Well I went up there today and put my Trish on the dyno. out of four her best was 262.24 hp with 282.04 torque. I was a lil said. Saying I have CAI, headers, and exhaust I thought I would be closer to stock specs. But they told me hwat they thought was wrong and so with a good tune up and replacing sum wires and what not hopefully it'll put me up a lil. There was also a Firebird there that had full bolt-ons and his best was only up there in the 280's. But all this has made me realize, Mustang=Mudslang. HA-haaaa-ha-ha-haaa.

A stock LT1 will dyno around 250 or so. With a less than perfect tune you may be in the ballpark. I have seen a few with around 260 rwhp showing how GM underated these motors.

Right but the dyno chart for the K&N CAI shows an 18 hp gain. Whats goin on with that? Saying that I also have headers and exhaust.

Do you mean the dyno chart from the company that makes the CAI & filter? Or did you dyno your car before & after?

That shows you could in theory get up to a 18 hp gain and that's probably not at the wheels anyway.

I agree most manufacturers quote FWHP gains not RWHP
And every Car is different so just because this guy got that much doesn't mean everyone else will have the same results.

I think your engine did really well! However, what rpm was the hp and torque measured at? Did the engine get to 5,000 rpm or 6,000 rpm, or...?

Whatever hp any company claims for their product, always cut it in half, and then be skeptical of even that number. Also, hp doesn't generally add up, sometimes it fills in a hole or helps to even out a torque curve, etc. changes can also rob hp from the top end and add it to the lower end or vice-versa, which can actually hurt the total numbers.

For example, the biggest scam in the hp wars was the original "air foil" for the throttle body. When these things first came out, the advertisements said 10-15 hp increase for only 50 bucks. Hah! It was more like 2 or 3. A K&N filter in the stock system adds from 5-7 hp. About the fancy, schmancy K&N intake systems...the OEM cold air system is more than adequate for your engine--it flows, with the stock air filter, around 560cfm which is enough to feed around 400hp or more--the K&N filter adds another 40 cfm. The stock throttle body flows 610 cfm and 640 with the airfoil, but the OEM engine will only breathe 490 cfm at 5,900 rpm, and that is a 285 hp engine!--it doesn't matter what type of air intake system is installed, that is all the stock engine will suck in. The OEM MAF flows 800 cfm! So, you see a lot of advertisements for "ported" MAFs, that flow more. So, I'm still wondering how even a heavily modded street engine will exceed 800 cfm?!

Don't believe the hp claims for aftermarket parts, instead concentrate on solid and proven mods and all of them cost big bucks and return huge hp increases when done correctly.

See that's why Im glad I listened to my buddy and joined you guys. First two pulls were at 5500 rpm and the last two were redline. I avereged 255ish and peak was the 262 during redline.

Split the post. Started to get off topic.

Can find it here CAI:another debate continues

Matt

Ahhh....Matt, it's just an intellectual exercise.

Here, check out this website, it might answer some questions. This guy is about 50% correct:

http://www.wku.edu/~nathan.plemons/htmls/increase.html

Real horspower is really hard to get, and it takes a system approach and some sound engineering to achieve it, none of this is cheap or easy. Quick fixes, easy changes, magic spark plug wires, high flow intakes, etc., they don't work...sorry to say, I wish it was true, but none of it is. The more you learn, the more you realize that these manufacturers bank on the fact that a fool and his money are soon parted and can make them a fortune.

(I changed the per cent that I thought that guy above was correct from 98% to 50%. After reading the webpage more carefully, I think he is slightly unhinged, well...maybe a lot unhinged, but 50% of him is substantially OK. The other 50%? Let's just say, I don't agree with him and leave it at that. Left the link in case somebody wants to read it.)