The MXP Series cold air intake from Airaid is available for any 2.7L EcoBoost owner,
looking to replace their stock air box with one of the most efficient systems on the market
with a dry filter.
As opposed to an oiled option, that allows you to pick up a better throttle response
and even a small increase in power and fuel economy.
The install for this, as you can imagine, a very simple one out of three wrenches on
our difficulty meter.
As you probably already know, the factory inlet system does a pretty good job of bringing
cold air from the outside of the truck to the engine bay, and that same design is kept
here from Airaid.
They, however, focused their attentions on greatly improving the air box, the tubing,
and of course the main attraction, the dry filter itself.
This will be completely replacing your factory system to really give you an optimized performance
here with no tune required.
With that said, this system utilizes what's known as a speed density instead of the Mass
Airflow, which is why you get to hang back on getting a tune.
What that basically means is speed density will make changes to your computer on the
fly, or as the Mass Airflow would require you to get a custom tune made to accompany
the new mod.
This is going to be hassle-free.
It doesn't require any of that.
It's pretty much just a bolt and go in a matter of minutes.
Now, as far as power is concerned, Airaid lets us know, they actually had this tested
on their own Dyno, made about 24 horsepower on the stock 2.7L EcoBoost.
Now, with a tune in the picture, I would definitely say you can maximize gains like that.
Without a tune, however, I'd expect high single-digit gains at best, still pretty respectable numbers
for a very easy mod such as this one.
You should additionally expect your drive-by-wire to increase, improving your throttle response
overall.
You'll even see some slight gains as far as fuel economy is concerned, maybe a mile or
two added to your overall commute.
Additionally, I do want to point out, this is going to be completely 50-state legal.
So it's great for the guys out there located in emissions restrictive states, such as California,
or those states adapting that law.
As far as materials are concerned, on my left here you're seeing a one-piece, roto-molded
air box, which will completely enclose this here filter.
We'll talk about that in a second.
Now, in conjunction with the factory inlet design here from Airaid, you're also going
to be bringing in some really good cold air, while keeping all the excess engine heat out,
thanks to the complete enclosure.
On the other side of me, you're looking at a crosslink, high-density, polyethylene tubing,
which will go through your manifold and your turbo, down to the filter.
Now, this is going to be a serious improvement as well, making sure it has a free-flowing
airflow design, great for the cold air coming in through the filter and at the air box.
Speaking of the filter, SynthaMax dry filter here.
Now, what this is really good for is making sure it's filtering out all that nasty debris,
[thanks to the nonwoven] synthetic materials with the wire mesh covering on the outside.
Another plus is it's actually washable and reusable.
This is going to save you money in the long run, since when it gets dirty every couple
thousand miles, you know your routine maintenance comes along.
Pop it off with the clamps, clean it off, pop it right back on, no oiling required,
because it's a dry filter.
Now, if you are looking to completely replace your factory paper element crappy filter with
something as high-quality as this one, you can do so for just about $400 for everything
you see on the table here.
This does put it on the more expensive side of the spectrum of the no-tune required option,
so let's switch gears and talk about the install here for a second.
I did say in the beginning, one out of three wrenches on our difficulty meter, since an
intake is really some of the simplest stuff you can do to an engine bay.
But with that said, a ratchet and simple socket set will do the trick, along with a flathead
screwdriver, and I'd say about 30 minutes or so in the driveway at home.
Just use your flathead screwdriver, your ratchet, and your socket set to unclamp all the couplers
from the factory throttle body, work your way down to the factory paper element filter,
and the factory air box.
Once all that stuff is out of the engine bay, set it all aside and new hardware is included
for you in the kit.
You can actually assemble this thing with the tubing to the filter and all the couplers
and clamps outside of the engine bay, and then just pop it all in, in one piece to the
engine.
Attach it to the turbo, of course, and the manifold and throttle body, then pop your
filter onto the end.
You can pop the air box on after that along with the filter inlet, which will go to the
outside of the hood, bringing in the cold air.
Once everything is bolted down to spec and it's all attached, and everything is secure,
there's no air leaks, you're good to go.
That pretty much does it for me.
So if you're the owner of a 2015 or newer 2.7L EcoBoost powered F-150, you might want
to check out Airaid's MXP Series cold air intake with the red SynthaMax dry filter,
which you can find right here at americantrucks.com.