front bumper air duct combo with jwt popcharger would this be the same thing as cai? i know its closer to the engine but the air coming in is cold and straight from outside through the air duct, has anyone dynoed if its got better gains?

 

theory sounds good. i'm interested to hear if anyone has dyno results.

 

The difference is probably small. Keep in mind that as the car moves, air pressure builds in front of the radiator and passes through the opening that feeds air into the stock air box. That's why none of the CAI's or other intakes provide moderate to large gains over the stock intake.

BTW, with an OBDII monitor I have been able to take some measurements, and at highway speeds the difference air temperature at the MAF and the ambient air is only about 5ºF. That is with the stock air box.

 

i see. I was thinking since the set up is similar to cold air and the pipe is shorter than cai not much power is loss or not much heat generated since the pipe is shorter; so you're saying that on the highway their is an increase of 5deg on stock box? I really don't want to go injen CAI since the filter sits so vulnerable to water and dirt, I was looking for torque gains on jwt pop but only found hp gains; are we loosing torque with jwt pop?

 

Not sure about the torque loss. The stock box is not really that bad so anything else you get will have small gains if any. Buy one because of the looks or sound, most are not worth it for gains. The Popcharger is so cheap it's the only one that you're getting your money's worth on.

The problem with trying to dyno things like the Varis airduct is that it is so hard to simulate real road conditions. Out on the highway it may provide more cool air than the stock config but it will be hard to measure on a dyno with fans blowing on the front of the car.

 

I have that set up. I will let you guys know how I do.

 

Are you doing a before and after dyno?

 

I installed a varis duct and also have a pop charger. Who knows if it help, but i can tell you one thing, heat pours out of it when parked... after driving of course.

 

it really wouldn't matter. Your at a stand still with your hood open during the dyno. you really can't prove the gains unless maybe you do a 0-60 run or 1/4 mile run before and after...

 

Agree. The Varis duct is in front of the pop charger filter. Fresh air enters the duct when the car of moving. But how do you dyno this configuration when the car is stationary?

 

This Is Good, I've Been Dying To Know If It Make A Diffrence Having The Air Duct. Keep Them Coming..lol

 

yeah i guess the only way would be to do before and after 1/4mile run; but it has to do some good, considering that its directly sucking in most of the air from the outside when you're running the car, i'm planning to do this setup, i'll do before and after 1/4miles but my car is still not done with the break in process.

 

true unless your sucking in hot air or cold air. you also have to put in play what type of tube you are using. If you stick with the oem/jwt pop charger combo the air stays much cooler than if you were to change it out to an aftermarket ram air which than would heat up to extream temps under heavy driving.

 

Any done 1/4 runs with and without the duct? Im thinking of just cutting a hole in my bumper shaped like the duct...

 

just curious if the varis duct would make u more prone to water ingestion? i live in indiana and we have some pretty heavy rain... i like the idea of the duct and love how it looks but if it could cause damage screw it.

 

Like DavesZ#3 up above, I've also used an OBD tool to watch intake temps with my JWT Popcharger. I've found that once you are moving 35 mph or higher, the intake temps really aren't much warmer than the stock air box or the aftermarket CAIs. Adding one of those ducts in your bumper might lower those intake temps a bit more, but I'm skeptical it'd make much difference.

The only downside to the JWT (or other "warm air intakes") is when you are stopped. At that point the intake is just sucking in hot engine bay air, and I don't think a Varis duct would fix that to be honest... not much at least.

That being said, I kept my Popcharger since I know it's fine as long as I'm driving 35+ mph, and it sounds fantastic.

 

anyone have a video or sound clip comparing engine sound of stock airbox vs. popcharger? and what are the gains (if any) of a pop charger over a K&N drop-in filter in the stock airbox?

 

I didn't really notice any power gains over the stock airbox when I installed my Popcharger, nor did I notice anything with my Nismo intake I had previously. Everyone seems to agree that the stock airbox in this car (along with the oem air filter) is really efficient, so gains are hard to come by. Basically, intakes on the 350Z are done almost purely for the sound.

Concerning the sound, I Popcharger doesn't make any extra noise at mild throttle or cruising. You only start to hear it when you give it mid-to-full throttle, and even then it's sound is mostly audible at about 4k rpm and up. That sound, though, is fantastic. It's sort of a deep, throaty growl, although I guess that description means almost nothing since everyone has a different idea of what "deep, throaty growl" means. A sound clip might not do it justice, either, since I find that sound clips of exhausts are fairly worthless, so intake clips are probably also pretty worthless. The best bet, as always, is to find someone with a Popcharger installed and have them take you for a quick drive. My Nismo cold air intake sounded about the same as the Popcharger, but it was only audible at higher rpms... maybe 5k and up. (That's why I like the Popcharger's sound better.) I assume that's because of all the extra piping the CAIs have vs the Popcharger.