Ok, first my understanding of the C.A.I. (So you all can tell right off the bat if I'm an idiot or not.) The C.A.I. is designed to essentially get air into the engine, that is "much" cooler than what the stock airbox can/will allow. The cooler the air being, the more power the engine can make with it.

What I don't understand, is that in reading about C.A.I.'s another thing that is almost always mentioned, is how such-n-such manufacturer also replaces the hose/tube (sorry, I don't know the actual term for it) that normally runs from the stock airbox to the engine. The reason being is that apparently Ford has a history of making the hose/tube as twisty and restrictive as can be. The replacement actually is, or almost is, perfectly straight, allowing the air much more force in entering the engine.

So, with that being the case, what exactly is the point of buying a C.A.I. that simply just replaces the stock airbox?

Example; Mac Stainless Steel Straight Shot Air System.
http://www.mustangtuning.com/mac-str...t-2005-gt.html

 

That one you posted supposedly has a higher flowing air filter, thus making the intake less restrictive.

 

CAI's for the most part are crap! If you are expecting big HP numbers from a cai than you are fooling yourself. Only blown cars would see a good hp increase of cai's...remove your silencer and drop in a K&N and you'll be good to go...

 

Again, take this understanding my very limitd knowledge of cars, but to me and just my plain common sense, wouldn't that just translate into that instead of having "X" amount of air coming in and being hung-up in the stock tube, that you now "Y" amount of air coming in and being hun-up in the stock tube?

Like a Toll Plaza on highways. Say the highway has three lanes before the Toll. (The air before it goes into the stock airbox.) Three lanes at the Toll. (The stock airbox.) Three lanes after the Toll. (The tube from the stock airbox to the engine.) The Toll is always backed up, so it's decided that expanding it to 9 lanes should help get more cars thru. So the Toll is expanded to 9 lanes. (The Mac C.A.I. from the example before.) Well, all that means to me, is that you know have 9 lanes of traffic that still has to eventually go back into the three lanes of travel (the stock tube) to get to where they want to go. (The engine.)

Does that make sense at all? (The analogy I mean.)

 

the convoluted (pleated) snorkel tube that Ford equipped stock is designed to help reduce intake noise as much as provide air. It's not a large point of restriction but it does cause some turbulence that is undesireable. Turbulent air is not dense air, smooth air is dense air.

Replacing the stock inlet tube with something smooth and preferably as large as you'll ever really need is a good thing. You won't gain a lot of peak power from it but the low end and midrange are likely to benefit more as will the future tuning of your ride when you start adding bigger things like cams and blowers and such.