Which one?

Keep the old intake box and get a $70 Fram Air Hog filter
(Keep low-end torque, but I dunno about growl)

or

Get an entirely new Injen cold air intake?
(Get a nice growl, but risk sucking water)

Comments?

 

Realistically, you won't suck water unless you hit one hell of a puddle. The sound will definitely be sexier with the Injen. I'm sure you have your reasons for narrowing it down to the Fram or the Injen, but you should really consider the Berk and Frankencar short ram intakes. The air coming into the Injen isn't going to be much colder than the air coming in through the Berk or Frankencar models, since Injen doesn't locate the filter in an ideal place anyway.

If you suck water in through a Berk or Frankencar intake, you must be driving under water.

 

LOL. Short ram eh? What about the growl? I'm all for it. If there's no sound, I'll stay with the OEM paper filters =)

 

The Berk and Frankencar intakes produce a MEAN growl. Your car will snarl a little between 2000 and 3000 RPM, and it will make a nice loud growl starting around 3500-4000 RPM all the way to redline. The sound should be similar to the Injen, but a little louder.

I have a Berk, and I love it. I would highly recommend it.

If you have some burning desire to get a CAI instead of a short intake, you want the Cattman or Place Racing CAI (they're the same intake). PR doesn't make their CAI anymore, but you can still find used ones sometimes. There's one for sale in the classifieds right now (http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=422126). This CAI requires a little bit of work to install, but it puts the filter in a much better place than the Injen, so the air should be cooler. The one I linked you to above is the PR CAI, but it seems to have a weird foam filter on it. I wouldn't trust that filter myself. I'm using the K&N oiled filter on my Berk. Some people choose the Apexi dry filter, but it is much more expensive and it is not reusable like the K&N. I've washed the K&N and reused it 4 times since I bought the intake, and it's still doing a great job.

 

I have a Injen CAI i jsut installed about a month ago the black edition, i love the sound of it. It is definately noticeable with any tyep of acceleration ....even if your going through the grocery parking lot you can hear it if u accelerate at all its nice...nice "sucking" action of air and at full throttle....oh it sounds mean...i love it. I would get the injen, dont worry about sucking water..the first 2 weeks i installed mine it rained non stop ...(well almost non-stop) and on highways, roads, streets, ne where...nothing happened (knock on wood) to my car or intake. It is extremely hard for water to be sucked in...i really dont see hwo any one could have water sucked in unless you drive in a HUGE puddleof water wehre your car is in water for a good few seconds (foot of water) ... or if u drive in a lake. Water cannot be sucked into it when it rains because the bumper and radiator blocks any type of debris/water from hitting ur filter....you'd be lucky if you sprayed ur waterhose at ur bumper and it even hit ur filter. the only realistic way is underneath where your plastic guards are and unless ur missing those or are falling off ... its preety much impossible to any driver and especially to a careful driver in rain/wet climates. I was worried about it at first and it doesnt even cross my mind when i drive and its wet. Ne ways ihope this helped...if u want to hear a sound clip i can record a clip and send itto ya , goodluck

 

Nothing with the Fram Name on it touches my car



James

 

Where's Puppetmaster when you need him?

Oh, and you won't notice a difference with either so you can save your money and get a K&N.

 

Price wise, AirHog and K&N drop-in filters are comparable. I spent my money on K&N...

 

70 for an airhog? I got a k&n drop in for 45 yesterday. It seems to do pretty good for me. I really dont plan on spending another 200 to find out if the injen cai works any better. And I personally like the construction of the factory airbox. just my .02

 

My Frankencar makes a nice whistle sound along with the growl.

 

looks like a toss up between frakencar and injen.. more people have injen's though..
frakencar are more economical? and injen is better quality?

 

i had an injen and bought a berk a week later. the injen lost waaay too much low end on my car. with a berk i gained most of it back, and the throttle responce was quicker with the short-ram berk.
the injen "gurgled" more like a firebird v8 at low rpm, and that was cool, but the low-end loss was terrible. again, this is my own experience, on my own car.
i have had several cars with short ram intakes, and i think they are superior to longer ones.
maybe a true cai woluld be better, but injen sucks warm ain in anyway, and it's more expencive.
definetely recommend the berk, i would not bother with apexi air filter, it will not give you any more power despite the funky cone shape they advertise.
all my friends that ride in the max tell me the engine sounds really nice. and the only upgrade i have right now is the intake, no exhaust or anything else.

 

I have a question, you guys know how our stock airboxes has that box on top of the radiator that draws in air through the grille? When we remove it to install an intake, won't the new opening also push in cold air while driving to the Berk/Frankencar intakes?

 

Sounds like you know what you're saying to me, think i'll go with a berk on my 5th gen..

thanks for the insight..

 

Injen is garbage. All it did for me was suck in hot air and water. Sold it n now have a berk. I love it, its the way to go. Growls pretty nice and feel a lil gain also.

 

Lol

 

One could make something very similar to the "berk" at home. The "growl" that everyone is talking about is most likely going to come with a short ram intake like the berk or the frank. With a cold air like the injen, you will get more of a whistle. Also to the threadstarter, if you want a cheap cai or short intake, check out ebay, they have some cheap stuff.

 

I have an injen on my daily driver but it does pull from behind the wheel

 

Injen on Accord /= Injen on Maxima

 

Here...

 

Gee, it sure does!

Now I'm curious did you Berk owners have the K&N filter or the A'PEXi?

 

The sound that I'm trying to get at is...well, ever try to take out your air filter from your car and rev it? It sounds like that. Also the whistle is like a blow-off valve but much quieter.

 

Do a GAB if you don't mind the looks. You can try it one of both ways:
1) Rig a thick piece of wire (a hanger works) to hold the filter in place. This makes a very nice sound at WOT.

2) Drill holes on the filter cover, works the same way but you're assured that the filter stays in place.

I've had it both ways and they both sound nicer (e.g. growl) at WOT, plus it's easier to go back to stock (just put back the filter cover in the case of #1) for those times you need to bring it in to the service department.

 

What's a GAB?

 

LOL, where the hell did you drive, i've had my injen for almost three and a half years never noticed any """ LOW END LOSS """ actually noticed a little gain, never sucked in water drove through big pudles, tailgated people in the worst rain, and I NEVER SUCKED IN WATER so where you trying to make your maxima off road ready?????

 

LOL. I hear MANY arguments over the Injen CAI!

Anyways, what's a GAB?

 

Ghetto air box

 

are you serious, or are you joshing me?

 

So how do I turn my stock airbox into a "GAB" air box?

 

There is a good write-up in the Stickies.... do some leg-work and you will find it.

 

If you are going to spend $70, might as well spend $30 more for something that will actually give you "noticeable" gain, such as Berk. I spent $40 on K & N filter, and felt no difference. Maybe there was improvement, but it wasn't noticeable.

 

It's pretty well known that Injen loses on the low end, but adds to the high end. Berk and FrankenCar add to the low end, but lose a little on the top end. I've actually had all 3 and I settled on the Berk. FrankenCar's customer service was just plain horrible when I needed a new bracket. The Berk also looks much nicer than the FrankenCar. The Injen of course looks the best. I opted for the Apexi filter. Forget about either the K&N drop in or the Air Hog. Complete waste of money unless your going to keep your car over 5 years. They add no noticeable gains.

 

So should I go Berk with A'PEXi or Berk with K&N?

 

It's all in the money you want to spend. I felt the Apexi had a slightly better sound and I didn't want to take a chance on the K&N's oil killing my MAF. So shortly after I got the Fankencar w/K&N, I purchased the Apexi. I personally like the Apexi more, but I also replace it every year which is obviously much more expensive than the K&N.

 

Q. What's the deal with this "dry" element in the Apexi Air Filter?

A. The Apexi Power Intake features a dry cotton element that nevers needs to be cleaned or maintained, they last for 30K-50K miles depending on climate and use. The advantage of the dry filter element is that it poses no threat to your Mass Air Flow Sensor. The Mass Air Flow elements in newer vehicles are more sensitive to the oil from an OVER-oiled K/N filter.

 

Im thinking about getting rid of my Injen and getting a Berk. I want my low end back *******it.

Sub Question. Which is better to run with Headers and Catback? Injen or Berk?

 

My Maxima has sucked in water plenty of times with the Injen. Every time I drive it into a lake or ocean, I get water in the engine block. I don't get it.

 

For now, I'm gonna do the Ghetto Air Box

 

LMAO

 

OK!!! I did the GAB with a wire coat hanger. It's pretty cool at WOT. When revving though, It sounds pretty stock except for a little "woosh" sound when you get to 4000+ RPM, it sounds mean. But 3rd gear WOT...Man, it's just like an SRI!

Hail to the Ghetto Air Box!!!