Air Silencer

[The Loon]

Picked up the car 2 weeks ago and was pretty dissapointed with the sound of the car when you nail the gas.

Does removing the silencer void the warranty on the car? Does it improve/reduce horse power?

Seems to me that those 390hp numbers are false?

Thanks..........

Loon

 

[Steve Foust]

I removed my air silencer for a week and noticed that the car ran rough when it got hot and did not have the power it had with the silencer in. I installed a K&N air filter with the air silencer in and noticed a big difference. The super charger likes cold air which is what you are pulling when the air silencer is in, when you take it out you are pulling all the hot air from inside the engin compartment. Remember that a super charger sucks alot of air like a vacum so removing it is worthless. If you are at the track and the motor is cold you well get one good run better than if the silencer was in, but unless you let the motor cool all the way down you well be better with the air silencer in.:burn:

 

[Black2003Cobra]

I wonder if anyone has tried cutting off the end of the air silencer, leaving on just enough to allow cool air to be drawn in from the fender well. This should reduce alot of the restriction of the silencer, yet give you that cooler air. I read this trick in 5.0 Mustang some time back. They claimed it was better than removing the air silencer altogether. (This was not on an '03, however, but it still makes sense.)

 

[KingKobra]

OPINION FOLLOWS!!!

Black2001Cobra,

I read a post yesterday of someone who did hack off part of the silencer rubber/plastic. I guess it would maybe open up the sound a bit, but I'm sure that the S/C sucks in enough volume of air, but maybe not cold enough temperature air... I'd venture to say that there's no real "air induction" gain by cutting it, but rather a sound increase at best?

I'm curious, are we putting just any old K&N cone on these or are we using a specific part #?

I'd like to buy one and try it out!

 

[edz]

On previous years I believe that it was worth it to remove the snorkle because it was a restriction. However on the 03 the end is as big as the Mass Air Flow. I do not see any advantage in removing it.

 

[slow lane]

If you go back to last month's MM&FF removing the snorkle and changing to a K&N was worth 10-15 HP!

I finally took off the snorkle from my car yesterday, I had been worried about pulling heated air and/or clogging the filter with all of the garbage that comes up into the engine bay while you're driving.

The noise is definately audible, from nothing to WHOOSH when I opened up the throttle. It gets quickly drowned out by the supercharger as the revs build though. No noticable noise when I wasn't pounding it though.

There was definately a noticable increase in the throttle response and low end power.

 

[Black2003Cobra]

As slow lane points out, MM&FF reported a 13 hp gain from taking off the air silencer and going to a K&N. That's why I went with that. KingKobra - see my sig for part number I used. Others are using this part, also. Since the opening in the air "box" is right by the opening in the fender well, I figured it would still draw in primarily cool air (as opposed to too much warm air from the engine compartment.) I definitely hear more blower whine. I don't notice any drop in performance, but I may try a cold air kit when the dust settles, (i.e., when there's more choices.)

 

[KingKobra]

Quick Question (kinda off topic)

Black2001Cobra,

I noticed that this is for the Lightning, among others... so did you choose this E0945 because both cars have the same S/C and most likely same tolerance?

If so, that makes sense.

 

[Terminator03]

I wouldnt say it is pointless or else everybody wouldnt be dynoing 20 horse more at the wheels regardless of the hot air. Obviously a cold air kit would perrom better but for now i can feel the differnce of no silencer. I even cut my filter box. Runs like a bat out of hell.

 

[Black2003Cobra]

Re: Quick Question (kinda off topic)

Originally posted by KingKobra
Black2001Cobra,

I noticed that this is for the Lightning, among others... so did you choose this E0945 because both cars have the same S/C and most likely same tolerance?

If so, that makes sense.

It's the same filter as used on the '01 Cobra and has the same size base as the '03 OEM paper filter (from what I could see by putting them up against one another). Seems to work fine.

 

[Cobra'03]

The low pressure created by engine vacuum, and the fact that the de-snorkled airbox faces the wheel well opening, suggests that even at idle, a lot of the wheel well air will be pulled in. At speed, it is not an issue as the air from aroyund the headlight area,, and under the hood, is essentially ambient anyway.

 

[jtfx6552]

Originally posted by The Loon
Picked up the car 2 weeks ago and was pretty dissapointed with the sound of the car when you nail the gas.

Does removing the silencer void the warranty on the car? Does it improve/reduce horse power?

Seems to me that those 390hp numbers are false?

Thanks..........

Loon

Yep the 390 number is false. Mine pulled 377 with the end of the silencer cut-off, and 383 with it completely removed, SAE at the rear wheels. Looks like the car actually has 440 SAE crank hp, (assuming 13% drivetrain loss).

Removing the silencer has had no effect on the warrenty of the 3 previous cobra's I removed them from, I would expect this one to be the same.

JT

 

[dmreitz]

Originally posted by The Loon

Seems to me that those 390hp numbers are false?

Thanks..........

Loon

I've always thought (I could be wrong though) that when a manufacturer reports horsepower, they are reporting engine horsepower... if this is the case, then these cars are actually making more than 390...

 

[KingKobra]

I believe that modifications that are deembed to have caused a failure or problem are what Ford will deny responsibility.

So, I'm thinking, if you remove the silencer, you're only jeapardizing emmissions/noise restrictions, more so than any part of the engine and it's working parts.

dmreitz, the rumour I kept hearing back in April was that SVT gave out 390HP as a moderate number, so they would not go through the same fiasco that they had to go through in circa 2001, where they overstated the HP on their Cobras, and people basically got a speedy GT... which didn't go over well.

 

[dmreitz]

Originally posted by KingKobra

dmreitz, the rumour I kept hearing back in April was that SVT gave out 390HP as a moderate number, so they would not go through the same fiasco that they had to go through in circa 2001, where they overstated the HP on their Cobras, and people basically got a speedy GT... which didn't go over well.

Yeah, I heard that too... I also talked to a service director at a local Ford dealer (good size dealer) a few months back. He's a "mustang guy". He said that on a trip up to Detroit in the early spring, he talked to some of the SVT guys. They were claiming at that time that all the Cobras were dynoing way more than 390. He said there were 2 reasons Ford is reporting this...

1) Like you said, they wanted to avoid the problem they had a few years ago, so they went with a conservative number

2) Supposedly, 400HP is an insurance "barrier". Ins companies start charging higher rates if a car is more than 400 HP. So, by underreporting the HP, they are actually able to make the car more attractive to their consumers, since it will be less expensive to insure.

Besides, it's kind of a cool thing when you are expecting one thing, and get more than you expect... it all about perception!

 

[KingKobra]

yea, I'm glad about the insurance thing... I've got a good track history, and I'm still getting nailed.

I'd hate to see how much a high risk person pays.

 

[dmreitz]

Originally posted by KingKobra
yea, I'm glad about the insurance thing... I've got a good track history, and I'm still getting nailed.

I'd hate to see how much a high risk person pays.

There was a thread on this board that talked about insurance a couple weeks ago... some people are paying like $2000 every 6 months... that is crazy!

 

[KingKobra]

yea, I pay 850/6mos, which is high in my eyes... I have 250,000/500,000 which is higher coverage, so that makes it more, but still... I'm 28 years old with no tickets or accidents.

 

[dmreitz]

Originally posted by KingKobra
yea, I pay 850/6mos, which is high in my eyes... I have 250,000/500,000 which is higher coverage, so that makes it more, but still... I'm 28 years old with no tickets or accidents.

Well, I don't have my car yet (so I don't have my quote), but on my 2001 GT, I'm paying 550/6 months. I'm 29, married, have a great driving record (no tickets or accidents), and have the same coverage as you mentioned. Also have multicar discount, and have my homeowners ins through the same company - so I get a discount for that too.

I'll be interested to see how the rates go up for the Cobra. I'm budgeting an extra $50/month. I just can't see it going up more than $300 every 6 months over my current rate. We'll see though...

 

[KingKobra]

Sorry, off the topic

Well, I paid $670/6mos for my 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

The cobra was originally $700/6mos because it was labeled GT, for they had no stats on the Cobra, but then I got a $150/mos increase once they figured out how much HP I had.

So, I got about $150 increase from my Mitsu... with double the HP. Works for me, I guess