EditorTurner

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Fresh Air
Installing Steeda’s cold air intake wakes up the EcoBoost Mustang
By Steve Turner
Photos by Steve Turner and courtesy of Steeda Autosports

Since there were internal combustion engines, there have been hot rodders trying to increase their output. Over the years, engines have gotten far more efficient and powerful, but numerous production restraints keep carmakers from fully maximizing the performance of their engines.

For example, the factory induction systems have gotten much better over the years. The sealed air boxes in modern Mustangs are fed fresh ambient air from behind the grille via well-designed ducts. However, the flow potential of a sealed box with a panel filter is limited.

These days there is a new Mustang player in town—the EcoBoost Mustang—and its 2.3-liter engine wears a turbo from the factory. Forced induction engines usually respond even better to breathing mods than their naturally aspirated counterparts. So, it’s only natural that the aftermarket with design freer flowing induction systems for these cars.

One of the latest systems is Steeda’s ProFlow Mustang Cold Air Intake for 2015 EcoBoost Mustang (PN 555-3199; $394.95). The company’s testing of the system with and without a performance calibration, definitely showed impressive gains. So, during one of our visits to the company’s South Florida digs we were able to document the installation of the system, so keep reading to see how the system goes on.

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Steeda’s ProFlow Mustang Cold Air Intake (PN 555-3199; $394.95) features a roto-molded heat shield, a high-flow inlet tube, a velocity stack inlet, high-flow nano-fiber air filter. It can be run as delivered or with a SCT calibration

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The stock EcoBoost inlet is reasonably efficient, but it doesn’t look like much. With an aftermarket cold-air intake you can increase airflow and improve the looks of your engine compartment with one bolt-on part.

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Steeda technician Steve Chichisola starts by removing the engine cover for easier access (and to install the tach-signal pickup for the Dynojet).

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Unplug the MAP sensor, remove the airbox filter and pull out the stock filter.

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Loosen the clamps attaching the inlet tube and remove the fasteners that attach the stock airbox to the body. Then you can remove the box.

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At the other end of the inlet tube, loosen the clamps and remove the coupler, PCV hose, and inlet tube.

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Steve assembles the Steeda inlet tube with the included couplers and fittings.

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Steve routes the inlet tube down to the turbo inlet.

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As you can see the Steeda silicone coupler steps the inlet down to the smaller inlet of the turbo. Should you ever install a larger turbo, you can simply swap out the coupler and retain the Steeda CAI.

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After cutting off the factory resonator and installing the supplied plug, Steve installs the factory fresh air tube duct onto the Steeda airbox. As you can see he also already bolted in the velocity stack.

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With the box put together, Steve slides the velocity stack into the coupler joining it to the inlet tube. Then he bolted in the air box.

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With the hardware in place, Steve reconnects the air-temp sensor and MAP sensor. The Steeda airbox even has a pre-drilled hole for the clip that retains the factory wiring.

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Steve wraps things up by installing the filter. You could install the filter in the airbox before you install it as well, but either way works.

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With the install complete the Steeda EcoBoost Mustang is ready to breathe freely.

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To test the combo, Steeda compared the stock intake with its CAI on the company’s in-house chassis dyno with the factory calibration. Then they developed a more aggressive CAI callibration using SCT software and hardware.

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By just adding the CAI, Steeda’s testing showed gains of 26.7 horsepower and 9.76 lb-ft of torque and there are larger more consistent gains to be had with the companion SCT calibration. With the tune in the PCM the car picked up another 21.07 horsepower and 68.23 lb-ft of torque.
 

13COBRA

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Impressive.

Will be ordering one for my girlfriend's car.
 

Twisted2v

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Did they max out the turbo and go real aggressive on the tune?

Just wondering about the longevity and driveability as a DD with the tune.
 

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