Wes Duenkel
February 25, 2019
Photos By: Henry De Los Santos

Many of us don’t drive our project cars daily. Family shuttle miles are often racked up in a multi-door people mover of which quarter-mile times aren’t a priority. But the daily driving grind doesn’t have to be boring, and aftermarket innovators like Steeda Autosports are constantly looking for ways to squeeze more power and fun out of the non-Mustangs many of us drive.

Take the Ford Fusion. In standard guise, it’s a stylish and reliable family appliance. But, the Sport version is also available with the hot 2.7L twin turbo EcoBoost powerplant. Steeda Autosports knows that many of the owners with the upgraded mill want an enhanced driving experience with more power and sound. Here’s where Steeda’s Twin Turbo 2.7L EcoBoost Cold Air Kit for the Fusion Sport comes in.

Steeda’s cold air kit for the Fusion Sport is an innovative system that adds more air flow and character, but utilizes the factory mounting points. An obvious departure from the stock panel filter is Steeda’s incorporation of two conical filters. The filters are housed in a CAD-designed roto-molded air box that draws air from the grille area and seals to the hood. No ECM tuning is required to take advantage of the improved breathing capacity and denser air charge offered by the Steeda Fusion Sport Cold Air Kit. Besides more power and sound, Steeda claims an increase in mileage…if drivers can resist squeezing the right pedal.

To sample this for ourselves, we installed Steeda’s cold air kit on a 2017 Fusion Sport. While this setup added a purposeful look to this Fusion’s ho-hum engine compartment, we also hear a bit more growl under acceleration, especially from outside the car. Check out the following photos and captions on the installation details.

We began the installation process by removing the intake air temperature (IAT) sensor from the factory air box.
Next, we loosened the clamps securing the two turbo air ducts to the factory air box.
After releasing the air box lid clamps, we disconnected the lid from the air ducts and removed it.
The Ford Fusion uses a flat panel filter with tight paper pleats. These are notoriously restrictive for air flow.
Either our filter sucked up some debris either left inside during assembly, or our EcoBoost Fusion is an excellent street sweeper.
With the filter out of the way, we prepared to remove the bottom of the air box.
Using an 8mm socket, we removed the screws securing the cold air duct to the radiator support.
After removing the hardware, we pulled up on the bottom half of the air box to release it from the factory rubber mounts.
With all the stock components removed, we were ready to install the Steeda cold air intake.
We prepped the air box by installing the supplied grommets in the required locations.
The grommet on the side of the air box is for the IAT sensor.
We made sure the OEM rubber mount was installed in the factory location and didn’t come out with the stock air box.
This stud on the bottom of the Steeda cold air intake box inserts into the OEM rubber air box mount to support the air box just like the OEM setup.
After fastening the supplied aluminum velocity stacks to the Steeda air box, we secured the air filters to the stacks using the supplied clamps.
With the velocity stacks and filters in place, we installed the Steeda air box into the Fusion and connected the air ducts to the velocity stacks.
Finally, we reinstalled the IAT sensor into the Steeda cold air intake box.
The Steeda Fusion Twin Turbo 2.7L EcoBoost Cold Air Kit added a purposeful look to this Fusion Sport’s ho-hum engine compartment. We also hear a bit more growl under acceleration, especially from outside the car.

Photography by Henry De Los Santos