Finally took the intake off... and I couldn't be happier!
 

Yes, I wasn't too happy with cars overall performance lately, so I pulled off my hammemade intake (cone filter, custom MAF adapter, sitting in the lower part of the airbox assembly with the stock snorkel still still feeding some "cool" air).
And let me tell you, immediate difference. More power, better responsiveness. I almost suspected my transmission starting to deteriorate, cause everytime I gave it gas it just reved up in the same gear (automagic) and slowly accelerated. But now, it is like it was before, it downshifts when it was supposed to without delays, feels more powerful and responsive.
Best way to describe the difference is as if the car tried to run a marathon with a Marlboro in his mouth (with the intake), and got some clean new lungs after the stock went back on.

They say intakes rob you of low end power, and I definately agree! I also think that those filters can work OK if you supply "cold" air to them and shield them from the engine heat.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot; gas mileage went up about 3 MPG on the last tank. It was 3/4 full when I replaced the intake, so probably as much as 5 MPG overall wouldn't surprise me.

Ok... I'm not getting this. Why are so many people doing this?? An intake is supposed to (as the name says) INTAKE more air into the engine. AND, when coupled with exhaust mods, the gains will be very pleasing. What's going on here?

Why don't these intakes work? From what I've heard... they work on every other car! Why not Maximas??

Maybe nissan engineers got it right the 1st time!!..If it ain't broke, why fix it!

i agree on that

so will a panel k&n improve performance?

what sort of cone filter did you use? Was it a quality name brand??

putting ur intake back on will not cause 5mpg increase in gas mileage, in fact almost nothing will except for a copletely new engine.

Nismos14, what type of intake do you have? Have you noticed any hp gains/losses from it?

man im about to take off my injen anytime soon. u just lose ALOT of low end power. specially if u got a y pipe. all ur low end torque is screwed. major major difference here. i miss that good old jump at red lights !

i have an injen knock off and on the highway its great, IMHO in the low end if u know how to take off it doesnt really hurt the car at all, i dont feel sluggish or bogging in the heat or anything like that

intakes ruin ur low end and improve ur mid to high end. u will experience a big loss of low end torque when u install an intake. thats what he is talking about....

u have an auto 98sterling?

not trying to bash or anything but by looking at your homepage, you have a very cheapy inefficient cone filter so maybe thats why you feel the difference going back to stock

YEAH! Seriously. That's what I was gettin' at. If your filter is crap.... don't even bother getting an intake system!

I agree.
If anything I think it may be the type of intake may yeild slightly different results but overall an intake is an improvemnt over OEM.
When I had my Stillen Pop charger it felt more responsive on the low end then the Injen but over all I think the Injen is better. Just seems to give the car more pull.

yes i do nismo14

that could be part of the reason that you realized such a low end loss.

A filter won't cause the car to run like crap unless the filter is really poor at flowing air. Most aftermarket filters are poor at filtering, not flowing.

As for intakes and loss of lowend, if you want the intake growl, very little intake restriction, and all your lowend plus some, get the PR-style CAI and use the stock intake resonator between the throttle body and MAF. When hotter weather rolls around we constantly see posts like this. It's a true CAI or nothing, in my book. Period.

As far as performance, does anyone notice a decrease from using a hacked-air box (from stock).

I took off my midpipe a few months ago because of the lag, and am now currently running a homemade popcharger setup. I thought about replacing this with a hacked airbox.

Also, does the hacked airbox provide a similar and noticeable sound as the popcharger does?

I agree that one of the reasons you felt a difference is because your filter was crap, that thing is very small compared to a Stillen or JWT, plus Stillen and JWT come with a velocity stack to smooth out the air flow (although who knows if that really works or not). The Stillen intake has been dynoed on the max for a gain of 7 HP http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/1101 I still think that the stock intake setup is fine, a K&N drop in will flow a bit better than stock and save you money because you can reuse it. Intakes are more for sound (They do add a great sound for cheap!) and looks than performance IMO.

hmmm... it don't understand the following part. He makes reference to a K&N filter. Does stillen use a K&N filter with their velocity stack? Sorry for the newbie ques....

Since the 95 Maxima is ODB-II compliant, it has an air intake temperature sensor on the factory air box. I had to drill a small hole in the end of the K&N filter, and mount the sensor. It all worked perfectly. My NX 2000 Stillen K&N now fit my Maxima.

sorry this is kinda off topic, but what type of gains have people got with the k&N drop in panel filter and is it worth getting a stillen pop charger?

Stillen uses a K&N filter on their intake, Stillen just makes the velocity stack and mounting bracket. As for the gains from a K&N panel filter, you will get *maybe* 3 HP, nothing you can feel. The main advantage is that it is reusable, so instead of buying a new filter, you just clean it.

hmm... is there any way I can somehow JUST order the velocity stack from stillen? I checked their website and everything comes packaged up. I have the mounting bracket and will buy my own K&N cone filter. I just need the velocity stack.

BTW, does stillen use the stock resonator on their intakes?

maybe you guys need to clean your filters?? they don't clean themselves and when they get dirty you will lose performance and prolly mpg as well. i've had a frankencar midpipe+k&n cone filter for almost 10 months now and i've never noticed any decrease in performance at all.

Try putting your stock intake back on...or at least your resonator. You WILL feel a difference, for the better.

But we all know the truth, that in the end, all intakes SUCK!

i forgot to mention that hot weathers do make ur car run alot slower when u have an intake. i am really feeling a difference !

i agree. personally i have try 4 different intake setup:

1. 3A ghetto racing popcharger
2. bomz cai + K&N filter
3. bomz short ram + K&n filter
4. bomz short ram + JWT filter

speaking from personal experience, IMO #4 setup is the best. yes CAI gave me more lower end power but the throttle response is horrible, so i switched over to short ram and swap in JWT filter to help my intake suck more air. although stock intake system has the best throttle reponse, but the size and the quality of the air filter DOES MATTER.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...8_150_full.jpg

:sprint:

I have only been on the Board for about 6 weeks. I bought a K&N panel filter about 5 weeks ago as I am not into noise and do not want a CAI. I had a Budget Y-pipe installed about 2 weeks ago. I noticed a difference in performance with the K&N panel filter alone and a significant difference when I added the Y-pipe. I noticed an improvement in fuel economy on a road trip with just the K&N filter but haven't driven enough with the Y-pipe addition to comment on fuel economy just yet. I certainly have no loss in low-end torque and notice a lot more oomph above 4,500 rpm.

pending reading this forum...I got curious and took off my frankencar intake with apexi dry filter and put my stock airbox assembly back on....I noticed a significant DECREASE in performance across the entire rpm range...I am talking noticeable amounts...so I don't exactly know what the issue in this thread is...maybe most of you don't have exhaust or ecu so intake is quite useless or your filters are dirty or you just need to get a frankencar with apexi venturi filter.....lol

i agree with maciek.
I have taken my intake out in June & i'm not thinking of putting it back on at all.
Power has increased for me with the stock intake.

Remember guys, we are auto's not 5spd.....

Wow, I didn't think that this thread will generate 2 pages of replies in less than a day, but I guess I am not alone...

I am gonna try to reply to some of you:
- Maxxadict, I am with you, Nissan engineers made the stock intake a certain way not only to make the car quiter, but also to maximize performance.
As far as quality of my cone, it is e-bay crap, not K&N.

- Nismos, you don't drive my car, so how can you say with such certainty that it will not improve gas mileage by 5??? I have a bad KS, so my MPG is fairly poor. I get about 19-20 in the city and no more than 22 on highway lately. As I said in the original post, with 3/4 full tank I put the stock back on and my MPG was 25.8 all of the sudden. It hasn't been this "high" since I had the cone. Do you still think it is not due to intake?

- Maxxaddict and Nismo, you seem to say that the reason for poor performance is the cheap cone. I don't fully agree. Please explain how knock off cone filter will cause decreased performance, while a K&N cone for example, (placed in an identical setup) will improve it.

I haven't experienced a true cold air intake (one that is away from the engine heat), but am about to try the Fram's air hog.
Unless proven different I firmly believe that the best way to maximize power of our engines through an intake, would be to force more fresh air to our stock, sealed airboxes and possibly use a better flowing filter.

Not if you have a true CAI.

O yeah I recently Installed my CAI to get some of that good stuff, But the only problem is that I think my TCC is slipping off the hook!!!

my current setup does show much of any decreased low end either in response or power. i went with a larger 9" k&n, with a tube leading off the stock snorkel to the filter and a 15lb battery that lays on its back to allow for more direct flow straight to the filter. of course the hotter the temps, the less dense the air so decreased performance but this setup allows me to run comparable in the low end to the stock airbox and much improved in the mid to top end. as you can see, the stock resonator is in use. in the end though, its still an intake and its not making a ton of power but this setup benefits me. PIC HERE

I have to disagree. While you're right that the PR intake will give you the most gains, no matter what, it matters what you start with. If it's 90 degrees out with 80-90% humidity, your car will still run like ish.


however, i bet since you're not revving the car up more to hear the intake growl, you're saving gas. Don't be ashamed, i do it without thinking too.

I'm also wondering about the integrity of your homemade intake. I know a lot of people go the custom route to avoid spending a lot on mods, but (especially when it comes to performance mods) going the cheaper route might actually hurt you in the long run. As it is, it seems that the cheaper filter is a problem.

Thats it! I'm gonna try putting the stock intake back in....what can I lose? It's free!

btw...frankencar intake owners, has anyone tried stock airbox w/ frankencar midpipe? just curious how that would work.

What the fouk are you talking about???
Who said I don't rev it up to hear the intake? My driving hasn't changed. I drive normal most of the time (with average shifts between 2.5-3K rpm), but when it is time to punch it hard, I gladly do. So I did hear the engine growl through the intake when it was on, and that growl was the coolest thing about the intake. Now it is stock-quiet, but with much harder acceleration. A worthy tradeoff if you ask me.

As far as the cheap filter being the problem, as I said before, prove me that if I replaced it with a K&N cone there would be a difference.

Filter dimensions do matter. Yours looked small, and if you need a KS, this will also help a lot, performance and fuel.

erty67, i think Dave B. tried this setup, and mzmtg had custom pipes a long time ago before Frankencar was even here, and i also believe he was using it with a stock box.