I was wondering how many of you guys out there are using the:
CAI + Y Pipe
Pop Charger + Y Pipe
And which set up will benefit a daily driver more. Because I would love to have the extra horse and that V-8 sound. I am not a racer though I mean if I'm on the interstate and someone wants some I wanna be able to make em regret it

 

I have a Pop Charger and I like it but I am lagging on the low end so try CAI and see what happens.

 

Sorry but your never gonna sound like a V8. At idle with the right jizz you can (like me ), but when revving the 2 missing cylinders become apparent.

I have CAI. Get it, but be warned if you plan a full exhaust then you wont be able to hear it anymore! It sucks, but you will get over it cause the exhaust is more aggressive.

My friend with a '96 Impala SS got some flomasters and when he started the car, it wasnt nearly as loud or deep as my maxima. BUT, once he revved it... It was beautiful, and more muscley than the Max.

So I guess I got a little off the topic but I had to tell you you won't ever sound like a V8. You will love the sound though. Just cause its not a V8, by all means doesnt mean it can't sound good.

 

right not its y-pipe and cone filter/adapter

Ordered the CAI so I'll see how that goes when it comes

 

CAI and Y pipe for me! The CAI makes a rough growl at high rpms!

 

so whats your take on the whole low end/top end gains with the CAI?

 

I had a place racing CAI and felt like my car was really struggling in the top end power. So I switched to a Weapon R dragon intake and like it a lot more. I lost a little low end (barely noticable) and gained a lot of high end power. Now i have the Weapon R pop, y-pipe, and custom cat-back. Its a pretty good setup. Take Care

 

PR CAI, Stillen Y.

CAI's give more torque than the other ones do, which is what you lose with the Y. I chose it to keep a nice ballance.

Kirk

 

So there is a gain. I can definitely feel it! But you can't beat a nice turbo!

 

Craig, keep in mind you have 1 of only 2 systems ever made. Your car is an exception to the law of contemporary physics due to 5 hours of labor and over a week of brainstorming and technical analysis. But, with that said, your car probably sounds lower and louder than most if not all V8 cars. Isnt it great?

I miss that sound, take good care of her.

Kirk

 

what is all this about losing torque with a y-pipe

have any of you actually SEEN a dyno of a maxima with a y-pipe??????

 

With a higher flowing exhaust system you will lose torque relative to the gain in HP. You will not have less torque than stock, but rather fewer than you would if you had a similar gain in TQ that you did in HP. Not only have I seen the dyno chart, I had one on my car. Sheesh, some people just dont understand the laws of physics and BACK PREASURE!

Prove me wrong and you get a special prize.

 

Is it back pressure you are talking about with loss of power or the natural heat differential and scavenging you are looking for? If you open up the exhaust too much (too large a diameter) would you not reduce scavenging in the cylinders due to loss of vacuum from a change in the temperature through the cross section of the exhaust tubing. Back-pressure is actually NOT your friend. It will reduce scaveging which reduces the draw of air/fuel into the cylinder causing a decrease cylinder combustion during the small time the open exhaust/intake valve overlap So, therefore reduced backpressure is good UNTIL it starts to reduce above mentioned scaveging. What say? Peace: e3 - spamman

 

get a CAI

 

Please explain how back "preasure" is good?

Dont give me, "you will lose torque with too little back pressure", explain how and why back pressure is good...

 

I see that there's been lots of discussion about back pressure though I'm still trying to wrap my head around the intake side of the system.

Can someone shed some light on the relationship between higher air flow rate through a less restrictive intake & back-pressure vs. torque? I'm sure there are many of us who have installed a high-flow air intake that've noticed reduced torque on low RPM. Help me! I'm trying to understand the physics/mechanics of this!

Thx in advance.

 

get a popcharger

 

had cai before y pipe, felt like all top end was gone, got the y pipe and exhaust on and low and behold i got a very strong band allt he way through, good setup, but im in the middle of trying to make a custom intake for the max that will have the CAI give better airflow, ill keep u updated, just to let u know, if what i planned workes, u will be blown away,

 

After adding my y, RT cat and a 3" cat-back I lost lots of low end power in relation to the top end power I gained. As I said before, your TQ #'s will not go down, but rather will not increase in a similar fashon to the HP #'s. Before I did the 3" cat-back I lost a little low end power compaired to the top end gained. Once the 3" system went on I bogged off the line, with an auto, and when it hit 3,500 rpms it would physically force you into the seat. I am speaking from experience. I have a question for you, all you guru's out there, What would happen if you took out the cat on the maxima and put in straight pipe? What would happen to the torque when compaired to the horsepower gains??

Kirk

P.S. Long time no argue

 

In other, more simpler words, the torque increases more on the top end than on the bottom end with your exhaust/intake upgrades. The low end torque is still better than stock, but not as good as the top end gain, right?

That's what I have experienced wiht my CAI and Y. I had the CAI a year before I got my Y. The CAI really increased low to mid range. High end seemed kind of stalled. Once I added the Y, the high end was much better.

Now, here's the thing, I don't think the CAI make the cars top end worse, so to speak. Rather, it makes the 4th gens weakness of the lack of variable intake manifold much more apparent.

The stock intake box in our Maximas was built to make the cars torque curve as linear as possible. You felt the same type of acceleration in every gear, wheter on the low end, or high end of the rpm range.

With mods, we've dis-rupted that linearity. Higher torque on top, lower on bottom.

DW

 

Would the variable manifold that people bought from Road Beast able to help that any? They havent installed them yet so who knows how it is gonna go but maybe that would make the cai more effective on the top end as well.

SuDZ

 

You didnt anwer my question. I want to know why it happens, not what happens. I want you to give some real answers on why back pressure is good. This "it felt weak down low" stuff is useless, butt dyno is useless. Please tell me what heppens when you reduce back pressure that reduces power output.

 

Yeah, I'm looking for a solid answer for the "why" question as well. I think the observations have been well documented by multiple forum members already (& many thx to them all!) Now to dig deeper into the automotive engineering side of this intake/back pressure/torque issue.

 

Sorry, I know exactly why this happens. I'm just calling out Kirk on more BS...

 

Sup buddy

Well, I never have heard a Maxima with any kind of exhaust mod. In fact this radical change to mine has been the first time ive ever heard of one, so I can't say that mine is deeper than other single-exhaust maxima's. (Althought you have, and it probubly is )

Check your mail..I gotta ask you somethin...

 

NISSAN 3" Intake Adapter. with a RACTIVE Super Flow Chrome Intake Filter on it

PACE SETTER Muffler with a PILOT MOTORSPORTS Stainless Steel Bolt-On 4" Exhaust Tip on it

STILLEN Y-Pipe

 

Since you like to think of yourself as hot$hit, why dont you answer your question. I am speaking from real life experience. Im not a mechanic nor have I studied the art of exhaust as well as you have. Why not stop acting like you are a mod and just give out the info?

Kirk

P.S. What did I say that was BS?

 

ditto

 

I've never acted like a mod...

Anyway, it's not low backpressure that causes a loss of low end power. Also, it's not that the gains in low end arent as noticeable as the gains in high end (well sometimes this is the case). Some big exhaust systems do cause significant low end power loss, but as I said, low back pressure is not the problem.

Back pressure is always bad. Always. It hurts volumetric efficiency across the board.

What we are after is high exhaust stream velocity. If the exhaust can keep moving fast down the pipe, it will form a vacuum that will suck the gasses out of the cylinders when the exhaust valve opens. There's a little more to it than that, but you get the idea.

When you have an exhaust system that is too big, at low engine speeds, the low volume of gas in the big pipe will slow down. This slow moving gas does not help pull itself along the pipe. This makes it harder for the exhaust gas to escape the cylinder when the exhaust valve opens. This hurts power.

Once the engine speeds up and starts making a higher volume of exhaust, then the big pipe is suited to keep that large volume moving quickly. Again, high speed gas is what we want.

The hard part of exhaust system desgin (excluding resonance issues, to keep it simple) is finding the balance between a pipe that will maintain high exhaust gas velocity at low RPM and still have good flow at high RPM.

Too little "back pressure" is not what causes the problem. A system that is small enough to give good low RPM velocity may have fairly high back pressure, but...well, you get the idea (I hope).




Simple.

 

imo jim wolf popcharger w/ warpspeed ypipe for manual
Place Racing (hands down) CAI w/ warpspeed ypipe for automatic. just what i've picked up around the forums. good luck and more power to ya


Teddo

 

good post.....

 

I have a K&N cone filter and Cattman Y-pipe. . . I like it and all but did notice a point between about 3k-4k RPM where the power just seems to level off. . . When it hits 4k it is almost like I get thrown into my seat as it seems to kick back in again. Anyone else experience this?

BTW, I am in the processes of buying a PR CAI, so I will post the differences if I notice any when I get it installed.

 

PR CAI & Stealin Y-pipe.

 

Interesting what happens between 3K-4K. Is your K&N filter mounted onto a velocity stack like what JWT/Stillen sell with their pop chargers?

 

what is this "velocity stack" you speak of?

heh, just kidding.

but seriously, those pieces are custom made right? i wouldnt mind getting one of those velocity stack pieces for my intake adapter...

 

I got my Pop Charger which comes w/ stack&filter from Jim Wolf Technology. JWT & Stillen's pop chargers are very similar. To see the stack, goto http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Garage/1999%20Nissan%20Maxima%20SE/Stillen%20High-Flow.htm Give either company a call to see what they can do for your ride.

Good luck!

 

nah I don't have the velocity stack. . . It just seems weird. . .It is like there is a dead spot. Anyway I am sure I will have fun with the CAI and it doesn't seem like anyone else has this problem with it.

 

IMO, have fun with the CAI with the low end, it isnt very good for high end power. Atleast the PR CAI that I had wasnt, it felt like my car was struggling up top. When I switched to the Weapon R dragon intake(pop charger) I felt like I gained a lot of power after 3K rpms and lost almost no low end power. Take Care

 

Yup. That should do it. If you look in the 5th gen forum, they don't seem to have POP verses CAI debates as mush (if at all) as we 4th genners. Their variable intake manifold take care of their highend breathing better. If you compare a 5th gen dyno to a 4th gen, it'll be plain to see.

DW

 

Pop charger is the way to go...