CAI aftermarket for SPP HO at higher altitude?

I know, this topic has been beaten to death, but the ghosts are still spooking. Going through many posts here on the pros and cons of an aftermarket CAI, the bottom line for the stock 3.5 TT engine is a bit more acceleration and not much mpg gain. The benefits do not justify the cost. My question is simple and hopefully someone here can give some suggestions before I click a few hundred bucks away.

I have a new 2023 SPP HO and live over a mile high where the air is thinner. Most of its miles will be well above sea level. While the OEM airflow seems decent on all out pedal to the metal acceleration, I am wondering about the benefits of increased air flow at higher altitude for the performance Raptor engine. Anyone have any experience with this? I was thinking the Ares CAI (image below) since it is simple and lower cost. Any suggestions?

Also, a few questions;

1. Is the MAF sensor only on one intake tube to the driver-side turbo?

2. Is there really a need to close off the intake filters in a housing over open air? I know heat from the engine nullifies the "cold air" aspect of the CAI, but dust will get in both, no?

3. Is the stock oem filter housing adequate for HO engine or is it upgraded for higher air flow?

3. Anything else I need to be considering/forgetting/ignoring???

Thanks to all.

I recently just switched between CAI's, having now moved to the awesome Corsa one. My issue with the previous one was actually that it was the open baffle style. I didn't like how dirty the filter go and even though it had a gasket at hte top, much like the picture you posted, I was still pretty sure hot air from the engine was getting in there. I also couldn't take out and clean the filter on the previous one without having to disassemble it, the Corsa works much better, just unscrew the window and the filter can be moved out. And yes, the MAF sensor is only on the one side, and you absolutely have to use the deflection tube, I got a lot of codes at first when I installed mine, it wasn't facing the turbo right. I know it's far more than that ebay listing you have there, but the Corsa is fantastic.

I also live at about 6200'. And I can absolutely attest to these helping, but in our dry dusty air, I would recommend and enclosed CAI.

Thanks a lot 5280. The more I research this, the more I lean toward the closed CAI. I appreciate your suggestion and wondered about the tube. Nowhere in my web mining about CAI did I find much about the tube and what it is for. If you know where I can get more info, please let me know.

Researching the pros and cons of aftermarket CAI further for my altitude question, I have found that most of the cost of the higher quality aftermarket CAIs is in duplicating the stock CAI box and snorkel already in the engine bay. This makes little sense. All I am looking for is increased filter surface area to bring in more O2 at an altitude having less dense air. Air flow is air flow.

The photo I posted above shows a duel filtered intake that is fed air from inside the engine bay which defeats the cold air aspect of the stock and aftermarket CAIs. I must assume from the price and misspellings in the product description it is a cheap Chinese knock-off.

So my questions now are...

1. Is there any aftermarket set up that has a larger filter surface area that adapts to the existing filter housing? A larger cone or oblong cone? I have used AFE drop-in dry filters before so that would be my next choice, but is there something out there that can do better?

2. Is the oem CAI filter housing that is already in place designed for the added increase in air volume required by the HO engine? I do see a bigger throat to the aftermarket snorkels, but is it larger/more inductive that the stock snorkel?

I just hate tearing something out only to replace it with a redundant albeit slightly better system. What I would be looking for in an aftermarket CAI would cost about $400 which includes snorkel, housing, tubing and cone filter. All I need is the larger filter. Is there anything out there?

Any ideas? thanks.

Here you go @NevadaGeo. This is what I think you’re referring to…
Magnum Force Vent Tube Insert from aFe Power

What the tube does is prevent a check light by providing the correct flow of vacuum. This flow that the computer is looking will be disrupted by the installation of new system components. The vent tubes size, and direction of airflow (arrow on top depicts direction of installation), plays into how it works.

If I would’ve known you were in the market I would’ve pulled my Full Race CAI system before I traded it.

That elevation you described sounds like Colorado. If you’re anywhere near Littleton get over to Elite Performance and Tuning and see Eddie.

After I installed my Full Race intercooler and TurboSmart BOV he got some real power out of it for me. These numbers are at the rear wheels (do your own math to figure what that means at the crank) after he tuned it.

Since the tune I added SPD down pipes, Full Race CAI (the CAI was in the mail when Eddie tuned it. To “simulate” its installation he opened the factory air box), and Accel coils.

Never got a chance to get it back for further tuning/ dyno because I dogged it out, and ruined the rear differential. Ended up trading it. Dealer took it, rear diff-challenged and all. Traction control couldn’t hold it… kept defeating it and spinning rear wheels.

See the difference in size and quality of the Full Race intercooler vs the OEM trash? Don’t let Full Race tell you they don’t make anything for the Expedition… as you can plainly see I got everything from the 2011-2014 F-150 to work. Even went by Full Race to order something, and showed them. Told they were missing out on an entire market. He got a camera and took pics. Not sure where that lead… a new design to specifically fit Expeditions, or a recommendation to certain era F-150’s, or nothing. Probably, nothing would be my guess. With the new Expy’s looking like F-150’s under the hood now why mess with it. My 2016 looked like a an older 2011-2014 F-150 under the hood; so that’s what I used for my search engine choice.

NevadaGeo said:

Thanks a lot 5280. The more I research this, the more I lean toward the closed CAI. I appreciate your suggestion and wondered about the tube. Nowhere in my web mining about CAI did I find much about the tube and what it is for. If you know where I can get more info, please let me know.

Click to expand...

The CAI if a good one will come with instructions. I also liked that the Corsa tube was metal, where as my previous one was plastic. It comes with instructions on how to pop off the sensor harness, insert the tube with the open angle facing the turbo (shortest end of the tube towards turbo). Then you just pop the sensor harness back on and voila. Helps reduce CEL's.

@Ellison Brown III mentioned the IC. I went with the Mishimoto, huge volume, direct fit with almost no modifications (the only mod you'll have to do with almost all of them, you have to cut the rubber gasket off the shroud). I've been using Mishi for many years and appreciate their quality.