Was going to post in the "what did you do to your G today" thread but figured I'd throw it up here. Just purchased my G and the idle was funky when warmed up or when you tried to run the AC. Checked the intake and noted a HUGE tear in the 45 degree elbow going to the throttle body. Pulled it off and wrapped the thing in duck tape as a temporary solution. Problems solved, idle's great, AC runs (though it needs a recharge). This is NOT my daily driver and I think i've only put 20 miles on the car so far.



After some research on this forum I found out that Infiniti only sold the intake as a whole so I couldnt just purchase the elbow I needed. Found some stockers online but they were asking almost as much as a 350Z Tube. If I was going to pay $40-$50 for a stocker, might as well pay $60 for the 350z tube and change out the entire part.

The part finally came in yesterday morning and I had some time so I went ahead and put it in. Also cleaned the MAF and Throttlebody while I was in there. This is what I found when I pulled the stocker:



Interesting that they cut off the silencer. The car has a stillen stage 2 supercharger but other than that its bone stock. I'm thinking Stillen may have cut off the silencer as I'm pretty sure the previous owner had the work done @ Stillen. He lived/worked maybe 5 miles from Stillen.

Finished product:

 

My stock one looks like that also. Was a fairly common mod years ago. I swapped in a z-tube and forgot about it until now, lol.

 

Interesting. So many threads on the ztube/stillen tube but I didnt see anything about cutting the silencer off while searching.

 

Cutting the silencer off? When I began the mods on SLICK the best intake option was Stillen's CAI/ZTUBE which I still have for a back up to my current Fujita intake! Keep in mind, when it comes to the first gen G35's, intakes don't allow any extra WHP regardless of what you might have seen or heard...fact!

Gary

 

I hate how that stock resonator sits right next to the header, removing it has to increase power somewhat (like 1whp probably lol) because of a slightly lower intake air temperature.

 

wow its like im back in 2006

 

Will removing it change the sound ? Looking for a little more sound. Exhaust changes are more $ than I want to spend so until the exhaust needs replaced, I'll most certainly leave it alone.

Would need to figure out how to plug the connections of course. I've searched for "intake resonators" but I get almost 20 pages of results and most are related to the resonators in the exhaust system.

 

Don't mean to pick a fight but this guy does not know what he is talking about on several fronts. From hose clamps to intakes, buddy, you're clueless!

 

Clueless? There's a difference between doing things right and wrong, using hose clamps to fix a loose converter cover is a temp fix, having it welded is the right way! That's like using a coat hanger to replace a broken exhaust hanger...something you'd consider! Intakes, due to the fine job Nissan did designing our OE there is no WHP gains by installing anything aftermarket! In fact most will cost you HP unless they're designed like Stillens CAI! I have all the Nissan Sport magazines dating back to 2004 where advertisers claim 5 to 15 hp gains with their intakes which was proven incorrect when tested on a dyno!
Gary

 

I'm not trying to pick a fight but you seem to find difficulty with excepting reality regarding these things. I really, honestly do believe you're gonna owe me some money for this edumacation, It could be that so many guys that have had their VQ's forever gave up because of all the disappointments regarding mods early on. It's due to all the failures, lots of reading and research on multiple auto related sites, some common sense and the fact that I didn't start modding until 13 years of ownership that I was able to sidestep all the and cheaply build what was a slow FX35 into one that will dust most n.a. G's and Z's on the street, certainly so from stop light to stop light.

Tomei, high end performance company, right? How about DEI? For the second time, THEIR exhaust wrap ties are hose clamps minus the worm drive. A hose clamp will outlast the shitty little spot welds on heat shields all day long. They'll outlast exhaust flanges too. Why? They're stainless steel bro, stainless nucking steel.

The stillen intake is trash. It's not much if any better than oem. Why? It's still choked off at the air box. Doesn't matter how large a filter nor will a little velocity stack bail you out. The intake is still restricted. I've got several dyno charts, one showing the z-tube, k&n panel filter and baffles removed. Huge difference, huge.

The last pic is of my 2003 AWD FX35. It's the fastest naturally aspirated fx35, 45 or qx70 v6 known of on the planet. Ever take the G out of CA and end up in the Carolinas, step to me and I'll brake you off a chunk son but don't forget to bring some $ .

My 4" intake is a huge part of my 5.2 second 0-60 and 14 flat 1/4 mile time. which is 1.9 seconds faster 0-60 and 1.5 + seconds faster than stock. It's all on my thread below. The other pics are of the intake and air box that draws in tons of cool air and none from the bay.

https://www.infinitiscene.com/thread...e-mods.230572/

 

Also keep in mind the FX doesn't have engine bay temp issues like the G does, the increased ride height and lack of a front air dam means you have actual airflow through the engine bay whereas a sport equipped G35 has almost none. The drivetrain may be the same but comparing those two chassis is comparing apples to oranges.

With that said though, the dyno evidence is almost impossible to refute, at a 7k redline an INTAKE ONLY mod will typically gain 0-1 WHP over the OEM rev-up airbox.

Again that's for a STOCK OEM SETUP, yes you will see gains because you have plenty of other mods to support a more freely flowing intake but on a STOCK motor the gains aren't there.

This means that yes it is wrong to claim that an intake will NEVER have gains on this motor, with the supporting intake and exhaust mods YES the engine can benefit from a better intake but unless you build the motor to exceed 7k rpm you're not going to see more than a 5whp gain in the BEST scenario on a fully built N/A.

 

I don't know why were talking about chassis? Engine bay temps may or may not be worse in the G/Z than the FX, but what r we talking about, maybe 20-30* Who cares! Even if it were sooo extreme, it will have 0 effect on acceleration. If anything, the FX is dramatically handicapped vs the G/Z due to drag coefficient, weight and larger wheels. Stock FX35 mid 15's vs stock G35 low 14's. Think about it.

I have all the dyno evidence on my thread. Administration Tuning has ****-tons, Limp Mode Tuning has **** tons, Frickin Honda sites have ****-tons. Everybody knows a larger diameter and shorter intake pipe coupled with a large MAF housing makes fantastic naturally aspirated power except you guys in this forum. It's been known for over a decade guys! Holy ****! I have the most informative and imo impressive thread on all this and then some that I've ever read, and I've read a lot. READ IT, ALL OF IT. I'm sorry, I really don't mean to sound like a dick but you guys are deeeeeep in the dark man.

I don't have a fully built VQ. The block is bone stock nearing 100k miles. 2003. I made lots of power all throughout the powerband. It's all on my thread for those who have the patience to actually read stuff and who want to learn. Time slips, dyno charts, tons of pics, detailed writing, good honest actionable information. You mo fo's can thank me after you've read it, for those that do that is.

https://www.infinitiscene.com/thread...e-mods.230572/

 

My reason for bringing chassis into the conversation was just due to engine bay temperature and it's effect on different intakes. My engine bay temp can reach over 200 degrees even at highway speeds measured 1" from the throttle body, at idle on a hot summer day it's pushing 250+, I've never owned a car that had a hotter engine bay and I'm sure the FX is SUBSTANTIALLY lower simply due to design.

Everything else though I agree with in theory, and again I think this whole argument stems from two different arguments that are both essentially correct.

A modified engine will benefit from a better intake.

A stock engine will not benefit from a better intake.

You two are BOTH correct, and yes your FX will benefit from a better intake because you have appropriate breather and exhaust mods to support it. You may not be FULLY built (stock cams and rotating assembly) but you have enough that you will see a benefit from that intake.

My only argument, and I didn't toss this in earlier because it opens a whole other can of worms, is that dyno pulls to compare equipment are fine but you need to understand that a test environment is NOT the same as what you will see in actual track or road use. Dyno pulls you have the hood open with big air movers in front of the car to keep conditions as consistent as possible so you can have accurate direct comparisons in a perfect environment. Sure that 4" aluminum intake will perform nothing short of a miracle when it's being actively cooled in a test environment but when applied at the track where you have heat soak to worry about the performance drops to a level similar to other smaller diameter intakes or in some cases even WORSE than a stock intake. I can't remember the calculation but it's something like every +15F temp = -1% power. Take my engine for example, +50F temp at idle would mean a little more than a 3% drop in power, for arguments sake lets say the engine is 230whp. (230*0.03=6.9) so from temperature alone I could see a 7whp drop in power. The biggest argument against aftermarket intakes are ones made of metal instead of plastic which has a higher thermal reflection coefficient, a metal intake will see the FULL 7whp loss whereas the OEM plastic would see less of a drop because it reflects more heat.

Obviously thermal reflection can be modified greatly by using reflection tape (or twin-wall metal tube) like what I see under your hood but the argument still stands that those numbers were generated in a TEST ENVIRONMENT. Unfortunately any potential gains are so small that it's hard to measure on the track.

Dyno results are definitely not the be-all-end-all, you need to understand that it's a TEST ENVIRONMENT.

 

It's always nice to cool the engine bay. Separate the intake via insulation makes a big difference and so do my wrapped Tomei headers, cats and mid-pipes among other mods. I did a lot of research and instrument measuring and my intake stays 7-8* above ambient WHETHER THE HOOD IS OPEN OR NOT, slowly climbs at idle and quickly falls upon acceleration. Matter of fact, upon start up the MAF reads 7* above ambient on a cold engine and with the hood up. I am 100% confident in everything I've written and have the absolute factual results to prove it! Everything else is conjecture at best. There is no theory on my end.

Both a modified and bone stock engine will benefit from a larger and shorter diameter intake pipe. My intake absolutely destroys the oem, period. Between the slant of the upper plenum to the dramatic curve in the "neck" post throttle body, Nissan did a **** job regarding the intake side of things.

Opening the hood will do very little to "cool the intake". You need to understand that heat soaks various components within the bay via "RADIANT HEAT". Sure, it's great to let the hot air out but it's the radiant heat that has an affect on this topic assuming one has the air filter completely sealed off from the bay which...why yes, I do.

I could argue until I'm blue in the face. I have the results via dyno charts, street and track runs + time slips. "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink". I'd take those magazines that are in part for entertainment but primarily to get the reader to buy their advertiser's crap and burn'em. They are no good. My thread, however, is rock ****ing solid son,
rock ****ing solid.

Plastic does not "reflect" heat. It is, however, a poor conductor. Insulated metal will heat soak less and cool down very quickly. You're temperature/horse power loss calculations are also in my thread, per Tony/Motordyne.

Final comment - my 0-60 and 1/4 mile times were not in a "test environment" and neither was my last dyno tune with chart. 15 year old MD400. It was a ****ing tank and I've never seen so many rollers and heard such a loud pos but it got the job done!

 

EDIT: Perhaps it's more of an issue on the FX.

Radiant + ambient but yeah, sounds like you did your homework and used instrumented tests so I can't argue that. And that's correct plastic doesn't reflect heat, I should have used the term ABSORB. I can't comment on the OEM FX intake because I've never used it and haven't read anything about it. The comparison is always aftermarket v. rev-up intake anyways so it's sort of irrelevant.

I think you're mistaking larger+shorter intake RUNNERS for intake tube however. As long as you aren't restricting flow pre-TB you simply aren't going to see gains by changing the diameter of the intake tube, the only thing that matters is volume and velocity across the throttle body, you can remove the filter and install a 12" intake tube but aren't going to see gains unless there was a restriction in the first place.