LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

Hey all, I just decided to do the coat hanger GAB as described here:

http://home.insightbb.com/~dwh/GAB.htm

and i did NOT realize that something that small can make that big of a difference... with this GAB, i didnt have to cut any part of my stock airbox, and it made the car a LOT throatier and louder, especially at WOT....at idle, you cant even hear it, but when you give it a bit of throttle, it sounds like a totally different car...

a couple things i didn't like: It did hack quite a bit off my low end, which i dont really like too much and was not expecting from just the coat hanger GAB, and there weren't any noticable gains up top..the only reason to do this is for the sound i'm guessing....also, i'm not TOO sure if i like the sound or not...i mean, i like how it sounds mean and all, but it is a LOT louder than my stock air box....and the last thing is that i'm a bit worried that the coat hanger will one day slip and cause my filter to tilt leaving a gap for unwanted objects to get in....

Anyways, i'm not sure if i'm going to leave it like it is or just put it back to stock (well, moreso than it is now ) Any thoughts for those of you that have done either this or the 'destructive' GAB? (aka. the GAB where you have to make a hole in your stock air box)

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Well, it is around a 9 whp gain according to the dynos.... just make sure the thing is secure somehow... check it periodically or something.... thanks for sharing the feedback, I may try it myself in the summer....

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

are you serious? i definitely didnt notice any 9 whp gains...are you sure this one isn't different from the one where you have to cut the hole?

yeah i was thinking about just checking it every so often, but to feel even more secure, i'm going to use electrical tape to hold the coat hanger edges down better (even though they fit in there pretty snug)

I'm gonna go out for a drive again....maybe it was just my scepticism that was throwing me off...but i'm pretty sure i did notice the loss down low..

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Go to the dyno forum and look for NmexMax's threads (there are 2 of em) on his intake dynos... looks at his plots to see how the car responded down low... I've never tried it so I can't tell ya for sure...

Btw, his is like yours... no cutting or anything....

s_hinerman

iTrader: (4)

I just did this 2 days ago and like the sound but you are right it could get annoying. I am very worried about the stability of the coat hanger. So i went to the salvage yard today and bought a 2nd filter holder for 5 bucks. I will hack that one up so my filter is secure and keep the other incase i start to dislike it. Hell of a 5 dollar mod if you ask me.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

yeah i just took it out for a drive again, and there was a loss of low end...i also didnt really notice it up top until my last run to 65 when i was watching the spedometer rise...it appeared to be rising quicker than normal....but i still couldn't FEEL it pulling any harder....maybe it was just me....I'll take a look at those dynos...i just thought that 9 whp would be a bit more noticable...

yeah i was thinking about this too, but i didnt want to chop up my filter holder for the same reason...the junk yard sounds like a good idea though...i didn't think of that one....have you noticed any gains at all?

PeteusMaximus

iTrader: (5)

I'd also suggest picking up a spare MAF at the junkyard. Sooner or later that's gonna go

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

i doubt this will do anything to the MAF that wouldn't have happened if i were to leave it stock....the filter is still fully covering the intake (trust me i made sure of that) and there's just a bit more air flow...it still isn't proven that an aftermarket intake makes the MAF go bad (because they all do it some day) so i doubt it will make any difference with this...if anything, it will be better..

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Did ya look at the plots to see how the low end was affected? Anyways... if you're going through your gears faster... then that's probably a sign ya gained a little... 9 whp isn't that noticeable, I don't think. I mean, I had an intake, y-pipe, cat-back and didn't feel much. It wasn't until I took off the y-pipe and replaced it with the stock y that I realized a little difference... but this is all butt dyno... different people "feel" different things, ya know?

Just go get it dynoed...

Max20SE00

iTrader: (3)

i had the GAB mod at one time and yes, it is one hell of a mod for free. Noticed a little more power up top and better gas mileage as long as you didnt get addicted to the sound it made at WOT

trebor317

hell ya i love the extra mean sound it gives too, i added this mod about a week ago and personally I feel a slight difference, but that could be me just expecting something positiive but either way I for sure didnt feel any losses....so i have a meaner sound at WOT and possibility some power gains...Im Happy

NiZMo1o1

iTrader: (45)

ahh this is the infamous coat hanger mod everyone is posting about.

maxfive-O

Ever try this one > http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/821083/2

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....highlight=gcai

Cold air intake with the stock airbox...
I tried the GAB, but the noise and low end loss made me design something better.

With the GCAI, I noticed better acceleration, no low end loss, almost stock sound (little louder than stock) and consistent performance.

s_hinerman

iTrader: (4)

I have felt some difference. Pretty much the same as you described some loss on low end and gains on high end. Personally i would rather have the opposite effect with the same sound.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

uh oh...i have a problem...this morning i go out to the garage and start up the car (after waiting a few seconds with the key turned for the fuel pump to be pressurized or whatever) and it started up just fine but as soon as the RPMs began to drop down to idle, they dropped and the needle actually touched 0, even though my car was still barely running...so i though, crap...the MAF really WAS affected by this...but i revved up my car and the RPMs revved freely to 5K, so i was thankful that my MAF was still fine...well after i revved it, the car ran just fine....so i was thinking that maybe it just needed a little gas every time i started it in the morning to get it going..but when i went somewhere and my car was off for about 3 hours, i came out and it did the same thing...i'm thinking i need to do that idle reprogram thing, but i'm not really sure about it....

anyways, i just put the stock airbox back in and i'll just forget all about it....oh well, i'm sure i was getting worse gas mileage anyway when accelerating, cuz there wasnt one time where i didn't get it to redline while accelerating


puppet, i did look for the dyno, but wasnt able to find it...i found a thread where he said something about getting his car dynoed using the GAB, but something went wrong, so he didnt have any results....oh well, i'm not too bummed out about it...i just thought i would try it, and now i know that it's not really what i want...

joebangaa

iTrader: (3)

dang i ddin't realize how ghetto GAB was....f*ck lol, i really don't see how that helps at all

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=376123

See post #30... do I have to do everything for you? JK...

It seems to help... see link above...

joebangaa

iTrader: (3)

but what's with his baseline..

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

of course! that's what you're for!

wow it appears from that dyno that there is no loss of low end, and if anything, there are gains...i guess the butt dyno just results in what it expects....oh well, it's off my car now, so i dont have to worry about it...i was just too afraid to leave it on after having TWO rough starts in one day...

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

bgates did this on his 6spd also and noticed the same gains as me. check the dyno forums. And BTW the other dyno I have yet to do is the one with the advacned timing, one of these dys, school and work have been mutilating my free time, but this week school ends so we;ll see.
Puppets got over 10 years on you, I wouldn't mess with him ... : I would say for peopl who are worries about it in any way just use it when racing or dynoing ... But mines been there since November, and about 5k miles... Can't complain, with the headers you'll lvoe the sound, it's like no other.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

yeah i realize that facts are better than theory, but i think the reason i didn't really notice that much of a difference was because i was very doubtful that it would acctually help in this department...to tell you the truth, i wasnt even sure it would make that big of a difference in sound, either, but it did....
If i had another filter holder to mess with, i would probably leave it, but i'm too afraid that the coat hanger will one day slip (even though it seemed to be holding the filter pretty tight during the short while i had it on my car..) and also i was afraid that the rough starts and difficult take-offs (i would have to give it quite a bit of gas to be able to start moving, or else the RPMs would drop waaay down) had something to do with the early stages of blowing my MAF, so i didn't really want that to be the cause of it....

Fezzik

iTrader: (2)

Sweet. Glad the coat hanger worked out for ya! The beauty about this is now if u dont like it then you haven't mutilated your stock box.

JC_2k_SE

this was my first and favorite mod.... best bang for the buck mod on the market

igzy

iTrader: (18)

Sorry to bring this up
I did the mod on the weekend and have driven for a few days now and it feels like I lost the bottom end of the acceleration... The improvements I did notice are better MPG by ~10% and the sound at WOT. I am a performance driven guy and would trade the sound and MPG for some speed but the acceleration does not seem to be as fast no more... I know that dyno numbers show one thing but the feel is opposite...

Any thoughts? Similar experiences?

Maxrider24/7

Wow thats pretty cool mood, i like the fact that if you don't like it you can take it off and didn't damage anything permanently.....

igzy

iTrader: (18)

I am debating if I should just change it all back... I don't like the feel of lost bottom end... Is this just my butt dyno or some of you guys have experienced the same? I know that some intakes will loose the bottom end but give you gains on top. How would this set up be different? Any thoughts?

bgates1654

I think most people beleive they lose on the bottom end becuase the top end gain is not really noticeable, but its there. They then compare the top end to the bottom end and notice that the bottom end is quite as powerful in comparison as they remember. They then come to the conclusion that the bottom end lost power when in reality nothing happened to the bottom end. The butt dyno is a very insensitive peice of equipment. A 1-10whp gain is for the majority of people not noticeable. A 5-15whp gain (again for the majority) can be questionable. The only time the butt dyno seems to work consistantly is when there is a 15+whp gain and even then you wouldnt be able to put a number on it.

After 20k miles I dont even look to make sure the coat hangar is still on there. I have never had a problem with it slipping or falling off. However the coathangar is starting to rust. I guess I will have to replace it a some point.

igzy

iTrader: (18)

What got me was that ever since I did this (I actually cut the filter tray) it felt sluggish of the line, and then this morning on my way to work I raced off the lights a 4th gen auto SE with 16" rims that looked stock and up to 60 MPH he was right next to me and I stopped racing once we got to 60 since it was in city 30 MPH zone. I used to beat 4th gen off the line any day, even 5-spd... Only thing I changed since last time I raced was the GAB... Dunno

MaxedOut2003

iTrader: (2)

LOL, after i read this i went out to my backyard and did it, i went on the freeway and pushed it, i love the sound and it feels like i can reach 100mph easier, i still have all the power low end as well, i dont feel like i lost anything i gained all, i love this free mod, thank you guys.

bugbite77

iTrader: (14)

thats really getto, but it is cheeper, i just think if your all go, this mod is cool, but if you got a lil bit of show in your ride, spend the money on a real intake, so it looks nice when your poppin your hood. but this is a cool idea anyway.

Fezzik

iTrader: (2)

LOL. cheap. yeah. I had no money at the time i made this, so I just thought hell. What's the cheapest thing that will be sturdy and work. I was hanging cloths up one day and i had a huge coat i put on a big hanger and wala. The thought popped into my head and i went to work.

BP

iTrader: (1)

^ good look on the innovative idea fezzik.

most people don't even notice the GAB when looking at the engine bay. it's definitely not "pretty" if that's what you're looking for but my hood is closed whenever i'm drving so no one really notices.

however, it has proven to be as effective (and even more effective in some cases) as expensive aftermarket intakes. but whatever floats your boat. looks are worth it to some folks.

in my experience...yes i lost a slight amount of throttle response from a stop (more noticeable when you go back to stock), but it was perfectly acceptable for the improved throttle response and acceleration from about 20mph up and especially at highway speeds. before the GAB the car was not as responsive at speed and that got on my nerves more.

the trade-off was well worth it imo as my max is still very strong off the line and will break traction easily if i'm not paying attention.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

sorry i havent reported back, but a couple weeks after this, i decided to try it again..to make sure it kept in place, i put a line of electrical tape across the top of the filter that connected to the airbox...ever since then, the filter hasn't budged, and i haven't had the starting problem either...i REALLY like the sound of it, but i still haven't noticed and gains...i guess it's just me...

anyway, i think it is a completely worth while thing to do, because not only is it free, but it takes 10 mintues of your time, and can be swapped back to stock in seconds...so if you care about 'looking good' just make sure to replace it back to stock before popping your hood in public