i went to my local mechanic today to get a tune up.

i have a nismo cai and my mechanic told me that i actually lose HP since the intake is so low in the bumper because it is not getting direct airflow.

he took the long tube of the intake out, and just connected the filter to the short part. he says "now it will get direct and quicker airflow". is this true?

i noticed the sound isnt as loud as it used to be.

 

From your description... Sounds like he made you a "Nismo Pop Charger"

I never like the Nismo design because of the extra bend the air has to take through the tube.

IMO, I think you're better off buying a pop charger than altering your Nismo CAI...

 

i think your mechanic is wrong. it might be true that you might lose 1-2hp waaay down low, but up top you should easily gain the 5-6 that Nismo claims

 

now you have a warm air intake

 

tell him to stfu...
nismo knows what their doing (more like AEM knows what their doing)
get the CAI back

 

i have a nismo short ram intake, with a JWT heat shield, works wonderfully

 

The Nismo has direct air flow if you cut away the foam by the lower mesh grill area.

 

Direct air is better than indirect air? Ummm...OK if you say so. What I am sure about is that its hotter under the hood than it is in front of the radiator.

 

I dont know who your "local mechanic" is and what certification he may or may not have. Have your looked at your local mechanics car? Most local mechanics cars I have seen are total POS. 82 camero w/ hack saw modified exhaust and dryier tube cold air intakes. Just be carefull who you take info from. I just replaced a $8,000 tranny in my m3 from a clutch disk being installed backwards at a "BMW specialist".

 

1. No intake on the Z is any better than stock. Equal, yes, better, no.

2. A short intake is worse because you are pulling in hotter air

3. As long as the intake point is ouside the engine bay, it doesn't matter where it is. Remember, most of the time your engine is operating in SUB-ATMOSPHERIC conditions. At WOT it goes only to atmospheric pressure. The resistance from any reasonably designed intake is negligible under these air flow conditions.

 

I am no expert but if you remove the plastic air deflector next to the intake filter/radiator the excess air from the resistance in passing through the radiator would get condensed and forced up the intake. NOT a bad thing cool condensed air. Yes from a dead stop the response would would obviously be decreased with the CAI. Which is better for you has alot to do with supporting mods and driving style.