Mike,

I have been eyeing your Stage 1 Performance Package for 2004 and Newer Ford F-150 w/3-valve 5.4. Can you please give me your reason for choosing the AF-1 over the K&N intake system? I have seen different recommendations on the intake tread about which is better. All that did was confuse me more...all that talk about heat dissapation and stainless steel vs. plastice intakes, which one gives more HP. Can you please give me your professional opinion? Thanks

 

Funtuff, I would like to share my experience with intakes. I purchased the Volant CAI and drove down to Troyers new shop for the first Dyno day there. My truck was one that had to spend several hours on the Dyno in order to get properly tuned, hence the name i got DYNO HAWG. My truck did not make the power that others made. I have witnessed other trucks that had the AF1 on there trucks and they performed better. As far as the K & N filter system, i can't say. But The folks at Troyer have tested and tested these intakes and none of them perform as well as the AF1. When i sell my Volant CAI, It's AF1 for me.

 

Hi funtuff,

We're concerned with what works best, and quite simply, K&N does not get the kind of results that the Air Force One does on these trucks. Don't get me wrong, K&N is not a "bad" kit, they just don't do quite as well as the AF1's do, that's all.

Now as to all the details regarding air inlet temperatures, what material works best and all the theory behind that, I have already gone over all of that many times here previously over the past 10 years - so if that confuses you, then I guess all you really need to know is that we use the parts we do because we actually *test* to determine what parts work the best.

However, I think you actually *can* understand this if you put some time into this, as I have gone over this quite thoroughly in a manner that I think most people can understand. You might want to spend some time simply looking up that information we have posted many times here over the past 10 years or so by using the SEARCH feature here - all that info is here, all you need to do is find it via the SEARCH feature and read it - that is what the Webmaster provides it for, so that anything that has ever been posted can be looked up 24 hours a day. It's good reading and I think will help you to understand all of this a bit better.

I guess the best way to say it is simply that the bottom line is, we're concerned with what actually works better, which is why we test to determine who makes the most power, the lowest IAT's, etc. We don't take any manufacturer's word for anything, we test, so that we *know*, and it is on that basis that we make our recommendations, as we have a long reputation for our customer's vehicles making more power and delivering better performance for a given level of modification than other companies who attempt to do what we do - but then, nobody else has actually specialized in F-150 performance for 15 years like we have, so that's part of it, too. What I mean is, we would not be the best people to go to for modifying a Toyota, but we are known basically as the "go to" people for these F-series trucks, as that is what we concentrate on.

I hope this helps a bit more than confuses, my friend, & thanks for your post!

 

Very well put. Is the tune need for good results for the AF1? Do you have tunes for other tuners?

 

I have the K&N system with the polished aluminum intake, as well as Troyer E-Fans, Magnaflow SIDO exhaust and the XCalII tuned by Mike, in person at the last dyno day.

I asked him at that time if I would have seen any more performance gains by switching to the AF1 intake. I was expecting him to tell me I'd get another 10-15 HP by doing so. The man's answer? 2-3 HP. We both agreed, that scrapping my K&N and dropping the coin on the AF1 just for 2-3 HP just wasn't worth the cost.

Had I done the research first, for roughly the same money, I would've installed the AF1. Yeah, 2-3 HP gain isn't much and you'll never feel it in the seat of your pants, but *I* would know the difference, and if I saw another truck just like mine with the same mods, I'd know I was 2-3 HP faster!!

Do with this knowledge as you will.

 

Hi Unclebuck,

Yes, I would agree completely, on the 1997-2003 F-150's, the difference between the AF1 and the K&N FIPK kit is about 3 HP - so no, I would not scrap a FIPK for an AF1 in that case.

Now when we get to the new body style trucks, the difference between the AF1 and most other intakes gets to be more substantial, and so we have had many people at our various dyno days scrap Volant, K&N, & other intake kits right there on the spot and pick up the AF1 - so it's also a matter of exactly which vehicle, which engine, which model year, etc that affects this as well - in *your* case, I would not make the switch unless maybe you just hit the lottery, or you just wanted to have every last HP you could get.

For Funtuff - once again, I suggest making use of the SEARCH feature here, as all the info you want has been discussed many times and is easily available by simply reading here. With regard to the AF1, on the 2004 & newer 5.4 3V trucks, the 3.0" version does not require tuning - the larger version does. If you have any further questions, I suggest you give us a cal at our number listed below & we'll be happy to help.