Home maid CAI vs. Pop Charger? (andY-pipe)
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 257
hi- I have been bitten by the moding bug and its huring my wallet. I cant decide weather or not to make a CAI or just buy a pop charger. Which one would give me the most 1k-4k torque? I kinda want the sound from the pop charger though I'm not concerned about keeping my max quiet. Also I get confused with all the talk about senors in the home maid cai. 1) hat sensors are pluged in to the intake piping after the maf. 2) what do you do with them? thanks guys! Hay I was also thinking about if its possible for a muffler shop to make a y-pip and if it would be cheaper then a "real" one. Thanks again
Not DAVEB the parts guy
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 8,549
I know it's tempting do do a lot of these mods you read about, but honestly, a lot of them do little if any good. We all want to believe that what we are doing is dding a lot more power, but many of us have overlooked the fact that Nissan did a pretty good job making the VQ a good performing engine with very few restrictions.
The homemade CAI (poorman's CAI) is extremely simple to make and requires no removal of any of the sensors. All you are doing is upgrading an already good flowing stock setup. The current 3 Series BMW uses the same setup as the Maxima. I had the HKS intake and I can't tell any performance difference between my Poorman's CAI and the HKS. The Poorman's CAI is much quieter and has a more refined sound.
IMHO, don't bother with the aftermarket mufflers. I've never seen proof they make more hp. I actually gained 1.5mph with no loss in et by running my stock muffler vs my HKS muffler.
I suggest you spend the money and get one of the aftermarket Y-pipes. Both Stillen's and Cattman's y-pipes are tried and true. Having one made is more headache than it's worth and the fitment is EXTREMELY tight. It has to be a engineered piece. I suggest you make a CAI, buy a y-pipe, Courtesy B-pipe, and resonated tip for the stock muffler. All in all you'll spend about $500 in mods and gain a solid 15 fwhp and tq with little additional noise. If you don't have the money, then wait and save. You'll be far more happy.
Dave
The homemade CAI (poorman's CAI) is extremely simple to make and requires no removal of any of the sensors. All you are doing is upgrading an already good flowing stock setup. The current 3 Series BMW uses the same setup as the Maxima. I had the HKS intake and I can't tell any performance difference between my Poorman's CAI and the HKS. The Poorman's CAI is much quieter and has a more refined sound.
IMHO, don't bother with the aftermarket mufflers. I've never seen proof they make more hp. I actually gained 1.5mph with no loss in et by running my stock muffler vs my HKS muffler.
I suggest you spend the money and get one of the aftermarket Y-pipes. Both Stillen's and Cattman's y-pipes are tried and true. Having one made is more headache than it's worth and the fitment is EXTREMELY tight. It has to be a engineered piece. I suggest you make a CAI, buy a y-pipe, Courtesy B-pipe, and resonated tip for the stock muffler. All in all you'll spend about $500 in mods and gain a solid 15 fwhp and tq with little additional noise. If you don't have the money, then wait and save. You'll be far more happy.
Dave
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