i'm new to anything other then intake, headers, exhaust. I'm looking into a couple low cost upgrades for fun.

First on my list is the JWT Popcharger for obvious reason, inexpensive and easy.
I have been reading alot about Basic Plenum spacers here. 5/16 or something. some sites say that this produces between 10- 15 hp on our engines. Now this seems quite high for the price of these things.

My questions is more on how it works. How does creating more space allow for more hp. I guess i'm looking for the cloes notes on how the spacer helps produce power.

thanks

 

http://motordyneengineering.com/techinfo.asp

Everyone seems to love em and I'll be looking to buy one soon.

 

and I noticed that some will fit with stock strut bars, some will not, depending on size. 5/16 if you want to keep stock strut bar.

Am I to understand is that all it does is increase the volume of air/free space, this allows the engine to breath better, increasing the hp.
what if any problems do people run into?

 

its a good mod... either do it in the 5/16" form or also get the AAm angled spacer...abotu the same performace wise really...aam a lil more coin but its better quality..both will allow you to keep stock strut bar

 

I disagree with the "AAM is better quality" but thats been beaten to death so I am not getting into that here.

That said, MD and AAM both work and I would recommend them over products like Skunk2 who not only can't use a normal strut bar also seem to have clearance issues with the hood in some cases.

Spacers are a very popular mod for Zs considering they have no bling factor, pop the hood and there is almost nothing to see. One thing to keep in mind is this: lots of people buy them yet they are rare in the classifieds, why? Because they work.

Chris

 

thansk for not taking the thread out of context...i like both products... i personally have MD but i have seen the AAM also...again its all debatable....
what ever the case is. both are seriously overpriced for what it really cost to make this.....
IN ANY CASE this is the along with testpipes are still the best mods for the 350z as far as gain vs cost goes.
and both very easy DIY installs

 

it's not just about adding more volume to the plenum...it's about getting the engine balanced - the OE plenum is more restrictive at the front 2 cylinders vs. the rear 4...so by adding a bit more volume, the resitance goes down and equalizes the air to all cylinders.

That's one of the reason's AAM's spacer is angled, to bias air volume to the front cylinders and equalize the flow.

-both AAM's angled spacer and MD 5/16 spacer will allow your OE strut bar to clear the plenum.

-Peter

 

Members misread instructions and torque bolts to foot/pounds instead of inch/pounds.

 

generally, your questions are answered in the top 100 questions thread

 

thanks for the info guys, I tried to look aroudn and get some info before i posted. Your comments are basicaly what I understood.
I think i'll add the MD 5/16 spacer along with my JWT popcharger for my first mods.

 

why not injen CAI

you can make it a short ram if you want if its raining outside too much.
Way better than the popo charger which its basically there just for looks and sound...doesnt do anything(1-3whp maybe) as far as more power

 

I believe CAI and plenums/spacers don't mix. Although some do not like the JWT because it sucks in hot air compared to CAI, the length and bends in a CAI tend to hurt performance.

If this makes you feel any better... I have a friend who got his car dyno'd with the Nismo intake and then added the JWT Pop Charger the next run and gained 3whp.

 

the only issue that i heard witht he JWT is that if you put the car in neutral at high speeds, the car will stall.... sometimes.
car shouldn;t be in neutral anyways at high speeds.

why woudl i get hte JWT: cause i'm looking for inexpensive mods. more for fun then for large gains. This along with the plen spacer seem to be easy inexpensive mods, with a little of hp gain.

I'm open to any suggestions though

 

I have never had an issue with that although I'm not saying its never happened to others...

Hope that helps.

 

Well I have both the JWT popcharger and AAM Spacer, I wouldn't
really bother with the spacer if your Z is a 06 as the problem was somewhat
addressed by Nissan. The 287 hp models seem to best benefit from it, I would invest those 300 bucks towards exhaust

and BTW NO the JWT does not make your car stall, that happens perhaps if its filthy dirty and clogged lol but again NO STALLING here.

 

its a known issue on the jwt stalling...and unrelated to dirty filters btw. but good to hear you have not experienced that issue


the 06 has a revup engine but that doesnt mean they really improved the flow on the intake manifold as far as flow to the fornt runers...
in an 06 you want the mrev2 with the plenum spacer(aam or angled)

and the 5/1"6 basic spsacer is 250... which is still cheap n/a mod with proven gains

injen cai will run you about 150 more than the pop charger but you can probably find it used for a very good price...
in any case it looks much nicer than the pop charger even if you make the injen cai a short ram =]
and of course better performance

 

Well the spacers are debateable, I have an 06 and according to AAM you don't get that nice big gain with the spacer as you do with 05 and below.
The MREV2 I dont know, I cant say much since I havent bothered playing with it. Id rather put money on the exhaust 1st before I get more air coming into my engine The Poop Charger is great though, I like the looks and sounds. I had an injen CAI on my 99 Maxima SE and the intake got wet ALL the time when it rained out here so I def dont want that issue with the Z. But all in all I think I have done well so far for the 3 mods I have it sure feels spunkier

BTW I do have the angled plenum spacer from AAM

 

I have an 03 model
and i already have a Borla exhaust

 

then definatly get the spacer and injen cai and testpipes

all those are must mods for you

 

hummm