is there any little trick i can do for free to free up some more horses on a stock 97 4.6? maybe there's a pre-filter in the intake or a silencer...any little thing that could be easily altered for a couple more ponies? or am i crazy? i heard the 5.0's have an air silencer in the intake tube that can be removed for an easy 2 hp gain.....does the 4.6 have something like that?

 

yep, its on the side of the housing of the stock air filter going down into the fender...take it off, you wont feel a diff tho..mabey 1 hp

 

the 4.6 has this air silencer?

 

Yes. All late model stangs do. It is called a snorkel. I would not bother pulling it. The 05's have something different. There is some sort of pre-filter that restrict flow.

 

i thought it was like an insert that reduced the intake tract down to like nickel size to get rid off the sound of the intake sucking in air? maybe i am crazy? but it that the only free mod per se?

 

1 - Don't bother with a spacer UNLESS you port your plenum and go with a 70 mm TB. You will get almost 10 hp if done correctly. Otherwise, adding an after-makert plenum does what a spacer does and more.

2 - All 99-04 Mustangs essentially have a CAI right from the factory. Your car is designed to pull air directly from the wheel well. The air goes into the well, through a hole and into a rubber snorkel. Then, into the air box, through the filter and to the MAF etc... The snorkel is the silencer. They are the same thing.

 

this is a 97 4.6...

it is the same design i take it?

 

all of what Ive seen from a throttle body and plenum upgrade will net you from 4 to 8hp and a couple pounds of tq at the wheels on a stock motor depending on which ones you choose.

 

Its almost another convertor for your intake as so its been described. It supposedly filters fuel vapor from escaping your intake when you shut off the engine. What a joke. A magazine tested this on the dyno making a baseline and then removed it and picked up 2 hp.

 

Plan to spend about $400 for a plenum and TB. It is pretty much proven to net 10 rwhp. The available combos really do not have much variation as far as hp goes. You may see +/- 2 for the most part.

If you get a plenum, skip the intake spacer.

Now, for those on a budget, there are guys will will port your plenum for less than $100. Then, get a spacer and a TB and you will see nearly the same gains. Though, more variation in results.

Bolt-on HP is about $40 per hp on average. This even includes S/C's. Mods like UDP's and X-pipes (depending on how much you pay), do much better than that.

 

You motor and my motor are very similar. The biggest difference is in our head design. If I were you, I would do a PI Head swap if you can.. You will net about 40 hp just with a normal head swap, and get more with a ported head.

With the right heads and cams, you can add 100 hp to your application.