Roush F150 Cold Air Intake – 2021 3.5 EcoBoost

pondering on what upgrades should suit your Ford F 150? A cold air intake system should be on that list. This Roush F150 Cold Air Intake System helps improved engine airflow, provides your truck with better all-around performance and gives your truck a deep intake sound.

Are Cold Air Intakes Worth it?

YES! Cold air intakes have time and time again proven to be the most horsepower for you dollar spent. We walk through these details with dyne results In our Ford Raptor Performance Upgrades breakdown.

Install And Review

For this post, we are going to do a full install and review this ROUSH Cold Air Intake kit for the 2018-2021 F 150 3.5 Ecoboost. Let’s take a look at whether this bad boy really offers increased engine performance. Does it offer quick and easy installation procedures? Can this highly engineered kit provide that aggressive performance sound? This review will help answer all of these questions and more so just keep on reading below.

Specifications

Before heading over to the review, let’s take a look first at the specifications of the ROUSH Cold Air Intake. 

Everything is made out of this injection-molded black plastic and these tubes that go down to the turbo inlets actually kind of have a texture that’s on them. The inner and outer layer is colored black. Some people are not a big fan of plastic intakes maybe because they look different or they look cheap but the truth is that they’re simple to produce and they’re way better for a cold air intake system than a lot of the really flashy metal options whether it be aluminum or stainless steel because they resist the heat in your engine bay. So, while they might look cheap they’re super effective for what they do. They never lack in terms of helping out with power and fuel efficiency. Maximum airflow and maximum performance are still within reach.

This complete system of course comes with your air box air filter. All of the clamps and connectors that you need to hook up to the existing system and your mass airflow sensor hooks up right here but they include a larger pigtail with a bracket because it’s relocated in a new location. 

Air Box

Now, let’s talk about the air box and first I want to talk about this lid here. It’s got this plastic window here so you can look inside to the air box. Mostly for looks, I think to see the filter. I don’t think there’s any purpose of it but if you flip it over on the backside, there’s something I want to point out here. Below the viewing window, there’s this kind of felt thing and if you can hear a rattling sound, inside is actually a desiccant and what that is is that’s just a fancy term for the beads that soak up moisture and keep humidity out of your intake. This comes often in packaging that you get for other products to protect it during shipping but the fact that they’ve included this inside of the cover so that there’s any humidity inside your intake that it’ll help clean it out and keep it dry. It’s actually a pretty slick thing. I’ve never seen that on any intake before. 

Air Filter

Alright, so let’s move over to the reusable performance air filter. This thing is massive. I can fit my fist completely inside. It’s huge. The opening is nearly the size of my hand. It’s gigantic. Really big air filter. It’s got the big Roush logo on the front and it says right on the front ‘Dry filter do not use oil’. This is not your traditional can oiled filter that you spray the oil on. It’s a high-capacity dry filter. I’m a big fan of dry filters and the reason for I’m a fan of dry filters is because the oil in the oiled filters often collects dirt and dust a lot quicker and is actually horrible for off-road conditions.

These dry filters are great if you are going off-roading in dirty and dusty areas because they won’t get clogged as fast. Also, they’re really easy to clean. You literally just wash them in soap and water and let them dry out. Don’t use a hairdryer or anything like that but that’s it. Really simple. Now, that of course, as we showed, fits right into the air intake and then the lid goes on like so. Giving it a really clean and slick look underneath your hood. So, awesome system. Let’s go get it installed. 

Installing the ROUSH Cold Air Intake for the 2021 Ford F 150 3.5 Ecoboost

Step 1:  Loosen Top hose clamps & remove factory hoses and air top of air box

Step 2: Remove factory air filter and remove factory air box

Step 3: Install Roush air box, filter inlet and dry air filter

Step 3: Reinstall air intake temp Sensor

Step 4: Install Roush CAI hosing

Step 19:

Step 20:

Step 5: Install airbag top and attach with screws

Lessons Learned Upon Installation of the ROUSH Cold Air Intake Kit

So kind of wrap up the cold air intake install, it was probably about 50% as hard as I thought it was going to be. This is a big plus so not too difficult to do. The next piece of advice when you’re installing this cold air intake, make sure and put the two larger intake pipes on first and then the smaller one that crosses over the top of the engine. It makes it a lot easier to get on. The next thing is printing out the template. They include a template in the instructions for you to print out in order to drill those holes through. We went ahead and used it. I don’t think you necessarily have to and finally, those top screws that screw on the top cover, they’re self-tapping screws right into the plastic so don’t be afraid if they take a little more force than normal to be able to get through.

Final Take on the ROUSH Cold Air Intake Kit

Okay, let’s talk about the cold air intake kit now that it’s on. When you stomp on the throttle, you now have a deep throaty sound that made a huge difference. The aggressive performance sound really creates a more enhanced feeling. The butt dyno feels like it’s a little bit more horsepower there like just like they claim and I’m a big fan of the intake. My favorite part is the dry air filter. I can’t express enough how great it’d be every time you get an oil change to go ahead and toss it in some soapy water. Let it dry off. Really easy to clean it. If it’s dirty, you can see right through the cover that they’ve got in that window. So now I’m a fan of the window as well. 

Overall, the ROUSH cold air intake kit offers a more efficient air intake. With that impact on maximum airflow, this cold air kit is perfect for those who have a 2018-2021 Ford F-150 2.7L/3.5L EcoBoost V6 and the 2018-2020 Ford Raptor 3.5l Ecoboost V6. This cold air intake kit features increased inlet and serves a huge lift by encouraging maximum performance. It impressed me so much because of how it upgrades the stock intake and the stock induction system.