you can dress up a shielded intake and have good results performance and looks... The configuration I run has worked very well for me - and in fact, better than OEM.... The OEM box can even be prettied up to be worthy of a clean bay, I did it (with a revup box) - until I realized it wasnt worth it and ditched it.

FWIW.

 

Stillen would be the best combo of both worlds (show and go)

 

eh, just with all the wire tucking and smoothing I did in the engine bay, I wanted a more minimalist intake for showing... I was planning on building a heat shield for it but haven't got around to it yet.

 

damn it - dont agree with me Jeff ... you'll ruin the "special" relationship we've had all these years

 

You really did a great job on this project man, it helped me a lot. But what people need to understand is that the only benefit to going with a K&N panel filter is the ability to clean and reuse it instead of throwing it away. All of the test done on the K&N vs a new oem panel filter produced less than 1 hp on the dyno. The latest was done by DSPORTS. The oem filter is good for 20,000 miles depending on where you live and drive. I don't put that many miles on my car a year so spending $12 bucks a year on an oem filter is not bad, plus im not sure about the filtration of the K&N because you can see through the filter. They rely on there oil to stop most of the dirt. Don't get me wrong im not saying it's not a good filter from the start, but after so many cleanings and reoilings just how good is the filter?

 

Mike can you post a pic of your intake and what you did?

 

Derek, I sold the revup box (had it painted same color as the base color of engine cover and snorkel in pics below)... never took pics of it - I only have pics of the current setup... there are more pics of engine bay in my garage (in profile)... I dont really have that many pics of the actual intake

 

Did you do anything to seal it from heat on the bottom? Nice engine bay the car has come a long way.

 

^^^ nah, there's not enough exposed to be a concern (for me anyway)...

Thanks for the comment - the car has been pretty much the same for almost 2 years now... the only thing recent was Racing Brake two piece rotors (they just came out with rears - finally)...

 

So the last test is a new OEM filter. And it says it gains 8whp and 6wtq. I was just wondering how is that possible? That is matching the stillen box.... and its just the stock airbox?

 

correct.

 

In the final runs the aftermarket intake plenum is still installed.

 

What the original poster did for the community with this comparison is a great thing but I have a couple problems with it. Why was the aftermarket plenum installed so early in the tests? I feel that this renders the intake comparisons after the plenum install useless. Also the g35 is so sensitive to heat soak. I don't care how you try to cool the car down between runs, if it is strapped to the dyno all day it is hot and heat soaked.

 

So my take is that without a retune stock is best, I should go for my 5/16 spacer and exhaust first? Would a cone filter on stock do anything or I've always read good things about AEM inductions? I just want to know what to do before a re tune. Any ideas on which company has the best retune? Sorry just bought an 06 G35 coupe 6 mt and I'm trying to get the most from it.

 

Who is best for retuning is subjective i would research your area and use a good local tuner that does uprev. I would do all of the bolt on mods prior to getting a tune other wise you will have to get it retuned.