (Paul's High Performance in Jackson, MI) that a CAI w/tune will not void my warranty if they are doing the service. If my car ends up at another dealer - who know's?

Paul said he can flash my computer and it won't leave a trace - unlike using an SCT, etc. So I thought if I go with a tune and no CAI, no one would ever question it if I had a warranty issue. That way I would get better performance, better shifting auto trans - with no worries.

BTW, the dealer's service dept also told me that UDP's WILL void my engine warranty. That issue has been addressed here before.

don_w

With Doug's tune and 4.10s, my auto trans would bust loose on the 1-2 shift, and bark the 2-3... even with 275/50-17 Nittos.

300HPGT

I have to agree with this statement. I did just the Predator power program first because I couldnt afford both the tube and the programmer. and with a 91 octane tune my hp was 289 hp and 310 Tq. So the tube really gave me 11 rwhp and 5 lbft. But the combo feels great and sounds awsome. My car is so much louder with the CAI tube. And SOP is great. It helps a lot in the 5000-6500 range.