Hey im new on here and to the ST but I was considering buying one of these intakes or possibly a roush kit, what do you guys think of this one compared to the other full tube designs?
I think you can see from the posts that all of us who have Mountune are very happy with them. That said, you should really think long term as to what your ultimate plans for the car is for mods and how you want it to look. That requires a bit of homework which will save you some time and hard earned money down the road.
I will address Mountune, Cobb and Roush as you have brought them up. From a quality point, all very good and reputable companies. Now look at their other parts if you wish to continue with other mods. Personally I have just about everything Mountune under the hood they sell. Why? For me it was a continuity of quality and product efficiency between those products. I personally believe that their relationship with Ford and if you go back to their steady release of parts is an evolving continuity between manufacturer and a prefered vendor. Can you piece meal that with others, yes but I prefer a continuity of manufacturing. Just me. I as most new owners, at the time, figured I would get just a few mods and I would be happy. Not the case, hence look long term at your wish list starting with air coming in at the grill and work your way around everything else. Make a wish list whether you ultimately buy the parts or not and start from there.
From a design point, there are two camps of design for this part. 1) Single component tube. Makes sense and hard to argue with and having helped a friend install the COBB, high quality product. 2) Two piece like Mountune. I did a lot of homework on the design before I bought it. It appears that the concensus was the stock back air tube was of a sufficient design and did not impede air flow. I know because I bought an extra OE tube just to play with. The Mountune tube appears to be designed to take advantage of the stock air box and rear tube. Again what is you plan from the grill going in. As you can see in my earlier post photos, I foil wrapped everything but the Mountune. Other than being a nice looking part, I really have not seen it hold much additional heat. I do have their air filter as well.
Not sure if any of this helps but I can tell you their parts are more impressive in person than the pictures. You may find a few Mountune haters based on price and some of us with a lot of their parts have been called fanboys or with money to burn. I think those type of comments are sophmoric at best. I do not regret one part of theirs and I cannot say the same about a few other vendors (who will stay unnamed) whom I believe I wasted money.
If you are new as you say, do your homework, do your homework and ask, ask, ask. There are a lot of very astute ST Owners who are very generous with their time and experience on this forum. They sure as hell have helped me the last two years.