i was wondering if there is any advantages and disadvantages of hacking ur airbox....

 

Advantages = none (.5 hp gain, if you're lucky)



Disadvantages =

1) annoying noise/growl, which many find pleasing at first

2) ghetto-looking hole in your stock air box

3) useless mod - waste of time

4) low-end and mid-range power loss

 

boss can you prove those facts you've just listed?

 

1) I'll never find my growl annoying. EVER!!! Its wonderful

2) only notice the hole if you are looking for it. looks stock if you don't know about it.

3) its as useless as changing you muffler just to get a different sound, plenty of people do that though.

4) where's your proof? and if there is any loss, it would be highly unnoticeable as in 2-3 hp region. A minuscule amount that i would always trade for the growl it makes.

EDIT: OOOPS, forgot the one TRUE disadvantage to this mod. Since it sounds stock unless you get on the gas a little, your gas mileage will go down because you'll want to hear that growl all the time.

 

Advantage: FREE

~THT

 

in theory if a CAI gives you gain, so should holes in your stock airbox, again people....air is air, the more the merrier...to a point obvoiusly, but the hacked airbox serves its purpose, im sure its more prevalent with a y-pipe

 

OMG such naive people here.

First off, it's an irreversible process, so if you decide not to like the sound (because that's all it provides) after a while, you must buy a completely new stock air intake system since I highly doubt you can just get the airbox itself.

Second, you ask ME for proof? WTF? Show me one dyno or anything of that sort, which reveals any gains whatsoever which you "believers" are claiming it gives.

Third, there have been hundreds of threads on hacked airboxes. In all of them people who have actually done the mod (including myself) say that power loss, or this "lag" if you will, was definitely present at low-end.

Last, some of you say you're JUST DEEPLY IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND. That's completely irrelevant. It's all fun and games if you drive to the store and back once a day. Some of us take long drives each day, so although not all that loud, you must understand that many find the intake sound annoying after a while. I loved it too at first, then I started commuting to college and drove some 100 miles a day. 50 of those miles were highway, the other 50 were city and we all know that it is loudest in stop and go city-like traffic.

 

I just took off the whole lower part of the air box and I loved it. Just like all other intakes you get the noise and maybe 2 hp. There is absolutely ZERO loss in low-end. The growl is much throatier and more refined than cone intakes and it starts at around 2000rpm, lower than other intakes. Like all the other intakes, you can't hear a difference between this and stock unless you punch it so going to the store won't be a problem.

 

Hey Big D, how do you keep your filter protected, as well as held in? The bottom of the box holds the filter, if I am not mistaken. Plus, hit a large puddle and you could soak the filter (dangerous in my opinion).

If I were to hack the air box, I would only cut holes in the drivers side fender end of the box, so that you get as cold air as possible. I would assume that power loss would happen on the low end because you will only be sucking in hot air from the engine compartment.

 

I had it ghetto rigged. There was a huge piece of cardboard blockig the hot air and a couple aluminum hose routing the cool air to the box. To hold in the filter I drilled some holes in the box and held it in there with so spare wire.

 

Nice effort, but I don't think I will copy it. I am going to remove the two resonators and see how that sounds first.

 

1st. its not irrevisble. if you don't like it, just attach a small sheet metal to the inside of the box with some epoxy to cover/seal the hole. no biggie.

2nd. you show me a dyno that shows a loss.

3rd. i notice no power loss at the low end. If i floor it at a stand still, my max takes off just like it always has. if there is a loss of Hp in there, my butt dyno along with just about everyone else's isn't calibrated so well to notice a loss of 2-3 HP.

Last, like i said in the 1st point. Just cover/seal the hole if you don't like it. And it is definately not loud in stop and go traffic. i deal with that stuff everyone morning on my way to school. you only notice the mod when you apply a certain amount of throttle and in stop and go traffic you're applying little to no gas at all unless you're one of those dumba$$e$ that floors it as soon as the car in fron t of him moves a little just to have to slam back on the brakes.

 

Wow guys, its not that big a deal. If you want to, do the mod, if you don't like it, don't. Nothing to get upset about. A small hp loss is acceptable, but loss is never good.

 

i'm with BOSS on this. . . it gets annoying to me & i do feel a "lag" in the low range rpm's. . . i have a k & n cone on there now & i'm getting rid of it also. . . stock is the way to go for me. . .

Sam

 

You guys say there is little to no performance gains by hacking airboxes but you do get added mileage by making the engine breathe better.

 

I too had my doubts about this mod. However, I went ahead and did it and have no regrets. I also changed out my stock muffler and replaced it with a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler. The combination of the hacked air box and new muffler are great! The car sounds awesome and very little low end power loss. My Maxima still takes off when I need it to and the sound and performance are a great addition to an already wonderful ride! In addition, gas mileage still remains good. I love driving my Max with these modifications. More now than before! It's definitely worth the modifications.

 

Just get an intake they sell them on Ebay for like 30$ thats better then holes in the airbox

 

I did notice some low end loss, but thats because I am just sucking in hot air from the engine compartment. I did it because I was bored one afternoon and its free, I do like the sound since it sounds stock unless you punch it.

 

I know just take out all the stock air intake stuff and glue the air filter on the throttle body that might give ya about .00000001hp and sound like a hemi.

 

I bought a frankencar intake but after a week I sold it because it was way too loud. It was just a bunch of noise that made is seem like I was going faster...waste of money. I bought another airbox cheap off another orger before I hacked my stock one. It seems like the stock intake is restrictive in high end so cutting a small hole would be a good setup. I cut a triangle on the side and its not that loud, but its noticable over stock. Im going to put in the non-hacked box in sometime and see if i had any low end loss or any gains.

 

You want to expound on that, deezo? I am interested in hearing what you have to say about it all.

 

I'll just say there is less resistance to the airflow when you create these openings.

 

I've gotten 98-99mph trap speeds with the hacked airbox, K&N filter panel, and midpipe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that type of MPH matches what Mike, Requin6, and Nealoc have gotten with their MEVI/JWT ECU setups WITH hybrids. The hacked airbox works, but it does cause a slight loss of lowend, but that's to be expected because once you cut the box open, the pressurization of the stock airbox is lost. This pressurization is what gives excellent lower rpm throttle response with the stock airbox.

If you cut the airbox the right way with a dremel then you can glue in the sections if you don't like the setup. No would know the difference. With my hacked airbox, you'd have to know what you're looking for to see that the box is modified.

As for power, years ago I dynoed my hacked airbox with resonator vs my HKS intake with resonator. Peak hp and tq were actually the same with the only difference being that the HKS intake held on to about 2-4hp more after 6000rpms which is pretty meaningless when you're talking about the stock intake manifold.

Downsides to the hacked airbox? It pulls in hot engine compartment air. In the winter/fall it's no big deal, but in the warmer months you'll notice the engine lagging a little.



Dave

 

Dave B, did you leave your stock scoop and resonator under the battery in? Do you think it makes any difference? I left mine in because where the scoop goes into the airbox is facing the lower part of the engine so it sucking warmer air in.
I wanted to get a cold air intake but to get rid of all the same the stock intake takes up but Im not really into the noise.

 

i had my hacked airbox for about two weeks and am very happy. I cut out the triangular part of the box by the fender. I do have both of the resonators on. Anyone willing to give me the ups and downs of removing the resonators?

Thanks

 

so overall ......hybrid intake or hacked airbox????

 

DAVE B,

So, if I drilled a couple of holes in the side of the stock airbox by the fender(away from the engine) I will feel the lag as well. I do most of my driving under 6k rpm's, so I don't want to loose that low end torque and power.

 

I first hacked my airbox about a year ago. I mainly did it to get some upper end gains to go with my y-pipe at the track. I did some runs one day with the stock airbox (I bought a used stock airbox from someone here, there are plenty to be had) and the hacked airbox. While I didn't do a ton of runs to be completely sure, the runs with the hacked airbox were quicker. I wouldn't deny low end loss, but I didn't notice any.
I personally get tired of the hacked box pretty quickly. I think it does sound kinda cool, but I like to feel the pull of the engine without all that noise for everyday driving. I don't like to stand out in a crowd. While of course you usually can't tell much of a difference in the hacked box while cruising, most of my driving while accelerating is WOT. I don't know how loud it is to other cars, but I don't want other people to notice it. Just post in the classifieds for an extra box if you want to try it, you should be able to get one pretty cheap.

 

enough said

 

Even better said. I got a cone now and because my injectors are running kinda uneven, intakes don't make a damn difference.