Cold Air Intake

I have a '97 Mustang convertible and I’ve always wondered if adding a cold air intake to replace the standard air filter would improve gas mileage? I get decent mileage because I drive conservatively, but any improvement would be better.

I will venture an opinion. I doubt you will see any MPG improvements. Cold Air Intakes (CAI) as their name suggests will bring in colder air than the under hood temp air. Colder air is denser air. The air flow meter signals the computer more air is coming in it will add more fuel (is the 97 a vane or hot wire sensor?).

I think CAI is one of those aftermarket areas full of hype and claims based on the exceptions. When the Ad says “Up to xxHP Increase”…what vehicle run under what conditions are their numbers based on? Having said that, my F250 has a factory intake track that has the design elements of an CAI. I run one on my track car because the rules allow it and I am looking for 10ths of a second improvements. My “Seat of the Pants Meter” tells me there is a slight improvement in engine performance on long straights (ram air and Wide Open Throttle).

Some of them do look cool. I think that is the biggest selling point of lots of buyers.

Bottom line, I doubt you will see an MPG increase on a “conservatively” driven car. Increased intake noise might be the only change.

Generally a stock engine will benefit very little from any one change. Most modern cars breath well with their stock equipment. On the other hand if you had done extensive speed modifications, then you would be more likely to see a difference.

The 4.6L engines (with the exception of the 03-04 Cobras) typically don’t see much power improvement with a CAI. Usually CAI’s are done for astheic purposes in these cars. You won’t see much power increase with a stock engine and you certainly won’t see any fuel economy improvements.

What kind of mileage do you get? I get about 16 or 17 MPG going back and forth from work and about 20-21 MPG on the highway on 93 octane, which is pretty frugal in my book.

My Mustang is a V6, and I average 25-26 MPG in mixed driving and have approached 30 MPG on trips with all highway driving. I use Regular gas, which in Colorado is 85 octane.

Thanks for the information on the CAI.