HP, 0 - 60, 1/4 Times (Results) - 2007 Infiniti M45 Sport

[Tony407]

I used a G-Tech Pro tonight to do some runs with my car. I did eight runs for HP measurements, and then 8 runs to measure 0-60 and 1/4 times. I then took the lowest and highest results, ignored them, and averaged the rest. The temperature was 29 degrees. I did not notice any benefits when manually shifting the gears, so I just left it in drive. I'm getting my Element 114 exhaust installed tomorrow, and then next week I'll re-do the numbers. I also went to my local college's automotive department and had the car dynoed. I got 225 hp at the rear wheels. Yes, it's low, but I was told the dyno was particularly power-hungry and he said 225 hp was VERY impressive on that machine.

Here's my results from my runs:

RUN ...HP ...0 - 60 ...1/4 ET ...MPH1 258 5.60 14.12 @ 103.72 258 5.47 14.32 @ 100.73 259 5.67 14.37 @ 102.34 255 5.63 14.22 @ 101.25 262 5.60 14.16 @ 102.46 265 5.56 14.15 @ 101.57 256 5.66 14.25 @ 101.18 261 5.57 14.14 @ 101.6

AVG: 259 5.60 14.20 @ 101.7

Interestingly enough, these numbers are identical to the numbers Car and Driver obtained when they tested a 2006 M45 Sport in their Jan 05 issue. I thought that was pretty cool.

P.S. After I previewed my post, it appears that all the time I spent trying to get my run columns to line up was in vain because they're all squished together now. It's a little harder to read, but it's all there.

Tony
Modified by Tony407 at 1:05 PM 11/2/2006

[dernawe]

May I ask what your elevation is? And did you have anything in the car that would weigh it down? How much fuel? Was VDC enabled? Just want to put this in perspective, because I have seen numbers for the M45 ranging from 5.3 to 6.1. Thanks.
Modified by dernawe at 8:14 AM 11/2/2006

[Tony407]

May I ask what your elevation is? And did you have anything in the car that would weigh it down? How much fuel? Was VDC enabled? Just want to put this in perspective, because I have seen numbers for the M45 ranging from 5.3 to 6.1. Thanks.

Modified by dernawe at 8:14 AM 11/2/2006

About 1100 feet. Nothing to weigh it down except me (185 lbs). Full tank of gas. VDC was on (it never engaged).

Tony

[elwesso]

Good info... 259WHP sounds about right, would put it in the 320HP range... I dont think the VK45 is really 335HP, its more like 315-325... Still not too bad!!!

[Tony407]

Good info... 259WHP sounds about right, would put it in the 320HP range... I dont think the VK45 is really 335HP, its more like 315-325... Still not too bad!!!

Didn't the new SAE horsepower ratings knock the M45 from 335 to 325 hp?

Tony

[szh]

Nice data! Thanks for the post.

Z

[szh]

Didn't the new SAE horsepower ratings knock the M45 from 335 to 325 hp?

The 2007 M45 is rated at 325HP, yes. I think you are right that this was pretty much due to the new rating system.

Z

[buckeyechiro]

Hey Tony,Did you get the E114 exhaust installed and dynoed yet? If so, how does it sound and perform? I'd love to know. Did you install it yourself? Have you done any other mods to your M?

[Tony407]

Hey Tony,Did you get the E114 exhaust installed and dynoed yet? If so, how does it sound and perform? I'd love to know. Did you install it yourself? Have you done any other mods to your M?

Yes, I got it installed. $40 at a muffler shop. Best looking and fitting aftermarket exhaust I've ever owned. And it went on FAST...simple, no complications. The sound is awesome. A little loud inside the cabin around town at low rpms, but minimal on the highway. Outside the car? AWESOME!! I had a friend of mine drive it around in a parking lot while I stood and listened. You'd never guess an aggressive sound like that was coming from a car that looks like the M. A total sleeper. I couldn't be happier. No...no other mods yet. It would appear that Injen is getting ready to produce a cold air intake for the 4.5 engine, so that's DEFINITELY going to be my next mod. I heard a "rumor" that Element 114 is also working on one...

I dynoed it, but didn't see any gains. However, that particular dyno is very simplistic, only measured peak hp (no torque, and no hp vs. rpm), and the guy said he thought he was having some issues with it because the last car he dynoed should have had more hp than it indicated.

The true test will be when I re-do my times. Unfortunately, it's been raining out day after day. Plus, I want to do them when the temperature is close to the 29 degrees F it was during my first set of runs. It's been unusually warm out.

You guys will be the first to know when I do!

Tony

[Tony407]

Had a great time doing more runs last night after having the Element114 exhaust on my car for about a month or so. I made every attempt to exactly mimic the conditions of the first round of tests. The only thing I couldn't control was the temperature, which was at 23 F. So it was 6 degrees colder than the first set of tests which was done at 29 F.

And here they are:

RUN HP 0 - 60 1/4 ET MPH1 265 5.52 14.03 @ 103.92 281 5.58 14.11 @ 102.83 267 5.49 14.01 @ 103.54 266 5.45 13.98 @ 104.25 258 5.47 14.00 @ 103.56 268 5.49 14.04 @ 103.57 269 5.47 13.99 @ 103.78 263 5.46 13.97 @ 104.4

AVG: 266 5.48 14.01 @ 103.7

So as you can see, HP jumped from 259 to 266, a gain of 7. My 0-60 time went from 5.60 seconds to 5.48 seconds, a loss of .12 seconds (for argument's sake, I'll just consider that a one-tenth of a second improvement). The quarter mile saw even bigger gains, previously done in 14.20 seconds at 101.7 mph, and then with the exhaust at 14.01 seconds at 103.7 mph. That's about .2 of a second quicker and 2 mph faster.

Anyhow. Take the results for what they're worth. I myself am quite excited about them.

Next? My Injen cold air intake has been ordered and hopefully will be here within the next month or so!!! I'll do some more runs after it's installed...

Tony

[Tony407]

May I ask what your elevation is?

I told you it was about 1,100 feet earlier. I was wrong. The elevation of the road where I did the tests was about 550 feet according to my car's GPS. 1,100 feet is the elevation of my city's airport. I had no idea that it dropped that much in a matter of a few miles.

Tony

[szh]

Tony, thanks much for the information. I am looking forward to seeing what effects the other changes have to your car!

Z

[whiterps13]

Those are some very nice gains for a simple bolt-on catback. Im very surprised that you gained that much considering the finicky electronics of these newer cars. On some of the newer ECU's with other cars, you can actually lose performance with bolt-ons.

Got any pictures?

[buckeyechiro]

Hey Guys,I just installed my E114 exhaust on my M45. Roger is great to work with. I highly recommend him. It was surprisingly easy to install myself, but I love working on cars/motorsports! It sounds great! Exactly as Tony described. It will take a little getting used to around town, but sounds like a V8 should. I cant wait to get an intake and install it! Let me know what brand of intak you get and how you like it. I havent dynoed my car but would like to. I havent noticed any major difference in power either good or bad.

[Tony407]

Got any pictures?

Here's the Element114 exhaust sitting in my living room. It's one classy aftermarket exhaust. Best I've ever bought.Here's the main pieces of the two exhausts side by side:Here's the stock exhaust under the car:Here's the Element114 exhaust under the car:Here's the stock muffler:Here's the element114 muffler:And here's the final product installed:

Modified by Tony407 at 11:25 AM 11/30/2006
Modified by Tony407 at 2:41 PM 11/30/2006

[Tony407]

I don't think I mentioned this before, but the Element114 exhaust is 8 pounds lighter than the stock exhaust. 56 lbs vs. 48 lbs.

Tony

[elwesso]

Get a video.. id love to hear it!

[Tony407]

I've got the Injen CAI on. I'm going to give the ECU a chance to get used to the intake, and then it's just a matter of the weather cooperating with my days off so I can do some more runs!

Tony

[CrimsonQ]

Looks amazing! Im jealous!!

i wanna hear that thing

[buckeyechiro]

Hey Tony,How much do you have invested in the intake? what is the general premise of a coi, and how does it improve fuel econ/power?Have you noticed any difference since installation regarding milage, acceleration, etc...Thanks, Patrick Cooper, DC

[jEzTeR]

Awesome thread!!!!

[maxnix]

Thanks for the data.

I would think the element muffler would tend to be be more restrictive since it is smaller.

Sound levels in the car would be interesting.
Modified by maxnix at 12:51 AM 11/7/2007

[Tony407]

Hey Tony,How much do you have invested in the intake? what is the general premise of a coi, and how does it improve fuel econ/power?Have you noticed any difference since installation regarding milage, acceleration, etc...Thanks, Patrick Cooper, DC

I am not an expert in the theory of CAI systems, so I can't answer that. You might want to start or find another, more appropriate thread.

The intake was $290.

I have not seen any difference in mileage. As far as acceleration goes, if you're talking about the exhast, take a look at my times and speeds. I haven't re-tested with the intake yet, but I will soon enough.

Tony

[Tony407]

Thanks for the data.

I would theink the element muffler would tend to be be more restrictive since it is smaller.

Sound levels in the car would be interesting.

Muffler size, by itself, means nothing. It's what's inside that counts. The Element114 site specifically says the mufflers are "less restrictive". Obviously, I believe them since if they were more restrictive, there wouldn't be any gains. It would also be counterproductive of the whole idea of buying an aftermarket, performance exhaust system.

Tony

[Tony407]

Did another set of runs the other night. For those of you that need reminding, I did one set of runs stock, another with the Element114 exhaust, and then another with the exhaust and the addition of an Injen cold air intake.

The temperature was 26 degrees Farenheit during this final set.

Here they are:

RUN HP 0 - 60 1/4 ET MPH1 253 5.77 14.33 @ 101.02 246 5.62 14.17 @ 102.33 253 5.58 14.15 @ 102.04 261 5.68 14.25 @ 101.45 253 5.65 14.22 @ 101.86 248 5.58 14.17 @ 101.67 256 5.58 14.13 @ 102.58 254 5.58 14.19 @ 101.6

AVG: 253 5.62 14.19 @ 101.8

As always, I disregarded the highest and lowest numbers in each category and then averaged the other 6 runs.

Here is a rundown of the 3 sets of results:

Stock:AVG: 259hp 0-60mph 5.60 secs 1/4-mile 14.20 secs @ 101.7mphWith exhaust:AVG: 266hp 0-60mph 5.48 secs 1/4-mile 14.01 secs @ 103.7mphWith exhaust & intake:AVG: 253hp 0-60 mph 5.62 secs 1/4-mile 14.19 secs @ 101.8mph

Stock runs were done at 29 degeesExhaust runs were done at 23 degreesExhaust/intake runs were done at 26 degrees.

Other than temperature, I controlled every possible variable so that the conditions were about as equal as humanly possible.

As you can see, my results with the addition of the intake are pretty much identical to my first set of runs (stock). I really don't have much time right now to discuss why, so I'll leave that to a later time.

Overall though, I was hoping for some sort of improvement with the intake...and definitely not a step BACKWARDS!!

Tony

[sr79labrat]

Do you have a pic of the intake?

Any change in MPG?

I think our cars have a RAM air type airbox...meaning you could have lost some power due to less flow of cool air.

Thanks, Kyle

[Tony407]

Do you have a pic of the intake?

Any change in MPG?

I think our cars have a RAM air type airbox...meaning you could have lost some power due to less flow of cool air.

Thanks, Kyle

I haven't noticed any change in fuel economy.

I'm noticing a loss (possibly) of low end torque...which really shouldn't be an issue as far as the ram air is concerned - at low speeds. Wouldn't the ram air's usefulness start to increase as speed is increased? (just a guess, I really have no idea)

[audtatious]

The Injen should increase low-band hp and tq. Strange in your case that it didn't. The long-tube design actually limits mid to high-band hp/tq numbers. At least that is what dyno results on the VQ35-based Maxima have shown.

[Tony407]

Well, I've been doing some reading here and there and I've come to some conclusions.

First of all, with every 10 degrees Farenheit difference in air emperature, you gain or lose about 1% of the engine's horsepower. At 325 HP, with a 10 degree gain in temperature, you'd lose about 3 HP. Considering my 3 tests were all within 6 degrees of one another, I can rule this out as a significant variable.

Second of all, if you have a restrictive exhaust and replace it with a less restrictive one, then you'll get more power. If the exhaust on your car is already free-flowing, then changing it won't help at all. The opposite is just as true: If you add a more restrictive exhaust, you'll get less power. Ideally, you'd want an exhaust system that's as free-flowing as not having an exhaust system at all. Same thing with an intake.

The whole idea of a cold air intake is that it reduces the temperature of the air sucked in by the engine. Assuming the air is actually cooler, then you should be seing HP gains consistent with the 1% HP gain with every 10 degree loss in temperature. Now I can't tell you what the air intake temperature is on our OEM intake systems vs. the intake temperature is on an Injen (although it'd be nice to do some tests, which is what Injen should have hopefully done before they produced these for consumer use.) But if you consider the fact that my runs have shown a DECREASE in HP as well as run times and speeds after I added my intake, then the Injen intake must be more restrictive than the OEM one (or) the air temperature it sends into the engine must be hotter. Or a combination of both? But I suspect that it's more likely to be an air restriction issue than a temperature issue, since the air filter element sits down so low in the engine compartment. Who knows. Without testing the air intake temperature and making some comparisons, we really don't know for sure.

Anyone disagree? Anyone have any better ideas?

Bottom line is this: I've done 3 sets of runs under virtually identical conditions. I had some excellent gains when I added the Element exhaust. Then when I added the Injen intake, those gains were gone and I was seeing pretty the same results I had with stock parts. I've therefore concluded our cars' exhaust systems are restrictive enough to see some decent gains with an aftermarket system but our intakes are a different story. Evidently, the OEM intake systems on our engines are very well designed. My advice to everyone is that if you want an intake for some performance gains - don't get one. If you want an intake for some nicer sights or sounds under the hood - get one. I am definitely happy with my Injen when it comes to the way it sounds at WOT!! And it looks good, too.

And anyone can theorize all they want. Unless they can show me how they've come up with some different numbers using an equal or better testing method than I did, it's just a theory.

I'm eventually going to pull the intake off and do another set of runs. I "should" get similar results to the 2nd set of runs I got with just the exhaust. If that's the case, I'll have an intake for sale. I love the way it sounds and looks, but if I can get decent gains with only my exhaust, then off it comes...

Tony

[GJEMD]

In all honesty, what did you find so unbearable about the stock M45. Don't you thinkwith all of Nissans resources they crunched the numbers on air flow when producinga HIGH performance model. Even with the after market Exhaust, your numbers are imperceptible to the driving experience. I would suggest stop turning wrenches and drive this incredible automobile