Most of the young lads and lasses that come through Stage 3 Motorsports looking for that first power modification for their Ford Mustang find themselves browsing one of our many cold air intakes for their specific model year. They're good, they do their job, most don't require any tuning, many are 50-state legal, they're easy to throw on your Mustang, and most of all they're safe. Mustang cold air intakes are just an excellent all-around package that gives you a noticeable bump in both horsepower and torque without pushing your Mustang anywhere near dangerous or extremely expensive. While cold air systems are all well and good, a Stage 3 tuner and cold air combo kit may be a better option that will also save you money in the long run if you're planning on doing more upgrades in the future. The Mustang cold air intake and tuner included with each kit is heavily discounted over their separate prices and the tuner is pre-loaded with a Stage 3 custom computer recalibration that takes the cold air intake and your Mustang's specific calibrations into account to produce huge horsepower and torque gains. The best part is that these kits will qualify you for our Loyalty Tunes Program that gets you free tunes for life on selected tunable items purchased from Stage 3 Motorsports.
Back to the basics first. Each Mustang cold air intake (CAI) consists of a high-capacity air filter, inlet tubing, and usually a heat shield that easily installs in place of your factory air box. A cold air intake is devilishly effective because of the magic of air/fuel ratios and the fact that your Mustang runs slightly rich from the factory. In a perfect world, your air/fuel ratio is in absolute harmony where just enough gasoline and oxygen enter a cylinder to burn completely without any excess oxygen or gasoline exiting into the exhaust. Your factory-standard ''rich'' condition means that your engine is given slightly more gas than is actually needed for combustion. A cold air intake corrects this condition to some degree by supplying your engine with a larger amount of colder charge air than the factory air box can provide. The increased airflow alters the air/fuel ratio enough to produce up to 15 horsepower on basic cold air systems. Some cold air intakes, like Steeda's hypervelocity intakes, actually change your air/fuel ratio so much that your Mustang's engine ends up with a ''lean'' condition where too much oxygen is present in the cylinder to adequately burn with the gasoline molecules. An engine running too lean can easily damage itself, and will require a new tune, or computer recalibration in order to provide more fuel. The end result of this increase in fuel is more power, with gains of up to 35 horsepower being typical with a high-end cold air intake and tune.
What exactly is a tune? Unlike older cars of days long past with manually-adjusted carburetor fuel jets, modern Mustangs use electronic fuel injection controlled by a Powertrain Control Module (PCM). Many aftermarket Mustang performance parts that effect air/fuel ratios or other critical engine functions will require the PCM to be reprogrammed in order to compensate for the changes in performance. Stage 3's preferred tuner is the SCT X-Calibrator 3 that's cable of uploading computer tunes for 1996 and up Mustangs via their OBD-II ports underneath the steering column. Each tuner holds several ''canned'' tunes, general performance tunes based on fuel octane that slightly alter engine function. The X-Cal 3 can also store hand-made custom tunes that can be loaded onto the tuner from almost any PC. The tuner hooks into you computer with an included USB cord and comes with all the necessary drivers and software for full functionality.
And this is roughly where we come back into the picture. With each of our Mustang cold air intake and tuner combo kits, we will build you a complete custom PCM tune that takes into account your new cold air intake, your vehicle's specifications, and most other modifications you may have. The tune is pre-loaded into the X-Calibrator 3 tuner before it leaves our warehouse, allowing you to bolt on your Mustang cold air intake and then upload your new calibrations in almost no time at all. The best part of the deal is that our custom tuning immediately qualifies you for our Loyalty Tunes Program. Our Loyalty Program gives you free tunes for life on many tunable products purchased from Stage 3 Motorsports. Basically, if you purchase a CAI and tuning package from us that includes one of our custom tunes, and you want to buy a BBK Off-Road X-pipe later, Stage 3 Motorsports will build you a new custom tune absolutely free of charge. The new tune would be sent to an email address of your choosing to be downloaded to your computer and then uploaded to your tuning device. Many other performance parts retailers would charge you for every new tune, costing you thousands of dollars. A cold air and tuner combo package from Stage 3 may cost more than a tuner or CAI alone, but will end up saving you tons of money in the long term, especially when you go for even more powerful modifications.
Many of our Mustang performance parts potentially qualify you for our Loyalty Tunes program, including some superchargers, nitrous systems, and exhaust components for 1996 and up Ford Mustangs. Some parts available on our website can't be tuned through email and may require computer calibrations at a local dyno shop. Contact Stage 3 Motorsports with any questions, place an order, or to check to see if your performance parts qualify for Loyalty Tunes.
