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Installed Steeda CAI


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Fisrt I have to say that when I opened the box I was expecting a better looking unit. But enough about that. It took me 2 1/2 hours to install the unit. The biggest problem was putting that rubber edging around the unit. It would not stay on, I eventually had to use some spray adhesive and pieces of velcro. The next problem is installing the new screws for the MAP sensor. I am glad that I have small fingers to fit inside the tube to hold the screws. And they are an unknow button head screw which I tried about 30 or 40 of the sizes I had but none fit. The next pain was that they fail to tell you that you need to move the positive battery cable out of the way so you can bolt the unit to the battery tray. Once it was all bolted in and I bent the metal shroud to get it to fit, I went to close the hood and the unit is so tight I had to push down with some effort to close the hood.

I wanna say that I am pretty mechanically inclined so you guys can make your own decisions on the unit.

I will post photos of it tomorrow.

Next project: HID kit which looks very simple and the Gibson exhaust.

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Fisrt I have to say that when I opened the box I was expecting a better looking unit. But enough about that.- huh? come on, you can't do that, speak on it. It seems pretty clear from the rest of the post your not very impressed with the fitment.

 

I went to close the hood and the unit is so tight I had to push down with some effort to close the hood. - be careful, do not want to crease the hood. can you alter the air box - like grind some down and put the rubber seal back on?

 

this thread NEEDS photos :) I am probably more excited to see them then you sound about the product :(

 

and, please post up over time about anything you clearly notice about performance, mileage, blah blah blah

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Fisrt I have to say that when I opened the box I was expecting a better looking unit. But enough about that. It took me 2 1/2 hours to install the unit. The biggest problem was putting that rubber edging around the unit. It would not stay on, I eventually had to use some spray adhesive and pieces of velcro. The next problem is installing the new screws for the MAP sensor. I am glad that I have small fingers to fit inside the tube to hold the screws. And they are an unknow button head screw which I tried about 30 or 40 of the sizes I had but none fit. The next pain was that they fail to tell you that you need to move the positive battery cable out of the way so you can bolt the unit to the battery tray. Once it was all bolted in and I bent the metal shroud to get it to fit, I went to close the hood and the unit is so tight I had to push down with some effort to close the hood.

I wanna say that I am pretty mechanically inclined so you guys can make your own decisions on the unit.

I will post photos of it tomorrow.

Next project: HID kit which looks very simple and the Gibson exhaust.

 

 

I was told that once this in-take is installed, the car has to be tuned with a tuner? What is the performance difference? Is it worth the price, and from what I understand the hassel?

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It comes with an inner sleeve that has to be installed if you do not do the tuning. I have not had it out yet. I will let you know if there is any difference.

I will probably try and find some chrome or black hose clamps that might make a little difference.

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yeah, I admit, less impressed than I had hoped. not really digging all of the cheap feeling hose clamps either. not sure what I expected, but not that for sure - something a bit more refined in appearance.

 

Ditto... for the cost they should include SS T-Bolt Clamps

 

But if it works ... then great!

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I was told that once this in-take is installed, the car has to be tuned with a tuner? What is the performance difference? Is it worth the price, and from what I understand the hassel?

 

if you read their site, they have 2 versions.. the one that takes a tune and this one, which uses a sleeve to reduce airflow so no tune needed.

 

they have never posted nor responded to emails inquiring about any performance numbers for the non-tune version seen here.

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Looks...interesting. I agree with the others that for the price, they could have provided better clamps, hoses, etc. It is strange that Steeda won't provide any numbers for the product.

 

Oh well, for the cost, I'm sticking with my K&N. Probably just as efficient in the end and hundreds cheaper. :)

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The cold air shield is way to tall from the pics i am guessing a nibbler would take care of that but the kit overall looks like @ss to me. As far as the pinch weld i would assume that is what there using on the top of the shield , the easiet way to get it to work is throw it in the dryer and then it becomes very workable. I would expect to see something like this if it came out a month after the vehicle hit the ground but its been 2 years this month. Come on Steeda you shpuld be ashamed of this , i could have produced this in my shop at home for far less money . No offense to you EDGE184 but i would be wanting $ back.

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The cold air shield is way to tall from the pics i am guessing a nibbler would take care of that but the kit overall looks like @ss to me. As far as the pinch weld i would assume that is what there using on the top of the shield , the easiet way to get it to work is throw it in the dryer and then it becomes very workable. I would expect to see something like this if it came out a month after the vehicle hit the ground but its been 2 years this month. Come on Steeda you shpuld be ashamed of this , i could have produced this in my shop at home for far less money . No offense to you EDGE184 but i would be wanting $ back.

 

I agree with much of what you have said. even their online photo shows a nicer MAF sensor (I believe that is what that is that sticks out the top of the plastic tube) than what he received.

 

As for the air box height, I would grease up the edges and close the hood and see just where grease marks are so show where it strikes on your hood. this way, you can see where the high spots in the air box are and maybe grind down in just that area. And for the rubber trim, I have yards of that stuff al over my FJ40 and it is stiff, you could also use a heat gun on it.

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I hear ya lex, but you should never have to grind metal off your hood to make it close properly. I am surprised at these findings, due to steeda proucts being tested and tested again. Aftermarket parts will rarely "fit like stock" The tune will adjust the air/fuel ratio curve due to the more amount of air the motor is taking in, however, this amount of air is minimal and the stock cpu should compensate for this just fine. Steedas tune, or any for that matter, will increase the timing a tad which will improve performance but my necessitate the use for a higher octane fuel due to the increased timing. remember, the higher the octane fuel, the less explosive it is at a lower compression ratio. Increasing the timing increases the compression ratio which requires a higher octane fuel. Any "tune" that is done and does not require you to run a higher octane fuel is BS, plain and simple. In my own opinion, unless you are running a turbo or supercharger, these mods are completely useless. These motors can only take in so much air/fuel and they are calibrated perfectly from the factory to make the most Hp and Torqe that they can. I would strongly suggest to never mess with these componets. Gains are minimal at best, and may void your warranty.

Edited by BlazedUp
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I bought and returned the CAI and the tuner. The CAI metal shroud is sharper than hell and will cut the shit out of you while trying to install that stupid rubber trim piece. Also, the TB spacer will NOT work in conjunction with the CAI, it pushes the CAI to far forward. Lastly, i ran into nothing but problems with the tuner,.. including a dead vehicle that needed to have SCT's tech line called. Over 6 hrs on the phone with them, and having to reboot the programmer 3 times. I currently am running just the TB spacer, and honestly can't say i notice any difference. Oh and ya, those tiny screws that hold the MAP are a P.I.A. to get too. And my kit did not include any RTV sealant any. They could have atleast included allen wrenches for the kit. Only one version of the CAI was available when i bought it, and it needed the tuner. I bought the CAI when it first came out. I think like 2 weeks later they came out with another version that had a "sleeve" you could add allowing it to be installed withOUT a tune...?

Either way. Was not happy, and had to go thru ALOT of B.S.

 

-Cannon

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I hear ya lex, but you should never have to grind metal off your hood to make it close properly.

 

well yeah, that goes without saying... BUT if you must have it and want it, a 2.5 hour install and then another 1.5 to get it out + cost and time effort to ship it back, versus 30 minutes grinding.. you decide

 

either way.. seems like Steeda, for all their time and delay, released a half baked product.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Everyone and thanks for the feedback on the CAI. Your comments are greatly appreciated and we take them seriously.

 

I just wanted to go over a couple points.

 

1. - We include a plastic tube because an aluminum tube will hold more heat and cause your inlet temps to go up, and thus lose performance.

 

2 - The kit is meant to fit snug against the liner of your hood to seal the airbox against the hood and isolate it from hotter engine air.

 

3 - We have installed this kit on several Edge vehicles for fitment and have not run into any issues with things not fitting properly. We have also tested the kit on several different model years.

 

4 - We got an additional 31 HP and 25 FT LBS of torque on several different vehicles. A dyno sheet is attached.

 

edge-cai-dyno.jpg

 

5 - When installing the trim on to the shield it can help to sometimes cut a slit in the underside of the trim to help it wrap around corners. We have never had a need to use adhesives and you should not need any. This is the same trim we use for all of our kits, including Mustang kits which have been used in the tens of thousands by Shelby and Ford Racing.

 

6 - The piece coming out of the top of the photo on our site is a resonator that does not come with the kit. The MAF sensor mount is not visible in the photo on our site. Now that this is being brought up we do need to update our photo to not show the resonator. This will be done shortly.

 

If anyone has any questions we have a full staff of sales and support that can help with any pre-sale or installation questions you may have.

 

Thanks, Larry

(Yes, I work at Steeda :) )

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Where is the dyno sheet for gains after installing this kit on the edge. I would like to see the chart with just the install of the kit, and the install of the kit with the tune. I have dealt with JDM, hypertech, diablo but never with steeda. Just a good tune on a car can yield results of 20+ hp 15lb. ft. + of torque. I love steeda products and have several of them in use on my Mustang. Bottom line......people want to see positive results in hp and torque. Thanks so much for the response Larry...... :beerchug:

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Hey thanks for the effort and response Larry.

 

My big concern, I think similar to BlazedUp, is relative to point #4 above... which, from what I can tell, is NOT for this kit as this kit is the one with no tune & uses the insert while your provided chart is for the kit with a tune and no insert. Can you address that or provide data or a chart for what you have for this kit as I really think, giving finances, if more of us could find data on the sans tuner needed kit, we might go for it.

 

Last, many of your points makes sense... but I admit, I still would expect more than plain jane hose clamps seen in the photos here. Which then begs the question, relative to #6, what then is that 1/2 beer can sized blue hose clamp 'thing' if it is not a resonator?

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