Hey guys, Stephanie with americanmuscle.com here with my review and Dyno test of the JLT
cold air intake available for your 2012 and 2013 Boss 302.
The JLT cold air is going to be for the Boss 302 owners out there or even the '11 to '14
GT owners who've installed a Boss intake manifold who are looking for a top rated quality intake
that will provide some solid gains in both power and sound compared to the factory air
box and will look good under the hood while doing so.
I should point out that the JLT is a tune required intake, so you can't just bolt this
thing up to your Boss or GT without a custom tune.
I'll explain why in a minute.
First, let's get to some Dyno numbers.
We already established a baseline run earlier today using the '13 Boss behind me.
We then went to work installing the JLT along with a custom tune as required, reran the
car, and here are those numbers.
Our baseline run with our 2013 Boss gave us numbers of 387 horsepower and 333 foot-pounds
of torque at the rear wheels.
With the JLT intake and the 93 octane VMP tune the car made 398 horsepower and 337 foot-pounds
of torque, making for a peak gain of 11 horsepower and 4 foot-pounds of torque.
By opening up some air flow in those upper RPMs we ended up seeing 15 horsepower at 7400
RPMs and 10 foot-pounds of torque at 7000 RPMs.
Keep in mind that we did pair the intake with a tune.
A lot of these gains can definitely be attributed to that tune.
As far as curve gains, you can see right here that there isn't a whole lot going on in the
graph.
The factory intake is actually really efficient.
Like I said, not a ton of curve gains, but all of the gains are going to be in the upper
RPMs where the stock air box starts to become restrictive.
With the numbers out of the way, let's dive into the JLT.
In my opinion JLT is one of the most trusted and recognizable names in the cold air market
for the late model Mustang.
The numerous five star reviews on the site reflect that.
As I mentioned earlier, the JLT is a tune required intake.
That's due to the large 107 MAF air flow housing, currently the largest available on the site
for the S197 Boss intake manifold.
The larger MAF housing and intake tube should allow your Boss or GT to breathe easier and
will traditionally make a little more power when compared to a no tune required intake
because of the larger MAF housing and intake tube.
JLT keeps more of a simplistic design with this intake.
The intake is all business.
They don't use any flashy finishes or any gimmicks to separate their products from the
others.
One thing I do like about the JLT design is that they incorporate the MAF housing into
the tube itself which just looks cleaner in my opinion.
Some other options use a separate metal MAF housing along with a plastic tube.
There's nothing wrong with that from a performance standpoint, but it just doesn't look as nice
to me.
In addition to the tube and MAF housing, the rest should look pretty familiar in the world
of aftermarket intakes - reusable high flow S&B oiled filter, an open element style heat
shield which does tap into the factory cold air duct which is a nice touch, and finally
all of the hardware and couplers to wrap everything up.
The JLT will obviously work with a factory throttle body without issue, but it should
also work with any aftermarket 85 millimeter or 90 millimeter throttle body without an
issue as well.
Another nice thing to point out is that the JLT includes a foam plug to insert into the
portion of your GT's hood vent to prevent water from getting into your filter.
Believe me, it's something that you're going to want to use as the filter does sit right
below the lower portion of the hood vent on the driver side.
Thumbs up to JLT for including this.
Even with these extras and the solid construction and the largest on the market MAF, the JLT
is still coming in at a very reasonable price point coming in right around the $300 price
mark.
A brief rundown of the install.
Basic hand tools here, guys, including a socket set, a few screwdrivers, a pair of pliers
and a Torx tool for the MAF sensor is really all you need to remove the factory intake
and get the new JLT into place.
I will say assembling the intake first outside of the car will make life a little bit easier
along with installing the heat shield first.
This is overall basic stuff that any novice should be able to tackle with ease.
All in all this is going to be a 1 out of 3 wrenches on the scale and, guys, maybe about
30 minutes to an hour depending on your experience.
As far as my recap, here's what I think.
The JLT is one of the top rated intakes on the site and it's easy to see why.
When paired with the required custom tune option, the power improvements are going to
be tough to beat given the price point.
Be sure to learn more about ways to add power to your Boss right here at americanmuscle.com.