Oh yeah the K&N sticker is real cool man - I got that under my hood too - makes you feel real "official" and all... Wow... Just messing around with the sarcasm and all, but seriously - the K&N CAI should come with more of a complete explanation for the consumer regarding how the factory computer calculates A/F mixtures - since you know that the K&N CAI can shovel more air into the intake than the truck can actually register... Our trucks are not properly scaled to measure increased air intake from a K&N CAI with the stock tune. You are garaunteed to miss at WOT - at least my truck was. BTW, can you explain how your got accurate A/F measures while on a dyno?? LOL, hopefully they were using a broadband O2 device for that and not a sniffer - how did they prove that it was "safer"??? Safer than what? A K&N CAI with no tune? HAHA! No way it could be safer than the stock tune with the stock intake - that's a stretch. Hey guys! We found a safer A/F mixture combo than the Ford Motor Company came up with, who has senior level P.E. licensed fluids and thermodynamics PhD engineers designing their engines!! All you have to do is buy our bolt on CAI and get a custom tune at our shop! We'll even test your A/F mixture for ya to prove it! Whatever...

Here's the thing... The K&N marketing machine needs to clearly dilineate that their product is not a true "bolt on"... It is physically a bolt on - true, but it actually requires a custom tune to make it a viable after market performance mod. What good is the product if I cannot slam on the gas after I bolt it on? I found myself easing off throttle until 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear and then slamming it - the misses were so bad at times I thought my engine was going to jump out of my hood... I even gave the product a chance and changed my fuel filter and spark plugs (not touching the coil packs), to no avail. It really is a mod that should be coupled with a custom tune... Which brings me to my next point... There are so many different ways to get a "custom" tune... I have heard local shops offer tunes, or the gryphon deal with Edge, and now you bring up the Troyer custom tune (which is new to me), I know superchips has a tune for CAIs, but not for K&N CAIs - check their tech support bro... The problem is that I would have to drop some cash on a tuner that I could custom tune for a K&N CAI, and wait for those tunes (no garages here can offer the tune I need in NW Florida - I have called around)... I have little confidence the K&N CAI plus a custome tune would give me a huge increase over a custom tune alone.

The K&N CAI sucks (literally - ha ha) in all that hot air under my hood and with 100% repeatability causes misses at WOT in almost every gear I slam it... My wife and I decided to check 0-60s before and after my R&R work this morning her in the passenger chair with a stop watch, with a sample n=15 each time (because we understand this is probably not the most accurate way to test, so we increased the sample size so we could utilize the Central Limit Theorem and get our data closer to a Normal distribution to get a more true mean - yes, i am an engineer)... With the K&N CAI we were missing at around 40mph WOT (every time) and had a mean of 8.173s and std dev of .056 - still pedal to the metal through the misses. Without the CAI were had no misses and had a mean of 8.279s and a std dev of .062. My conclusion was simple... The K&N CAI is not designed for our trucks without a custom tune... The performance in acceleration was negated by the misses, and the stock "CAI" was very competitive... I am just a regular guy, an educated consumer, (with an engineering degree albeit), a consumer nonetheless... This consumer can see through the marketeering now... It's simple really - anybody should be able to figure it out... All the hype, all he marketing, all the specs that are thrown in your face about the HP gains and MPG gains, and all the muffler shops who push the K&N CAI act as if this is a straight bolt on that adds HP - and this marketing campaign is false...

Much much more is required to get the benies out of the CAI - i.e. a custime mfing tune! That's nuts! K&N should make this apparent, right? That's what intuition says, but then the dollar has a different script - because there enough dumbasses out there (like myself) who will drink the koolaid and buy one of these things thinking it can just bolt on to their truck and WALLA - 15 more HP... It's crap bro...

If you look at what canned or custom tunes can do for this truck, adding a CAI into the mix may optimize that by maybe 5HP??? Maybe 10HP if you are an expert at this stuff?? The majority of the increase is from the tune, not the CAI... These trucks aren't mazdaspeed3s or WRXs, they are 4-wheel drive off road machines that are extremely luxurious and roomy... I mean come on... If I really wanted to get an enormous amount of acceleration out of a truck like this, I would get a supercharger and new headers and drop like $7K... If you weight the risk versus reward, which is what I do as an electrical engineer every day of my life, you gain another 10HP out of a CAI/tune combo as compare with just a tune which could net up to 35HP if you are brilliant at tuning? So we are looking at 35HP versus 45HP?? That's it? 10HP? BUT, you risk running hot air, filter oil (if you don't know how to oil your filter), more particulates, and running very lean on your engine... For the possible gains, I'd rather use the stock "CAI" with a tune and get 15HP-20HP with the Edge, than assume all those risks just to get another 10HP from a tune PLUS a K&N CAI, or any open medium CAI for that matter... It just doesn't make any sense to me... I mean, it's not like a K&N CAI gives you 50-60 more horses with a tune... The tune gets your close enough for me - and again - we are not drag racing our trucks out here... If I wanted to do that, I would have a SVT Lightning... The risk is ridiculous for the amount of HP gains your get with the tune/CAI combo... I'm good with the Edge... I have a buddy with the same truck I have (albeit 2006) and he has an Edge Evo with the performance tune - and his truck hauls *** with the factory intake and hasn't missed that I know of... 0-60s in the high 6s - bone stock engine with magpacks... It's all the evidence I need...

I opt to prolong my engine life and stop missing with the K&N CAI, or even with that plus a custom tune to give it maybe 10 more horses than I could get with just the canned tune... Don't get me wrong - I don't mind running a little lean - I mean our trucks come off the showroom floor lean, right? That's what I hear anyway... K&N CAI makes it so lean that my truck starts missing... That's a problem, and a problem I think K&N should openly declare before they trick unassuming customers like me into thinking it's a true "bolt on"...

Everyone keep in mind - I am a consumer - not a promotional advertiser blasting the air waves with Kirby Vacuum Cleaner door-to-door salesman-esque claims... I am a regular Joe who gave the K&N CAI a for a 2005 5.4L 3V V8 a fair shake for almost 2 years... No one can say I haven't given the product a fair evaluation... It's a subpar product for our trucks without a custom tune, and even then the custom tune will give you the best increase alone... Departing from that with the open medium CAI will get you a few more horses at the risk of more particulate matter in the engine and sucking in hot air... No thanks...

 

and you're going to waste even more money...

 

thats what K&N claims, you wont get that much. maybe 5 at the most. and also they do get better mpgs. my 04 heritage f150 4.2L went from consistant 18.9mpgs to consistant 19.9 with K&N drop-in to consistant 23.5mpgs combined driving. same intake on my 08 gave me maybe an extra 1-2mpg combined.

and how is an intake not reversable? i took my K&N off my 04 heritage and put the stock one back on, intake is now on my 08 which it is not made for. had to do some rigging to make it work so it is not reversable because of my rigging.

it isnt. the "drop-in" is the "replacement" filter that you would get at autozone. a CAI is not what people mena when they say "drop-in". there is stock, drop-in, and CAI. drop-in is same filter material as the intake but is the same size/shape as your stock filter.

yeah, i actually installed a flex tube running from my front bumper to my filter to try to do the same thing. i did notice a small difference at speed but not while stopped. and while you are moving you have the air going thru the grill which is moving the air around your engine. while moving the air under the hood is only probably 10-15 degrees warmer than the ambient air. when you stop and open the hood, the engine has already warmed up the air so when you open it, yeah its gonna be hot

yeah, get the custom tunes for what you have, since they are made FOR what you have, it will give you better gains.

 

Thanks for the essay, you wrote a lot without even reading my post. I use the K&N CAI with custom tuning from Troyer Performance. They have done a ton of R&D on every aftermarket intake, and incorporate that data into their custom tuning which they tailor to YOUR truck according to its specific modifications and computer code. Once they send you the tune, you take it to a local tuner/dyno for a diagnostic/datalog on the truck to make sure all is good, and yes my A/F ratios were perfect. FAR better than the Edge with stock intake (lean). More power too. And yes, many 2004-2005 F150s run *slightly* lean on the factory tune. You should call Mike Troyer and talk to him, he is incredibly knowledgeable on all of this.

Never once did I say the K&N is safe without a custom tune. Never once did I say I gained huge power with just a CAI, or say that the K&N intake is an awesome deal and worth the $. ALL I said was my truck runs safer, with more power, and better driveability with a custom tune and K&N than with the Edge and stock intake, and MANY others on here have experienced the same. You seem to think you really know your stuff, so I will not make any recomendations to even attempt to sway you from your decision. Good luck with your Edge, hope you have a better experience than I did.

 

why do i need to figure this out?

 

You know what guyz?

They're your trucks and its your money......

If you want to throw your money at it go right ahead....

But were just trying to say that they're is more economical solutions out there with better results and with less possible potential damage to the engine.

http://forum.gopowerhungry.com/6494-post1.html

 

Source?

 

88-im guessing those are all the ones he has owned?
General-i have had K&N drop-ins in my 97 2.3L ranger and my 04 4.2L f150 heritage, and bought an intake for my 04 which is now on my 08. all worked great. drop-ins made a little extra power in both but only the 04 heritage saw any mpg gain. only went up 1mpg. ranger i noticed i didnt have to downshift as much on hills. the intake on both trucks helped with acceleration and mpgs. 04 heritage went from 18.9 to 23.5 combined driving. my 08 only gained maybe 2mpg over the 18-19 i got combined. now have my VMP tuned SCT X3 and have lost mpgs but i think thats because its so hard to stay out of it, for the fun and also the thin air in CO.