Let me start off by saying I have no affiliation to S&B whatsoever.

Many may, or may not, know of my loyalty towards Volant CAI systems. I’ve used them in the past and swore I would never use anything other. Never say never...

I have a buddy about four houses down in our neighborhood who has the identical truck to mine in ever way, except his is an ‘07 which he picked up about a month ago. We got to talking a couple of weeks back about CAI's and other mods and I advised him of my preferences and loyalty to Volant CAI due to past [positive] experiences.

He asked me to reconsider.

He told me he had a close family friend with a 2006 FX4 5.4L 3V [same engine as both our rides’] who had just recently installed a S&B CAI system [Flowmaster 40 series SIDO the only other performance mod he has, like me] and after driving and listening to his, he was sold and that he would be going the same route in the not too distant future.. He went on about the aggressive tone, the amazing power increase, the fit and finish and yada, yada, yada.... I tried [desperately] to talk some sense into him but he would have none of it as his mind was made. Fair enough, “whatever” I thought.

In fact he said let’s make a deal: I would purchase the S&B CAI system, install it in my truck, drive around for no more than seven days to evaluate it, and if I wasn’t sold on it, he would by it off me for a reasonable price and let me go my initial route; seeing as though he was going to buy it in the near future anyhow, it made little difference to him. It sounded like a fair deal to me, so after negotiating on a fair price, I took him up on his offer. I had next to nothing to lose, also.

Like hell he’s getting it off me!

PRODUCT QUALITY: I ordered it online from Auto Anything for $204.00, delivered to my door,[after the online rebates I had accumulated from previous purchases]. Auto Anything was, once again, brilliant in their promise. This is not about them so I'll leave that there. The S&B arrived in a tightly packed large white box. The parts were neatly installed with plenty of packaging and padding to avoid miss use in transit and whatnot. There are also left over hose clamps but I assure you, you will not need them One look at the contents and I knew this was a well constructed system. Everything, and I mean everything from the hose clamps to the urethane duct to the screws and , were solid and very sturdy. The filter itself weight a bit and is very solidly constructed.

cont....

 

INSTALLATION: Let me start by saying that I have done several installations of this magnitude, and then some, in the past so I wasn’t too concerned but you never know with these things. After reading through the brilliant set of “real life” extremely detailed color instructions, I could have done this blindfolded and wearing a patch over one eye.... whilst half drunk. The whole system fits together like it is an OEM piece - like a glove! This is the system Ford would install if they knew better. There was no minor adjustment needed, no tweaking of any sorts, no fiddling around - nothing! I was amazed at how sturdy the whole system is upon completion as there’s no play, no rattle, no nothing.... the way a CAI system should be. From start to finish - including removal of the OEM system - it took me 38mins. This is by a landslide the easiest and best fitting CAI system I’ve installed... and it doesn’t look bad either. Kudos to the guys at S&B.

APPEARANCE: I'll make this quick and to the point. It looks like this is the system Ford should have used back at the plant. The perspex air box cover is very eye catching once the hood is popped. Nice clean appearance all-round.

PERFORMANCE: Wow! The minute I took it out of the garage for a drive, I knew I was on to something extraordinary. The deep "throaty" growl from the intake at WOT is something else. Even at normal cruising speeds, the outside tone is a lot better than I've ever heard in my past rides. The S&B coupled with the Flowmaster has made the sweetest tone I could have ever imagined. The power is just simply amazing! It's there! The increase in ponies across the whole HP band is [very] noticeable... especially when you weigh your foot down. It’s not a little increase but a considerably noticeable one. Remember how our trucks would scream their backsides off whilst attempting to overtake another vehicle and nothing much more? Well those days are gone... this will growl and give you the ponies for a successful overtaking maneuver. I’ve never installed a CAI system in the past and noticed an “obvious” horse power increase as I have from this S&B. This is what you should expect with S&B... I'm told.

To say I’m happy is an understatement. To say I’m pleasantly surprised and elated, is spot on the money!

This is in no way a black mark against Volant's name. I've used them several times in the past and still hold them in high regards. It's just that, well, I've found something [noticeable] better. Thank you S&B for a fine CAI that does what it claims. You’ve won me over.



I'll post some pics up later this evening.

Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far.

 

nice write up!!!
I am just not sure about having clear plexiglass under my hood, it just seems sooo wrong-I do the the looks of the unit though, and from your write up I know I will like the sound and performance!

 

I just put mine on also and excluding the CEL I got at first it went great for me. I don't see any problem with having the plexi under the hood either. Where it is located I don't see any problems with heat or anything so I think it will be ok. I was also very happy and suprised with the performance increase.

 

I can't wait to get mine. .

PS: Great post!!

 

Great review...this intake is everything it's hyped up to be.

You won't be disappointed with the results, and if you want to see some pic's I have several in my gallery. Just click the camera and look under the new truck gallery.

 

Guys I need to work on my house, lol but I cant because I keep on buying things for my truck. I am trying the get the new pioneer nav system but now im thinking of putting it on hold and getting the head lights posted down below in another thread and this s&b intake. I thought after selling my Mustang the moding bug would slow down, I guess not. This intake is at the top of my list. Thanks for another great review.

 

The plexiglass cover is really not an issue.

I, once again for the second time in a few short weeks, recently returned from a round-trip to Little Rock, AK from Richmond, VA [2.5K]. This gave me a great chance to evaluate the S&B's performance and fit/finish. While the engine compartment does get "relatively warm" under those driving conditions [75-85 MPH for a good 90-percent of the journey] as one would/should expect, it was no concern really. The CAI box near the fender didn't feel warm at the slightest and the plexiglass was the same.

I attribute this to, both, a deadspot in that area [I'm assuming] and well constructed heavy-duty ABS plastic piping and quality urethane ducting on S&B's behalf [read: quality equipment].

I apologise for the lack of photos but my digital camera has decided to sheet itself, so I'm unable to post pics.

Kingofkings has some great pics in his gallery and mine looks identical so it's an accurate indication of the fit and finish.

Cheers.

 

Interesting reviews.

The S&B's filter is enclosed in the box, but does the box have any openings to draw in air? From the pictures it looks like it doesn't but surely it has something like what the Volant's enclosed box offers?

 

The S&B has a fender inlet and a front opening to draw air in from behind the headlight.

 

That is so funny!! I just sold a highly modded 04 kenne bell supercharged gt mustang vert and before that an 03 cobra and I thought I would stop the modding, but it is very addicting reading all the reviews of the mods and looking at all of the nice pictures of everyones' trucks on here and finding the stuff on the internet and buying it. You've got to love waiting on the ups truck to bring your newest toy! All my buddies are betting I will have this truck supercharged in less than a year. That is why I chose the name slippery slope, you get the modding bug and start sliding down that slippery slope!

 

Correct.

It does a fine job too.

 

I'm looking at one of these intakes but it looks like you all got other mods done like exhaust, so my truck is bone stock and I dont know if i'm going to get the same preformance as you. What do you think?? How much power do you think your gaining? Is it possable to go too lean?

 

Lol, I love the big brown truck when its for me. Unfortunitley my wife has more crap sent to the house then I do. I looked into the s/c for my truck but I doubt I will get one any time soon.

 

Excellent question but, unfortunately, I have no definitive answer for you.

However, seeing as both [CAI & exhaust] are "breathing" mods, I'm sure you're going to get better performance with both than rather just one. That's not to say you will not get some type of gain and, more importantly, feel some type of power surge.

I'm sure you'll get some type of HP gain, but I really don't know weather it's half of what I have or more/less. Maybe someone else on these boards with a similar situation to the one you describe can elaborate further.

If I had to make an educated guess [based on a past experience] I'd say I've gained somewhere between 16-20HP at the very least.

I'm basing this assumption on a 2004 GTO I had. I installed a AEM Brute Force CAI [LINK] and dynoed it before and directly after to see the exact HP gain I had inherited. The difference was a 16HP gain on the graph. This truck seems like it's a tad more than the power surge I had on the Goat, as I remember everything about that car very clearly. At times it feels considerably more, and at times it feels on par... at the very least.

That's not going to change the world of ponies [16-20HP], but all things considered [a $200.00 mod], it's a pretty good buy.

Good luck in your decision.