Any real world experience with aFe's Momentum GT CAI?

[Yamazuki]

Haven't really seen this one mentioned around the forum so I'm curious as to whether or not anyone has any real world experience with aFe's Momentum GT CAI.

aFe Momentum GT with Pro Dry S filter

Stuff like:
Ease of installation
Fitment
Quality
Any real world performance gains
General thoughts regarding the product itself.

TYIA!

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[tastetickles]

Don't have it on my Mustang but a drop in filter on my Jeep with the 3.6L Pentastar. The Pro Dry S filter is the one i bought, the general consensus on Jeep forum is:

Ease of installation 8.5/10
Fitment 8.5/10
Quality 9/10

My real world performance gains 2 to 3 mpg.
General thoughts regarding the product itself. They are my first go to company if i'm after dry filter tech. For oiled filter intake stuff, etc Bankspower is my first go to since I enjoy listening to Gale banks explaining stuff and believe him to be genuine and not over the top when explaining their designs.

 

[D/\rK•650]

Looks pretty good. Performance is on par with other CAIs.

 

[robvas]

My real world performance gains 2 to 3 mpg

 

[D/\rK•650]

Performance on par as to their claims anyway..

 

[tastetickles]

lol I wish I can say more but it would be a lie if I say anything else. On the Jeep side anyone that mentions power gain from intake gets flamed. Real world testing of quarter mile wouldn’t mean much for Jeepers since their rig are usually so heavy and meant for low speed crawling. Although AFE did release a video of their 0 to 60 run which showed a better time. Interestingly Banks never claimed any power gain but only CFM better than all competitors.

My butt-o-meter says there is an increase in power and smoother revving but that’s unreliable. The only definitive thing I can say is I had a better mpg with just their drop in filter but not their CAI, however most Jeep are driven at 60 to 70mph at most because of their brick form and hanging at just above idle rpm at 8th gear in that speed range. So partial throttle is what most Jeepers are interested in. The filter does flow more efficient but not at the expense of filtration (at least I don’t think so) AFE did it with increased surface area. A regular paper pleated flat surface was replaced with a deep cone like shape with greater surface area. Sorry not much useful info for Mustang version.

 

[Yamazuki]

In terms of horsepower, I guess I've never really felt that just a CAI or exhaust changes post catastrophic converter are going to provide much more than a 'placebo' effect in the seat of your pants. Yeah they probably do add a few more horsepower, but the average person isn't likely to notice 5 or 10 added to something that already has 500 and it's just not a cost effective way to go about adding hp.

That said, a lot of what I do tends to be for aesthetics and general appeal, but I don't want to be going backwards either. If I can get something that visually appeals to me more than what is there, has better airflow, provides at least as good or better filtration, doesn't rob horsepower, and requires less maintenance; well that's a win. But, I don't want to have to rip half the car apart to install it or find out that it's made out of cheap crap and doesn't fit worth a shit either.

Thus my inquiry and hope that someone else on the forum had some experience with this particular CAI. I guess we'll find out once it shows up!

 

[D/\rK•650]

In terms of horsepower, I guess I've never really felt that just a CAI or exhaust changes post catastrophic converter are going to provide much more than a 'placebo' effect in the seat of your pants. Yeah they probably do add a few more horsepower, but the average person isn't likely to notice 5 or 10 added to something that already has 500 and it's just not a cost effective way to go about adding hp.

That said, a lot of what I do tends to be for aesthetics and general appeal, but I don't want to be going backwards either. If I can get something that visually appeals to me more than what is there, has better airflow, provides at least as good or better filtration, doesn't rob horsepower, and requires less maintenance; well that's a win. But, I don't want to have to rip half the car apart to install it or find out that it's made out of cheap crap and doesn't fit worth a shit either.

Thus my inquiry and hope that someone else on the forum had some experience with this particular CAI. I guess we'll find out once it shows up!

Please let us know how it is..thanks buddy

 

[Yamazuki]

Just received my aFe Momentum GT CAI this afternoon and got it installed.

Total time to install was right around 30 to 40min and overall was pretty easy if you take a few minutes to watch aFe's installation video before going to work.

The kit included:
2 aFe Pro Dry S filters with clamps
2 complete airboxes
2 intake tubes
2 connectors for the intake tubes to throttle bodies
4 clamps for the aforementioned connectors
2 connectors for the airbox to factory grill intake vents
4 screws for the MAF sensors
2 factory style hose nipples

Overall, fitment was quite good and used the factory mounting locations and hardware for the airboxes themselves. The new airboxes are a single component each, unlike the factory 2 piece units, and have a window on top of them for viewing the filters. The right (passenger) side airbox was a bit more difficult to remove and install than the left (drivers) side due to the fuse box; but nothing a little extra force and a wiggle couldn't resolve.

The filters simply install into a large hole in the airbox and sort of snap in after being attached to the intake tubes, which appear to be made out of the same rigid plastic that the airboxes are.

The MAF sensors fit into the intake tubes rather snuggly, so much so that I wasn't sure they were actually going to go in. Be sure to use the new screws that come with the aFe kit for attaching the MAF sensors to the new intake tubes. Factory style hose nipples thread into the intake tubes and the factory hoses connect up with no modifications.

Quality of the materials all seemed pretty good and my only complaint would be how well the filters fit into the airbox. The fit could be a little tighter but will in no way affect filtration or operation since the filters connect directly to the intake tubes.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with this CAI despite the fact that it will make it a little more difficult to access the filters now, but personally I think it's one of the better looking ones out there.

 

[D/\rK•650]

Pretty nice, how do you access the air filters again? You have take the system apart to swap them out? The intake tubes do look beefy and looks to flow plenty of air. The air filters dont clamp on they sort of clip into place? That might bug me, id probably want them to clamp on. Let us know how they perform?

 

[Yamazuki]

Pretty nice, how do you access the air filters again? You have take the system apart to swap them out? The intake tubes do look beefy and looks to flow plenty of air. The air filters dont clamp on they sort of clip into place? That might bug me, id probably want them to clamp on. Let us know how they perform?

The air filters clamp onto the intake tubes, then go into the airbox. They have a groove molded into them so that when they are put in place, they are held there by the airbox. It's similar in design to how the rubber grommets on top of the intake manifold hold the plastic engine cover on.

If the aFe airboxes had covers on them like the factory ones do, the covers could still be removed and have no impact on the filters ability to filter incoming air. Nor would removing the covers allow unfiltered air into the engine. The airboxes are really only there to support the filter, provide the filters with outside air from the grill vents, and prevent hot under hood air from being used by the engine.

As far as accessing the filters, yes, it is slightly more difficult than the factory design; but not incredibly terrible. Loosen the clamps for the intake tubes at the throttle bodies, unplug the MAF sensors, disconnect the breather hoses, and you can pull the entire intake tube and filter out as an assembly. Loosen the clamp on the filter and remove from the intake tube. It probably takes all of about 60 seconds per side and only requires a flat head screwdriver.

 

[Joshinator99]

Out of curiosity did you datalog airflow values before and after to quantify any gains?

I had an AFE CAI on my wife’s previous car (Alfa Romeo Giulia) and it was a pretty bad design that kept triggering CELs. Went back to stock and the CELs went away. Ended up having to return it.

 

[D/\rK•650]

The air filters clamp onto the intake tubes, then go into the airbox. They have a groove molded into them so that when they are put in place, they are held there by the airbox. It's similar in design to how the rubber grommets on top of the intake manifold hold the plastic engine cover on.

If the aFe airboxes had covers on them like the factory ones do, the covers could still be removed and have no impact on the filters ability to filter incoming air. Nor would removing the covers allow unfiltered air into the engine. The airboxes are really only there to support the filter, provide the filters with outside air from the grill vents, and prevent hot under hood air from being used by the engine.

As far as accessing the filters, yes, it is slightly more difficult than the factory design; but not incredibly terrible. Loosen the clamps for the intake tubes at the throttle bodies, unplug the MAF sensors, disconnect the breather hoses, and you can pull the entire intake tube and filter out as an assembly. Loosen the clamp on the filter and remove from the intake tube. It probably takes all of about 60 seconds per side and only requires a flat head screwdriver.

Nice, thank you for elaborating I appreciate it . Please keep us posted as to your experiences with it. Im interested in getting a CAI but waiting to see how they perform ect.

 

[Yamazuki]

Out of curiosity did you datalog airflow values before and after to quantify any gains?

I had an AFE CAI on my wife’s previous car (Alfa Romeo Giulia) and it was a pretty bad design that kept triggering CELs. Went back to stock and the CELs went away. Ended up having to return it.

No, unless Forscan has that ability, I don't have anyway to datalog anything. I did put about 100 miles on last night after installing them and everything worked as well as it ever has. No CEL or anything like that. However, since I was on my way to have my taxes done, I wasn't in much of a hurry to get there, and when I left my a$$ was so sore I could barely sit down; so there wasn't much for spirited driving going on.

Nice, thank you for elaborating I appreciate it . Please keep us posted as to your experiences with it. Im interested in getting a CAI but waiting to see how they perform ect.

Not a problem.
I'm headed out of town this weekend and will have around 600 miles on with the new filters by Sunday evening. Should have pretty good idea whether I think they made any difference by then, although I'm not really expecting much. My primary goal was simply aesthetics and having filters I can clean.

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