Hey folks . . . I trust that everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Fourlix, I hope that you are enjoying your new Stillen set-up, as much as I am enjoying mine.

Jon, how are you doing with that new MREV2 set-up? Has it lived up to your expectations?

 

Wow--Butt dyno referred to you stating what your "butt" felt when you made the comparison before and after the HFAB---instead of having real dyno runs before and after install of a performance item to understand actual gains and losses regarding stillen HFLAB at high elevation. It wasn't name calling--yes, it was a bit rude, but you definietly kicked it up a notch. Many people refer to "butt dynos" when they make observations regarding performance mods on how the car feels before and after install--not via dyno runs--which is the only way to really know--you used your "butt" when coming up with your opinion which you claim is accurate--which is ok, but not deserving of any special attention/acceptance imho. Thanks for the complement and your kind words, friend!

 

The whole point of this was the significant loss in power in the G35 due to high elevation and if there was some way to compensate for that loss.

Let's get back on point.

Increasing air flow to offset the decrease in air density at high elevation is an obvious place to start.
Posts on this forum claim that dyno results show that the Cold air intakes do increase horsepower by increasing air flow.
The z-tube seems to be more for sound effect than actual power gains, despite the manufacturer's claims.
This whole thread is meaningless to those of you below 2,000 ft elevation, which is most of the country, including Chicago.
To those of us in the Rocky Mountain states, it is a very big deal.
The effects of high elevation are like having a very dirty airfilter. It's like an engine with asthma. In the old days, with a carburated engine and a dirty air filter or high elevation, it would run rich, foul plugs, and bad would go to worse. With fuel injection, electronic monitoring and controls, fuel is cut back proportionate to air. The engine still runs cleanly, with the air/fuel mixture maintained, but less air and less fuel mean less power at high elevation or with a dirty air filter.
And yes, just like in airplanes, forced induction, supercharging or turbocharging makes elevation a non-issue.
On ATVs and motorcycles, both carburated and fuel injected, which I deal with daily, there are little tricks we do to compensate for high elevation besides basic rejetting.
A couple of years ago we were riding our ATVs on the Paiute Trail in Utah. The elevation here goes from 4,000 to 11,000 ft. Riding carburated machines, at about 8,000 ft they started running like crap (too rich). We took our airbox lids off and,, voila'! They ran great all the way up to 11,000 ft. On the way back down, they started running badly just below 7,000 ft elevation (too lean). We put our airbox lids back on and all was well.

This isn't rocket science, but it isn't something you flatlanders think about. Your efforts to find power gains are clues for us to find power that we've lost-- due to living and driving up here in the mountains.

It doesn't take a dyno to feel these power losses. They are very significant. In my situation I "feel" like I have nearly restored the power my G35 had down in Phoenix, with the addition of the Stillen airbox and z-tube. Probably not all of it, It would take dyno testing before and after in both Phoenix and up here at 6,000 ft. to quantitatively make that sort of conclusion, but it is close enough that I'm not bummed out about it any longer. Besides, there is no dyno up here. If people up here knew how little horsepower their cars are actually producing they would be very depressed!
$300 bucks well spent.
And I like the sound of the z-tube even if it doesn't do anything....

 

Good observations Fourlix - I'm in the "lowlands" so it doesn't really apply to me, but its good to know the Stillen equivalent to the stock intake with a cone filter!