Has anyone tried both the CAI and Hybrid intakes? Which do you think is better and why?

 

It depends on your transmission. If you have a auto, then CAI is best. For manual transmissions a hybrid is best. I pesonally have the hybrid intake, and love it. It pull hard in the midrange all the way to redline. I felt no low-end loss with this hybrid intake either.

 

for auto, cai quicker response, but hybrid makes more power up top. if u plan on getting a ypipe, the hybrid will actually feel stronger. cai+ypipe, idle to 2000 on auto, sluggish, 3000 feel a nice boost of power, carries to about 5500, starts to let off, but it does keep pulling, it just doesnt feel as strong as when it started. hybrid+ypipe, idle to 2000 on auto, still sluggish, 3000-4000, starts to feel better, 4500-5000 feel a real burst of power, more than the surge of power with the cai, doesnt let off till redline. but i drive a 5th gen so might be different with 4th gens.
note: i can only feel the differences i mentioned when the gas light is on, and its 40 degrees or less outside, and theres no one else in the car. add in more weight and u cant tell the difference as much. full car and u cant tell at all.

 

Why would the Hybrid be better for a manual and a CAI for an auto? I have an auto.

 

I believe there is an inital lag when you step on the car. But I'm not too sure. There is a ton of info on this topic, just do a quick search.

 

I have done my best times using the hybrid setup.

 

I have no lag whatsoever in my auto with the hybrid. The throttle response is much better than with the stock box also.

 

i think they were referring to the fact that there is no lag with manual tranny's, you can launch at whatever you want for optimal performance, whereas for auto, you cant, so you might want the advantage of the low end from a CAI.
manuals have enough low end power, and even with a loss, 5spd's will still roast first gear if they want, so low end isn't as important as the high end power gained through a hybrid setup.

 

I'm getting so many different views. Generally, it seems that the Hyrbid intake is cheaper than the CAI. On average, when does the power kick in on the Hybrid? Would it be worth the extra cost from a Frankencar Hybrid to a PR CAI?

-Thanks
Mark

 

There is no powerloss felt with the Hybrid.

 

CAI is better for auto because auto has that lag before u get full acceleration from car. CAI helps best at low ends where auto will need it. stick shift maxima's get instant response at low end cause they are stick . Therefore it would help them more if they could get more power at mid to high ends...

 

Before Dyno
http://www.frankencar.com/product_i/..._before_lg.jpg

After Dyno
http://www.frankencar.com/product_i/...o_after_lg.jpg

Print both out and do overlay's. You can see that stock the max did better until about 4700 rpm so I would say that this intake does cause some low end loss.

However, I think the fastest NA auto 4th gen is using a JWT filter and velocity stack along with a midpipe (96sleeper.)

Also, testomonials like Jimes that use track slips and not butt dyno's would lead me to believe this is a better intake, all things being equal.

I am going with the JWT filter/velocity stack with a custom midpipe, and I will try and feed that as much cool air as possible, by positioning the filter above the lower half of the stock air box. If you want to think about it for a while but still want an intake, I have left a couple of tips on this page, and there is some other usefull information.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....5&pagenumber=1

 

Would a Y-Pipe help with the low end loss from a hybrid? Also, what are some relatively cheap CAIs on the market?

 

there's a BOMZ CAI out now that's relatively cheap compared to the rest. I dont think y-pipe helps out at all with low end torque, in fact i felt it made u lose a little low end but its function is to improve mid and high range (between 3k rpm and up). This it does very well...