Michael Johnson Associate Editor
November 1, 2002

Adding a larger-diameter mass air meter to your Mustang is one of those age-old tricks aimed at increasing horsepower. Most of the time, this simple addition doesn't disappoint. In our case, with C&L Performance's new package for '99-up Mustang GTs, we were once again rewarded with increased horsepower. The C&L package features an 85mm mass air housing, a K&N conical filter, and a plastic shield.

The mass air housing reuses the stock electronics for a cost-effective solution, while the larger-diameter housing allows more airflow, resulting in increased horsepower. Obviously, everyone should know by now that a K&N filter makes power by itself, even more so when combined with a larger mass air meter. Meanwhile, C&L's plastic shield keeps the filter from ingesting hot air coming from the engine, and it eliminates the chance of driveability quirks from sudden bursts of cooling-fan air.

Helping us conduct this test was Need For Speed in Clearwater, Florida. Need For Speed markets C&L Performance products and wanted to know how this new meter package stacked up.