I have a 2016 5.0 factory stock. It has a Flow masters outlaw mini mufflers bone stock only. I want to pay this jewel off before any major power adders. So I'm very interested in cold intake with larger washable filters etc. From what I Have read they add about 20 HP 20 TQ more or less. Here go,s . The directions for these things always says to un do the sound tube. What exactly will change with sound tube removed. my mustang sounds fantastic right now,how will this affect sound.
btw do any of you guys or gals fold down the back seat and enjoy the added exhaust note .

 

20hp gain may be stretching it, especially if there is no tune added. As far as the sound tube goes a lot of mfg delete the sound tube connection because they know a lot of people remove the tube. It does nothing to improve performance only pipes intake sound into the cabin. with your after market exhaust you will never miss the sound tube plus it cleans up the engine bay.

 

yes, I have enjoyed the free, 30-second exhaust mod (folding the rear seat down)

the sound tube pipes intake noise into the cabin; I don't know how much of a difference it makes to remove it; but it does not affect the exhaust note at all

real world gains for aftermarket intakes are debatable, so buy it because it looks cool and its fun to modify your car, and don't be disappointed if you can't tell the difference performance-wise

 

As I understand from talking to some real mechanics one would be hard pressed to find a better intake than the one from the factory for the S550's.. They said the design is one of the best they have seen. I have no idea if that's true, but I have no reason to doubt these guys. Just some food for thought.

 

+1, this has been true for a while. Includes the 2013+

 

+2. They had the chief engineer for the Boss 302 on Jay Leno's garage when they brought the Boss back -- he was saying you really can't do much better, flow-wise, than OEM intakes these days. And that was back in 2012.

I know for the '05s they had flow tests that showed the intake would bottleneck power around 5500 RPM, but even then most of the gains everyone saw were from the tunes more so than the CAI.

 

I also am one that believes the factory air box on the S550 is about as good as it gets for stock applications. If you want to clean up the engine bay K&N makes a nice looking air intake tube that utilizes the factory cold air intake box and one of their high flow filters. But this hobby isn't always about being practical. Its your car, let the fun begin.