jjacksonford

I was thinking about putting a AFE CAI on my new 2012 F150 5.0L i had CAI on my old 4.6L and i like it didnt notice much difference in anything though... I also have an appointment to get exhaust done on it soon just wondering what your guys thoughts were on CAI for the new trucks if its worth it or not and if youve had any issues?

Thanks Guys

UARandy3

The stock intake is already technically a cold air intake and works quite efficiently from what I understand. A lot of people will say it is not worth the cost and really only adds additional sound/noise.

I personally added an AFE CAI to my 2011 5.0 a couple months ago. I bought my truck used and it came with this abomination under the hood:




This, in effect, made the intake a HOT air intake. I was torn between just going back to stock or adding an AFE CAI. Well, I was already planning to have 5 Star do custom tunes to account for mods (tires etc) and happened to be having a sale on the intake and tuner package. So I pulled the trigger and got both. I am very happy with my choice. The intake seemed to change my exhaust tone to a deeper, more controlled tone. Also, 5 Star's dyno graphs seem to indicate about an 18.5 HP gain with this intake/tune combo.

Keep in mind the AFE intake has a larger diameter intake tube, which will make you run lean if you are not tuned and will actually hurt your performance. It worked out for me since I planned to tune anyway.....plus it looks a whole lot better under the hood now:




Hope that helps some!

BadNivFX42013

So this AFe stage 2 intake needs the custom tuner or it won't work properly I take it? You said it flows more air and that messes up the stock tunes? I really want this intake as it has a lid and can be sealed right off from the engine bay, where so many other CAI can not be sealed off. My only concern is buying it and then not having a tune and causing problems. I only have 3000km on my truck so a tune would kill my warrenty if they ever found out I had it on the truck.

This sucks, I'd hate to kill the warrenty but just wanna wake this truck up and nothing seems to do that until you add a custom tuner. Thanks

jjacksonford

I was looking at the stage 1 prodry kit. also I'm pretty sure the truck wont suck in any more air than its designed to the heads are still the same so im not sure how it would run any leaner...

UARandy3

The stage 1 kit I believe utilizes the stock intake tube, so is basically just a filter replacement kit. However, the stage 2 uses a larger diameter intake tube which alters the MAF environment. 5 Star tuning recommends a tune with the stage 2 intake due to the altered MAF environment. Stage 1 vs Stage 2 wasn't specified in your original post, so I was just posting the route I took and the information as I understood it when researching my options.

jjacksonford

ooo ok well thanks! that makes sense now

jjacksonford

so if i wanted to upgrade to the stage 2 package in the future is it possible to just buy the tube?

Combat vet

I have a 2012 F150 with the 5.0 motor, and installed an Airaid CAI with the intake tube. The ONLY difference was noise into the cab. I sent that kit back and tried their kit without the air intake tube and got the same result - too much annoying noise into the cab. I went back to the factory airbox and replaced the stock paper filter with a WIX #49883 paper filter. This filter is outstanding. IMO the cost vs. benefit of a CAI is just not worth it.

UARandy3

This seems to be the common report for these aftermarket CAIs. For me, had I not already been wanting to tune my truck for mods already done (mostly to compensate for the tires and wake it up a bit), and had the previous owner not had the ridiculous filter set up, I most likely would've tried to round up parts to take mine back to stock and used a better drop-in filter. BUT since my plan was to tune anyway, and 5 Star was having a good holiday sale, it worked out to about the same price. The "gains" from a CAI on these trucks is negligible at best. I think the additional sound gives the false impression of more power. They do look nice though haha. As it is, I am quite happy with my truck after the intake and tunes, but I know pretty much all the gains/changes were due to the custom tunes, not the AFE intake.

jjacksonford

ya i realize full well a CAI won't boost my MPG or HP like everyone seems to think it does but i do like the looks of it and i do plan to do more mods in the future so i think i will go for the AFE thanks for all the input guys! it was a great help I'll be installing it tonight!