Akuma intake install/review
 

Hey guys. I received my intakes today and decided to dive right in. They are installed already. Just waiting for morning to hook up the mass air flow sensors and flash the ecu with the new tune. Here are some pics of the install. Saving second and third posts for install notes and review after I flash the tune.

Attachment 57680

Attachment 57681

Attachment 57682

Attachment 57683

Attachment 57684

Attachment 57685
Set #2 :)

Attachment 57686

Attachment 57687

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/18/uhuzyhem.jpg

Install -

everything came in very well packaged and in tact with no damage. Akuma had everything packed in tightly and secure with alot of padding and packing peanuts.

for never removing anything from the engine bay it wasnt a challenge to figure out. hardest part was trying to keep track of which body clips and 10mm bolts went to which parts lol there ended up being alot to keep track of once everything was removed. air boxes came out easily, front bumped came off without problem, and the front brace was simple as well.

next came the part that made me most nervous. cutting the stock airducts to make room for the new intakes. it was hard at first for me to take a dremel to my baby but it had to be done. and i tried a rotozip at first but the dremel worked amazingly. rototzip was just too bulky for what needed to be done.

putting in the intakes wasnt exactly difficult but took some work since these are 1 piece compared to stillen gen 3's which are 2 piece. it took a couple tries to find the easiest way to get in. also WD-40 on the inside of the coupler that goes on the throttle bodies. without the WD-40 it is tough to get the couplers on. on the driver side it also took some finagling to put the filter coupler on the front of the intake tube since the AC lines are tight to the intake. not impossible but took a couple extra minutes. it does make a nice tight fit though. there is a little play on the passenger side. i heard a couple vibrations while driving. i most likely will figure out a way to wedge something in there if it ends of bothering me. til then it's gonna be left alone since i've barely heard it and i'm not in the mood to take the front end off again lol.

only install hiccup i had was what to do for the breather tubes from the old intakes. i just shortened the stock tubes to make them work with the new placement on the new intakes. 30 second fix.

after the install i took a few minutes to throw the new tune on with my uprev cable and it was 100% and ran great right from the start (after tune of course)

Review -

i have had my intakes on and driven the car for the past couple days. figured it was now about time to write up some thoughts about them so far.

initial start up was interesting before i put in the tune. i see why they say the MAF table adjustment is needed lol. but after a quick upload of the provided ROM file from john at Akuma it was running like a champ. to be honest i did have to call john since i couldnt get the tune to run at first with a message sayin voltage too high buttttttt i was just dumb and forgot my headlight were on auto :shakes head: :bowrofl:

after i got the tune on and let it run for awhile i went out for a ride with my pops. went down to a long straight road by my house and dropped the hammer. the butt dyno was def happy. had me stuck in the seat more than before and the extra HP was easily felt. almost felt like a bit better throttle response and smoother power curve. i think john may have given me a mini base tune as well as the MAF but he didnt say if he did anything else besides the MAF table.

from the turn at the light i smashed the pedal and after a few shifts i hit a certain speed that i cant say since we cant speak of anything illegal on the streets here :stirthepot: lol but i still got stopped at the following light by the chief of police in that town :bowrofl: just warned me since he wasnt actually running a speed trap and not in his actual town lol. i think i just disturbed his lunch :bowrofl:

anyways....lol

overall i am very pleased with the performance gains so far. since the weather is gonna turn for the worst here in PA soon i think the Z is going into hibernation at the end of this week. i'm thinking whenever i pull it out in spring and run it a bit i'll head for a dyno session. unfortunately i never had it on a dyno for any base numbers but for me it's all about current numbers. plus i didn't feel like spending money before to know what my car was stock lol

:tup: Looking forward to it.

bump! i added the install comments and performance review

Seriously considering replacing my gen3's with these when I get my uprev license. Anyone know how the akuma tune will work if you already have a custom etune?

I can't tell u exact gains but I love them. The look is awesome, the fit is great, and I honestly feel my car and exhaust is now louder :)

FPEnvy- Thank you for the honest review. I am very happy you are enjoying the new intakes. They look great in the car. I had not planned on adding any bracing to the tubes, as the Nomex couplers are very stiff and provide excellent support. If you find there is too much play and want me to look at a possible change, drop me an email and we will see what the best options are, no worries.

If you have a current tune, I can email you the settings for the MAF/Fuel Table so your tuner can apply the changes at no cost(on our end).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

John

I so want a set. :excited:

Thanks John. This fitnent is great but the slight "play" on the passenger side insist bad at all I just want to put a small piece of foam in to stop a small rattle I heard the other day. No biggie and I love them.

I did a quick pull through first second and third and it was ridiculous how hard it pulls compared to before the intakes. I'd say the speeds but publics roads and that's a no no to talk about on here lol

Pull the trigger then bro lol

I"m very jealous at this point. :(

I'm sorry but I am in love with them so I gotta talk about them lol just get a set they are well worth the money.

I just got my wing installed, gotta let the bank refill first. :icon17: Springtime for sure though.

Yea my bank account needs to do the same. I can't wait for spring since the Z is done for the year now that snow has fallen here.