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For the 2010 specifically, and given that it already has a factory cold air intake and tune.... my question is, would an aftermarket CAI really do anything for improvement here? I imagine it would in the case of a 2005-2009 but what about the 2010? I have the factory CAI and the air filter is a typical pad so not a cone. Any help would be appreciated. All of my search results have been dominated by the 05-2009 or the 5.0s.
The 2010 Mustang GT is the tweener model, and can be thought of in effect as a rebodied 2009. So all the things you read about 2005-2009 would pretty much apply.
A CAI by itself will have minimal gains in any power, but will change things enough by themselves that a tune will be required. There are 'no tune' CAIs, but if you're trying to get more power, CAI alone isn't the answer, and I'd steer clear of a no tune CAI because those are truly just a noisemaker situation.
The CAI would work in conjunction with a bigger throttle body, better breathing intake, bigger power cams, bigger exhaust, and a tune to rule them all. The engine is an air pump. More air in, more air out, more power you make. The CAI alone is like, oh.... having a straw, but the end was reaaally big. Like a reverse funnel. You won't be able to drink any faster, but the end looks neat, and probably sounds niftier when you finally do get to the end of the drink. *SLUUUURP* instead of *slurp*.
Like that for the engine. The engine is in that entire straw, so if you wanna drink faster, you gotta upgrade the entire straw, not just the end. Do it right, and you can drink from the fire hose.
Then you get to things like nitrous, methanol, or nitrous, and of course there's supercharging or turbos... or both, hey, why not, it's been done... but that's a whole other ball of wax and the CAI is about the least of your concerns.
Hope that helps. Good luck on your further research!
The factory intake on the 2010 is pretty good, better than the earlier years because it draws air from the duct at the end of the grill area, and I think it has an improved intake tube compared to the earlier years. So it won't benefit as much from an aftermarket intake as the earlier years. The 2010 also has the adaptive spark advance, so that it will automatically take advantage of higher octane, which the earlier years did not have (except the 80-09 Bullitt cars). This means that a "custom" 93 octane tune won't make as much difference, as it did in earlier years.
That said, I think there are still some minor gains to be had with an aftermarket intake and/or tune. When I bought my 2010 used, it already had the Roush no-tune-required CAI on it; so I can't compare the difference between that and the factory intake. But it did run great with that intake, I used to routinely get 27 MPG on my commute. Later, just for fun, I swapped that for a Steeda intake, which does require a tune because the mass air flow metering section is larger than the stock intake. I can't say that the difference was real noticeable, but it does look cool under the hood, and I like the idea of it.
With the Roush intake I had a Bama tune; and I did do a dyno comparison of the Bama tune versus the factory tune, and the Bama tune was good for about 5 HP and 5 TQ improvement, with no other changes. The dyno guy told me he probably could not do any better on the tune, without a LOT of dyno time and fiddling. I do like the sound with the open intake (both Roush and Steeda), but I can't compare it to stock because I never had stock.
So, if you do the aftermarket intake, do it just for fun, don't expect any dramatic gains, and you won't be disappointed. Also, if you do, make sure to get one that uses the duct at the end of the grill. Some of them do not use that, but instead draw the air from under the hood, which defeats the purpose of the duct and makes it a "hot air intake." Also make sure it has the connection port for the sound tube, unless you want to do a "sound tube delete."
PS, BTW -- I call it an "aftermarket intake" rather than "Cold Air Intake" because it had a cold air intake from the factory.
Bert, much appreciated for the details on this, and that's pretty much what I was expecting to hear given the 2010 set up vs the earlier years for the s197s. At this point, I'm just going to put in a set of cams and then just take it to the dyno rather than install an aftermarket CAI and the 93 octane tune. I might even install some long tube headers when I get the cams done, then tune and call it a day.
If you have a real good dyno shop nearby, who works on this engine a lot, they are probably a good bet. If not, I would go to "Lito" for a remote tune, using datalogs. He is known as the "3V whisperer" and should have no problem dialing in a tune for your proposed mods.
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I decided to keep my oroginal intake because that aftermarket stuff really didnt seem much better. I did clean it up alittle and add a hi flo K&N filter. After all, couldnt hurt!
^What year is your Mustang? Looks like an 05-09, if so...is that the original intake?
Also, just an FYI... Ford changed the intake design for the 2010-14 model years compared to the older 05-09 design... Therefore, the OEM original intake from the older 05-09 model years will not fit onto the redesigned 2010-14 S197 Mustangs...
Originally Posted by maxgraphix
2010 Original. I took it out, cleaned it, masked it and painted the raised letters and arrows silver metallic. Came out really good I think!
In my honest opinion, you made a very wise choice by sticking with your stock intake/airbox.... Unless you're planning to add more serious mod upgrades, like cams, larger heads, or go forced induction which all require more airflow than what the stock intake can handle, upgrading to a larger/aftermarket cold air intake on an otherwise stock 3v engine is pretty much just overkill, to begin with anyhow... Upgrading your stock air/paper filter to a hi-flow K&N drop in filter will provide enough increase in airflow for which your stock 3v engine can fully take advantage of... Anyhow, just my $.02.
Last edited by m05fastbackGT; 3/11/24 at 01:11 PM.
That's good info...as I took a closer look at the pic he attached, it looked like a 05-09 Mustang engine...thus my question. So did Ford re-designed the engine for 10-14 or just change something and therefore redesigned the intake. I guess I never paid attention to that detail.
Last edited by m05fastbackGT; 3/12/24 at 04:58 PM.
there were some changes to the intake for the 2010 model also, most important one is that it draws air from the duct at the end of the grill area, making it a true "cold air intake" -- pretty sure the 09 and earlier did not have that
if you ever do consider an aftermarket intake, make sure it draws its air though that duct; there are some that close it off, which defeats the purpose
I have a Steeda intake on mine, I can't say for sure that it provided any performance gain, but I can tell from looking at it that the tube is bigger and smoother and the filter area is larger; all of those changes theoretically should reduce pressure drop through the intake
That's good info...as I took a closer look at the pic he attached, it looked like a 05-09 Mustang engine...thus my question. So did Ford re-designed the engine for 10-14 or just change something and therefore redesigned the intake. I guess I never paid attention to that detail.
Ford only re-designed the air intake, as they made changes to where the air duct is located... The 2005-09 air duct location used to be in a small opening in the driver's side front fender inside the engine bay... Ford then redesigned the air duct location for the 2010+ cars to the rear of the front grill in order to draw in cooler/denser air from the front of the vehicle which also improved the amount of airflow as well...
Other than for the air intake redesign, no other design changes were made for the stock 4.6L 3v engines, except for the head design changes for the 2008+ GT models built after November of 2007 which corrected the dreaded 16mm high threaded 2-piece design spark plug fiasco... If only I had known about the 2-piece design spark plug issues of the earlier 2005-2008 cars built before November 2007, I would have held out and waited instead until after the arrival of the 2008 GT models which included the redesigned heads built after November 2007...
Last edited by m05fastbackGT; 3/12/24 at 05:01 PM.
Just A Mention 2010 is The Intro Year of The Sound Tube on The Air Box Intake! BAWAAAA!
The Tube That Snakes Around The P/S Tank & Heads Towards The Brake Booster! I got One Hanging in the Garage I Was Going To Put on Something But Never Got Around To It! Now I Remember I Was Going To Try it on My P-71! The Non -Police Air Intake Has a Resonator On it And I was Going To Tap in There! The PI Tube is Sans Resonator! They Got A Cotton Filter At The End By Where it's Piped into Cabin. Less Filter Louder Noise.
Similar to the Hydrocarbon (pre-catalytic) filter located in the air inlet tubes, the sound tubes that Ford began attaching to the air box intakes in 2010 were also just in reality marketing gimmicks, which accomplished really nothing useful to actually benefit from...
For Me It Evokes Memories of Flipping the Air Cleaner on The Mid 70's Thermoquads & Quadrajets For The Bawaaa Sound! Gives Me a Grin Just Thinking About My Exploits in Mom's Mopar! Ahh The Rich Corinthian Leather as Well of the Cordova! More Comfy Than My Ride on Special Date Night!
The Benefit of Those Memories for me are Priceless!
Fitting This Song Was Hitting The Charts The Same Year I Got My License!
Oh and Rocky Nice To See You Back Active Again!
KC
Thanks, Kevin! Also, thanks to everyone for keeping me in all their thoughts and prayers during these last 8 months... I'm hopeful that with all the prayers and support along with my urology specialist that I'll be able to fully conquer this dreaded disease once and for all and remain active here on TMS for many more years, yet to come...
Thanks, Kevin! Also, thanks to everyone for keeping me in all their thoughts and prayers during these last 8 months... I'm hopeful that with all the prayers and support along with my urology specialist that I'll be able to fully conquer this dreaded disease once and for all and remain active here on TMS for many more years, yet to come...
3/3/22, 11:06 AM
Gives Me a Grin Just Thinking About My Exploits in Mom's Mopar! Ahh The Rich Corinthian Leather as Well of the Cordova! More Comfy Than My Ride on Special Date Night!
