Paper Cone Replacement for CAI

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I would posit that it is a monumental waste of money. If you have a factory silencer you'll probably make the same gains just by removing that whilst retaining factory-level filtration.
 
I'll be getting a tune designed to take advantage of the new intake. I know that many intakes are junk, this one is dyno proven.

The factory air box pulls air from inside the engine bay. I pulled some info with a scan tool showing intake temp of 115
 
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I'll be getting a tune designed to take advantage of the new intake. I know that many intakes are junk, this one is dyno proven.

The factory air box pulls air from inside the engine bay. I pulled some info with a scan tool showing intake temp of 115


I doubt that, every Ford intake I've ever seen or worked on pulled from either near the headlight assembly or inside the fender. A quick google shows yours should be drawing down by the bottom of the front bumper below the headlight. Given the location of the ACT, the 115 isn't surprising. The CAI goes in the exact same location as the factory airbox, however it lacks the additional "snorkel" that runs down to the bottom of the bumper, effectively drawing from the same area, just higher up. Also, the metal piping tends to get heat-soaked, driving ACT's up further than is seen with the factory plastic and rubber stuff.

I would posit the biggest gains will be from the tune, not the CAI. I have a buddy who used to tune for Steeda and generally he could get some pretty decent gains from anything with a custom tune.

I would take a long hard look at the factory airbox and its associated plumbing. On our '02 Expedition, there were two silencers that seriously necked down the intake tract, removing those yielded the same benefit as a CAI whilst retaining the factory filter and air draw location.
 
I'll also add that back in the fox body Mustang days one could readily get the same advantage as a "CAI" by just removing the stock intake silencer, which seriously necked down the draw through section at the fender. This has been my observed trend with Fords, that generally the intake draw spot is pretty decent, as is the plumbing. Getting the silencers out of the way is the easiest and most cost effective route to seeing any intake tract gains, which aren't going to be big on a stock engine anyways, so spending money on them doesn't make sense.
 
Back a while ago i needed a more fuel economical vehicle so i bought an 05 focus. One of the few things i did was a steeda intake and it made a huge difference. If i had another ford car i would probably get one from them again. It did make it a touch noisier but [censored] that little buzz box seemed much snappier afterwards. But i dont have a big problem with dust where i live the intake tract was always clean. The snap from that car when hammering down on it at about 35mph was so fun.. not really a fast car but the grins were there.
 
IMO the best paper cone filter that fits your needs is the OEM filter from the Honda S2000. It's a factory fitted, dry paper cone that supports enough airflow to make 200bhp and filters well enough to satisfy factory warranty requirements.
Also, they're CHEAP compared to any other cone you'll find.

Steeda parts are not cheap. Have you thought about buying some tube, some 45s and some 90s from a hardware store? You could make the same thing a whole lot cheaper than you could buy it and put the savings toward the tune.
 
I've had the factory air box out of the car on multiple occasions. It pulls engine bay air, and if there is a silencer tube in it I haven't found it.

Appreciate you gents trying to save me some coin but I've done my research and need filter recommendations
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I'll be getting a tune designed to take advantage of the new intake. I know that many intakes are junk, this one is dyno proven.

The factory air box pulls air from inside the engine bay. I pulled some info with a scan tool showing intake temp of 115


I doubt that, every Ford intake I've ever seen or worked on pulled from either near the headlight assembly or inside the fender. A quick google shows yours should be drawing down by the bottom of the front bumper below the headlight. Given the location of the ACT, the 115 isn't surprising. The CAI goes in the exact same location as the factory airbox, however it lacks the additional "snorkel" that runs down to the bottom of the bumper, effectively drawing from the same area, just higher up. Also, the metal piping tends to get heat-soaked, driving ACT's up further than is seen with the factory plastic and rubber stuff.

I would posit the biggest gains will be from the tune, not the CAI. I have a buddy who used to tune for Steeda and generally he could get some pretty decent gains from anything with a custom tune.

I would take a long hard look at the factory airbox and its associated plumbing. On our '02 Expedition, there were two silencers that seriously necked down the intake tract, removing those yielded the same benefit as a CAI whilst retaining the factory filter and air draw location.


My 94 Taurus pulled air from inside the fender.

The snorkel as you call it is only a couple inches long, doesn't actually hook up to anything. It really is pulling air from inside the engine bay. There's a six inch flanged tube that sticks out toward the fender well but it stops short of actually tying in to pull fresh air.

I don't know if you looked at the steeda part or not but if you didn't please take a look. It seals against the underside of the hood and is shaped to prevent heated air from the engine from getting into the intake.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010

My 94 Taurus pulled air from inside the fender.

The snorkel as you call it is only a couple inches long, doesn't actually hook up to anything. It really is pulling air from inside the engine bay. There's a six inch flanged tube that sticks out toward the fender well but it stops short of actually tying in to pull fresh air.

I don't know if you looked at the steeda part or not but if you didn't please take a look. It seals against the underside of the hood and is shaped to prevent heated air from the engine from getting into the intake.


Yes, I looked at it. It seals at the top, which causes it to pull from beside and below, below being where the stock airbox pulls from unless I'm missing something here? It sits in the same spot behind the headlight but in an open element configuration with a baffle to prevent it from being exposed to fan wash and engine bay air at the top, which in turn makes it draw from below and the other side, which is from the same location that the factory airbox plumbing pulls from.

I just watched this video, which, if you skip ahead to about the 2:00 minute mark, he starts pulling out the stock airbox with the long snorkel on it that I spoke of. As far as I'm aware the 2010 and 2011 3.0L are identical (video is a 2011), and he links to the same CAI that you did
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It strikes me as a monumental waste of money, however the money is yours to waste, so I won't take up any more of your time on this.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I'll be getting a tune designed to take advantage of the new intake. I know that many intakes are junk, this one is dyno proven.


What are the gains? Are they located at 500rpm off red line? Are the gains attributed to the less efficient filtering media?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010

My 94 Taurus pulled air from inside the fender.

The snorkel as you call it is only a couple inches long, doesn't actually hook up to anything. It really is pulling air from inside the engine bay. There's a six inch flanged tube that sticks out toward the fender well but it stops short of actually tying in to pull fresh air.

I don't know if you looked at the steeda part or not but if you didn't please take a look. It seals against the underside of the hood and is shaped to prevent heated air from the engine from getting into the intake.


Yes, I looked at it. It seals at the top, which causes it to pull from beside and below, below being where the stock airbox pulls from unless I'm missing something here? It sits in the same spot behind the headlight but in an open element configuration with a baffle to prevent it from being exposed to fan wash and engine bay air at the top, which in turn makes it draw from below and the other side, which is from the same location that the factory airbox plumbing pulls from.

I just watched this video, which, if you skip ahead to about the 2:00 minute mark, he starts pulling out the stock airbox with the long snorkel on it that I spoke of. As far as I'm aware the 2010 and 2011 3.0L are identical (video is a 2011), and he links to the same CAI that you did
21.gif






It strikes me as a monumental waste of money, however the money is yours to waste, so I won't take up any more of your time on this.


Yes that is the same air box and snorkel configuration. It does not seal to the fender well. There are no factory restriction tubes in the setup that I have been able to find. I have had the air box out in multiple occasions working on mounts and once to work on a headlight.

Ford did a good job, it's not a flow problem I'm trying to correct. I'm trying to lower the ACT and replace the intake assy. My heimholz resonator box has dry rotted and split and is currently being held together with duct tape.

Anyway at this point I'll call steeda and have a conversation about filter media with them. To those who actually answered my two questions in OP I thank you.
 
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