I bought an 04 5A/T back in June, with a JWT Pop charger and Z tube installed. I had installed one of these on a maxima I owned 4 years ago. I was already well aware of the implications of using a Pop charger style intake, but decided to leave it on.

When I first got the car, I admit that I loved the wail that the intake made in the higher RPM range under WOT. After driving the car all summer and now into the fall, I began to notice a few things consistently.

The radiator fan seemed to be turning on quite frequently, especially in city driving. This really is what got me thinking that this is the WRONG setup for this car. Sure the JWT has a heat shield and has the intake piping directly to the Cone, but I doubt that does much in a heat soak. I also noticed that the car would shudder during idle sometimes, as if it was not getting enough air.

Knowing that heat is the enemy of electronic components, i decided to buy a stock intake and remove the JWT, while keeping the Z-tube. This was easy. Once off, it looked as though the cone filter had NEVER been cleaned, and was even partially melted on the bottom. Straight filthy.

Thoughts with stock intake and ECU reset:

1) The exhaust is seems slightly louder to me at idle and in general. This is fine, because its the most gorgeous stock exhaust I've ever heard out of a 6 cylinder engine.
2) Low RPM power is significantly improved, engine seems to run more smoothly through all gears, and is more responsive at WOT.
3) Smoother idle.

The peace of mind of knowing the the motor is getting colder air was enough for me to revert back. If you'd like your motor and the electronic components of said motor to work for as long as possible, keep the intake stock. As many have stated before, Nissan engineers did this right. When i think of Nissan and Infiniti, and what has made me so loyal to this brand, is the fact that they stress performance as one of the standards of their cars. To think that an aftermarket intake company that works with many brands can provide a superior product as far as intakes are concerned, is silly.

 

 

Not sure what that ****** smiley is about. I don't care what you think, or if its repetitive. I guarantee that this will prove useful when someone is researching multiple threads, the sticky included.
Smoke me, babe.

 

People have been running popchargers without any problems (including myself back in the day) for FAR longer than you've even owned your G. So no need for you to spread inaccurate/worthless "newb knowledge" about something that has been tested for so long, sure they don't make any power but some people like the sound. As far as your claimed changes, its all in your head.

 

oh really? by newb, do you mean on similar, albeit much more popular forums since 2002? having installed pop chargers on other cars and researched this topic extensively before these forums even existed? please use empirical evidence to contradict the statements ive made, specifically to the loss of low end power with an aftermarket intake, especially from a stop. unless i am mistaken, most of the 'sage' advice given by people other than those like yourself, is to leave the intake as stock. the fact that you have not PERCEIVED any difference in longevity of electronic components, etc, does not mean that there is no impact in using an aftermarket system.

A JWT POP charger intake (short tube, filter almost directly on throttle body) will promote the best top-end power (almost no tube to act as a restrictor), but because the intake charge flowing into the manifold won't be as smooth, perhaps this is why people with these intakes report lost low-end. ever heard of turbulence? The pop charger decreases the overall efficiency of the intake manifold at the low-end.

In addition, provide a counterpoint as to how a warm air intake would NOT result in a loss of low end power, specifically from a stop. Would you like some information on internal combustion, and the relation of air temperature to the power of that explosion?

no smilies used, as i am not a 4th grader.

 

Speak for yourself. The POPs most definitely suck in lots of hot air which kills power. The POPs also hurt driveability for many reasons I've discussed on the site for 6 years. Good luck.

 

As a Mechanical Engineer, and having built a 630+rwhp VQ along with worked on dozens of them I don't need your ricer logic to explain anything to me.

Your wasting your breath, just another newb wanting to make some statement on a forum and being noticed LOL.

An air box doesn't isolate the heat the significant way you seem to think. The improvements due to a ECU reset that your reporting are BS, stop wasting peoples time. The only "driveability" issue is going to be caused by the MAF itself getting warm (it happens on my car along with any high hp TT with MAF based tune), it makes the ECU see less an elevated IAT thus it runs slightly lean, casing the issue. I'm not wasting anymore time trying to explain your useless claims.

As far as "makes the car slower from a stop" hm, I wonder how many of the cars on the Top 25 1/4mile list are running popchargers.

 

Oh this is interesting...

 

I'm an engineer as well so your statement above surprises me. Obviously you're not a powertrain engineer. You're experience with POP chargers in meaningless to this argument since you have a turbo. Turbos increase the volume of air into the motor and this cramming of air creates massive amounts of heat. Elevated intake temps from the POP intake isn't remotely as signficant as the elevated temps from pressurizing ambient air.

A POP on a NA motor:

1) Elevated air intake temps DO NOT cause a lean condition. It causes an overly rich condition. Why? Because the ECU sees high temps which greatly increases the chances for pre-detonation. The ECU addresses this by adding MORE fuel to cool the combustion chamber as well as reducing ignition timing. Secondly, higher temps have LESS available oxygen. On a 70+ degree day, a POP charger will see intake temps in the 130+ degree range at a stop and low speed roll. The OEM intake will only see about 10 to 15 degrees over ambient in similiar conditions. At speed, there's not much difference between the two setups.

2) A POP charger effects driveability (basically reduces throttle response) due to the temp condition noted above and also the cone intake which causes tubulence across the MAF sensor at lower engine speeds (4000rpms and below). These two conditions make throttle response feel numb or deadened an initial tip in.

 

Buwahahahahahahahahaha


pwned by a n00b, classic.

 

As a non-engineer that's been driving multiple cars and working on them myself for 35 years I can tell you from first hand experience that after adding a pop charger to my G in the brutal heat of a Texas summer, my performance loss was not only noticeable but dramatic. Pulled that shizz off after 3 weeks and went back to stock where the performance came back immediately. Can I scientifically prove my point, no and I don't care. I know my car intimately and the pop was bad news.

 

interesting....hhmmmm....no wonder there are TONS of JWT Pops in the classifieds...

 

So you ran a popcharger for a long while without ever cleaning the filter?? Ya I bet your car lost power and wasn't able to idle well