CAI or regular intake?
 

I am trying to decide between just a regular intake or a CAI. I am looking to get more out of my engine and for it to sound better? After I add a different air intake I will be adding different pipes eventually.

Here is the two air filters I was looking at:

Ford F-150 K&N Multiple Layers Of Cotton Gauze Air Filter - 1988-1995 Ford F-150 - K&N K33RF1012

Ford F-150 K&N 57 Generation II Cold Air Intake - 1990-1993 Ford F-150 - K&N K33572542

Thanks in advance. P.S. It is a 1993 5.8L F150.

If you do an online search for “air filter test” there is a lot of very good information. IMHO, the CAI units are NOT WORTH THE $$! Unless you are talking about a system that was specifically designed for a specific application there are very little hp/tq gains actually achieved in a street use vehicle and there are very few docs that these mfg’s can produce that actually show an increase in hp/tq in the power-band range of a relatively stock street vehicle.

I would avoid oil impregnated filters. While they have their purpose in off-road applications, Ford/GM/Dodge all have “watch-out” bulletins where the oil has contaminated intake sensors.

If you look at the flow data, WIX HP filters flow 98+% of K&N and have a much smoother flow post filter plus excellent filtering, for a fraction of the price! The OE’s have an excellent air intake system the only issue that really exists is the plastic intake tube with it’s noise canceling design- that does reduce the intake efficiency a little but makes it very quiet!. You can use a WIX OEM HP replacement filter in the OEM plastic manifold box and either remove the plastic tube and replace it with a piece of pipe/hose, etc or remove the tube completely and replace the tube by building an air ram type intake into the air box manifold (where the pipe use to attach)- make sure ti terminates above the fan shroud to avoid water intake or fan induced pulsations.