Steeda CAI Review and Install Notes:

[Poppacapp]

It's just the nature of open element filters. I had the same thing with the JLT. The Steeda seems to be a little better at idle and recovers quicker though.



As soon as my car is back on the road and I break in the new clutch, I'll be back at the track and I'll give all three a try with the Lund tunes; Stock, JLT, Steeda. If I can get my AirAid back in usable form, I'll test it as well.



I don't know if it's my best 1/8th, but as part of my best 1/4 it was 7.74 @ 88.0 w/JLT

At the end of the day, I'm not expecting much difference between them. I'm just pleased with what I feel is better low end smoothness than I had with the JLT.

I appreciate any info you can throw up also. My biggest concern with high IATs at the starting line is if too high and timing is pulled, it would affect the first 330' of the run. It would be nice to know what IAT temps the stock tune starts to pull timing at.

And again, the Steeda intake IS top notch. I just dont think it is helping me with the stock tune so far. If there are other factors I could look at, I am open to suggestions. I am just trying to share my personal experience so far.

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[stoli]

I appreciate any info you can throw up also. My biggest concern with high IATs at the starting line is if too high and timing is pulled, it would affect the first 330' of the run. It would be nice to know what IAT temps the stock tune starts to pull timing at.

I've seen different numbers for stock tune (105 rings a bell), so I can't say for sure there. I know my Lund tune pulls @ 124 (it may be just below that, but you can see in datalogs that it wasn't at 120 but was at 124).

Someone else should be able to chime in on specific values.

 

[mustang_guy]

I appreciate any info you can throw up also. My biggest concern with high IATs at the starting line is if too high and timing is pulled, it would affect the first 330' of the run. It would be nice to know what IAT temps the stock tune starts to pull timing at.

And again, the Steeda intake IS top notch. I just dont think it is helping me with the stock tune so far. If there are other factors I could look at, I am open to suggestions. I am just trying to share my personal experience so far.

using a 170 tstat can help with your iat's a bit and overall cht. Which can help. Also either a grill delete, swap or drilling some holes out of the honey comb on the intakes side will help with iat as well. Both will definitely improve your time and iat. One is 70 bucks the other is free or costs a bit. Depends how you go with the grill thing.

 

[uhoh5oh]

question for those installed the intake

With steedas tune, I take off the restictor tube?

 

[jefc73]

With steedas tune, I take off the restictor tube?

Yes.

 

[Sasuketr]

I've seen different numbers for stock tune (105 rings a bell), so I can't say for sure there. I know my Lund tune pulls @ 124 (it may be just below that, but you can see in datalogs that it wasn't at 120 but was at 124).

Someone else should be able to chime in on specific values.

I did a search in google, couldn't find it for the 2015 gt but 2014 gt seems to pull timing at 150 degrees. I don't know if thats accurate as well!

 

[Khyber]

With steedas tune, I take off the restictor tube?

unless they made a tune for you to keep it...(which wouldn't make sense) you better take it out!

 

[Gibbo205]

**** My observations are in no way a slight or jab at Steeda. Their intake is a work of art, and in my opinion is the best looking option available for our cars. This is only MY observations, with MY car... you results may vary*****


So, I went back to the 1/8th mile track today with my stock intake in tow.

DA was 1600ft. 71 degrees

Steeda no-tune setup was already installed on the car, so I gave the car a good 40mins to cool down from the drive to the track. Ran the car. similar mph results as last week. 1.977 60ft, 8.36 ET @ 86.207mph. IAT in the 90s before staging

Swapped the intakes while letting the car cool down again. I did not choose to do a KAM reset/idle relearn because I felt putting the car in learning mode at the track might skew the results. If anything, a reset would have helped the stock intake even more. Reran the car, IAT similar in the 90s, although I had a little more idle time in the staging lanes on this run.
1.997 60ft, 8.418 ET @ 86.229mph.

Observations/Notes:

1) I removed air filters from both intakes during the runs to eliminate filter flow differences, and leave it to the intakes alone. I have made my stock intake runs with no filter in the past.

2) I gained zero power from the No-tune intake based on MPH today(which IMO is better than a dyno). 20rwhp would have shown if it were there.

3) The IAT seems to hover a little higher at the track in the staging lanes because the aluminum velocity stack holds more heat than the plastic OEM intake. I noticed this immediately after going to staging lanes with stock intake back on.

4) I feel like the Steeda intake would be pretty nice and beneficial with a tune to utilize it. In my opinion, Ford has their intake dialed in for the stock tune.

I would welcome some independent before/after dyno pulls with the No-Tune setup, although I don't see how much more accurate it can get doing back to back similar IAT runs at the same DA/day at the track.

As for now, I will leave the stock intake on the car, and retry the Steeda/OEM intake comparison with tunes for each at the track once I am ready to go with a tune.

My previous best ET/MPH with stock intake is 8.05 @ 89.6mph

This is exactly why I am sticking with the Ford stock intake, all I might do is add in a panel filter as some guys on here have found the stock intake with an AFe panel filter has given the best results.

I am sure with a tune things change, but the same could also be said for the stock intake with a tune.

I just feel a CAI is simply not worth it when there is no real concrete improvement in performance on the real world, just dyno figures. Seems a lot of money to spend to simply invalidate your warranty to gain not very much, this is of course true for all CAI's not just Steeda ones. Think I would just rather save up and go with a Whipple SC kit or wait to see what Ford bring out.

 

['Merica]

It may have been mentioned already but will Steeda change the tune for a 170 tstat?

 

[Khyber]

I just feel a CAI is simply not worth it when there is no real concrete improvement in performance on the real world, just dyno figures. Seems a lot of money to spend to simply invalidate your warranty to gain not very much, this is of course true for all CAI's not just Steeda ones. Think I would just rather save up and go with a Whipple SC kit or wait to see what Ford bring out.

I spent $567.... i don't think that's ridiculous at all and it was $300+ cheaper than a jlt+sct or jlt+ngauge with a lund tune.

regardless there is gains.... it comes with looks and sound too. I also could give 2 cents about drag racing but that's me.

 

[David@Steeda]

[MENTION=15482]Poppacapp[/MENTION] Our filter is designed to work WITH the velocity stack, that’s why our filter has a racing spike in the center of it - this increases the air flow coming in to the velocity stack. A racing spike merges air flow thus creating more power, similar to exhaust headers which use a spike in the collector to improve exhaust flow - the same thing is happening with our Steeda air filter (when it’s actually installed).

One of the key advantages to a CAI is the high-flow air filter. When you remove that element of the equation, you will not see the full benefits of the CAI compared to the stock box.

We’ve done our testing with the full CAI kit installed, in real-world driving 99.9% of our customers will drive their cars with the filter installed. This is also how we’ve tested the stock air box, with the filter in place.

To get a better understanding of what’s going on, can you provide dates and time slips of all passes (including the one from weeks ago where it went 89)?

Also, how many passes did you make with each configuration? What was cylinder head temp at for each run? Where are your shift points at, what RPM?

Just trying to get a full understanding of the conditions so we can chime in as best as we can.

 

[Evolvd]

3) The IAT seems to hover a little higher at the track in the staging lanes because the aluminum velocity stack holds more heat than the plastic OEM intake. I noticed this immediately after going to staging lanes with stock intake back on.

This is a false statement. Aluminum has very high thermal rejection properties. Care to test it, throw a sheet of aluminum in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees (no food or water on it) and then remove it with your bare hands...it won't burn your skin, in fact the only heat you feel is the thin layer of air surrounding the metal.

Try that with plastic and let me know your results...after your ER visit.

 

[Poppacapp]

I've seen different numbers for stock tune (105 rings a bell), so I can't say for sure there. I know my Lund tune pulls @ 124 (it may be just below that, but you can see in datalogs that it wasn't at 120 but was at 124).

Someone else should be able to chime in on specific values.

using a 170 tstat can help with your iat's a bit and overall cht. Which can help. Also either a grill delete, swap or drilling some holes out of the honey comb on the intakes side will help with iat as well. Both will definitely improve your time and iat. One is 70 bucks the other is free or costs a bit. Depends how you go with the grill thing.

Thanks guys. I have seen higher than 105 in the lanes at times for sure. I try my best to cool down and make runs consistent in the 80-low 90s if possible.

 

[Poppacapp]

This is a false statement. Aluminum has very high thermal rejection properties. Care to test it, throw a sheet of aluminum in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees (no food or water on it) and then remove it with your bare hands...it won't burn your skin, in fact the only heat you feel is the thin layer of air surrounding the metal.

Try that with plastic and let me know your results...after your ER visit.

I tested it real world at the track. My stock intake temps averaged lower temps at idle/in the staging lanes than the Steeda. The aluminum housing during cooldown time in the pits retained heat longer than the stock intake did. I don't need an oven to see what my IAT readouts told me.

EDIT - Also... a sheet of aluminum is vastly different than a chunk of aluminum.

 

[Poppacapp]

@Poppacapp Our filter is designed to work WITH the velocity stack, that’s why our filter has a racing spike in the center of it - this increases the air flow coming in to the velocity stack. A racing spike merges air flow thus creating more power, similar to exhaust headers which use a spike in the collector to improve exhaust flow - the same thing is happening with our Steeda air filter (when it’s actually installed).

One of the key advantages to a CAI is the high-flow air filter. When you remove that element of the equation, you will not see the full benefits of the CAI compared to the stock box.

We’ve done our testing with the full CAI kit installed, in real-world driving 99.9% of our customers will drive their cars with the filter installed. This is also how we’ve tested the stock air box, with the filter in place.

To get a better understanding of what’s going on, can you provide dates and time slips of all passes (including the one from weeks ago where it went 89)?

Also, how many passes did you make with each configuration? What was cylinder head temp at for each run? Where are your shift points at, what RPM?

Just trying to get a full understanding of the conditions so we can chime in as best as we can.

I will put together what information I can. It will take a bit to get it together. Just a note.. Last week with the Steeda Intake, I got more mph out of the car WITHOUT the filter in place. This past weekend, I ran twice. The track was crowded and no need to beat on the car. My car has performed better without the filter in place on both intakes.

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