Okay, I know what you all are going to say.. "Search!" Well, I did.. and I got lost with all the different posts with everyone's different problems/ questions. I personally don't think my question was answered. If it was, point me into the right direction please.

Anyways, I am looking at getting either a stillen style intake or a CAI from Injen... which one is a better investment? If I am going to drop this kind of money into something of this nature, I would like to know the cons and pros of each and try to make my own assessment.

Any ideas/suggestions/tips/complaints are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again everyone

 

Get a Frankencar. Proven dyno numbers and a good looking intake for a better pricetag than both the Stillen and the Injen. I had the Frankencar, switched to the Injen and the went back to the Frankencar.

 

100% !!!

 

All of them are well-built, and all of them are better than stock, IMO. If you aren't going to the track all of the time and you don't stay up nights trying to figure out how to shave tenths of a second off of your 1/4-mile time (on 19's... ... j/k kloogy!!!), then get which ever one you like best, whether it's for looks or sound, or whatever. It's not like installing a turbo or something, so don't look for huge gains with any of them. I have the Injen, and I love it. When I found out that Frankencar was taking forever to ship, my mind was made up, and I haven't regretted it since.

 

You should drive a max with a Frankencar and then decide.

 

If I hit the $250 million Powerball on Wednesday night, I'll buy another Max just to try out the Frankencar!!!

 

There are so many good reviews regarding the Frankencar's intake. I am just wondering if anyone has try the intake from http://www.firmfabrications.com ? I was thinking of ordering the frankencar's intake myself but the one from firmfabrication looks so nice! Anyone here who had this intake installed please DO TELL!

 

There was a discussion on here the other day about those. A couple of people were talking about buying one, but I'm not sure if anyone has yet or not. Looks like a nice intake.

You should buy one, install it, and be the first to tell us all about it!!!

 

I was part of that discussion. Someone had said that there was a member who had installed this intake. I hope he read this thread and give us some good inputs! Everybody here praised about the Frankencar's intake. I just don't want to make a wrong decision/investment without further research.

 

FrankenCar with Apexi filter.

 

Any water problems with the Injen? I like how both look, so I am still very undecided.

decisions....decisions..

 

No problems at all w/ water. Don't let that sway your decision. It would be hard to go wrong with any of the choices you have. Don't agonize over it too hard... after all, it's Christmas!!!

 

I won't have the cash for a few months but I plan on giving it a go. You should get one and tell us what you think I don't see how you could go wrong. If you can get more people interested before you buy you may be able to get a group deal worked out. I have some credit debt I need to work down before I spend any more but if the price were right I'd join ya.

 

I REAL cold air intake has the best sound by far kids, sorry. I have had a pop charger, hybrid exactly like frankencar's, and a Place racing CAI. The CAI by far sounds the most unique. The words "howls like a dragon" comes to mind, while the hybrid/pop give more of a bum bum bum bum sound. If your going CAI, only go PR and cut through your fenderwell. Injen's wont sound unique and their too quiet.

And everyone know's cold air intakes look the best and clean up the engine bay well.

 

When would water become an issue with the injen cai? How can it be prevented? How hard is it to fix in case something does happen, like would my engine be screwed?

I think I am leaning more towards the Injen CAI... I haven't really heard anything bad about it yet..

Thanks

 

If this isnt enought to get a Frankencar, I dont know what is.... http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....2k2+Injen+dyno

 

I dont think so. IT sits up near the radiator, so it not a true CAI. the only true CAI for the max is made by catmann and the place racing.

I would search more, i went with frankencar becuause i only read bad things about the injen. these are my thoughts, feel free to ignore me though the Injen sits behind the radiator, when you are beating on the car, the fans kick on and blow HOT AIR right on your filter. I know this becuase after putting on the frankencar, i went for a beating drive, came home, check to see if all was ok, fans kick on, and HEAT was coming from where the injen was...

AND

the frankencar is 1/2 the price.

BTW, anyone have a dyno on the injen on an 02? i keep hearing the one on the injen page is BS??

 

It's $280 million.

 

I was going to say that...

anyone have any pics of the cattman CAI? I'm interested to see how it looks compared to the Injen one... How come the Cattman one is better, does it not sit as low as the other one or something?

Thanks again

 

The cattman intake is a true cold air intake just like the Place Racing, meaning the filter sits in the fender wall. The injen sits below the radiator.

 

I don't think you'll hear anything BAD about any of them. Most people just like to defend and recommend the products that they've tried and like. I've tried the Injen and I like it. Like someone else said, I could drive a Max with a Frankencar and then decide, but what the he11, I'm happy with mine, so I recommend it.

From what I've seen, the ONLY way that water would be an issue with the Injen would be if you buried the front of your car in a puddle deep enough to cover the filter (we're talking probably 18 inches- 2 feet deep!). I live in Tennessee, and in winter, we get rain. In fact, it's pouring right now, and I've never had a problem with road spray or driving through regular-sized puddles. I also take my car through a touchless car wash, at least once a week, that has a high-pressure undercarriage spray. Again... no problems. The Maxima actually has quite a bit of underbody fairing-type material directly underneath where tha Injen's filter is located. So, it's protected from the bottom as well as from the front by "stuff".

Now, let's say you DID drive into a pond, and your intake sucked up some water. You're what I like to refer to as "f%cked". Engines don't compress water any where near as well as they compress air, therefore, pretty much anything that can break, probably will break. You'd be looking at a complete rebuild or a totally new engine. So, stay away from ponds!!!

If you're interested, I'll also recommend www.adventon.com which is where I bought mine. I'm pretty sure they run about $220, and they shipped mine, all the way from Cali to Tenn, for $16!!!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

I'll make sure to stay away from those ponds. Thanks for your help, that's what I was looking for too... the power car washes undercarriage spray.. but you covered that. I like the way the injen looks also... cleans up the engine a little bit. a couple of more questions came to mind again.. then I'll stop.. I swear!

Was it hard to install, and remove if necessary? and does it void the warranty?

Thanks again!

 

It took me about an hour and a half to remove the factory intake and install the Injen. I was an engine-mod virgin when I did it, but I'm sure I could do it in under an hour now.

As far as voiding the warranty... that's a whole different can of worms! Legally, under the Magnusson-Moss act, the dealer must PROVE that a modification made to your car DIRECTLY caused whatever problem your car is experiencing. However, many, many dealers have been known to try and blame all types of problems on aftermarket mods. Really, it just boils down to how cool your dealership is, and how willing you are to educate yourself about the Magnusson-Moss Act, and fight the dealership, if anything like that should come up. Personally, if my car's SES light comes on, I'll be swapping my factory airbox back in, just to avoid the hassle in the first place. There's a part of the FAQ's about the Magnusson-Moss Act, if you want to check it out.

The Injen really is well-made, and I think you'll like it a lot. If you want to see some pics of mine, installed, just check out page 4 (I think) of my homepage.

 

The Frankencar is not half the price. It's $193 shipped with the popular Apexi and and about $100 less than the Injen for the K&N.

 

But your getting an Apexi filter which is much better than the K&N. The K&N barely stops any dirt from getting in your engine.

 

The Cattman is the exact same thing as the PR. They are better becuase they gather air from OUTSIDE the engine. There's no better intake for low-mid range power, nothing tops a short ram air for highway power though.

Here's a couple shots of my Cattman CAI. Although I'm a 4th gen, yours would look exactly the same:

 

You know anyone in KC with FrankenCar Maxima?

-vq

 

seems like that firmfabrications is all about looks...can't imagine they spent much time making it perform well...

their budget is like 80% marketing/looks
.....................20% performance

but I don't know this...just speculating...

-vq

 

Oh no...not this issue again.

 

the injens are awfully pretty, and come in anodized blue.

and you can get a heat/splash shield for the filter, if that disturbs you.

otherwise, pick whichever one's color matches your car the best...

 

FYI: After reading NUMEROUS posts regarding the pro/con between the hybrid intake (Frankencar) and CAI (injen), I finally decided that I will go w/the hybrid setup. I'd chosen to order the intake from the Firmfabrication instead of Frankencar. They are both similar in design concepts except for the use of materials and construction. I prefer the overall looks from the Firm-fabrication's intake.

VQMAN, Did you see their intake dynoed on the 03-max? Their design seems to allow better/smoother airflow since there is only one (three layer flouro-silicone fiberglass reinforced hose) coupling attach from the throttle body, whereas the Frankencar's intake have three silicon couplings attached throughout the pipe's assembly which can hindered the airflow.

 

How can you derive anything from that thread? About the only conclusion you can make is that ajahearn's data is inconconclusive because of many factors all listed in the thread, a major one being the fuel in the car for the Dyno with the Injen was the "winter blend"..... I still don't know which one I will purchase and that thread did absolutely nothing to push me in a direction.

 

It's a fantastic looking intake, but you will see no increases over the frankencar. It has to have at least two connection points if your going with an Apexi filter. Also, good luck with your MAF as we don't have any raw data on the org showing how this intake will affect it.

 

no I didn't notice that, I need to research it more...but thanks for the advice...I need to get one before the baby gets here....because then it's only a dream...

-vq

 

i personally don't know how anyone can hound Firm for lack of research or effort considering they're the only ones to produce a continuous tube design integrating the MAF housing... for the 2k2+ crowd. however, i've been waiting on them and Frankencar to make one for the 2k and 2k1 but neither one seems anywhere close to completing that promise. i ended up ordering a Frankencar midpipe to complement my exisiting Berk.

as an aside, i'd be very interested to see how well a Frankencar or Firm midpipe coupled with the stock intake and filter box compares. i know it's not a smooth tube, but i would think the bulk of the restriction comes behind the MAF in that wierd accordian section. besides, you'd still be sucking relatively cold air and the entire distance isn't any longer than a CAI.

 

i was only speculating...

-vq