real life driving results vs dyno Intake specifically

TPrelude-370z

Now by all means I am no expert in this field nor do I claim to be. This is just my own thoughts and I wanted to test the validity of it by other people.

Intake dyno numbers have varied from intake to intake, dyno to dyno, temp to temp, etc... These are a lot of variables. I know nobody really wants to hear this, but the most important dyno in my book is the butt dyno.

My thinking on intakes is they are most utilized and efficient while driving at speed with tons of fresh air flowing through. The faster you go, the faster and more volume the air flows. I do not believe a dyno can come close to replicating this.

Yes the dyno has been the standard for so long and is a great tool to use in testing performance increases of many modifications. I personally do not believe a large fan blowing on a stationary hot car/motor that has no consistent air flowing through it to keep it cooler. Really, how much is that fan really simulating.

I have been surprised that this has not come up before but I have had this thinking for a while doing my research on the threads here and weighing the variables.

I do agree all intakes are not created equal and there are definitely poor designs that restrict instead of add power. I have a real life testimonial from what I experienced today. Take it for what it is, but be open minded.

I got the stillen g2's used for 250$ shipped which I thought was a great deal. I researched intakes and dynos and designs for a long time before making this decision. I believe the stillen intake is just an improvement on the oem intake which flows very well already. Putting the intake in and comparing the components to stock, the difference is very obvious in favor of the stillen.

Everything about the stillen intake is better, bigger, more open, more free flowing, etc... I had hks drop ins prior to this which made a huge difference in acceleration by themselves. I really only got the stillen for noise purposes, but in my mind, no matter what anyone had posted, they would make a substantial performance increase.

Now everybody has a butt dyno, and everyone thinks theirs is accurate, but lets take that out of the equation as I have no reason to hype this intake up nor try to impress anyone with how fast my car is or big dyno numbers. Here are my experiences in order of mods.

*erz resonated test pipes - huge power increase and decent sound increase

*test pipes plus hks drop ins - again, more increase and smoother acceleration sound changes negligible.

*now add obx y pipe to the above mods and we have a very free flowing machine. The plus of the obx is significant power, way more than I anticipated based on dyno and reviews of other pipes. The sound increase was very nice as well. The only downfall is the legendary hiss.

*I then matched the 3" outlet flange of the obx y pipe to a 3" y transition down to 2.5" midpipe straight to the muffler without resonators. This increased power a bit more and opened up the exhaust sound even better. Cleaned up the hiss sound to a smoother one, but still very much still there.

*So now to the reason for this post. I just installed the g2 intakes this afternoon and went for a short but enlightening test drive. The pull was incredible. The car felt like a powerful v8 and screamed all the way to redline. I loved the deep tone you hear from the intake towards the higher rpms.

Now I don't know for sure if the reason for such a noticeable improvement in power is because this is the first intake mod compared to all the exhaust mods, all I am saying is I know what I feel and it is not just placebo.

Moral of the story is depending on what mods are done when, and in what order, one power adder can seem small because of the other mods involved, and vice versa. I read a recent post where someone mentioned a huge increase in power (dyno) due to an intake yet believed it was because it was his first mod and the exhaust mods yielded minimal results compared to other dynos.

Again, I do not believe when it comes to intakes a dyno can be an accurate tool. I like the short ram over cold air from experience. The faster response is unprecedented over the colder air which is not that much colder.

Thanks for reading

christian370z

Nice write up. Also, remember that when a car is on the road at speed, air intake temperatures are generally lower and the ram air effect of air moving to the intakes at speed is much greater than what dyno fans can generate so you generally can make a bit more power on the road.

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Kingbaby

Nice train of thought on the matter and way to not take numbers for what they seem to be. I've seen stateside dynos with less mods as I have and put down greater numbers! Why? varibles? Yes, many varibles to account for.

So dynos are just a tool, not that specifically a guarantee measuring tool!

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TPrelude-370z

great reply, well put. People place so much emphasis on dyno numbers to crap on a product or praise it when there is no real world data. Numbers are cool, but the most important thing is driving. I looked at the intake design and was sure it would make a big difference. I was not disappointed.

Thanks for the reply

Methodical4u

I am also no expert... and yes each dyno does indeed read differently and it always will. I have wanted to get the R2C intakes personally, but then again i've read things that tell me it won't do much.

It's obvious that a CAI will always give you likely less response in throttle because the air has a longer way to go. Many people agree that if you are doing a lot of driving in the mid range area that an SRI is better because the full advantage of a CAI is going to be near the top of the rev limiter. Some don't drive that way.

There is also the idea that one could get an SRI ... like perahps the Typhoon, which has claims to produce 14.2 hp.... I have not seen an independent dyno to back this up, so for all we know this could have been done in an air conditioned shop with a fan and the hood up... so of course it would make that much under those conditions.

Then again, I don't know if anyone has actually had a dyno done doing this BUT, there is the Modshack idea of taking out the fang areas and putting in a hose that goes to the intake... not cold air right off the bat, but the air has been shown by temp gauges to be just as low as the Stillen G3's once the car is moving. OP, you could also add this to your G2 set-up and see how it works out.

I also like the idea of not having to take off my bumper... I know I know it's no big deal... but to me, it's just that little bit of extra that I wouldn't have to do otherwise.

Overall though, the G3's basically serve both purposes in one, so they are likely going to still be king for a while.

Methodical4u

I've been thinking about this thread... I don't know why. I guess because I have been having such a hard time deciding on a CAI or SRI. The SRI's are simply going to have been throttle response, but not the cold air.

Then again i'd like to have a better power band than just close to max around 7k rpm.

I am considering the ModShack type design, getting an SRI and trying to make some insulated cans with routing the hose from the fangs to the cans. I feel like that might give one the best of both worlds perhaps.

Just some random thoughts I was having.

Jordo!

Other than comparing two cars on the same (at least type of) dyno, if you want empirical evidence the only other ways to really test would be either on a dragstrip or by measung meterd g/sec of air ingested, both under similar ambient conditions.

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wheee!

I too noticed a large difference with the CAI. I had the Gen II Stillens first, then did the exhaust system and cats. Noticeable power difference and especially better sound! However, when I changed the Gen II's to Gen III's, I noticed even more power gains on the butt dyno. Especially at higher RPM's. Overall I found the Gen III's a better performer on the butt dyno and would say they are definitley worth the upgrade!
As I do not track my vehicle, the only numbers that matter to me are the $$ going out the door!

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