Intake no headers?

Would it benefit me any to upgrade the intake on my 12 GT if I don’t do headers at the same time?


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It’s fine. You’ll make more power with just the intake anyways. If you want even more power then consider a header and then an exhaust afterwards.

What is your goal with this mod? And which intake?

Thank you Juice for asking the important questions. People should understand how things work and what the car will be used for before giving terrible advice.

Who's given terrible advice here?

CandyYote said:

Would it benefit me any to upgrade the intake on my 12 GT if I don’t do headers at the same time?

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Yes you could install a CAI alone but to get any benefit, you'd also need a tune (avoid BAMA). The JLT, Airaid MXP, and PMAS would be good choices.
Do you plan on adding forced induction later on or do you plan to keep the engine N/A? If the former, don't bother with a CAI. You could keep the stock airbox and just enjoy the extra performance of an aftermarket tune e.g. Lund until you're ready to spend the cash on a supercharger kit.

Juice said:

What is your goal with this mod? And which intake?

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Just trying to gain overall hp. Really been leaning towards the ‘18 manifold but that boss intake just looks so good lol. Everything I’ve read says that the ‘18 manifold is overall better than the Boss manifold


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A CAI, ported '18 intake manifold, 90mm throttle body, LT headers/midpipe, and 93 octane tune should get you somewhere near 440rwhp & 390rwtq.

I've recently been doing a bunch of research on this. An intake won't give you an "overall hp" increase. Most of the intakes give you power in the upper RPM range. Of those offered, I feel the 2018+ intakes do the best job for a street-driven Mustang. The 2018+ starts to have gains above 5200 rpms and the biggest gains happen as the stock intake runs out of steam (6700 rpms) and the 2018+ continues gaining through 7000 rpms. Typically, the 20-30 hp gains that are talked about for the 2018+ are in this area (stock peak at 6700 and 2018 peak at 7000).

You don't mention if you have an aftermarket CAI or a tune. You will need a tuning device and a tune for any of the mods you are considering. As others have said, go with a reputable tuner who will be able to support you with your future mods. I used to have Bama (with a Diablosport InTune) and recently switched to Lund with an nGauge. Couldn't be happier! Good luck and keep us updated. This is a mod I was very close to doing myself (which lead to me going with nGauge and Lund tune). If I wasn't so surprised and thrilled at the difference in the Lund tune, I probably would have already completed the intake swap. But, I'm still enjoying the new-found power and response of the Lund tune.

CandyYote said:

Just trying to gain overall hp. Really been leaning towards the ‘18 manifold but that boss intake just looks so good lol. Everything I’ve read says that the ‘18 manifold is overall better than the Boss manifold


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Ok, thats is what I thought you meant. What you read and others have said about intakes is spot on.
You will lose low end torque (under 5000 rpms) with any intake other than the '18. You need a ported 18 intake to get the best gains.
Now for the not so good news. You dont really gain HP with the ported 18, but do get additional usable rpms. So tuning will be required to get the most out of it and.raise the rev limiter. (X4 will NOT raise rev limit, needs to be changed in the tune)

I have been researching all this myself. I think long tubes is where any significant gains can be had.

J.Kidd said:

I've recently been doing a bunch of research on this. An intake won't give you an "overall hp" increase. Most of the intakes give you power in the upper RPM range. Of those offered, I feel the 2018+ intakes do the best job for a street-driven Mustang. The 2018+ starts to have gains above 5200 rpms and the biggest gains happen as the stock intake runs out of steam (6700 rpms) and the 2018+ continues gaining through 7000 rpms. Typically, the 20-30 hp gains that are talked about for the 2018+ are in this area (stock peak at 6700 and 2018 peak at 7000).

You don't mention if you have an aftermarket CAI or a tune. You will need a tuning device and a tune for any of the mods you are considering. As others have said, go with a reputable tuner who will be able to support you with your future mods. I used to have Bama (with a Diablosport InTune) and recently switched to Lund with an nGauge. Couldn't be happier! Good luck and keep us updated. This is a mod I was very close to doing myself (which lead to me going with nGauge and Lund tune). If I wasn't so surprised and thrilled at the difference in the Lund tune, I probably would have already completed the intake swap. But, I'm still enjoying the new-found power and response of the Lund tune.

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Yeah I screwed up and bought a Bama Rev-X tuner. I’m bone stock. Only thing I’ve done to my car is car back exhaust system. What are your mods? And what exactly do you like about the Lund ngauge? Should I do the cai and manifold before I buy the ngauge?


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Going with Bama wasn't necessarily a screw up...if you were just going to stop there. But, they don't support tuning for the 2018+ intake (kind of pissed me off). My mods are minimal: Steeda 101 CAI, Roush axle-back exhaust (mufflers). The rest is minor suspension stuff.

The Lund tune (I feel) is superior to the Bama tune that I had. I changed nothing else but the tune (and tuning device) and I still feel like I gained a good bit of power over the Bama tune...and the Bama tune felt better than the stock tune! I'm very happy going with the Lund tune as they have a solid reputation in the Coyote tuning world and will support tuning for a 2018+ intake (if I ever choose to go that route). The nGauge is just the delivery system for the tune but I like that fact that I can actually use it as a gauge as well instead of keeping it in a box in my trunk. It is super simple to use and I can download/upload tunes right from my Mac (iMac). I really like that versatility and the ease of use.

You can try to find someone else that writes tunes for the Rev-X tuner. In my case with my Diablosport InTune, nobody other than Bama still writes tunes for it. I am not sure about the Rev-X. Going with Lund and nGauge was the result of my research for finding a replacement tuner and device.
PLEASE NOTE: if you go with Lund and their nGauge, you will only be able to get tunes from Lund.

If you can get all the pieces at once (tuner, CAI, intake), that would be your best bet. If not, tuner & CAI, then intake is the order I would recommend.
PLEASE NOTE: if you go with the aforementioned mods, there is typically an additional $100 charge for tuning for a different intake.

Check with some of the vendors as a lot of times, they have nice package deals with tuner, device and CAI at a discounted price. I got my via Beefcake Racing and they were fantastic. Rapid response, immediate contact to Lund for a tune, and great pricing.

Longtubes along with any intake will move the powerband up and give you an increase in hp. Shorties will not do anything.....our cars came factory with shorties.

jewc75 said:

Longtubes along with any intake will move the powerband up and give you an increase in hp. Shorties will not do anything.....our cars came factory with shorties.

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So aftermarket tuned shorties don't flow any better than the stock manifolds?

banzai_bullitt said:

So aftermarket tuned shorties don't flow any better than the stock manifolds?

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Not on the Coyote but they do yield a small HP/TQ gain on the 3V.

banzai_bullitt said:

So aftermarket tuned shorties don't flow any better than the stock manifolds?

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Not according to the turbo guys.

They (short tubes) will provide some bump in low end torque. I installed them when I bought the car and ran the pro cal tune and I was routinely running a tenth to 3 tenths faster than guys with cat deletes and other tunes. I delete my cold air as it did nothing and was actually making me slower at times. A lot of CAI's don't draft through the factory air box intake so you are running higher intake temps than stock. The value of CAI has been debated through out numerous forums and most people don't think much of it. Now my e force has one and it ducts through the air box and seals off from the engine compartment.

From my research, shorties are very dependent on which brand you get. Some offered no gains, others had a minimal bump (6-8 hp). Maybe others gained more...I stopped looking a while ago and figured if I was going with headers, it would be full length. But then the expense of dropping long tubes and a new x-pipe became prohibitive ($1500-$2000).
https://www.fordmuscle.com/tech-stories/exhaust/determining-header-design-affects-output-coyote-5-0/

Same with CAI's. I went with Steeda as they retained the factory ducting (from underneath the headlight), had a larger MAS housing and sealed everything off from the engine compartment and had consistent gains in comparison with other CAI's. My nGauge confirms that my IAT is at or a degree or two below ambient temps while moving.

Good information. I'm still debating whether or not it's worth it to install BBK ceramic shorties.

The coyote likes to breathe and breathe up high. The more rpm the better. Mine shifts at 8200 in wot. Longtubes move the powerband higher, meaning it will make more hp/torque up high.

Dino Dino Bambino said:

A CAI, ported '18 intake manifold, 90mm throttle body, LT headers/midpipe, and 93 octane tune should get you somewhere near 440rwhp & 390rwtq.

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WTF do you need a 90mm throttle body for on a mild NA build?!