Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Topic: Cold air intake and intake spacer review. (Read 1721 times) previous topic - next topic

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

September 23, 2007, 05:34:03 PM

Since the stang is my daily driver, and is very similar to an 86-88 SO 5.0, I figured i should give some input on the little mods people are generally hesitant to buy. Keep in mind that this car has stock exhaust minus flowmaster lers, and stock for the stang is the tubular headers and H-pipe.

Ill start off with the cold air intake. Originally my car had the air silencer removed, and a paper element filter. I went on ebay, and purchased one of the cheap cold air intakes for an 89-93 mustang. I had to use a 3" hump coupler trimmed down, a section of 3" pipe i had laying around, and a little re-arranging of couplers to make it work on a speed density car. The end result was slightly disappointing. I immediately noticed a difference in throttle response, and the neat suction sound. In the lower RPMs, a bit or torque could be noticed, but at WOT, not much was noticed. Not bad for something that was about 50 bucks, plus a few things i had laying around.

On to the intake spacer. Once again, I looked to ebay for the spacer. I found the intake spacer for something like 40 bucks shipped, opposed to the 55+ shipping for one from jegs or summit. The one i got was a "2 piece" spacer, where it had the main spacer, then a small, thin spacer made of a different material. If it makes a difference, i dont know. As for installation, it wasnt very difficult. The manufacturer recommends using RTV rather than gaskets, so I did so. Putting it back together was actually easier, due to the extra space the spacer provided. Now on to the drive. I fired it up, and it sounded a touch different. I gave it a rev, and it had a little bit of a deeper suction sound than before. Cool. So i hop in it, go up the driveway, and stomp it. I didnt notice a single thing. As i went up the street, i would floor it at different RPMs and speeds, and i did notice a bit of a difference in the mid range. Low throttle inputs did show a bit more torque. Would I put this in another car? Probably not. Was it worth the money? I dont know, maybe with a few other mods, it might help.

Hopefully this will help some of you guys looking for small gains and not looking to spend a lot of money.

Next up, 87-93 HO upper intake, EGR spacer, and throttle body. Then maybe a 3G alternator and E-fan.

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Reply #1 – September 23, 2007, 06:38:25 PM

good info. those were two things ive been contemplating buying for the longest time. now knowing the true difference they make, looks like i can afford to put it off for a while longer.

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Reply #2 – September 24, 2007, 01:35:33 PM

I put a spacer on my old SO for valve cover clearance and I really didn't notice any difference. I still have it on my HO (for valve cover clearance). I think that the engine picks up maybe 2-5 ft/lbs with it. It's supposed to keep the upper cool as well but if you run the EGR the upper still gets hot from the exhaust gas anyway.

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Reply #3 – September 24, 2007, 08:56:46 PM

The only real reason you would feel a difference is because of runner length. The longer runner length promotes velocity, which generally creates better torque.

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Reply #4 – February 10, 2009, 10:19:03 PM

the 1 inch spacer i put on my v6 underneath the cfi throttle body worked. i notice quicker throttle with some small amount of mid end torque but then it could of been because i added the underdrive pulleys too.

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Reply #5 – February 11, 2009, 12:13:35 AM

From the dead....

Cold air intake and intake spacer review.

Reply #6 – February 11, 2009, 10:59:59 AM

I got a CAI, 65mm tb, and ported egr spacer on my HO
And yea it doesnt make a huge difference, but its enough.
BUT that with my full 2 1/2 exhaust its great!