In my quest to try out as many different intake setups on my Maxima before I die, I have once again tried something new. I installed a PR CAI pipe and HKS intake and mated it all to my stock intake resonator between the throttlebody and MAF. Most know I'm a firm believer in the stock resonator because the engine seems to run stronger at all rpms.


Results:

After getting the hole cut and everything put back into place (talk about a tight fit), I went for a spin. Keep in mind I had my battery removed and my car never feels very strong for a few days while the ECU adjusts (Neal will disagree ). During normal driving, everything felt great. Once the engine warmed up, I laid into it in 2nd gear at 4000rpms up to 6000rpms. Yummy. The sound is pretty freaking sweet. I also notice a kick in power right at 5000rpms (MEVI set at 5400rpms). I'm guessing this is just the ECU adjusting. I went out and did some highway runs 40-85mph and I really like this setup. It does feel better than my hacked airbox setup, but that won't be proven until I get back to the track. I should also note it was in the lower 70s so the VQ will run strong anyways. I'll report back tommorrow after I've driven on a hot motor and 85 degree weather. God, I dig the sound and I can actually hear my MEVI open..somewhat.

I'll also post pics if anyone is interested. I painted the piping flat black for the stealthy appearance.


Dave

dave you are a very innovative man, i applaud you. with the fall weather coming up maybe this intake setup will yield some even more stellar times from your car.

--Paul

dave , give plenty of reports on sound, comparisions to old setup , and what you think about the cai , please !

and of course...this thread is worthless without pics !

Im right behind you on trying something new and after looking at the injen in chrome/black i am tempted but i really want to try what they call a TRUE CAI.

looking forward to reading more of your findings !

Not much to see:




Dave

I have to laugh a bit. Only because I've been thinking of doing the same thing for quite a while now. You'll have to let us now what you think.

Being that Dave is to intakes as Tom is to suspensions, I decided to do my own research. I found in my reading that resonators are a must for NA performance. It's believed that the resonator works as a air charger for the cylinders always keeping air on hand when the cylinders need it. Then I started to wonder if the noise created without the resonator caused any effect to the air flow and quality into the engine. I haven't figured that out yet but I'm still looking for more info on intake resonator acoustics.

Have you reinstalled the stock resonator yet? I think you'll like it. It's ugly, but it really seems to make the 4th gen VQ happy at all rpms.


Dave

My favorite answer is, "Not yet" as with everything else. I'll try it this soon as I can.

Trust me after a day or two it will feel exactly the same as your other intakes. I did almost the exact same thing. I went from running a hybrid to running a custom setup. It consisted of the stock resonator followed by the midpipe, maf and filter. Felt much stronger for the first two days and now I feel the low end loss just like the hybrid. Keep in mind that my CAT might be busted as the smell of my exhaust made me almost faint a few times...

You should take a day and try all these out at the track and compare trap speeds. Or better yet try them all out with a tuning session on a dyno so you know which ones work best.

I don't quite understand why you did a resonator AND a midpipe. You should have run either the midpipe or the resonator, not both.

The reason I did this was to test out a true CAI setup since I've never owned one. I like it as far as I can tell. I went driving around during lunch in stop and go traffic for 15 minutes, then parked and picked up lunch, drove back to the office (5 minutes in stop and go), popped the hood and felt the CAI pipe. The pipe was just mildly warm. The outside temp was in the mid 80s. The real advantage of this setup seems to be it may be more consistent at the track plus I'll be able to yank my driver's side foglight to funnel air to the filter when drag racing. I was a bit worried about performance above 5000rpms, but from what I can tell, 5000-7000rpm performance is still great. We'll see how it does on the track and dyno.


Dave

I forgot to mention that I did tap the air temp sensor into the top of the CAI pipe (as seen in the pic). I've done a little research about air temps sensors and it seems like you do need them and they need to be in the incoming air intake stream. I'm wonder how the other CAI owners mount their air temp sensors?


Dave

I say someone should make a resonator box larger than the stock one and test it...

The bigger the resonator, the more power you get up top.

Do you loose any in the low end?

Yeah but it won't be as low as with an aftermarket intake.

Well without the midpipe it's just a popcharger, so I decided to follow your advice and stick the stock resonator back in. Don't think it does much but at least it sound like a hybrid so it's mostly for the sound. Also I mounted my air sensor right behind the grill, the air behind it is cold even whent it's parked...

dave when do you expect to get some track time in next . I would like to see how this setup compares .
looks real good ...i may do the same thing .

what if this ends up being called the Dave B mod or intake ?

Ok dave. Is that a REAL Injen or are those parts from HomeDepot. Reason im askin is i am currently working on a different intake as well.

I got a Chimney Spout from HD and a flex gutter spout, I rivited these two together and since i dont have a fog light im using the Chimney Spout right there to bring air in then it goes up that Gutter Flex thing (Its about 4 inch diam.)

Im keeping My Hybrid Intake On. Yet Using the 2 HD rigged things, Ill also have a 'somewhat' CAI.
I just Painted the spout thing and got it all together today, Ill be putting it on Tommrow and Maybe i can get some pics....

I Made a Big Hole Where My Battery Tray is At. (I had to remove the tray and cut a part of the traybolt mounts off as well) The Whole is Big But i guess Im really Just Tryin to Push Push Air Inside, everybit i can.

Im also re-locating my battery for more room and better air flow,

Hows this sound to You. ? ur opinion is welcom

very cool dave! i like it alot

I might be going to the track on the 20th to compete in an import event racing in V6 NA class. I'm going to try and take the title away from the 350Zs that show up. Unfortunately this isn't the same track I normally race at so it will be hard to gauge the gains/losses.


Dave

The problems I see with this setup is that you're not using a CAI pipe connected to the MAF. It's still a hybrid/POP with some cool air being pumped in thru hose and motor isn't able to truely draw air in. Instead, the air is pushed in at speed therefore I think the characteristics of your intake would probably be a bit different. That's just my take.


Dave

i guess my question was wil it work?

i like the hybrid stylz but im was kinda wanting a CAI so i was tryin to make em-both happy.
Are u familiar with what im talkin about when u push CA into a Hybrid Intake its almost like a CAI , "i think" but with out the filter gettin dirty.

sorry im horing up ur thread with Q's. I really dont know what intake i want but i really wanna know the outcome gains/loses of Ur intake style.

Keep what you have and we'll how this setup does on the track and dyno in a few weeks.


Dave

Im begging to think the same about the resonator, I really think that It DOES make it run somewhat smoother, ALSO the sound of my intake with the Resonator on Is SO Much Deeper Tone than with my Midpipe. I just put the midpipe on today and i wasnt really that pleased with it for the price. Throttle response does seem pretty good though, but the tone is what im missing.

Hey Dave you need to get a PDA or something that can display your engine sensor outputs. While you feel a gain on the butt dyno it would be even better to have the mass air flow rate logged too. I have the auterra dyno-scan software it would be great for your application. Then it would also allow others to compare their air flow rate, ignition timing curves to yours considering the ECU + MEVI that you run. Then the program will allow you to do "dyno" pulls, but in my experience the results I have are very optimistic. However the results are repeatable within themselves and it gives you a nice curve to look at .

wow nismo, putting it that way really really makes me wonder what is possible, 1 idea though, could u just splice the wires and run em in the car cabin to a laptop? im trying to think of a program that would measure the freq well enough so we could see REAL changes. Im not positive about the laptop idea but i image there is a program out there somewhere to run a feq and monitoring standalone computer prog on a regular pentium4 processor.

Update:

I've been running the new setup for about 6 days now. Here's what I've noted:

1) When entering the next upshift gear at WOT, there is a HUGE difference in the initial power upon entry. Even my wife noticed it. It is far different than the way the POP or hacked air box with resonator feels. It's really hard to explain, but the power is immediate. It always seemed that with the hacked/POP setup the power was strong on the shift, but with this CAI it's much improved. I could see how this immediate power could help 1/4 mile times simply because it feels so strong.

2) When I'd punch it from a roll in 2nd at 4500rpms with the POP or hacked air box/resonator, the VQ would snap your head back. With this CAI the snap isn't as strong. It's not bad, but it doesn't feel like the prior. Power feels far more linear.

3) Around town driving simply feels more "torquey" at any given rpm. I even started out in 3rd quite easily a day ago. Flooring it in 4th at 2000rpms is met with a smooth almost stock-like delivery power. No hestitation or lack of power is felt.

4) Even with 80+ degree temps and stop and go driving, the CAI pipe is only faintly warm whereas the intake manifold/TB is scalding hot.

5) Power past 5000rpms feels no different (ie power doesn't feel choked).

6) The sound is amazing. It's not incredibly loud like a hybrid or true CAI with a midpipe, but you definately hear it. It very throaty and I can actually hear my MEVI opening again.



Dave

can u explain this part again , better or worse than with hybrid&stock resonator. Im very fond of the On-the-roll punch, my maxima is great at stealin car lenghts at this range.

Better or worse? I don't know. All I know is that the car doesn't snap as hard when you punch it at 4500rpms in 2nd as it did with the hybird/hacked intake with resonator. Overall the car feels more powerful especially when starting out in 1st or slamming into the next gear. I love this setup.


Dave

i dub this the "Dave B intake" and i will be installing mine tommorow

Torque, torque, torque

I love this intake. The car is so much better overall with this setup. I really should have done this a LONG time ago. My car feels like it has the torquey US-spec intake manifold. I've even started out in 3rd a couple times just for fun.

I'll be going to the track this saturday and temps should be pretty decent (upper 70s). It's not my normal track, but I'll keep you guys posted.


Dave

Well, went to the track and the results weren't good. Temps were in the upper 70s to lower 70s and humidity in the 50-60% range so conditions weren't bad. First off let me say this is not the normal track I race at and every freaking time I go there (3 times now), I run horribly. This track completely owns me and I can't understand it. I ran a 14.70@96mph, 3 low 14.8s@95mph, one 14.9@96mph, and even a 15.2@93 (missed 3rd for the first time). 60 foots ranged from 2.29 to 2.38 which is pathetic. It was like I had no clue how to race my car today. I'd take off and get wheel hop and spin thru nearly of 1st which is not normal for me to do. At my normal track I usually come off the line with a little "tramp" and spin and then it's hooked from 4500rpms. Today I was feathering the gas all thru 1st to stop the spin and spinning bad into 2nd On top of it all, my freaking Harlan switch decides to flake out on two of my runs forcing me to grab for the manual MEVI switch I have.

Excuses, excuses, excuses...I know. I don't know if this intake is working or not it sure feels good though. I guess we'll see when I get back to my normal track.

The good news is I ran my best out there and beat it by .21 and 2.3mph plus I took home a trophy in the top 10 of the "Drag & Shine". Also, congrats to "BSwithTF" (Travis) who pulled a personal best of a 14.8@93mph in his AUTO GXE. I believe his prior best was a 14.9.

One 350Z was there running consistent high 14.4s@97mph with upper 2.1 60 foots, I ran against a modded Formula Firebird LT1 6 speed running consistent 14.4s@98mph, a 3.2" pullied I/E GTP ws pulling 14.5-14.6@96mph, 98 NSX on 18" Axis rims pulling "madd wheelhopping" 14.2-14.4@100mph, and an EVO VIII was pulling consistent 14.7-14.8@98mph (horrendous launches).


Dave

and even a 15.2@93 (missed 3rd for the first time).

man this happend to me last night as well ..i looked down and got into a wrestling match with the shifter and ended up coasting through the end ..lol ..i kept thinking ..what tha ? this never happens .. im trying the injen over the winter, so i will report in on how it does compared to my setup now.. let me know when you get back to the track that hooks, wanna hear the times