i've been looking at intake and intake design and eeryone seems to be raving about the popcharger. from dynos it seems to have gains throughout the band with a peak of 6.5whp. but isn't it just a short ram configuration where it is susseptible to heat soak? wouldn't sitting at a light or in traffic just make it suck up hot air?

As far as the Injen (sp1986)...the tubing looks similar to stock yet it seems to net 17whp. i know the filter placement is diffrent but i don't understand why it nets so much power.

i guess i'm just a little skeptical at how these work. i've serached and no one seems to really give an good explaination...can someone help me out?

 

17 hp is a fantasy, more like 4-6hp...

 

nah dude, that injen makes some good power. Man go and look at cloudy's car. That man has a injen exhaust, injen intake, and test pipes. And he's make 262 whp. The old injen made like 7-11 whp. And don't forget, it all depends on what else its in conjunction with(other mods have an effect). All I'm saying is thats what I've heard and seen, so to those who do not believe in the performance of a part, should not judge till they know as a fact. This is my opinion and it is not meant in a bad way towards anybody. Yes, even the haters(there's a place in this world for all)

 

the popcharger seems to be a favorite. yet i still can't it out of my mind how it performs during stops or heavy traffic. i've looked at the injen pipe design and there seems to be nothing special about it that it's claims of 17whp are at all accurate. maybe less bends in the piping? piping size? i dunno...

 

A lot of the gain is going to come from good filters that flow more air and create a vortex that helps to improve air flow. The popcharger filter is one of the best and is a large filter allowing a lot of air through. Some have taken that filter and used it on the Injen intake tubing to get the best of both. The Injen pulls the air from out front which is colder and has a nice path of little resistance for the air to travel to the TB. The long tubing can reduce throttle response at low rpms, but provides more air in the intake tubing once the car is moving down the road at higher rpms which helps to feed the engine better. The mid-top end improvement with the Injen CAI is very noticable, yet the throttle response and low end gain of the popcharger is nice as well. I have often wondered if I could use a popcharger filter but shorten the Injen tubing just a little to get a better balance. I guess I am too lazy hehe.

 

LOL, how much performance do you need when you're stopped or in traffic?

I think the short ram setups look cool under the hood and all and you get the better breathing filter, which is good but now your car is breathing in hot air which is bad. Thought I heard a long time ago that hot air and something about detonation kinda go hand and hand? Hmmm maybe that was more about FI and hot air hmmm wierd.

Seems like the better breathing filter combined with the hot air would just cancel each other out and essentially do next to nothing for performance, unless you run the filter down in front like God intended cold air systems to be???

Which is better, sucking in less air that is cooler (factory) or sucking in more air that is hot (short ram)? Now which one is standard equipment and which one costs $250?

Hotter air + more air = stock factory performance, which is divided by $250+ shipping.

Also the nifty looking metal tubes seem to be prone to heat soak. On the other hand I hear they have a more straight shot for the air to travel than the factory. Smoother and less restrictave tubes.

Sometimes I think a guy would be better off to simply keep the factory unit and just drop in a K&N for a few bucks and be done with it.

I'm not really trying to be an a$$,... It just happens HA

I'm just cranky because I'm not getting my Z till March or April, at the very latest.

Truth be told I'll probably go the new Injen and try running it as a short ram and a cold kit and see if there is any differance between them. My guess is it will make less or more sucking sound but the difference in the seat of the pants will be minimal at best.

Sorry guys...

As you were:-P

 

I don't understand how you can heatsoak with the aluminum pipes...the air moves into the engine too fast for it to heat up...i seem to agree though that the stock air box is plenty efficient...

don't worry, you'll get your Z soon...i had to wait since 02' to be able to afford one...it was painful seeing them in the street and not driving one of my own.

 

Very good point.

I've heard people say that the tube gets anywhere from warm to hot to the touch but you're right, the air moves so fast it doesn't really have time to heat up much.

With that being noted, I would think that with the cooler air by droping it down in front, the better breathing filter, smoother intake tubbing, lighter weight and heat soak not being much of an issue, yes I suppose it would actually make a difference in performance. Plus it still looks cool and sounds nifty.

OK, I'm sold LOL. No seriously.




Oh yea I wanted to ask this question about the cold air setups.

How much of a pain is it to acces the filter for rotuine cleaning when it's behind the grill? Do you have to go thru half of the installing steps only in reverse order to get to it for cleaning?

If so, I'm gonna drill a hole in the hood of the car and route the filter thru the opening so it will suck it the cleanest possile air, be easy to clean and look like it's from Mad Max:-P

No I'm not a troll I swear. I'm stuck at work right now cuz the pivit bolt on my throttle arm snapped off and the only way I can work the throttle is by pulling on the throttle arm/gas pedal/throttle cable like it's rope operated gizmo. Lucky I only live 2 blocks from work but it's gonna be a pain because the bolt is broken off in the arm and of course it's flush with the whatever thing and I'm gonna have to Dremal a small slot (yes I said SLOT, get yer minds out of the gutter) so I can hopefully get a flathead in there to remove the broken bolt. Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Sad to say is it's a '97 hardbody too...

OYE!!!

 

How much more power do you need in heavy traffic?

Chris

 

it's not that. it's how much you lose from stock i'm concerned about. it's no good if an intake loses power in the lower rpm band (where most of your driving would be) while gain so much up top (where only you would be from time to time).

 

Here's my opinion - again.

The JWT Popcharger & Stillen Cold Air Intake incorporate an aluminum velocity ring into their design. The Injen I've inspected utilized a venturi and flow straighteners as part of their design.

As for how they work, all three straighten and increase the air velocity which in turn increases the total amount of air delivered to the engine. If the fuel can keep up with the increased air flow the engine will make more power. If not the engine can run lean and will probably make less power.

As for the ongoing hot air discussion, we ran a bunch of tests and the results didn't support the high air flow - immediate cool off theory. Unless you define immediate as around 2 minutes.

Here's what we found for the P-charger and to a lesser degree the Stillen CAI. Due to the close proximity between the exhaust manifold and back of the velocity ring, it gets real hot especially at lower speeds and in stop and go traffic. Once the aluminum velocity ring gets hot it quite awhile for it to cool off - dependent upon the ambient air temp and volume or rate of air flow with WOT cooling the ring the fastest. Insulating the back of the velocity ring (or Stillen heat enclosure) and the mass air flow sensor offered substantial improvements.

One other bit of information - According to a very well respected tuner, both the 350Z and G35 stock air cases draw a vacuum at WOT with the G35 being about double that of the 350Z's.

 

The stock air box is a great design and provides good low end TQ and throttle response, but once you start to modify the car more, it starts to fall short in being able to deliver the amount of air the car would like to have. The stock air box is no where near the limiting factor in the stock design for power, but many people change it early because it is relatively inexpensive, easy to do, and does give the car a more aggressive sound.

 

great post. so i was right to assume that the intakes like the popcharger just suck up hot air in stop and go...would you have any independent dynos of these intakes? i sometimes can't believe manufacturer's dynos....

 

Am i the only one whose paranoid to get a true CAI. I mean i live in texas so it doesnt rain much but when it does, look out it pours!. Those CAI's but the intake pretty much on the ground for our cars since they are low already. I know it has a valve to let moisture out but Im not sold on the reality that if i ran into a deep puddle my engine wouldnt get flooded.

 

you need a CAI that also converts to a SRI...it's a risk...people have gone through pouring rain and puddles with no problems with their CAI...then there are people who run into a puddle and hydrolock the minute they run into one...some people say when they see a deep puddle they go as fast as they can and put the car in neutral...then when they are over the puddle they put the car in gear again...

 

Yeah thats whats kept me away from CAI bc ive driven in rain so bad that it was like driving through a continuous puddle. You know the kind where you car makes a wave from the wheel well that splashes onto other cars. Yeah like that but for like 10 minutes straight in austin tx. Has anyone tried the bumper cut out mod with a pop charger?

 

Has anyone got an A/F graph with this intake installed? It seems to give such a large gain in power, plus moving the sensor from the stock plastic tube into the metal pipe (probably larger in diameter), i have a feeling that power gain is from leaning out the entire powerband due to the sensor reading 'less' air than it should compared to stock air flow meter as the diameter of the pipe probably is slightly larger than the stock air flow meter's diameter.

This can be a good thing as stock 350z run a bit rich, but can be risky if it leads to detonation.

any thoughts?

 

yes an independant a/f graph would be great...

 

Great bit of info there.

What did you guys use to insulate the aluminum area of the popcharger?

Also, it looks like you also use the same material to insulate the plastic stock tubing as well. Is that correct?

And finally, did you find it necessary to insulate the heat barrier that came with the popcharger?

 

Intakes... The stock one is well designed on this car, it's already a CAI! Save your money for something that matters.