dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

I'd like to see photos of other member's modded stock air intakes. For example, holes drilled in the stock box, disconnected resonators, hoses running to the snorkel, etc..

I'm doing this to compare one setup versus another, and not to do one of my own. I have read the stickies, but they don't have the info and photos I need to read and see.

In addition to the pix, please provide a little detail on the mods, like how big are the holes you drilled..etc, and also what kinds of changes you noticed before and after.

Thanks, Mucho!

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You really need to search the stickies or donate to search. Air intakes have been done to death. Aren't you the one doing the super scientific air intake?

konak85

iTrader: (10)

I drilled out almost the whole two sides, facing the battery and fender. I kinda regret it though because it gets pretty loud after 3000rpm and kinda felt a loss in the low end. If you do it, make 1 or two holes and test it out then make more if your not satisfied.

dayglo

i drilled a triangle out of the fender side of the box taking up almost the whole side around 1cm in. took off the 1st resonator elbow and left the box there.
louder and deeper (hollow) than my stillen pop charger. ill probably put the resonator elbow back on because it made a big diffreance in sound level and i dont want it so loud.

i hacked my box while i had my stillen on there and i dont remember what it was like with the stock box on. so i dont know much diffrence between the ported and un ported box.
if youve got a pop charger put your stock back on its a huge improvment.
go to stickies for pics

Fr33way™

iTrader: (23)

I removed the bottom of the box and remounted the top (now bottom) to the MAF. I am using a K&N filter. I have a mid-pipe as well. We did the same thing to another orgers '96 and he still has his stock mid-pipe (resonator) and his is a little more toned down than mine. We both removed the snorkel. I feel a minor loss in low end when I am sitting for a little bit but I think it is gained back on the top end. I probly wouldn't go with it on an automatic though.

kbmaxima

iTrader: (11)

i have the firewall side of the box completely hacked out, but punched about 30 holes on the battery side. It sounds the same as the cone filter i had, but i got a little bit of low end back, and a lotta mpg's back.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

First of all, I read the stickies thoroughly, and they don't have what I want to see.

Secondly, the stickies are far from being a comprehensive resource on the subject.

And, thirdly, why are you here??? What part of "Show me your air intake hacks" did you not understand?

Please do not respond again unless you have a photo to share.

Thanks.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Do you have a photo to share? Did you start out with fewer holes, and then decided to add more?

Thanks for your contribution.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Very good! How did you decide on a triangle shape? Is there a photo of it in the stickies?

Thanks for your response.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

This is exactly the info I needed to hear. Thanks for the replay. I'm not trying to build my own, but to see how others rendered their vision (and version).

Did you start out with smaller holes, and then decided to make them larger?

Fr33way02

Yea, just flipping the box gives a notibale difference in sound and performance.

rsly33

iTrader: (1)

So if I have this right, you removed the snorkel and your only source of air is the hot air from around the engine? What is holding the filter in place? Some pics or better explanation would help

konak85

iTrader: (10)

at first i was just gonna make 2 or three on the two sides, then i said what the heck and lost control. There is no wrong way to do it i guess. Just don't drill on the top half.

1991tsi

iTrader: (2)

snorkle assembly on engine side was removed, fender side hacked off, as shown. Sounds great, probably not great in terms of keeping intake air cold, however.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

You mean totally turned, with the bottom up and the top facing down??

How would you get the snorkel to reach?

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

i just drilled like 3 one inch holes on the side facing the fender or outside of the car. I dont have any pictures sorry. I have felt a low end power loss as well. I cant tell if i gained high end, but it makes a bit of noise past 4000 rpm. I enjoy it but i definently want my low end power back and i'm going to buy an un-tampered with stock airbox when i find one cheap.

tomservo291

I did the same as the poster with the blue max above... I like it a lot. So far its been ~ 20k or so and my K&N panel filter still looks like new, I was worried about dirt being sucked in (yes I know the engine bay is dirty, it just came back from a round trip of southeast MA to northern ME.)

But to my surprise it hasnt taken in any dirt particles, as far as I can tell.



I'm heading to the junkyard next week to grab some parts, last time I was there I saw they just got two new 4th gens out front... Hopefully they still have some stuff on them when I get there. Looking to grab a set of headlights (possibly for retro HIDS in the future,) and all four taillights to do LED tails, planning to grab another bottom half of an airbox (the one I hacked I got from a junkyard too, making this 3 intake bottoms) and going to cut away the entire bottom so just the rim is left to hold in the filter.

If you're going to do this, I would suggest finding more bottoms incase something goes wrong or you dont like it. If you can get one at a junkyard, they are usually cheap.. like $5-10.

9_lives

hey i'm trying to install a CAI, can anyone help me with this? the pipes don't seem to line up. me and my mechanic buddy are at a combined loss, has anyone installed an ebay CAI?

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Check the stickies.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Thanks. BTW, I just bought an entire intake system from a '99 Max off of eBay for 12 bucks! I'm going to use it for some experiments I have in mind.

1991tsi

iTrader: (2)

if anyone has a good way to route cold air up to the fender side of a stock airbox, i'd love to hear it. I was thinking of using the original snorkel somehow...

Fr33way™

iTrader: (23)

aight sorry for the delay (and size) but . .

G4nismo

iTrader: (9)

^^^ IMO, i don't think its smart to remove the top airbox cover.
exposing the filter to more debris & hot *** air

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

What I have been doing recently is routing my cold air from behind the front bumper, down through the engine undercover and back up to the snorkel intake tube where the resonator elbow used to be. I currently took it off and put the resonator elbow back on because we are into our "rain-everyday" season.

Some people drill a hole through the bottom of the air box, through the fender wall and wheel well. BUT, that also exposes the filter to water.

Personally, I think that punching a hole in the box causes a reduction in air pressure and/or increase in turbulence, and that is one thing I am going to test (along with air temperature). The stock snorkel is more than just an outlet to the outside air. In a sealed system, it does create a ram effect, limited as it may seem.

When you start punching holes in that sealed system, you change not only the temperature of the air flow, but also its direction and speed, and not necessaily in your favor.

The worst-case scenario is to simultaneously reduce air pressure (from openings in the system) while increasing air temperature (by sucking in hot air from the engine bay).

MaximaPWR

looks like hacking the airbox may be a good idea after all.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Are you being facetious?

Spaniard

iTrader: (1)

Ive spent way too much time toying around with intake mods. Its been a ton of fun. But what I have heard is that stock might be underrated in terms of throttle reponse. (Something about the positioning and resonators actually help generate a bit of boost and prevent lag)

A couple pix of what I did (full writeup of all the stuff here: one fellas story of intake mods







But retired that strategy for an attempt at "RAM-AIR"

Big_E-Dog

iTrader: (14)

awwwh man yall are doing it all wrong......

what you guys need to do is get a smooth looking hood scoop and mount it on top of the air filter box then modd the air filter box to fit snugglu inder the hood scoop.....Thats how its supposed to be done.

konak85

iTrader: (10)

You have a lot of free time

Loe max

iTrader: (6)

The only thing he did was remove the bottom portion of the box and flipped the top portion...

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

The through-the-bumper tubes is somewhat similar to my concoction, except that I had one tube hooked to a funnel-shaped collector, located it dead-center in the middle of the bumper where drag is highest, and ran the tube to the snorkel. Also, the tubing was ABS plastic rather than PCV -- much lighter in weight as just as strong.

I originally had something like your ram-air thingy also, but when the first time I went into a big pothole, it tore it loose -- just as I30ds predicted!

Did that ever happen to you?

I must say that you are very creative!

Did you ever take a look at the Weapon-R intakes with Ram-Air attachments?

Xugg

Intresting design but using metal piping right next to the radiator might be counterproductive as the hot air from the fans will heat up that pipe real nice.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Good point. My next mod to test will consist of coating the air intake and box with liquid ceramic -- a special coating that can keep the interior 20 degrees cooler than the exterior.

Torgus

iTrader: (10)

god it's just an air intake get over it.
this topic has been beaten to death.
unless your intake is belt/exhaust driven who really cares?
your not going to come up with a new/better way to get air into our engines. period.
stock is perfectly fine.
look at an enzo...stock airboxes just like ours.
i'v seen a MINES's tuned skyline with 700bhp guess what stock airboxes.
i had 4 different intakes on my 4th gen when i had it: stock, injen(CAI),FWI,HAI.
in the end the stock intake was best. next best being a cone filter sitting in the stock bottom airbox. best sound injen. but i degress...

in short it's just an air intake. and no one cares.

sonicrunch

You can blame the aftermarket companies with all thier intakes (and promises) for the intrest in such an inconsequential upgrade.

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

WE care -- the ones who chose to properly respond to the topic. As I see it, we have two options:

1. Test things for ourselves, or

2. Accept as gospel the words of a few, self-proclaimed car gods who have nothing better to do than to look down their long noses at the rest of us.

Torgus

iTrader: (10)

when you come up with a better intake then the nissan engineers let me know.
they do flow tests on the intakes as well as actually mathamatical calculations to determin intake length size shape, resonator shape and displacement etc.
it's just an intake(again).
good luck.
bye.

edit: really though good luck if your trying to make the most na. though i would look into placing the filter into an area of positive air flow aka air funneled towords the filter ram air stylish...even though we all know a ram air really rams no air, in because you can't compress it at automotive speeds....but you get a good deal of positive air flow which is best for any intake.

look at Jime's intake on his max for instance...
anyways good luck sorry to complain but i'm tired of intake pipes.

1996blackmax

iTrader: (2)

If you want some extra growl, that is what the aftermarket intakes are for . Do not expect much out of them as far as peformance. If you are cool with this then go for it and .

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Torgus and BlackMax make some excellent points, especially in regards to performance and acoustics. Think about mods done to the exterior like clear corners or interior like reflective gauges. They may not make the car go faster, but they satisfy a different need: an aesthetic one.

Having an intake that produces a deep, throaty sound is a goal in itself. It is a visceral mod in that it makes the driver feel that the car is doing more.

I think we tend to forget that many people like to drive a certain way or in a particular vehicle for the fun of it and to make a statement to other drivers. It is not just about 1/4 mile times.

Certainly, those who put 1,000 watt amps and three 12" subs in their trunks are not doing it to get more speed, OR just so that they alone can hear the bass.

On the other hand, if it is all about 1/4 mile times, then think back to Vin Diesel's line in the "Fast and Furious":

It doesn't matter whether you win by an inch or a mile. Winning is winning.

If you are losing out at the strip by a tenth of a second, then tweaking the air intake just might make the difference between winning and losing.

In my car, the Infiniti I30, the engineers at Nissan designed it with comfort in mind first, and raw, blazing performance last. More than likely, the air intake on the I30 follows that design philosophy, and is a good compromise between the two opposite goals.

The air intake is also a compromise in terms of its physical layout, with all its twists and turns. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but there are very, few straight lines inside a cramped engine bay.

The bottom line here is that some of us like how quiet our car rides, and would like to keep it that way. Others might say their cars are too quiet, as in "putting-me-to-sleep" quiet, and like the sound of an engine at work.

The I30 was designed with quiet in mind, and I am one of those who would like to keep it that way, but not at the expense of performance. My car has great response in the passing department, like from 30 to 60, but it really needs to have better acceleration from 0 to 30. There are situations, like merging into traffic, where the extra quickness would mean the difference between sitting at the merge or being on the road.

Modding the air intake may not help in that regard, but what do I really have to lose by trying (other than a few bucks and a few minutes)?

Every car made is slightly different -- even those of exactly the same model, make, year and condition. If you were to take all of the brand-new Maxima GXE's that come in on a truck transport and test them, the odds that they would produce identical performance measurements are slim to none.

For that reason alone, none can say exactly what will happen when I, or some other member here, makes a mod to their car's intake, or that the results achieved were not what we wanted in the first place.

As I have said, time and time again in other posts, my goal is not to produce a better intake than what is already out there. My goal is not even to produce a different modification than what is already out there. What my goals are, and have always been, concerns what I can do on my own -- and on my car alone -- to (a) understand how it works, (b) how to make it look better, and (c) how to make it more fun (and more responsive) to drive without spending an arm and a leg.

Since I want to make improvements by myself, the "(a)" goal is very important. I do have to say that Maxima.org has been an invaluable resource in that regard. Without it, I'd basically be "flying blind" on many mods.

The first goal is also important for another reason: there is nothing wasted by acquiring new knowledge (even if we do not know immediately how we will use it), and those who say it is a waste of time remind me of the ancient critics of Galileo, Copernicus, Da Vinci, etc., who also thought they were wasting their time.

We have threads started by members who are proud to show off their rides and what they have done on their own to make them look better.

So, do we criticize them for being creative?

No.

Do we criticize them for doing what others have done?

No.

Do we criticize them because changing the look of their cars will not make them go faster?

No.

So why do we lay smak on those who do their own performance mods (even if the only thing they produce is more noise) and wish to share them?

Is it taboo to even talk about it?

To me, threads like these are like TV programs: if you do not like the subject, then do not tune in.

Knowing that there are others who have tried some of the same things that I have done is not disheartening -- just the opposite. It show me that there are other, like-minded people out there, and one of the main reasons I participate in a forum like this is to meet them.

Maxima.org is not just about finding cold, hard facts: it is about finding people, too, and possibly making new friends.

Okay...I'm done.

Xugg

I cant believe i just read all that, lol.

some good points, i think preformace was not the last on the to-do list for the engineers. This is their flagship car keep in mind.