SupaMax

Alright I got a 1990 Blk SE and Im starting to put the mods on it...I wanted to know if I should go with a Ram Aik kit or a CAI...If so which one should I do and which will give me the best power and sound...I wanna blow those rice boys away...WHich brand should I go with.. Any help is much needed thanks... Supa Max

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

I like the Stillen High Flow Intake because of the way it sounds. The only thing I think you might need is a fuel pressure regulator. The power gain is not bad I feel that my car pulls a lot better at high rpm's.

Dummy

OMG...............hahahhaha

skatanic28

you gotta be kidding
there is no way anyone in their right minds would waste $200 on just a filter to replace the airbox
id stick with cai, warpspeed's is only 155
and ull get much better sound because all the resonators are gone
power gains will be small though, no intake is really gonna do that much for you

Maximum5spd

Well for once, before u pick on rice boys, make sure their cars are not tuned, otherwise will look like a grocery go getter. I have the Stillen Intake but i paid $120 for it, but I wouldnt go with it id go with CAI. But unless u have cat back exhaust, u wont see any gains, your cars need to breathe air in as well as breath air out, so u need both of them. Good Luck with the whole rice boy, and NO u dont need a fuel pressure regulator, unless ur running turbo or super or have some serious mods.

Maximajism94se

i was talking w/ a guy and he said that a cold air intake would b kinda pointless considering where i live (near daytona, fl) is this true...should i just stick w/ a cone filter or will the hot/but still colder air from the cold air intake b better?

nismo1989

You have a VG, and a CAI is more than likely going to hurt your performance off the line. You won't see gains with it until you get into higher rpms. What intake you choose is a matter of personal preference/driving style. I personally do not recommend the CAI on your car if you drive it every day and want to see the gains off the line. That's my story and I'm stickin to it...

BTW: I've never had a CAI on my Maxima I'm just going by the physics of the design so don't bash me.

Jon91SE

I think your a little confused........
A regular intake is going to be sucking in the hot air under the hood which is going to cause "off the line" power to suffer. The CAI is at home in hot climates and provides more low/mid end power because is does not have to suck in any hot air. Its perfect for city driving in hot weather and seeing he lives in daytona, getting anything other then a CAI would be something to regret............
I live in south FL and from expirence i can say you dont want a regualr intake when your sitting at a red light in 90+ degree weather........

nismo1989

I understand that a pop charger is sucking hotter air from the engine bay, but what does that have to do with the powerband??? Nothing that I can see. The CAI has all that tubing that bends around and such. I have expiremented and found that shortening the tubing on an air intake seems to add more to the bottem end of the band and take from the high end, at least on a high- revving Honduh engine...

Bman

I've heard otherwise. 4th Gen guys have been complaining about high-RPM strangulation using a CAI which went away when they switched to hybrid/pop. This also goes against other things I'd read about power and intake runner/exhaust header length. The longer the intake tract and the longer the exhaust header tubes the better it is for low-end and worse for high-end (maybe because of restriction).



Also a lot of older wisdom on this forum says pop: high-end, cai: low-end.....

poorcollegeboy

i'm going to agree with bman (and other advocates). cold air has a ton to do with it. colder air = denser air = more air = more combustion = more power. i'd go with ram air. i'm a pop charger believer. search and you will find how people are trying to make a pop have cai benifits (hybrid intake).

nismo1989

SEARCH?? I've already done it.

poorcollegeboy

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=110241

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=110111

Dummy

TWIN FILTERS! WOOHOOO! lol

poorcollegeboy

that isn't a bad idea. i'm working on something like this. variable though. i have it so that it will switch to pop at higher rpms.

skatanic28

ram air is different than a pop charger though
ive honestly have noticed nothin but improvements over the entire rpm range over stock with my cai. i disagree with the added restriction cuz of the extra tube attachment though, well at least over stock
the stock tubing has all kinds of resonators in it.
anybody able to do a ram air type thing?
ive seen em made for integras and stuff, kinda look like an intercooler, thats actually a good idea
if ya dont mind bein laughed at cuz you dont have a turbo

poorcollegeboy

i agree that CAI will give a better overall performance increase, but for the perfectionists who want everything, CAI can not outperform the pop at WOT. my $0.02

i don't have turbo

PATRICK94SE

That is why VE owns. Now is whe variable intak path on the VE controled by RPM (I think so)?

poorcollegeboy

i thought only the later model engines 4th and 5th gens had variable intake paths. ???

PATRICK94SE

Nope the VE five Speed does, I think the fourth gen guys have to get them from the middle east and are paying big bucks for them to

poorcollegeboy

screeeewed... i am an automagic owner... that would make sense since 5-speed VE are so much faster than automatics. weird how they used different intakes.

catman316

How can the people said that a POP will be better than a CAI !!!!!!!!!!!!!????
The pop charger make more turbulence at high RPMS because use the stock resonator that its a turbulence maker!!!

skatanic28 its rigth a RAM air intake its diferent from a POP air intake, and even if was a ram air intake the CAI will outperform the RAM, because ours cars have MAF sensors and stuff than dont let air going in if the engine its not at full throtle.

CAI its the best!!!!

nismo1989

You're about to p!ss me off...

Just because I'm new to Nissans (3 or for years or so) doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. Engine types are a variable that you are obviously overlooking and not every type of engine will respond the same. If I'm wrong that's fine and I can accept that no problem but don't go tryin to throw something in my face with a freakin mad smiley, newbie. That's just rude. I come from building up muscle cars since I was in diapers and I'm still fairly new to imports so cut me some slack, okay? Geeze...

nismo1989

Sorry, I didn't really mean all that. Just don't ever tell me to do a SEARCH, okay? I promise I'll be good...

skatanic28

for any of you cai haters out there,
if ya really want to go the pop-charger way
you'd be much better off gettin a different pipe that goes from the throttle body to the airbox too
i can understand not wanting to drill or just being worried about weather i guess, but you really gotta get rid of that resonator to get really good sound and flow
and try to not waste ur money on the stillen pop charger, just get a K&N or even the apc filter if ur really on a tight budget
195 for just a filter and an adapter is complete bull****

poorcollegeboy

relax buddy. didn't mean to p!ss you off. just trying to answer your questions. thought those links would help. the "newbie" doesn't mean anything except how many threads i posted.....

Bman

<reads FSM... again> It seems it just opens/closes the extra intake path in response to engine load, which it measures through a bunch of sensors.
Well, it's not called Stealin' for nothing! I think there IS something to be said for straightening the airflow though - both the (much cheaper) JWT and Stillen have a billet aluminum venturi that fits in a big-azz 6" inlet filter and should flow smoother than a typical 3" filter and MAF adapter combo. Probably not a huge diff though.

maximamusician

Don't forget the Monster Flow filter

skatanic28

i saw one of those weapon r intakes today in some kids accord
that things seems like it a piece of ****
the filters even foam, i thought that was supposed to be ****ty

PATRICK94SE

I am not saying it does or will but, in theory a CAI will preform better on a VE than a VG???? then

crusher84

Now, hold on. Let's look at this logically. If the purpose of a CAI is to get the intake out of the warm engine bay, then a ram air intake would logically be better, because not only is it out of the engine bay, but the air is forced into the intake, with a shorter route to the throttle. (If it is mounted beneath the radiator, which is where I've always understood it to be.) Perhaps physics has something else to say about this, but in all logic, the ram air would make more sense.

skatanic28

a ram air system would work better in theory
but a problem with mounting down under the radiator is that ur gonna be pickin up all kinds of water and debris. this could really destroy a filter. they have the ones with screeens before the filters, those would be good. but still kinda risky with water down there
at least in the fenderwall the cone is pretty well protected.
and theres still gonna be some travel from down there up to the throttle body too. i cant imagine a few 90 degree angles in the pipe doin good things to your flow

Bman

Well I'm kinda going out on a limb speculating about this since it's a bit of a apples/oranges kind of thing here, but if I had a VE and a VG I'd say a CAI for the VE to enhance low-end, and a POP for the VG to enhance high-end. Basically trying to improve the weaker areas for each engine. I've got a JWT popcharger (still yet to be installed ) but I got that for reasons not related to performance.


BTW, I have a lot of skepticism for the usefulness of a "real" ram-air system... at least in everyday driving. I mean, how much pressure can you possibly be making even at highway speeds on a filter or portion of a filter? Even if you are somehow making 1psi, how much good could that do? I suppose you do get cold air at least though.

poorcollegeboy

ram air doesn't work unless you're moving. cai works all the time.

PATRICK94SE

Well Ram Air was developed before Fuel Injection and was great at the time. Now the throttle body would interfere with a Ram Air set up but it is open at WOT (when it counts). And finaly I think there was some tests done by corvette guys a while back that concluded a Ram Air set up provided aproxx .5 psi at 140 mph ( don't take this as fact I could be wrong) however a Ram Air system can equalize out the restriction of the filter

skatanic28

yeah youre right about its utility before fuel injection
our engines limit how much air they take in with the throttle body, so they take up whatever percentage of the air supplied that they need
the problem with stock steups is that they dont often provide enough for the engine to breathe freely enough, a cai or just a cone filter should make it much easier
but hey, ram air is a good alternative to cai, no drilling

PATRICK94SE

I am in no way knocking CAIs or "POP Chargers" I have Adapter+Filter myself. And I do believe a "Ram Air" system would have some benefits, Just nothing spectacular. BTW the guys with the BMW lights might be able to pull off some thing simular to the Lexus setup, just over the headlights. But I have never seen the gap the conversion produces so I can not say for sure

Bman

I'm pretty sure this gap is from the slanted notch at the top of the BMW lights, and not an actual space that goes all the way into the engine bay... good thinking though for sure!