Today, just for s*its and giggles, I took out my aftermarket air intake and put the stock airbox back in. Impressions are:

1.)Damn the car is ALOT quieter with the stock in.
2.)I really like the aftermarket intake's sound.
3.)There is a MASSIVE amount of low end torque missing with the aftermarket.
4.)Midrange is equal
5.)High end the aftermarket is slighty better at pulling.
6.)The engine is MUCH more rev happy with the stock.
7.)I also noticed that the stock intake allows for higher RPMs before shifting(I got 6400 in the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts with the stock vs. 6300 and 6100 with the aftermarket).
8.)There is no hesitiation from a standstill with the stock.

Note: The aftermarket was cleaned yesterday, so the comparisons are pretty much equal.

I think I'll keep the stock in for a little while until I have the ***** to put in a CAI.

Any comments?

 

Your comments pretty much parallel what I've experienced with my 5th Gen. Short of a Place Racing CAI, I doubt there's a better overall intake setup than what we refer to as the OSCAI. The OSCAI is a simple modification to the stock airbox that provides an additional cold air source and connects to the existing air scoop. Coupled with a K&N panel filter, the OSCAI provides average gains of 2/10ths of a second in the quarter mile. The OSCAI is 100% safe (provided you don't do something stupid like block the stock air scoop), utterly reliable, and extremely quiet. And it's cheap . . . approximately $65.00 including the cost of the K&N panel filter. It also takes under 20 minutes to install.

In my estimation, the OSCAI is the best bang-for-the-buck performance mod available for 5th Gen Maximas.

 

Okay, stupid question time. Is it doable with the 4th gens? If so, how? (God I feel like a newbie, no offense newbies!)

 

I heard that it was doable for 4th Gens. Look at the underside of your stock air scoop and see if there's an elbow connection leading to a box under your battery. If there is, remove the elbow and follow the directions posted in the Installation Instructions sticky thread in the 5th Gen Forum:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=33563

 

Y tank u.

 

if the stock setup is better then why do I have lower 1/4 times with a generic cone filter.

 

His is the perspective of an automatic. Your's is the perspective of a 5 speed.

 

I never said it was better. I have an auto, and cannot rev the engine high enough to compensate for the lack of low end power. I'm wondering if autos would get better 0-60 or 1/4 times with the stock airbox. Hmmm... I can now smoke my 17's, something I couldn't do before with the cone filter.

 

hmm.. I was not thinking in terms of auto and 5spd, my bad. It will be interesting to see.

 

I am glad to here that! I was tossing up the idea of getting a complete intake kit, but now I will just get this mod done! I think MrBurner is going to sell me his k&n and the parts for the oscai.

 

Theblue, its okay. When I say that there is a big differnce in the low end, I mean BIG differnce. Something to the order of 10 to 20 percent loss. It all comes back by about 2500 RPMs, but sometimes, thats all you need.

 

That's exactly what I felt when I swapped my JWT intake back to the stock airbox.

 

If it is performance your after you would have your RPM's at least 2500-4000rpm when launching anyways (at least on a 5pd..I would imagine an auto would be at least 2500 as well but I'm really not sure). So any loss of torque below 2500 really would not matter for day to day driving. I might take my stillen high flow off and go oscai myself but no way I'm going back to stock with the Y-Pipe on. I still think pop charger style intake will slow a car down in hot weather. Unless you have a Y-pipe and/or catback I'm not even sure if it is worth to put an intake on.

PS All this time I didn't realize you were driving an auto you "speed demon" you!

 

this is why i took mine out too..... i like the low end torque....but i still cant "smoke" my 17s. I can get them to spin everynow and then but nothing major like when i had the 15s on there...maybe medicsonic has a secret

 

I don't get hesitation with my CAI setup. It felt more jumpier after putting on the CAI.

 

will an auto still lag even after a y pipe is installed with the intake? or will it still be slower...i thought a ypipe and intake combo is good for like 15 whp

 

1.)Yes, I do have an automatic, and a damn fast one at that(that's why I call it a GLE-R), as the CT caravan can attest to.
2.)You can't launch an auto at 2500 RPMs, the torque converter evens out lower than that.
3.)I DO have a secret (NOS specifically), but this was done without it.
4.)I CANNOT attest to a CAI setup, this comparison is with a cone intake.