I'm going out to Grubbs Infiniti today to get a Z-tube. I've decided to switch from my AEM cold air intake to the stock box with a Z-tube and K&N filter.

However, I'm trying to decide on whether or not to get the Crawford plenum. It's not the polished version, it's the black looking plenum (is there any performance difference between the two?).

Help me decide.....do it or save my money?

Will I really see the benefits of it? I've read reviews on it, but want to know if it is worth the money.

Thanks,

Jeff

P.S. - I'm asking this, because Grubbs is REALLY far from my house (1 hour) and I don't really wanna have to drive all the way back out there if I decide to buy the plenum later. I either want to do it now or just not mess with it at all.

 

Did you consider the new Motordyne spacer kit with thermal isolation?
There's a couple of good threads on the subject.

 

X2!!

 

I've definitely considered it, but I guess I'm a little impatient. I could be convinced to wait

 

You will not regret getting the crawford plenum! Best mod I ever did! I can't vouch for spacers but my thought is that spacers now provided 2 areas to seal and 2 areas that have the potential to leak whereas the cast crawford plenum is the same as stock...1 place.

Polished - Eyecandy but retains heat longer
Black Wrinkle Finish - Not as nice as polished to look at.

Both plenums are identical!

Crawford was a pleasure to do business with and I wish I could buy more parts from them!

 

Wait.... Trust ME. Give it a few days. Tony is owrking on something special (Motordyne), as he mentioned a while back.

 

Thanks for the quick response guys. I'm going to cool my money-spending jets for right now and think about it.

I spoke with Doug at Crawford this morning (that guy is a stud) and he gave me some great information.

He gave me some input on my current mod configuration and basically let me know that I may have done a few things that actually caused some power loss.

I'm gonna take a step back and really plan my attack before I keep doing my hit-and-miss modding.

I know that either way, Doug and Tony's products are both quality and either one will provide that performance that I expect.

I'll think about it over the weekend.

 

It (spacer and thermal kit) has worked well for me!!!

 

I have the krinkle finished Crawford plenum on my 2003 G35C as well as a Stillen CAI and polished intake tube from Tuning Unlimited. I staryed with the Stillen & the Z-tube first and loved the added growl, torque and perceived power ( I haven't taken my car to have it dynoed). I was in the same place as you about the intake. I emailed Doug at Crawford and i called him on the phone. He called me back, spoke plainly and answered all of my questions. I ordered the plenum and it arrived promptly (within 3 days). It was a breeze to install (having had the experience of taking apart the intake tube and CAI) and seals up without any goops, additional gaskets or need of torgue wrenches. This is true bolt-on power. I love what the plenum has done for my engine. I drive to a remote jobsite once a week, 210 miles round trip. I leave early and come home late so the highway is pretty much mine to play on. I run between 75 and 110 ands still get better than 20 mpg. DO IT, you want (need) to!!

 

The thermal kit intimidates me a bit to install. It looks a little risky for a novice to install.

Just an FYI, I purchased the 1/2" spacer on Friday. I should have it tomorrow (Tuesday).

I'll either have someone do it for me (with the new gasket) or install it myself and save the new gasket for later.

 

Cawford's plenum is still the best bang for the buck out there.

Lou

 

let us know how you like the 1/2'' spacer.....

how come you decided to not get the crawford plenum?

 

+1 on the plenum.

Ever notice how there are quite a few people with sigs selling their plenum spacer? I rarely see someone selling a Crawford Plenum, and the ones that do who I've PM'd tell me that they are selling an older version for the newer one.

Just something to think about... even though it appears to be too late.

 

I went with the 1/2" spacer for 2 reasons. 1) I didn't want to pay $550 for the polished Crawford plenum. At the same time, I didn't like the look of the black plenum. 2) I wanted to give Tony's product a shot. For the money, it sounds like a mod worth trying.....especially with the new ios thermal gasket.

If for some reason I don't like it, I'll sell it and get a Crawford. However, I'm pretty confident it will do the job.

So when all is said and done, my decision was probably for cosmetic.

In other news, I'm flying to Nashville tomorrow for business. If I get a chance, I plan on swinging by Crawford and seeing the place. It's kind of the G35 owner's equivalent to going to Mecca

 

Anyone considering the thermal buffer spacer should consider that there is a coolant line that will run hot coolant throughtout the throttle body area. The additional heat will always be there, insulation or not. The solution seems to be a mod designed by ChicagoX where he bypasses or cuts off the flow to that area. He actually went another step and runs ice water he puts in his wiper fluid bin through that piping for race days.

I'm not sure what the thermal buffer does anyway. Maybe it slows the heating effect? After operating for a while, won't the engine bay heat up and cause the upper plenum to get to the same temp as the lower? Or as hot as it would have without the thermal gasket?