This doesn't make sense... You are saying that you KNOW FOR A FACT that there is an ebay intake on the market for the FX that is MORE restrictive than the stock airbox? I don't buy it. Less of a difference than a Stillen? Sure. Decreased performance? No way. As you so gratiously pointed out, we drive luxury cars, not race cars. Hence, many of the attributes of the stock airbox and intake tube are intended to reduce the sound of the engine outside the engine bay. In doing so those attributes DECREASE airflow and DECREASE performance. Infiniti does this to their cars... INFINITI. You know, the BRAND NAME.
Just because you read something on some thread, doesn't make it true.
can you tell me where i said there's an intake that is more restrictive than stock?
I did say they gave less gains than other aftermarket intakes....
because if you search there's quite a few threads about some intakes being better than others, not only the stock, based on more than just somebody's butt dyno. Thee have been quite a few tests done on the fx, 350z, and g to see which intake functions the best for which car. usually they are pretty close. example: Injen decreses performance in the FX because, despite its similar design to others, it most likely collected more heat from the engine bay while not significantly increasing air flow, leading to loss of performance (probably some miniscule like 0.05% or soemthing) which is why i went with the stillen because it was proven to be one of the better ones, and since it basically used technology from Nissan's own 350z, with a better style air filter, where can you go wrong?
I did mention that the 350z's tube is copied by stillen for the "z-tube" however because it is actually one of the better intake designs when installed into the FX. Of course the differences are minimal in comparisons between intakes but they are still there.
And i think it it fairly obvious that the stock intake (the rectangular filter) would be the most restrictive when compared to any cone-filter design.
as for Infiniti: Like a lot of luxury brands they tried to cut down on engine noise especially in the sedan models, however the fx and G were still designed with performance in mind which is why they have the exhaust note from the factory in the first place: its not like driving a s550 mercedes that is made to run silent and comfortable...they are made to perform and sound like it. it is true that basically if you throw on the right size pipe with a cone filter you are already increasing the airflow aka performance but you need to factor in exact positioning (stillen uses powerduct) the heatshield, engine heat, etc. So they dont do it purposely to decrease performance. this is the reason why after most bolt-ons are finished a tune or atleast reflash is necessary becase the stock ECU maps were designed with the mroe restrictive intake therefore sometimes by simply throwing in a metal pipe with a cone intake at the end you throw off the stock a/f ratio to such a point where it harms the intake's performance. just because you throw an intake on there and hear a different engine note and hear the vaccum-like suction noise or the whistling at mid-rpms doesnt necessarily mean your engine is running better. its sort-of the same concept as the exahaust/backpressure argument.
And about reading threads: usually that's where you find a lot of information, especially for a vehicle like the FX where the modding community is just starting to expand and blow up. in 2003 whent he first FX modders looked for places to go, there was nothing. and compared to many other vehicles, there is hardly anything out there for us and half of it is just rebadged items form other vehicles made to fit our cars, and then theres the modders who how on ebay, type in FX, and buy up everything they see.
the moral of the story is: sometimes its better to go with the proven products, but if youre feeling lucky and are trying to bet on ebay no-name copies than good for you.
Oh, and next time you are trying to type in such a way trying to show you are intelligent, by using words like "Hence", "attributes"..... try not to forget the middle of a word.... "gratiously"
just for you: it's spelled "gratUITously"
---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------
If there's such good engineering going on over there, why even change up the plenum by adding a spacer?
A lot of people think that when you add and intake and an exhaust, the plenum needs to be modified as well to help with the increased air flow. That's why the spacers are so popular and the 5/16" Motordyne is such a popular mod for the Z's and G's. check most of their sites: the spacer is usually on the "what first mods to get" list. Of course there are the people who say it does nothing or if it did anything nissan would have included it from the factory etc.....but there have beens numerous tests done and in this case the spacers show great results (although all spacers are not made equal, some, like the intakes, decrease performance based on other supporting mods)
