G35 Sedan Cold Air Intake Advice

[mgrove]

I have an 08 G35 sedan and I'm thinking about adding a cold air intake - never added one to previous cars so I have a few questions:

1) Will an intake alone (no exhaust changes) give me a real benefit in power or mpg?

2) Are there disadvantages to adding an intake?

3) Will an intake make the car illegal with regard to smog reg's in CA?

4) Any suggestions regarding brands of intakes to look at if I decide to do it?

Thanks!

[tollboothwilley]

I have an 08 G35 sedan and I'm thinking about adding a cold air intake - never added one to previous cars so I have a few questions:

1) Will an intake alone (no exhaust changes) give me a real benefit in power or mpg? It can slightly increase mileage if you don't stomp more than usual the benefit is going to be a max of 6-7 HP mostly at high RPM

2) Are there disadvantages to adding an intake? It will increase the sound (this is a plus for most people...depends on you) Cost

3) Will an intake make the car illegal with regard to smog reg's in CA? No, won't be illegal

4) Any suggestions regarding brands of intakes to look at if I decide to do it? Stillen, Fujita, JWT

this is a very common mod

[kmckis1029]

all i say is dont spend $300 for 6-7 hp at the top end... as in normal driving you wont hit 6200-6600 rmps to see the extra hp...

jwt pop chargers are ~100 bucks on ebay... z tube from stillen is ~65 bucks

I will eventually buy a pop charger, but for now my setup is a K&N drop in filter and the stillen Z-tube... the K&N drop in filter claims 2-4 HP increase and its ~45 bucks...

if you going to spend 300 bucks get a spacer.

[TISon28s]

A cold air intake will improve your MPG by 2% or so.basically, anything not OEM or manufactuer-like, is illegal. Your engine will roar and it sounds sick when you punch the gas!You should go for a cold air from stillen or AEM. Don't waist your time with short ram intakes as they only give more torque. Cold air gives horsepower!

[TeflonG35]

I'd rather have torque then Hp gains. But honestly the gains of just an intake aren't real great. But anything that helps the flow of air in an engine is a plus. Basically an engine is just the movement of air.

[zozoka1212]

all i say is dont spend $300 for 6-7 hp at the top end... as in normal driving you wont hit 6200-6600 rmps to see the extra hp...

jwt pop chargers are ~100 bucks on ebay... z tube from stillen is ~65 bucks

I will eventually buy a pop charger, but for now my setup is a K&N drop in filter and the stillen Z-tube... the K&N drop in filter claims 2-4 HP increase and its ~45 bucks...

if you going to spend 300 bucks get a spacer.

I see the redline almost every day a few times.

The op talking about the 07+ sedan. It has a different engine with 2 intakes. If you calculate your pop charger and z tube x2 you end up with more then 300.

Spacers? I assume you think about the 06 or older again.

There is a few thread here by Suby about the Stillen vs Fujita for the 07+ sedans.

zozo

[tollboothwilley]

the biggest benefits of this will be noticed in conjuction with exhaust

[Sentientbydesign]

Here we go with the misinformation again

Intakes do more for sound than they do for performance. Yes, dynos will show 5-10 hp (on your engine), but realistically, you won't feel it. You may think you feel it, but I can almost guarantee that a double blind test would yield little to no sensation.

As for the fuel economy...I can't really say. My understanding is that the VQ35HR (your engine) with dual intakes has a pretty advanced intake design to begin with. The only benefit I can see is removing the baffles (which an aftermarket intake may do).

Mods are NOT always illegal. Anything that can effect your emissions is governed by CARB (California Air Reserve Board). They like making us pay lots of money so they can rule the world. Most of the brand name intakes will come with a CARB Exempt sticker which means they are legal (to CARB).

Your local city, county, home owner's association, on the other hand may not like the extra noise you're making and in that case the mods may be illegal.

[kmckis1029]

you are right... he has the dual intakes... and newer engine

but still i agree with nate, the intake on the engine is already great... even the 06 and earlier IMO... remove the baffles so air goes straight into the engine.

Then IMO, just put a high flow drop in filters and spend your saved money elsewere on the car...

[Q45tech]

Factory Engineers get bonuses based on performance. They are allowed to spend extra money if they can deliver measured extra HP/Torque for magazine articles and speedtests.

Manufacturers pay US government taxes based on EPA MPG..............saving just 0.501 MPG is significant as it can rounded up resulting in better sales and a $250 per car lower tax.

If engineers could save $250 [ lower tax] with a mod that cost less they will get promoted.

Thinking an air intake mod or even an exhaust mod [after cat] can improve scientifically measured MPG is delusional.

Even a dirty black 30k air filter will not offer much restriction to the naturally pressurized system [14.7 psi] on a small displacement nonsuper/turbo enhanced engine..................unlike big semi diesels.

[Anthoney456]

i have an o4 g35 sedan with a k and n cold air and i love honestly this may not seem like alot but i drag prett frequently we only have 1/8 mile around me and i picked up almost two tenths ran a high 9.5 like 5 times and intake i run like 9.3 to 9.4 with intake so and sounds great every body looks just get one you love it wether it works or not