Cold Air Induction

Douglas Brown

New Member
Jun 14, 2014
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Thinking about installing cold air induction on my 2012. The system is reasonably priced but dealership wants $260.00 to install. Some people I have talked to said install it yourself. Well first I am definately not a mechanic however I believe I could manage the install. The dealer stated that once the o2 sensor was installed on the system, if the car was not put on their machine to make necessary adjustments the car would go beserk. Is this true or just BS. Any help would be appreciated.
 
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You'd have to be magnificently incompetent to not manage this one on your own. It's a few turns of a screwdriver and a socket wrench. Should take about a 1/2 hour total. That said, you're wasting your money putting this on as there's pretty much zero performance there, unless you tune.

"O2 sensor" lol...that's stuck in the exhaust pipes. The mass air flow sensor is in the intake. Idiots. I wouldn't let them touch the car.
 
Thinking about installing cold air induction on my 2012. The system is reasonably priced but dealership wants $260.00 to install. Some people I have talked to said install it yourself. Well first I am definately not a mechanic however I believe I could manage the install. The dealer stated that once the o2 sensor was installed on the system, if the car was not put on their machine to make necessary adjustments the car would go beserk. Is this true or just BS. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thinking about installing cold air induction on my 2012. The system is reasonably priced but dealership wants $260.00 to install. Some people I have talked to said install it yourself. Well first I am definately not a mechanic however I believe I could manage the install. The dealer stated that once the o2 sensor was installed on the system, if the car was not put on their machine to make necessary adjustments the car would go beserk. Is this true or just BS. Any help would be appreciated.

Is this a 2012 Mustang? If so, 3.7 or 5.0? Which cold air kit are you thinking about installing?
 
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Is this a 2012 Mustang? If so, 3.7 or 5.0? Which cold air kit are you thinking about installing?
Its a 2012 - v6. Im not real sure, I know there are alot of different ones on the market. I have been told different things about rather are not its really worth it for the amount of extra hp you would get. I posted earlier that the dealership wanted $260.00 dollars for install. I think what they were explaining is that its not so much installing the kit, I can do that, it must be for the tune up after its been installed. I dont know how true that is. Im not a mechanic so I woudnt know.
 
There's no way they're tuning the car for $260. The tuner costs more than that. Anyway, a good cold air (like AirAid) & tuner combo is worth noticeable power on a 2012-V6. We've had good results with them.
 
There's no way they're tuning the car for $260. The tuner costs more than that. Anyway, a good cold air (like AirAid) & tuner combo is worth noticeable power on a 2012-V6. We've had good results with them.
Okay, let me see if I have this straight. I can install the system myself, however I will still need to have a tune done ? About how much will it cost to have this done ? I know this sounds like Im simple, but I know absolutely nothing about doing this kind of mechanical stuff. Thats why I seek advice from people like you that do know what you are doing.
 
There are "no tune required" intakes which you can bolt on in ten minutes and not need a tune. The AirAid CAI is a "no tune required" intake and it's supposed to be good for about 13hp. There is more hp to be unlocked by adding a tune, but if you want to just bolt an intake on and not worry about the rest, this is a good way to go.
 
You'd have to be magnificently incompetent to not manage this one on your own. It's a few turns of a screwdriver and a socket wrench. Should take about a 1/2 hour total. That said, you're wasting your money putting this on as there's pretty much zero performance there, unless you tune.

"O2 sensor" lol...that's stuck in the exhaust pipes. The mass air flow sensor is in the intake. Idiots. I wouldn't let them touch the car.

Thinking about installing cold air induction on my 2012. The system is reasonably priced but dealership wants $260.00 to install. Some people I have talked to said install it yourself. Well first I am definately not a mechanic however I believe I could manage the install. The dealer stated that once the o2 sensor was installed on the system, if the car was not put on their machine to make necessary adjustments the car would go beserk. Is this true or just BS. Any help would be appreciated.

I agree that a CAI is a waste of money. Our cars have cold air intakes stock. Those kits are all about the bling. I put a canned tune on my car, and threw in a K&N filter, and all is well.....
 
I believe it's true that you don't see much performance increase with swapping out the stock CAI with aftermarket ones, that is however until you get a tune that can make use of the larger air intake and then you'll see a good difference between a tuned stock and tuned with CAI. I think the stock airbox is a little limiting to air flow especially when not moving.

But is the small improvement worth the dough or not is every mans choice. Much like cat and axle back exhausts, you won't see :poo: for improvement but the bad ass sounds they make be it the growl at start or the roar from the engine at full throttle or sucking of air through that aftermarket intake makes for one enjoyable :poo: grin that in my mind = priceless :nice:
 
I hear Steedas the best bar none for intakes and that's what I'm purchasing next pay! Perhaps Steeda can have a super July 4th group buy so we can all get the product and become believers! :banana:


BTW, Stock is just plain boring, who wants the same thing everyone else has? Live to MODIFY!!! -just saying....
 
Do it yourself or get a friend who knows about cars to help you. I have the SR Performance CAI, I like it. It is pretty much a BBK and it whistles under light throttle just like BBK will, has a nice growl in the mid RPMs. I will admit it isn't as easy as people will say it is, but it's about as simple as engine modification gets on new cars.

I will also note that the only reason I added this was because I am adding the Boss 302 intake manifold (which needs tuned), but the install goes smoother if you already have a CAI installed.
 
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Wow 260 install that's a rip. It's a piece of cake if you know how to turn a screwdriver and a wrench. It doesn't take very long. The tune is where the horsepower gains are at the intake gives you a little bit but not much.
 
Stock becomes cool and not boring when you run an 11 sec 1/4 on stock parts. I tossed basically FRPP's mild Procal tune on the car and slicks and did that on a Premium, loaded GT. Pop the hood at the track and people flip to see the no modifications underhood. People like stock at that point and I have little incentive to change anything.