Well i have recently aquired a Warpspeed Performance Y pipe and Highflow Cat. i figured since i am going to be getting more air out of the engine maybe i should get some more air in. i have read the FAQ's, all the post i can find on intakes and any other information i can find. i am still left with no definitive answer as to which intake would be best. i have no preference really as to if the intake makes more power on the top end or on the low end or mid range. i would ideally like an intake that would give a little something over the entire rev range but will settle for what ever give some power ultimately. i am willing to spend the $200 on the frankencar, or purchase an ebay injen and get a K&N filter or even the JWT Popcharger. so my quest is Y pipe, hi flow cat + intake but which one? My goal for the max is 14.5 quater mile and 93MPH+ trap speed. i plan on also getting a catback exhaust once i find one that is suitable and reasonably priced. so if you own any of these intakes just throw in you 2 cents or impressions. thanks guys

there are many threads on this... i have come to conclude as many others from what i have read that an intake is an intake. it sucks air, and you pay for the name... you can read on maxmods.dyndns.org about intakes and which is the best for rpm ranges.

id say get the cheapest... or just hack your box that works too!

i don't mind spending the money if i get something for it, i wish they all had dyno graphs but only the injen had a graph on it website and i would like to get the injen clone off of ebay $60 for the intake + $40 for K&N filter about $100 for a pretty good but i am a little scared of it sucking up water.

you could always buy a shield for it... this should help a little... or custom make one. if it is that low then no one will hardly see it anyways...

Get a true CAI if you want consistent performance all year round. The Injen is not a CAI because it still pulls air from the engine compartment. The Place Racing/Cattman CAIs located the filter in the compartment behind the foglight. My CAI pipe stays nice and cool whether it's 40 degrees outside or 80 degrees and gone is the warm/hot day bogginess of the underhood "hot air" intakes. I'm not quicker or faster with my CAI (still 14.4s@98mph) vs my other intakes, but the car drives far better at all rpms and in all temps.

As for sucking up water, just don't try and cross flooded streets. If you're trying to cross a street with over 4" of standing water, then you've got a screw loose because that's all the water it takes to move a car. It would take about 12-14" of water to suck water up thru a 4th gen CAI. Water mist on a rainy day won't do anything. Hydrolock requires the entire intake filter to be immersed under water.


Dave

I strongly agree with Dave. I'm running a PR CAI with the stock resenator and i love it. I've used different combinations of intakes and this one seems to give my car a better feel. The cai gives you lower end gains, at least i've noticed that. I can take off from the light much quicker, than say with a POP charger. Just my own opinion.

u should put up 'PR style CAI' also...it is the true CAI setup and has one less bend and does not suck in the radiator air when the fan spins.I had hybrid setup, but i like the low end better with my CAI setup, especially now that the temp is getting warmer

Man, how many of these intake threads will their be?? An intake is an intake, whether it be a CAI or HAI, they all perform relatively the same (CAI vs other CAI, HAI vs other HAI). It all comes down to owner preferance. For me, im switching from HAI to a true CAI (filter is located in the fender well). Florida heat has alot to do with my decision however...




Eric

i know this thread has been debated already but i couldn't find any information valuable to me in any of them. my question is simple which intake you think/like best and if you can just say why. i didn't include the place racing style cai because i don't wanna cut car to get into the fender and i also live in massachusetts and the snow can get pretty bad as well as t he rain and i just rather not take the chance. i am not looking for the most power just some extra power. i have seen and heard good thing of the Franken car and popchargers but don't know if this is the route i wanna take. so i just wanna see what everyone else thinks ....

Don’t sweat it Zack. The Search feature is down and you’re a newb, questions like yours are expected….no matter repetitious it may get. Welcome to the Org.

Capitone

Hey Zack - I also live in Mass and I've had 2 intakes on my 99 SE-L 5-speed. I had the Stillen popcharger intake on the 98 and now I have the Frankencar intake on my 99 (the Frankencar has been on my car for 18 months or so). The difference between the 2 was noticeable on 2 fronts: the Stillen didn't seem to make much difference power wise compared to the Frankencar, and the Frankencar gives me a nice 3MPG gas mileage boost during the nice weather (when we don't have the winterized gas). I didn't have a problems with either intake in either deep snow or rain (we've had enough rain around here lately for me to find out!)
Another plus is that the Frankencar guys are somewhat local (they're in central Mass near the Quabbin Resevoir) and it's always nice to help out the local people.

Cool where aboust in Mass are you? i am in Randolph. yeah i was kinda leaning towards the Frankencar or the Injen style CAI. my brother had the injen on his 99 for a short time before the car was totaled and it was a nice piece but i am concerned with the throttle response and over all power gains. i wish someone had a dyno of some short showing what the franken car will do for performance.

I'll make this easy hopefully we'll never have to see any of these posts EVER again

1) The Frankencar Intake is just like the Stillen/JWT "POP"-style intakes except that the Frankencar/Berk intakes comes with a midpipe that replaces the OEM resonator that sits inbetween MAF sensor and throttle body. The Frankencar/Berk intakes have gotten the nickname "hybrid". A Stillen/JWT or any other POP setup can be converted to a hybrid by simply adding a midpipe. There is nothing remotely special about a Frankencar intake. Nothing.

2) A midpipe has yet to be documented to make any power gains, but it does introduce quite a bit more intake noise and a generally deeper sound. Most owners tend to like this induction noise under 1/2 to full throttle. The sound emmulates the sound of an Acura NSX.

3) The Injen intake is not a CAI. It pulls air from the drivers side front portion of the car just to the side of the raditor. IMO, this is probably the worst place to be drawing air. Also, the Injen piping is routed close to very hot engine components (manifold, head, block, tranny) which will heat soak the nice shiny intake piping.

4) The Cattman/Place Racing/Warpspeed CAIs are the only true CAIs on the market. These setups pull air from an area that is sealed off from the engine bay. These intakes pull in ambient air. These intake require cutting a 3.2" diameter hole near the battery to route the piping. Many owners are afraid to cut into their car for fear of resale problems. The truth is a good cut is not noticable because the hole sits in a location that is shielded by the battery and wiring harnesses.

5) The hacked airbox is when you cut out the lower airbox to bring in more air. This results in more sound, POP intake power, and the introduction of hot engine bay air.

6) The POP/hybrid/hacked airbox intakes are assumed to make better upper rpm power at the expense of lower rpm power. "Boggy" throttle response, especially in hot weather is common with these intakes. The lack of throttle response is most likely due to removing the pressurization effects of the stock intake tract and drawing in hot engine bay air.

7) The CAI intakes are assumed to make better lowend and mid rpm power. The CAI intakes don't seem to suffer from the "bogginess" problems because of the 14" longer intake tract which is able to store a column of air and in a sense keep the air pressurized, less turbulent, and cooler.

8) Dynos and track results have proven that all the intake setups POP/hybrid/Injen/CAI/hacked all perform basically the same assuming the air outside is cold and the engine is cooled off.

9) Hybrid/POP/hacked/Injen intakes pull in underhood air therefore in the summer these intakes can be drawing in air that's over 140 degrees. A CAI will be pulling in ambient air. It has been shown that the engine bay air cools down to near ambient once the car is moving at 30mph+ for a few minutes. The problem is the temp sensor and knock sensor typically will detect the extremely hot air coming in therefore from a stop the car's acceleration can feel weak in 1st gear. At the track this can cause a much slower 330' if the engine is not cooled.

10) In the end it comes down with what you're will to pay and what kind of driveability you want.


Dave

Well put! You have answered 98% of the questions i had about installing mine.

i say someone please make Dave B's reply as one of the sticky in the modification thread...

thanks for in the info dave, it was very insightful and informative. i apologize for the repetiveness of the trend but i just wanted to be as well informed as i can be. i think i may just get the JWT popcharger and some generic ebay midpipe. a true car maybe nice but the rain over the last couple of days here in mass have convinced me otherwise... thanks again

randolph eh? if you wanna know what a hacked airbox feels like, drive on over to braintree and PM me first, ill give ya a spin in mine.

yeah that would be cool, do you live on pond street, i always drive by a black max off of pond street on my way to the plaza.

if the ture CAI's pull in cool air, wouldnt that air quickly be heated up by the intake manifold before it even gets burned? can someone explain that, cause that manifold gets super hot. thats what confuses me. i mean the injen pulls in hot air, but its right there in the front so it pulls in alot of air, and i made a mini ghetto air scoop by cutting and bending some of the under body pannels maybe it will help a lil. how much air can the PR CAI pull in when its tucked in by the fender. sure the air may be cold in there but how much can actually get in there. i dunno but all intakes basicly give the same amount of gains.

my exp with my injen is all good, low end power isnt improved but mid range (3500rpms) and up i feel a big difference. read dave b's thread and make your choice from there.

10 char

This a blast from the past.

[QUOTE=zack342] i don't wanna cut car to get into the fender and i also live in massachusetts [QUOTE]

i also live in mass... i have the injen CAI and i love it... it may not be a "true CAI" but i like the feel. i def noticed increase low end torque, tho lil, and the throttle is noticably more responsive. my preference is the injen, i know u wont be disapointed

damn this thread is kinda old.

LMAO at leaving the best intake out of the poll.

i agree.

i also do have a FrankenCar Intake. The "Boggy" throttle is true. I personally don't like it. The Intake sounds marvelous but it's so damn loud. Like once you take it too 3500 RPM+ wow it gets to be very loud especially at 6500.

Get a VI and eliminate taht horrendous wail @ 6.5k

Sorry, I don't know what a VI is. Care to explain please?

Variable Intake aka MEVI --> check stickies

i think those engineers at nissan actually did something right with the intake system. i think an aftermarket cai is just a noise maker, maybe not a true cai, but certainly those ebay cai's or an injen, i dont think they add hp at all, in fact i think they deprive the car of some power. if you want noise, just hack the stock airbox and if u want some extra cold air and some extra power, add a k&n drop panel filter then do an oscai... just my opinion.

You know whats funny, I never even thought about the HAcked Airbox bring in the hot engine bay air. Probably makes a nice sound, but I dont want to have hot air running in my engine. Damn, this makes the process of getting a air intake so much harder. My plan was to do this and save some money instead of getting the Frankencar, now I'm back at square one. Frankencar or Hacked airbox?? I hate thinking about this.

I need that "Easy" button they use in the Staples commercials.

haha - easy button would be nice. i say save yourself some money and go HAI - its pretty much the same thing. Or you could do what im doin and go dual HAI and OSCAI just my 2 cents.

How do you do the OSCAI again?? I remember reading about what it is, bt dont remember where??

The JWT one does sound bad ***, but they all do the same, suck air

I've got an injen, and although it does sit behind the radiator, i do feel the extra pull when im driving. And they way it sits you don't need a bypass valve because below it there is a splash gaurd to prevent water from getting into your intake w00t!

its in the faq's

When you're driving, the hot air doesn't stay under the hood. I don't know why people think so. Even the top of my VI is cooler than I expected after a decent drive.

It's usually +/- = 7-12 *C lower @ 60 mph , But around town, it's different

With my FrankenCar intake coupled with K&N cone, my car makes a really nice noise but hasn't gotten any faster. Feels like another ricey mod.

If you want the sound, get the cheapest damn thing you can get.

If you want the performance, save and get a supercharger.

I don't know anything about the current intakes out, i need a refresher.

edit: now that i read it again, i would just go with drop in k&n filter.