I was wondering how much of a difference the stillen air intake really makes, and if its worth the upgrade.

Y2KSE MAX GRAY
LEATHER INTERIOR
SOON TO HAVE STILLEN AIR INTAKE.
mfried@twcf.rr.com

 

i was thinking putting on a non -stillen one but i keep being prsuaded the other way. dont know why though

Roger

 

I have the JWT popcharger and other than looking/souding "cool" I haven't noticed a whole lot of difference. I do know that getting the stock air box off was a royal pain.

 

it probably might give u as much power as a GT-R badge if not nismo.. j/p not sure. but if you get in u gotta get out for it to work. ie. intake, thorttle body, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, down pipe, y pipe, test pipe (YEAHHH THA STANK PIPE), cat back and muffler. all that should give u a "noticable" difference in increase of hp. but not as noticable as a SC.

 

It makes a slight difference, car seems to pull a littler harder through the RPMz. its a littler louder, but hey it makes some difference thats why most of the people here toss their factory box out.

 

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probably not as noticeable as a strong tail wind, but... looks cool, & definately sounds cool when you punch it.
the value: it'll make you feel more bad-***

 

maybe not that much when it's the ONLY ADD ONE but I added a rt cat and Y pipe BEFORE the intake(cone style). When I finally added the cone, I think the gains were more than the usual 3-5 hp. Because at some point the intake will start becoming the limiting factor. So if you want the most gains from other breathing mods(Y, CAT, cat back etc.) then a cone or better yet, a CAI should be considered. Alot of the stock box design has to do w/ sound deadening not performance. Most here would give some quietness for the potenial gains down the line when you add other mods.

 

Where did you get your cat back and does it replace the muffler? I've been reading up on them and can't seem to figure that out. Also which Y did you use?

 

Where did you get your cat back and does it replace the muffler? I've been reading up on them and can't seem to figure that out. Also which Y did you use? [/I][/QUOTE]


I have a 3-gen VE maxima. But:
Y-pipe: Cattman Jet-Hot coated version.
Cat: Random Technology unit. http://www.lightningmotorsports.com I don't know if one is avail for the Y2k though.
Cat back: It's a custom cat back w/ a Y2K muffler oddly enough hehe. I think Stillen has a muffler for the Y2K but not sure about a full cat back(cat to muffler system)

 

Intake intake intake...
Some of this is theory some of it is fact.

Fact is, it's better than the stock airbox (ANY aftermarket air filter). Problem is, it opens up the intake to allow more engine noise (good thing and a bad thing). With the exhaust opened up, it'll help a little. But, the thing is, you get so addicted to the sound of the intake and exhaust that you push the car harder (losing mileage) and you THINK the car pulls harder cause it makes more noise(s). What it really does? Probably increases the 1/4mile times maybe a tenth and you will never notice a tenth of a second 1/4 mile increase...it isn't happening. To sum it up, yes it helps, but, it's not as drastic as people make it out to be...is that tenth of a second, worse gas mileage (cause you're gonna drive it harder to hear the sound), and the added intake noise worth the $100+ ???

 

Yeah, I totally agree. I wanted to get some kinda intake just to feel more badass, but it seroiusly is exactly as you describe it. Waste money for little to no performance, and the gas milage. It's cool, but not worth it. Get something that works instead. If you're gonna get intake you gotta get exhaust for it to properly work, gotta breath in AND out.

 

I gained 6 HP, but lost 9 ft. lbs. of torque. Check out my site for dyno charts. Look under "My Max"

 

I JUST READ A CATALOG FROM STILLEN IN MY PERFORMANCE SHOP,AND IT SAID INTAKE WILL GIVE A 6HP GAIN.

 

Here's an image of a dyno plot, besides the SC'ed max which is obvious, the next two plots down, which run parallel are mine and another 2k max. I have a stillen intake as the only performance mod and the other is bone stock. SOme of the difference could be production varience but some has to be the intake. The cars are both 2k 5spd SE's (even same color) dynoed in 4th gear and as you can see there is a difference...how much you can feel that difference is debatable...but 12hp is 12hp

check it: (mine is Mike, and the other is Brian)
http://members.nbci.com/sprunglove/Dyno/everoneweb.JPG

if the link doesn't work copy and paste it in your browser address bar.

oh yeah, and the sound is great. I've had it for almost a year and still love it.

 

does anyone know how much the stillen cai costs.

 

if you've got the bandwith (or time) here's a short mpeg of my dyno pull, it's about 1 mb.

http://members.nbci.com/sprunglove/Dyno/myrun.mpg

again, if it doesn't work cut and paste the address

 

Stillen Hi-flow intake was $179... not sure about now.

 

I had a BMW M3 prior to my Max, so I still receive lots of aftermarket tuner catalogues every month. One of the main U.S. BMW tuners (I can't remember which one, but it one that also sponsors a race team) refuses to sell or install any air intake system other than the factory filter.

There is an article on the website that explains this in detail (but I can't remember the link). The gist of the argument is:

CAIs and other alternative intakes do increase horsepower, but the gains are only ~5 hp. However, in addition to increasing hp, they also let in more contaminants (doh - more air = less effective filtration). For a normal vehicle, the impact on engine longevity and the negative performance issues raised by the lack of an effective air filter more than offset the gains from the intake system.

The tuner goes on to say that while their racing vehicles do have CAIs, they also have the engines rebuilt completely on a regular basis, something that a normal car owner has neither the time nor money to do.

After reading the arguments, I decided to stick with the factory system for my Max.

 

Well I'm gonna have to dissagree with that theory. It has more to do with the increased surface area of the cone filters and the reduced restriction by removing the airbox. It's been proven many times over that the aftermarket filters actually filter better than the stock paper ones.

 

Would you happen to have any NON-BIASED articles to share?

The fact is that the K&N doesn't filter as well. Hold it up to a light and you can see right through it! Look into the intake tract and you'll find a fine layer of soot and dust.

Sorry, but paper filters better, period.

Regarding the point of increased surface area, the K&N panel AND cone filter falls short compared to the stock paper/fiber filter. Just count the pleats and take a measurement of a pleat. The K&N doesn't have more surface area.

But the real question is whether the airflow across the low-restriction K&N is greater than the higher-restriction, yet increased surface area of a stock paper filter. I'd have to imagine in some applications, the answer is yes. But not all applications.

As far as the size of the dirt particles that are not filtered by the K&N, it can't be harmful to engine as to accelerate wear and tear at an exaggerated rate. The size of the particle is very small. But more important would be the density and hardness of the particle, which can't be either. It's not like running a sand-blaster thru the engine. Hard bits of rock and sand are not going to go thru the filter. And the very fine dust that's inhaled by the engine simply burns up in the combustion chamber. (it MAY have an effect of adding carbon build-up)

Frankly, the only benefit I can think of is for the growling sound it causes.

 

http://www.seansa4page.com/resource/airfilter.html

 

Interesting, I hold my K & N panel filter up and I can't see through it.

 

The cross threading is not what filters the micronic particles out - the oil is what does the filtering. If you're worried about it, try the Blitz SUS filter, which is stainless steel mesh and does not use oil for filtering.

As previously mentioned, the small dirt particles that do escape through the filtration process will be burnt up inside the combustion chamber. If a dirt particle can make it through a 1000-1400 deg F chamber, that's one hardcore piece of dirt LOL

 

I've got a popcharger and got no maintainence instructions with it. How often should it be cleaned and what is the process for cleaning and re-oiling it?

Thanks

 

The K&N cleaning kit should tell you how to clean your filter (you can find it at Pepboys). I forgot how often you should clean it, but I think it's every 30K.

 

It varies depending on the conditions you drive it in. A dustier place, of course, will result in a dirtier filter.

I do it once a year after winter. The cleaning kit is only $12-14 and the cleaning/re-oiling doesn't take much of your time.