Str8ridin

Edit: I’ve bumped this thread up and added more description to the parts I used and instructions on how to do it due to the many inquiries/PM’s I’ve received now that fall and winter’s cool air is creeping up on us…

I finally finished my little project and got a chance to test it in these freezing temperatures….and oh how my car and butt love it!

My Goal: I tried to come up with the most efficient design that would simply funnel the air from under the fender and route it directly INTO my filter. Here is how I began:

First, and most important, I connected plumbing joints to my pop charger filter: See Pic:

http://images.cardomain.com/installs...72_10_full.jpg

The filter is one with an opening on top which makes this whole project work! See:

http://www.custommaxima.com/images/JimWolfIntake3.jpg

The plumbing joints are generic plumbing joints found in any hardware store in the plumbing section. They’ll have all kind of angles, lengths etc for your purpose. I used two ‘U’ shaped joints to get a proper ‘S’ formation to hook up to the hose. The connect like Legos, so don’t have too much fun.

I then connected it to a 1.75” tube (blue) that is routed down through the bumper (no cutting involved). See Pic:



The tube was found at the hardware store and is know as a pool/spa hose. You only need about 5 feet for the job. It should slide right into the plumbing joint and stay secure.

The tube was routed down through the front behind the headlight and all the way to the ground. See blue tube and its location under the car:



Next, I attached a plastic gutter joint/spout below my lower facia. It is detachable and has been wind tested to 136mph. J See pic:



The gutter joint/spout can be found at any hardware store is the gutter section. You can find different scoops, sizes, shapes colors etc for your specific liking. I simply cut one slot on each vertical side (similar to a tongue and groove) and slid it on the lower inside of the bumper. You may want to use a small screw to attach it securely.

It was tricky connecting the hose to the scoop, but I found out a way. If you get a small oil funnel and cut the bottom part (smaller part) so it has about an opening the size of the tube, you can effectively connect the funnel to the tube by merely snapping it in. Once that has been accomplished, you now have a tube with a partial funnel attached to it. This can be custom fit into the scoop and held together by string, duct-tape or what have you. I can’t tell you exactly how to do it, because it will be different for every car and materials.

Now, it is my guess that the tube has enough bends and turns to slow and steady the air when it finally reaches the filter. Upon driving, the filter is charged with a constant supply of cool air INTO the fitler, which I think is cool,…no pun intended. J

End results?? My car pulls much more smoothly from 1,500 rpm and up. Driving in the city with stop and go, the car definitely pulls more than it did with just my pop charger. Personally, I think it works best on the highway. Traveling at 70 mph and dropping the pedal at WOT, the car pulls like mad up to 120mph in no time. Top speed? Hehe…..up 4-5 mph (although it was a windy day and the wind was behind me). Could it just be because the temps are just way low in general? Maybe. Was it worth it? For sure! I’m not here to fool anybody, but all I can say is try it yourself! It’s cheap. Total cost was about $15.

The debate goes on for which is better; CAI or Pop Charger. Both have benefits and both have drawbacks. Both increase intake air flow, however one strives to improve on the other by drawing in colder, denser air to increase the intake temperature, but loses efficiency with the longer tube in the lower end if the RPM band. The other suffers because from drawing in only hot air.

So why not bring the cold air to the air filter? Why not “ram” the cold air and thus “charge” the filter with constant cool air?

Just thought I’d share my little experience….let me know what you guys think…maybe this can spawn a bunch of new ideas. Enjoy your ride fellas…


EDIT: During the summer, this set-up proved to be more worse that good. It seems that the asphalt temperature is higher than the ambient temeprature, thus radiating heat that goes directly into the engine. Pretty much defeats the purpose.

But in cooler weather, this thing still works like a charm. Brings cooler air to the filter faster and in much more abundance.

BSwithTF

iTrader: (8)

I started with a PR CAI. I then attached a 3" elbow to the end of the CAI tubing. This routed the tubing to right in front of my empty foglight hole. On the end I attached a Ractive air filter with the heat shield attached. The hole in the heat shield points right out the foglight hole. The heat shield funnels the air into the cone filter, up the tube, and wallah, she pulls like mad now. Rain's a ***** though. I have to tape up the foglight hole so it doesn't drench my air filter. The dry weather benefits are well worth it though. All N/A maxima's should do this imo. Really helps the car get air.

Str8ridin

Cool! Rain doesn't effect me though. I even used a water hose and sprayed it right up the hose but it didn't hit the filter at all.

ptatohed

iTrader: (12)

1"??!

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

KMM makes an intake just like that for the Contour.

Pic

But they use much larger tubing.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

So all of the air is being crammed into that small filter media area? Somehow I would think it would "overwhelm" that little circle of filter? dunno

xHypex

iTrader: (1)

Interesting project. Just to wonder which intake do you have? The JWT filter doesn't come with the hole, nor does it come with the heat shield so a new filter would be required to get your ram air effect. You may want to get the PR upper tube to see if that helps even more
-hype

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

What is the downside of that?

Surely, only a tiny amount if the total intake air comes from that little circle. But, the hose bringing fresh air in still provides a generally cooler enviroment around the filter, so it's still theoretically helpful.

His ooglie heatshield will help that too.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Just thought it migth clog the filter and/or force something passed the filter.



Well if that's the case, then in theory, it should not help that much. But his experience, he says it does so ? Dunno, I would think a heatsheild around the filter AREA w/ the same scoop pointing TO but not INTO the filter area might work well also and would allow the entire filter to draw the colder scooped air. That's all.

I have no idea what would be better or if there is any consequences of his set up at all.

Str8ridin

hmm, I'm not sure what you mean by 'overwhelm'. The filter is very very breathable, so that opeing has a funnel shape which allows the air to enter inside the filter vs. on top, under etc....
K&N said there filter elements are like gortex (my analogy). They are directional fibers that allow air to enter but try to make it difficult to expell.

-xHypex

It's the new filter (K&N) from JWT.

Str8ridin

I've had this set-up for some time, but honelstly, I didn't feel any gains. So I bought the new filter from JWT ____>
http://www.custommaxima.com/JimWolfIntake.html

and made sure that the cool air is inside the filter all the time!

kit99bar

I bet it works
I saw a GSR at the track with that and his GSR was faster than most GSR's

nice job

Str8ridin

$4 at the hardware store!

xHypex

iTrader: (1)

Str8ridin where did your heatshield come from then? I didn't even know JWT made a new filter. I may have to invest in both of these at some point and try out the ram air effect.
-hype

Str8ridin

The heatsheild is home-made! It's more to prevent the radiant heat from the engine . It's actually a roofing section piece that was slightly modified to slip over the intake tube before the MAF. Kinda cool, eh?

Str8ridin

my bad...1.75" or something like that....

ny96max

i tell ya, if i didnt have a CAI already id def try that!

good job!

Ant

Soon2BMaxed

i was thinking of doing something similiar to my CAI but i don't know if i really need to.... since my CAI filter sits right inside my wheelwell maybe a foot or so (?) behind my left fog light...i was thinking about taking the fog light out when i go to the track and running a big 4 inch dryer hose from the fog hole directly to the filter so there is adequate air inside the wheel well at all times. dunno if it will help any but i think i might try it anyways.

Trevor

nardo'89SE

would cai have any gains from this or would it be useless

Bman

I LIKE this idea!!

So that heatshield is just one of those plastic (or tin?) pieces that goes around a furnace exhaust pipe and then cut to fit? If so, this whole thing is very clever and above all, CHEAP!

Thank you!

I'll have to see if this setup will work on a 3rd Gen when I get my POP....

Str8ridin

nardo'89SE - With a CAI set-up already, it would just provide more cool air...but I'm not sure what gains you could expect. Try it and see..

jeff92se - I was thinking about what you said about overwhelming the filter...so I plan on screening off the scoop and attatching an airconditioner filter or some other filter to the end of the plumbing pipe to muffler and filter the air..yeah, that's it!..

Bman - Yup, Lowes or Menards or somesort of harware store caries them...and no problem!

HondaKiller718

I can see me going 80-90 in rain with this modofication when my popcharger starts choking from water intake. Now you night want to look into that valve that you can buy for the CAI to prevent water from traveling anywhere near you pop.

Str8ridin

I know...I was scared too, so the second day of instalation when it was rained, I unooked the end of the pipe that connects to the filter and duct-taped a brown paper bag to the end, got up on the freeway and did 100mph. When I pulled into my complex and lifted the hood, the paper bag was dry.

But, to play it safe, I think I'll just take off the connector peice when it rains hard and just have an OSCAI...

Blaximazx

Dont drive through large puddles!!!!!!!!!!!!

BSwithTF

iTrader: (8)

My filter sits about 6" from the ground now. Ahhh, the price of performance.

Str8ridin

every little bit counts!

but, can't it get wet or dirty faster?

BSwithTF

iTrader: (8)

Ya, I pull it off and clean the filter every couple weeks. It's a little more of a pain but I don't mind it too much. I'm a mechanic so I just do it at work whenever I think it needs it.

bmxsteve

What type of cone filter is that? I have a JWT and the end of my cone filter is solid, so I dont see how I can run a tube into the filter. Awesome setup though. I really want to do it. Also, how did you secure the plumbing pipe into the filter?

bmxsteve

What type of cone filter is that? I have a JWT and the end of my cone filter is solid, so I dont see how I can run a tube into the filter. Awesome setup though. I really want to do it. Also, how did you secure the plumbing pipe into the filter? I think youve got a newer design air filter? Does that mean I'm SOL? Do you have any other ideas for us with the older filters?

Str8ridin

JWT has a new filter element that fits your current set-up...here's a pic of it: http://www.custommaxima.com/JimWolfIntake.html

With my set-up, the pipe isn't connected to the filter...rather it rests in it just fine by steadying itself on the frame of the car. As for other filters, just running the tube in the general vacinity of the filter would do. I ran that set-up for some time but noticed little gains, if any. Perhaps strapping the tubing to the filter? I'm not sure....give it a shot and let us know....the idea is to get as much cold air into the filter as possible.

But ideally, having a filter with an opening at top is the key. I drove my car today around Chicago in 0 dergrees F, and man, the low end torque is back. Specifiacally, when I'm just cruising around at slow speeds, the car pulls linearly and smoother between 1500 and 3000K rpm....just try it!

Chinkzilla

Dude! this is a GREAT idea.. I think we've all been racking our brains on how to re-invent the wheel and you've done it!

Now you get the benefit of both the pop charger and the CAI in one intake set up!!

Also, I wouldn't worry about water in the intake, in the even that the ram air duct got submerged in water, the intake would just suck air through the WAI duct... hrmm come to think of it, this is EXACTLY the same concept of the AEM water valve.. but this might actually add performance....

I'm more concerned about the filter getting prematurely dirty from road dust/particles/bugs, but I suppose a removable screen of some sort would solve that.

someone needs to take this to the dyno...with a VERY big fan..

Str8ridin

Dyno?? Yeah, most places don't have those big fans!

Quarter mile times seem the best way to tell if there is added gains between CAI & Pop Chargers....

I'll doing some runs (comparison with and without my ram charger)in April in Indianapolis...there is gonna be a huge Maxima meet with Dynos, a drag strips etc. all set up. Email IndyMaxcomments@aol.com for more details on it. A member on the forum is putting it together...

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Is that blue filter a K&N? You had to oil it when you installed?? If not, is it just a regular paper filter which needs to be completely replaced when dirty??

DW

Str8ridin

EDITed
Nope, it's made by JWT. No oiling was required upon first installation. However, I suspect that upon re-using and cleaning, you will have to oil it up. Call Jim Wolf 619-442-0680 or email websales@jimwolftechnology.com and ask them about their new filter and maintainence insues to verify.

p.s. check the for sale forum soon for some heatsheilds made for 4th gen Maximas, specifically those with pop chargers.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

OK. Thx. And check your PMs.

DW

Ginuwin3112

Awesome idea Sr8ridin.....

I was wondering does ur pop/cai idea effect gas mileage??
if so by who much??

Ahhh...nothing better than a week off of spring break and a new mod i can try on my car

OriginalMadMax

This is very similar to what I did recently (posted as "El Cheapo Intake Mod" -
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=Cheapo) By using the aluminum dryer flex hose, you can put the end flat against the side of any filter at any angle (straight like K&N or angled like Popcharger) and get the benefits of cooler air if you don't have the open ended style (my Weapon R filter does have that). Same as the results posted here, my car loves this mod. I ordered the upper CAI from Warpspeed a couple of weeks ago, and hope that by removing the resonator box with the straight piping I will get even better intake flow. I can't say if this improves mileage, because I also replaced my old and clogged fuel filter, so I've been on the throttle more, loving the feel of a happy engine!

Burton069

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like a good setup, similar to the Ws6 package in the Trans Am. I hope Frankencar's stage 3 or 4 is something like this

Str8ridin

Man...i wish I had more time in the day to spend on my car...lucky you!

as far as gas mileage, It's gone down a little. I'm not sure if it's because I'm 'getting on it' a lot more or because of my mod, but the light comes on 15-25 miles sooner than it used to.

But I can tell you this, when the temp outside is really cold and I take th car out for a run then lift the hood, the whole intake tube passed the MAF sensor is very cold! I haven't had time to bring it to the track, but I definelty feel a difference when it pulls.

I read on an acura techy site about cold air, density and the correlation between temperature and power, and it stated that generally, a 10 degree diference in intake air temperature results in a 1% power gain/reduction. Now take your car out when it's 0 degrees outside, that's about a 50 degree diffence in normal intake teps, which is 5% of 155 hp at the wheel...well, you do the math! I'm not sure about the validity and error factors of that equations, but it sure does feel like more power!

Give it a shot and post away on how your car feels!

multiplexor

curious... but what would happen if you attached a fan to the middle of the pipe. To suck in air a bit faster? Nothing too powerfull... just a simple helping fan like that from the back of a computer. Except a bit stronger i guess?

you think this would make a bigger performance gain?