Here's an idea. There are now enough different aftermarket underhood intakes for our Maximas (i.e., Stillen, JWT, Weapon-R, Berk Tuning, Frankencar, etc.) to run a real-world comparison test. If we could get Maximas with each style of intake to a dyno shop at the same time, we could find out whether there are any differences in performance among them by dyno testing them one at a time on a single Maxima. (Obviously we'd have to run them on just one Maxima in order to establish a reliable baseline.)

My guess . . . and this is only a guess, mind you . . . is that there's probably no more than a 1 or 2 hp difference from one aftermarket underhood intake to the next. But there are major differences in price among them (up to $100 or more). The question, of course, is whether it makes sense to purchase one aftermarket underhood intake . . . particularly a more expensive intake . . . over another (other than for show or bragging rights, of course).

So what do you guys think of my idea?

 

I've tried PRCAI, WAI using place racing's upper tube, OSCAI+stock filter and OSCAI+K&N. I don't know about increases in peak horse power - you're probably right though, there's likely very little difference in peak horsepower. But I can tell you that after trying all these I've decided on OSCAI+K&N (just make sure you use a smooth 3" diameter tube - not 2 1/2" shop vac hose).

PRCAI gives GREAT low to mid torque but at the expense of torque off the line. Pretty much the same with a WAI set-up.

I've found that OSCAI+K&N is very similar as far as driveability to the stock set-up, but with noticeably more torque over the entire rpm band.

 

Something's not right here. If PRCAI gives you GREAT low to mid torque then why is it at the expense of torque off the line?

Anyway, i'd gladly to some dyno runs but there's no way i can easily afford getting one of each intake to test it out.

Perhaps if i write each manufacturer requesting a test unit?

 

That's a terrific idea. I imagine some manufacturers would be willing to send you a test unit, but you might have to give them your credit card number first. Others, particularly those that manufacture the higher-priced units, probably won't. After all, they've got nothing to gain and everything to lose if their intakes don't perform substantially better than the lower-priced ones. (And I doubt they will perform substantially better than the lower-priced ones!)

 

What I meant was that CAI is great from a ROLL, but even the stock set-up is better torquewise from a standstill. At least this has been my experience.

 

I'm also a big fan of the OSCAI+K&N setup. But I figured I'd give the Berk Tuning intake a try, particularly for the price ($59.95 including shipping through March 31st.) Even if it doesn't perform as well as the OSCAI+K&N, I can probably get most of my money back if I decide to sell it. And I can always reinstall the OSCAI+K&N at a later date.

Plus the OSCAI+K&N will NEVER sound as nasty at WOT as full-flow intake. I mean . . . you know what I mean?

 

Very true. I went from the OSCAI/K&N set up as well. I liked it for the price. But I kept hearing about this "growl" from newfound Berk/Frankencar intake owners that I had to give it a try. Bought the Berk and totally love it.

 

I also purchased a Berk intake and I'm interested to see how it performs against the OSCAI+K&N. I'm a little concerned about losing some low-end torque due to heat wash from the engine, particularly when the weather starts to warm up. If that happens, I may reinstall the OSCAI+K&N in the summer time to keep the intake isolated from the engine and run the Berk intake in the winter time when it's cooler.

We'll see how it goes.

 

in order for it to at least be somewhat accurate you would have to test every intake on THE SAME CAR, preferably a 5-spd so you can control the rev range more. different cars will always give different number, it HAS TO BE THE SAME CAR.

-steve

 

Now I don't know which intake to get. I was thinking of getting the FankenCar one, but does it really adds 10hp?

Also, I am afraid of the lossing lowend power, especially in the summer.. What to do, what to do?

 

the dynoes read 8 hp on one run and 10hp on the other run. they are on the website. it's definetly a noticalbe gain plus the great sound.

-steve

 

My point exactly, Steve. Hence my initial note about running every intake on just one Maxima in order to establish a reliable baseline. But I still think it would be a waste of time to conduct the test. I doubt there's more than a 1 or 2 hp difference among all of the underhood cone intakes available for the Maxima.

 

emax got 3-5 more for mine compared to stillen's so........

 

Not bad. To what do you attribute the increased performance?

 

the mid section of the intake that i provide that stillen doesn't.

 

And precisely what does the mid section of the intake do that increases performance?

 

it's slightly longer then the stock one, perfectly straight and MUCH MUCH smoother then the crooked big to small plastic stuff.


-steve

 

Got it. And I assume the benefit would be less turbulence. Is that correct?

 

I did multiple dynoes with my stillen intake and franken ram setup. I then removed the franken ram setup and installed my oem resonator box, I then re-tested my franken ram/stillen setup, back to back. The franken ram gave me an additional 5.8 HP not to metion a incredible WOT sound. I honestly love the franken setup compared to the Stillen one, it just sounds and performs so much better. I just installed the franken K&N air filter and removed my stillen intake, now my car feels even stronger, I can't wait to go dyno again!

 

I don't mass produce my intakes, but I would be willing to compare it to any other intake out there. I didn't lose any low end with mine, and everyone has noticed an enourmous improvement from take off to top end.

Let me know, I would be willing to pay to make an extra to send to someone to test on their car with all the others.

 

What's it look like on the bottom? Whick K&N filter are you using?
This looks almost exactly like the PRCAI set-up except that you don't have to drill a hole in the fenderwell. I really liked the PRCAI, except from a stand still. I had to rev the car car much higher to get a decent take-off - I'm talking about everyday city driving which I do alot of. This is why I went back to OSCAI. So you haven't noticed any negative difference from a standstill with your set-up?

 

I haven't had any negative effects from my intake, except for alot more wheelspin if I just floor it on takeoff. As long as I launch at 1100rpm and ease into full throttle, my takeoff is excellent.

 

yes and more air velocity.

 

I use HKS under the hood is it any good?

 

OK. A few more questions. Can your mid-pipe be used with any aftermarket cone filter that attaches directly to the MAF? If so, does it come with a supporting bracket? And how much does it cost?

 

I have a comment and a question.

Comment: Isn't there enough org members for us to get together on one day at a dyno shop with several different cars each with a different intake that we want to test? Use one car as the test car and swap out the different intakes from the "donor" cars and do all the dynos in one day. It shouldn't be much harder than organizing a group deal, no?

Question: What's the threshold hp increase for our butt dynos? I mean...what's the average hp change that we can actually FEEL? For a 227 hp engine like my car, I doubt I would feel the acceleration difference if I simply added an intake. If I added an intake and Y-Pipe, the difference would obviously be more profound.

When I added my Frankencar intake I honestly cannot feel any difference whatsover from launch. I "may" be able to feel a little more pull at highway speeds, but I'm not sure how much of it is psychological. There's no doubt that if I measured my 0-60 or 1/4 mile times I would see a difference, but would I actually be able to perceive this? One thing's for sure, I purchased the intake not just for the hp, but for its reputation at WOT. This it does VERY well.

Tony

 

Damn good question, Tony. I seriously doubt anyone can actually FEEL the difference between a 15.0 second run and a 14.8 second run on their butt dynos.

So let's cut to the chase. As far as I'm concerned, the ONLY reason for most of us to purchase a cone intake is to gain that giant sucking sound at WOT. And if that's what we're after, does it make sense to purchase anything but the least expensive cone intake that utilizes a high quality air filter?

 

Perhaps. But i look at it this way.

If you get say, 7hp from an intake, 5 from an exhaust, 15 from a y-pipe and who knows how much from what else is out there you get a good number of, say, 27hp.

It's not so much as how much just one mod makes but how much you gain after all the mods are put together. That's the reason each part is available as a standalone piece... so you can do things one step at a time.

It's like building a computer. On a base system of a 486/64RAM/4500rpm harddrive. If you upgrade the CPU the system works better, so the harddrive gets to be the bottleneck - so upgrade the harddrive and it works even better but then the RAM becomes the bottleneck so you upgrade that as well.

At this point all three is upgraded and you'll get an even better performance gain since theoretically there is no more bottleneck (which usually is then the user for not knowing how to use all that power anymore).

 

All things considered equal, then yes, buy the least expensive. However, ease of installation, after-sale support, and longevity are other good considerations as well. I can't recall many threads that address these other issues. Let's say the smaller inlet tube on my Frankencar intake breaks off (I'm not saying it would!)...I'm sure Steve wouldn't hesitate to repair or replace it for us. Firstly, he sounds like he wants to earn our business by giving us great customer service (like he gave me when I bought mine). Secondly, he's an org member and has a vested interest in us and our Maximas. This is another reason why I chose his intake over the competitors.

Tony

 

I couldn't agree more. I wasn't suggesting that each mod wasn't important. Rather, I was questioning the reliability of many posts I have read where the poster has claimed to have felt a "big difference" in the way their car pulls after the installation of only an intake, for example. Maybe their butts are more sensitive than mine!!

Tony

 

well like i said and emax said on his 2k2 he got 5.8hp more by replacing the mid section with the frankencar intake section. a 10hp gain is enough to feel on a butt dyno i would say, the first time i installed mine i was like wow, this is nice. also like soundmike hinted at, if you have an intake that give 7hp and one that give 10hp then you add a y-pipe you'll need even more air and the better intake will be able to give even more gains with a y-pipe.

tony

 

I don't think anyone can feel a .2 second difference in the 1/4. And you're right, not everyone has the same penchant to feel what a car is doing - everyone IS different and has different ability to perceive. But you can certainly feel and see differences in everyday driving insofar as how much torquier a car is after a mod. Your sense of timing comes in to play especially.

 

Perhaps you're right, Tony. But, I don't necessarily think there's a multiplier effect among the various mods soundmike mentioned. I suspect that each mod may have its own performance "ceiling". But I'm not enough of an engineer to comment on that conclusively.

I agree that emax's results are hard to argue against. I'd like to see some other results as well in order to verify emax's results, hence my tongue-in-cheek suggestion that we get all the intakes available for the Maxima to a dyno shop at the same time and test them on a single Maxima.

 

i don't think they will multiply but if one flows better to begin with once you need even more flow from other mods the better one will continue to widen it's performance gap.

 

That makes sense. By the way, you never did answer my previous questions. Can your mid-pipe be used with any aftermarket cone filter that attaches directly to the MAF? If so, does it come with a supporting bracket? And how much does it cost?

 

yes it can be used with any aftermarkter filter/maf adapter

yes it comes with a support bracket

cost is 65 for 2k-2k1 and 60 for 2k2.

-steve

 

Thanks.

 

your welcome

-steve