BC Coyote

Looking to throw on a cold air intake. I have read all about how our trucks already have a well engineered system and that I don't stand to gain much other than some sound effects and a prettier engine bay. I have also read that they can add power, better fuel economy and improve throttle response. I do not know whether or not any of these advantages, real or not, are engine specific. There is enough uncertainty, in determining if there are actual performance benefits, to just go ahead and try it out for myself. I enjoy tinkering with my truck anyway and can afford to throw a few bucks towards it. So...

Is it okay to change the cold air intake of my 5.0 truck without tune?

Will I be running lean?

I plan to throw in an intake designed for maximum air flow. I DO NOT plan on installing a tune. Assuming the new cold air intake provides a greater amount of air flow (CFM) by increasing volume via larger surface area on filter and larger diameter tube, this will mean MORE AIR OVER STOCK at the same given air velocity (FPM). Does this matter? Does MAP use air velocity? I don't entirely understand how our MAP sensors work. Please educate me!

tareed94

You won't need a tune, and you won't have issues from what I've seen. Only comment I have is that from real world reviews, you won't notice a difference in power. Our trucks already pull cold air in from outside of the engine bay. You would possibly notice better results by insulating the stock intake pipes to keep air temps down inside of the pipe before it hits the manifold.

TiGa70

I recently put on an Airaid MXP CAI w/ the SynthaMax Dry Filter on my truck. I also put on a Magnaflow cat back system. I don't have any idea about extra HP or mileage (I put a lift on the truck as well with bigger tires, so my mpg went down. All of this was done together, so I have nothing to check it against). I will say that I can definitely tell a difference in throttle response.

Napalm

some reasoning to go with.

The newer ford intake does pull air directly from outside the grill over the radiator support. It isn't necessarily ram air - but it is colder stable air. which is good for your tune.

I would suggest for the dollars a better filter setup - IE like the AEM dry fibre devices only because they do flow better and clean better than paper - and are cleanable.

as far as not seeing the power increase with one of the traditional cold air boxes - it's mostly because the OE baseline is already pulling air well - and the plastic is fairly insulated now. - metal tubes won't actually help much and there are no kinks or breaks in the stock tubing now.


So it already flows well - with the exception of the ecoboost motors you might could do with insulating the air tubes going from the intercooler - maybe - but that's fairly debatable.

My plan is to use an AEM dry filter drop in and get some flavor of tune - but I have a 2.7L ecoboost. I will say this setup worked fairly well on my 2016 explorer too though.

Delta1166

I swapped original for a JLT Cold Air Intake w/ the Hydrocarbon Finish. (See Stage 3Motorsports.) They come w/ either oiled or dry filters.
I would say mileage has improved in city driving by 3/4-1.5mpg. Hwy mileage bumped about the same.
The butt-dyno sez TQ & HP seems to have increased.

Like this way mo' than a K&N filter in the stock box.

BC Coyote

All of you guys running stock tune? I'm not so worried about any performance gain as much as I am about running lean and causing potential damage, under extreme conditions of course.

tareed94

I haven't heard of any of those issues on the 5.0's. It was fairly common to have that happen on the 04-08 5.4's though.

dodgeman1

Its a feed back system so it gets info from the 02 sensors and makes it leaner or richer on the fly. More power? I've had some experience with CAI's on the Chrysler hemis. I've had them on some cars and trucks also. I've also read some testing done on the dyno and track. My opinion is any power gain is less than 10 hp and most likely no more than 5 hp, and probably 0. Maybe 20 years ago there was some gain to be had but they have imrproved them so much from the factory they are pretty good.

This is something I read about K&N years ago, maybe true, maybe not. You put there system on, slap the vehicle on the dyno right away, it shows a gain. What happened is with the easier flow filter, the vehicle runs lean for a little bit. Most cars if checked with a wideband 02 sensor run a little rich at full throttle. Lean actually makes more power. Hence the K&N tests show more power, but a few seconds later the car compensates and stops running lean and your back to making the same power.

BC Coyote

With the Coyote 5.0, I can use all the power I can get... Even 5hp! haha Just kidding, I love my V8.

Yes, I've heard something similar on the engine running lean and making more power, I did not realize that it will compensate for it, thank you! I also realize that results may differ in real world driving vs on a dyno. Either way, I'll have fun fooling around with the truck so long as I don't blow it up while doing so...

tareed94

Just be careful of tuners if you go that route, but I haven't seen any blown up 5.0's yet. And that's including the guys pushing 650rwhp with a 2.9L Whipple. Lol