Alright, there has been A LOT of threads about people wanting to find an intake for their Zetec. CTA really doesn't make one anymore so people are needing to build custom intakes from focus kits.
For the newbies out there, and people who dont know the difference between a short ram and CAI (Cold Air intake) there is a huge difference, it drives me nuts to hear people referring to their short ram air intake as a CAI.
Let me get this clear, a Short ram air intake is an aftermarket intake, usualy of metal piping where the air filter stays in the engine bay, USUALLY where the stock air box was. A Cold air intake (CAI) on the other hand is a kit of longer piping designed to go somewhere as far away from the engine as possible, which is why its called "cold air" because its not taking the hot air from where the engine bay is. Cold air kits usually are routed into the fender, or in front of a fog light hole or somewhere remote, the basics is, if you pop the hood, and you cant see an air filter, its a Cold air kit.
IMPORTANT:
There is NO proven CAI that works with the Zetec contour, if you buy a focus CAI intake kit off of ebay, dont expect it to fit perfectly, or even at all, nobody has tried it so if you want to take this on and post the results that would be great.
Advantages of Cold air: on the dyno you will see fairly good differences in wheel horsepower. especially on the freeway where there is better air circulation.
Disadvantages of Cold Air: having your air filter closer to the ground/in the bumper/away from the engine, allows for more dirt to get on the filter, which would mean you would have to replace the cone air filter more often.
Advantages of a Short Ram: You still will see some good numbers from a short ram, a while back when the CTA intake was still being sold, there were people reporting dyno gains with JUST an intake of as high as 12 WHP. The stock intake on the contours is extremely restrictive. Plus, since the filter stays in the engine bay, its not going to get gunked up/worn out so early on.
Disadvantages of a Short ram: Hot air, especially in the summer time, may hurt the performance, I can say with my short ram in the summer my car feels like a dog. Although this wont really hurt anything.
Best route for Zetec contour: cheapest short ram you can find on ebay, along with a heat shield. You build your own heat shield by getting a cheap trash can from wal mart and some tearable foam insulation from Home Depot. Cut the trash can to hold your air filter while connected to the MAF, and use the builders foam on the edges between your hood and the Heat shield to create a nice tight seal, obviously be careful not to have the intake too raised up as it might damage your hood.
to find a Zetec intake go onto ebay and search: Focus intake
Short ram:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-0...ryZ38634QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
^thats the one I have^
To make the focus intake work there is one modification you will have to make. The MAF on the focus is much smaller than on the contour, so the coupling between the metal pipe and the MAF is too small to fit. You can either hack up your stock intake hosing where the IAT sensor is, or you can go to a local auto parts store (autozone) and pick up a new coupling that you can just drill a small hole into for your IAT sensor.
The End result
For the newbies out there, and people who dont know the difference between a short ram and CAI (Cold Air intake) there is a huge difference, it drives me nuts to hear people referring to their short ram air intake as a CAI.
Let me get this clear, a Short ram air intake is an aftermarket intake, usualy of metal piping where the air filter stays in the engine bay, USUALLY where the stock air box was. A Cold air intake (CAI) on the other hand is a kit of longer piping designed to go somewhere as far away from the engine as possible, which is why its called "cold air" because its not taking the hot air from where the engine bay is. Cold air kits usually are routed into the fender, or in front of a fog light hole or somewhere remote, the basics is, if you pop the hood, and you cant see an air filter, its a Cold air kit.
IMPORTANT:
There is NO proven CAI that works with the Zetec contour, if you buy a focus CAI intake kit off of ebay, dont expect it to fit perfectly, or even at all, nobody has tried it so if you want to take this on and post the results that would be great.
Advantages of Cold air: on the dyno you will see fairly good differences in wheel horsepower. especially on the freeway where there is better air circulation.
Disadvantages of Cold Air: having your air filter closer to the ground/in the bumper/away from the engine, allows for more dirt to get on the filter, which would mean you would have to replace the cone air filter more often.
Advantages of a Short Ram: You still will see some good numbers from a short ram, a while back when the CTA intake was still being sold, there were people reporting dyno gains with JUST an intake of as high as 12 WHP. The stock intake on the contours is extremely restrictive. Plus, since the filter stays in the engine bay, its not going to get gunked up/worn out so early on.
Disadvantages of a Short ram: Hot air, especially in the summer time, may hurt the performance, I can say with my short ram in the summer my car feels like a dog. Although this wont really hurt anything.
Best route for Zetec contour: cheapest short ram you can find on ebay, along with a heat shield. You build your own heat shield by getting a cheap trash can from wal mart and some tearable foam insulation from Home Depot. Cut the trash can to hold your air filter while connected to the MAF, and use the builders foam on the edges between your hood and the Heat shield to create a nice tight seal, obviously be careful not to have the intake too raised up as it might damage your hood.
to find a Zetec intake go onto ebay and search: Focus intake
Short ram:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-0...ryZ38634QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
^thats the one I have^
To make the focus intake work there is one modification you will have to make. The MAF on the focus is much smaller than on the contour, so the coupling between the metal pipe and the MAF is too small to fit. You can either hack up your stock intake hosing where the IAT sensor is, or you can go to a local auto parts store (autozone) and pick up a new coupling that you can just drill a small hole into for your IAT sensor.
The End result
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