Justin@VMP
11-16-2007, 07:34 AM
There has been a lot of speculation on the forums as to how these intakes perform. I've used the K&N, Steeda, and JLT in the past and felt that they were all very comparable. With the release of the new Ford Racing Intake I figured it would be a good time to develop a tune for the FR intake and do some head to head testing on my personal GT500.
All testing was done with a 2.6" upper blower pulley, 11.7:1 a/f (red dashed reference line on graphs) and 24* of delivered timing on 93 octane fuel. Post intercooler air temps consistently started at 95-100F and finished around 110F, below the threshold in my tune where timing is modified (which prevents timing from becoming a testing variable).
All testing was done the same afternoon with an average of 15 minutes between pulls to allow for proper cool down. Ambient conditions were 80-85F and about 5F warmer in the shop. Humidity was low for Florida. These are mediocore conditions, not terrible like some of the 90-95F days we were having a few months ago, but not great like the 60F days the guys in the north are getting. Hence the power numbers in the high 530s, once we have another cold front come through I'll see numbers in the 540s-550s. Also, my STB was removed for easier removal and installation of intakes.
I tested the JLT intake with and without the carbon fiber tube. The differences in power were negligible on my car with the 2.6 pulley.
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1jltgraphs.jpg
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1jltpic.jpg
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1jltpic2.jpg
I also did the same test a few months ago on a customers car with the stock pulley, but wanted to get some data from a pullied car before I posted. I saw the same negligible difference.
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1kathy.jpg
Now of course, on a car with an aftermarket blower, the factory rubber tune from the TB to MAF *might* start to be a restriction, but in the case of a stock blower it is not a restriction. The Ford Racing intake results below will also back that up.
You will notice that some of these numbers vary by 1-2RWHP, that is an extremely small amount for a 500+RWHP car, about two tenths of a percent or .2%.
Next, I compared the KN intake. The KN fits well and performs just as well as any other intake, when properly tuned for. Do not run it without a tune (see my other post about the KN intake). I've been running the KN on my car for several months. I also compared the new Ford Racing Intake, it fits extremely well and re-uses the factory rubber tube. The FR intake is 105mm around the MAF and uses a large velocity stack type inlet near the filter. It's made of very thick plastic that won't distort from heat. Their heat shield is quite unique, in the sense that it really isolates the filter from engine bay heat better than anything else out there. It’s a full tray that goes under the filter and attaches using two factory bolts.
You can see from the graph below that all three intakes (four if you count the JLT half vs full) made pretty much the same amount of power. This goes a long with what I've always said, stock blower cars don't really need a ton of air. I like the factory rubber tube because it fits under the STB well and allows for some engine movement.
Head to head dyno comparison:
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1dynos.jpg
KN intake pic:
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1kn.jpg
Ford Racing intake pic:
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1fr.jpg
Later this week I'll be testing a C&L intake, as well as a throttle body.
All testing was done with a 2.6" upper blower pulley, 11.7:1 a/f (red dashed reference line on graphs) and 24* of delivered timing on 93 octane fuel. Post intercooler air temps consistently started at 95-100F and finished around 110F, below the threshold in my tune where timing is modified (which prevents timing from becoming a testing variable).
All testing was done the same afternoon with an average of 15 minutes between pulls to allow for proper cool down. Ambient conditions were 80-85F and about 5F warmer in the shop. Humidity was low for Florida. These are mediocore conditions, not terrible like some of the 90-95F days we were having a few months ago, but not great like the 60F days the guys in the north are getting. Hence the power numbers in the high 530s, once we have another cold front come through I'll see numbers in the 540s-550s. Also, my STB was removed for easier removal and installation of intakes.
I tested the JLT intake with and without the carbon fiber tube. The differences in power were negligible on my car with the 2.6 pulley.
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1jltgraphs.jpg
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1jltpic.jpg
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1jltpic2.jpg
I also did the same test a few months ago on a customers car with the stock pulley, but wanted to get some data from a pullied car before I posted. I saw the same negligible difference.
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1kathy.jpg
Now of course, on a car with an aftermarket blower, the factory rubber tune from the TB to MAF *might* start to be a restriction, but in the case of a stock blower it is not a restriction. The Ford Racing intake results below will also back that up.
You will notice that some of these numbers vary by 1-2RWHP, that is an extremely small amount for a 500+RWHP car, about two tenths of a percent or .2%.
Next, I compared the KN intake. The KN fits well and performs just as well as any other intake, when properly tuned for. Do not run it without a tune (see my other post about the KN intake). I've been running the KN on my car for several months. I also compared the new Ford Racing Intake, it fits extremely well and re-uses the factory rubber tube. The FR intake is 105mm around the MAF and uses a large velocity stack type inlet near the filter. It's made of very thick plastic that won't distort from heat. Their heat shield is quite unique, in the sense that it really isolates the filter from engine bay heat better than anything else out there. It’s a full tray that goes under the filter and attaches using two factory bolts.
You can see from the graph below that all three intakes (four if you count the JLT half vs full) made pretty much the same amount of power. This goes a long with what I've always said, stock blower cars don't really need a ton of air. I like the factory rubber tube because it fits under the STB well and allows for some engine movement.
Head to head dyno comparison:
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1dynos.jpg
KN intake pic:
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1kn.jpg
Ford Racing intake pic:
http://vmptuning.com/GT500/s1fr.jpg
Later this week I'll be testing a C&L intake, as well as a throttle body.