im goin to purchase a injen intake for my 2000 maxima...and first of all im not askin for people to criticize the brand or intake im already set on getting this intake cause i like the look (black style) and the gains on the charts are good enough plus my friend has a injen intake and is fine with it but NE WAYS.... does any one know if the injen heatshield really gives a significant amount extra of hp or any power gains?? i was plannin on buyin the intake and heatshield together but now that i can use that extra 50 -60 bucks right nwo and wait on the heatshield another month or two. so should i get the heatshield now with the intake or is the gains not too much to notice really?? if any one can REALLY help me by answering this it will really help me with my decision thanks everyone

 

i guess since its not really a cai u wouldnt need it but then because they call it a cold air intake and its in a warm air spot i guess u would need it? i dont know? lmao sorry man

 

lol ya its kinda fake CAI but i kno exactly what ya mean...damn i still dont kno what to do but thanks for ur input

 

stick with OEM.. save the money no gains with it.....

 

as i'm sure you know, you aren't going to gain any power with the injen. i'm sure you also know that you'll lose low-end torque.

I have 2 thoughts on this:

1. Obviously you know that it's a cosmetic mod. So, whatever you think looks better is what you should buy.

2. You're already wasting money on an overpriced power grabbing cosmetic sound mod, so what's another $50?

 

Hey if you got the money and you really like it, go for it man....it's your car good luck

 

Common guys!!! are you saying that CAI doesn't add any power to the engine??? I heard and saw the dyno #s, it adds like 12-14 HP, but I don't have one so I'm not sure.

 

i never said that. yes, i think a cai adds power. w/ a y-pipe or other exhaust mods, it can be a good addition. but you asked about the injen, not a cai.

 

Its does add gains , just not alot of gains by itself. It works better with a full exhaust system, by itself the air entering becomes like a coke bottle effect. it takes so much in , but can't get the air out faster enough due to the restrictive setup of the stock exhaust sytem. In turn you will lose low end but you will gain minimum power gains on top end.

Better to get the CAI or WAI if your going to do a full exhaust system , if not just stay with your stock air box. You will be happier with it stock then adding a CAI or WAI filter. Many fail to realize modding is like putting puzzle pieces together to form the whole picture. Little bits of mods will give minimal gains, but when you add all your mods together they produce better results as a whole.

The same can go with just adding a cat back exhaust without headers and intake, you will get minimal gains, headers without catback exhaust and intake,minimal gains...etc.

Look on this board and the people with the higher HP figures usually are packing a full exhaust system with some sort of intake system, then with guys who have single components mods bythemselves.Guys with internal mods are even packing more , but there are a few and in between that have a built VQ35.

And if WAI or so sucky, i sure want to know why the hell does everybody around the world use them? I would like for all you guys who say these intakes just make noise , i would like for you to go up to some of the top companies like Apexi,K&N, HKS,Greddy,Etc and tell them that WAI don't make power, I am sure they will laugh at you and then send you on your merry way! :

 

You won't notice any gains (at least I didn't with my finely tuned butt dyno), but the sound is good for attention. Don't waste your money on the heat shield. Here's what mine looks like installed:

 

Hmmm so I am stuck with my Injen CAI, i already purchased it before i read about it on this site, but do u think putting it on and putting on a R/T cat would do much to help the intake, or would just the cat alone do nothing to help out the intake. I kno getting a whole exhaust system would be the best but im on a limited budget.

 

if you have not bought the r/t cat yet then dont. you would be better off saving up for a y pipe.

 

sell it on ebay, and get a short ram intake. you will loose less low-end tq this way, and it worx better if your only mod is the intake. the minimal gains you get with any intake are not restricted by our cat, so no, replacing the cat with just the intake will not do anything.

 

So what if i purchased a B or Y pipe? would that do ne thing and are they legal in NJ, cuz i hate selling something i just got, its a bad feeling

 

I find it interesting how perceptions change over time. About 2 years ago (when I bought my Injen) most org members said that you lost low end torque but gained high end HP with a short ram intake. And that the Injen gave you better low end and not as much high end. Hmmm...

 

I know it's kinda silly to ask, but what's low end and high end torque that you guys are talking about??? ***

 

you will pass emissions with a y pipe because the main cat is still in tact. you will lose either 1 or 2 precats depending on whether your 2k is a cali or fed spec. the y pipe would be the best bang for your buck besides nitrous.

i agree with Bluesbrekr's statement as well. i am not sure when the perception changed but ive experienced the old thought. longer piping such as injen and place racing that the low end felt better and short ram (berk-frankencar) felt better in higher rpms. most with short rams complained of a loss of low end feel and vice versa for the true cai and injen intakes. in the end, everyone is going to feel a different way. by dynos shown, if you looking for significant power from intake then you are looking in the wrong place.

 

So let me get this stright guys, I should only put on the Injen if i get a Y pipe for my max? If i put on the injen its self i would lose power, but if i put only the Y pipe and dynoed it (which i wont but just saying it for example) and then put on the Y pipe with the injen, I would have more power the second time i dynoed it? But if i just put on the intake itself i would have less power?

thanks

 

You won't lose power with just an intake. The distribution of the power will most likely change a bit. With just an intake of any kind, the power gains are very minimal....but they sure sound good.

A y-pipe on the 3.0 is one of the best bang for the buck horsepower mods.

 

i never dynoed my car, but i had an injen intake for about 1 week, and it felt way weaker at lower rpms than stock, but maybe felt a little stronger at high rpms. i got sick of that, its like starting out in 2nd gear from stop. so i sold it on ebay, and got a berk. its feels like stock in lower rpms, and stronger than stock at higher rmps. the injen did have a really nice gurgle when sucking in the air, almost like a z28 camaro. i have had serveral cars with short ram intakes, and it may not add much horsepower or tq, but the cars were always more responcive. especially with the vq30 and cable throttle. it's not as noticeable with the 3.5 drive-by-wire gas pedal.

 

okay so if i buy an intake first its like a bottle effect so should i start from the end (exhaust system) and work my way back to the intake. deciding wat to buy first thanks for all the help

Andrew

 

a few facts:

1. Intakes generally add top-end power, lose low-end power
2. The only true CAI for the maxima is either an OSCAI or the Place Racing CAI
3. An intake by itself (with no other exhaust/intake mods) will usually get you low-to-mid single digit peak hp gains. What filter you use with it also makes a difference.
4. An Injen provides NO advantage over a "Short-ram" or "WAI" intake. In fact, it provides a disadvantage as it adds several pounds to your car over a short ram.
5. Injens look nice, no question about it. Dumb people might think it's FI piping
6. Exhaust: the factory muffler is fine. It is the factory y-pipe and b-pipe that are restrictive and should be replaced. A "performance" muffler by itself will yield little to no gains (except in annoying ricey noise) without the rest of the exhaust components, and even then they are minimal. Look how many guys have headers and still have their stock muffler...alot. The Maxima OEM muffler is a very well-designed, free-flowing setup.



The key point to remember is this: An intake, like anything else, is part of a "system"....any improvements in performance it gives are magnified when you add other related mods to the car.

 

bottom line: Intake is a "beginner" mod - easy to install, inexpensive, minimal actual performance gains, and looks and sounds nice. As long as we all remember that, we will all be happy

 

The heat shield is a gimmick....if the whole pipe is hot, a heat shield aint gonna do jack

 

But like over all in the 1/4 mile, which would be quicker, w/ or w.o the injen "CAI"?

and by the way i just got some cheep heat shield from ebay, it was like 10 dollars with 8 dollar shipping, i never felt like spending 50 for the injen heat shield, it seems to be a little big but i never had the injen one to compare, lemme kno if u want a pic of it, i can prolly take a pic of it off my phone

 

I heard about the bottle effect....I am going back to front with my mods....

 

Ne ways i just got a shield just because they are supposted to also prevent water from being absorbed into ur filter and ultimatly into ur engine. Has any one ever had a problem with that and which way would u install it ne ways. also mmrusa.com sells some intake wrap which supposidly keeps the tubeing cool

 

any tiny gains that might be had from the heat shield will be counteracted by the weight of the heat shield. It's a $50 cosmetic mod.

 

BTW josh, injens are very lightweight...the whole intake (w/o filter) is ~1lb...still doesnt make up for the fact they are crap

 

VERY good point!!!

 

That what i explained in my post up top....

I don't understand why people believe that a intake alone will give them some huge gain in HP and torque...?

If you look at some modded street cars as well as JTC in Japan they all are sporting a complete system. Wether its a WAI or true CAI, these intake system are tried and trued with a complete free flowing exhaust system. Now if your forced induction, there have been cases such as my TTZ , where i added my Jim wolf dual pop charger intakes , i gained 15WHP just by adding the intake itself. FI engines adapt more and will see more gains with bolt on mods then N/A engines.

Injen swears that adding the Intake alone to our Maxima's will give us 10-12 WHP , when in reality its more like 2-4 WHP by itself.

If anybody who is adding a intake would be wise to do a full exhaust system. When i added my Injen intake i had a minimal lost in low end but gained on top. Added my cat -back system and gained my low end back and gained a bit more on top end. Now running without any pre-cats and my car pulls very healthy, enough to chirp the tires when the autotranny switches from 1st to 2nd which never did that in stock form.
Headers in the fall to add to the madness!

I only advise getting a intake if your going to do add a exhaust system,if not don't waist your money on ANY intake....you would be happier with the stock performance.

 

I went to the track last week and I could only run 14.9's@95 mph with the Injen intake installed. temp was 70° .the best run was last year 14.30 @98mph without Injen intake and only K&N panel filter. Also I have Hot Shot headers , Frankencar exhaust , UR pulley, and TS ecu. 2.20-2.30 60' times. going back today without the intake on and stock setup.

 

Well, I installed the intake and I do feel a better response in mid to hi range, also, the increase in my mpg has paid for the intake twice over. So im happy with my intake and if I did a full exhaust I would void my warrantee.the warrantee is the reason i got the car so i dnt wana do that.

 

Too true. I actually dropped .4 in the 1/4 by adding an intake to my nitrous setup. Injen WAI

 

I currently have an Injen CAI along with a Cattman Y-pipe, which was installed a year prior to the Injen. In and of itself, I fee like I lost a little something on the low end and gained a bit on the midrange/high end. However, I will ultimately (probably next week) get the Cattman B-pipe and APEXi SAFCII, at which point I will have my shop dyno tune this setup. I may even take my stock intake with me just to switch up and see which setup works best. Stay tuned (pun?)....

 

ya man can i have a picture of that heatshield?

 

oh ya by the way...i have a greddy cat back exhaust so ya im not addin only the injen intake alone

 

Before I installed my injen intake, I was able to reach 130mph. Now I am struggling at 115mph. Any suggestions or how to fix it? I also have carsound cat and borla muffler.

 

First off, watch talking about top-end around here. Read the rules.

Secondly, if your car is only able to do 130 or 115, you have other, more serious problems. Not sure what year max you have, but regardless, and I don't care if it's a 1987, you should be able to go a LOT faster than 130.

 

I have an Injen CAI on the way to my house. The question is, should I install it now? Or wait until I get my Headers/Cat back system?