K&N 57 series review: Good intake for the money, decent SOTP incresses. Better trottle responce. Intake fit very well, the instructions were spot on. Putting on the rubber gasket around the sheild takes some time. Total install for me was about 45 mins in my driveway with basic tools. Tools you'll need a 10mm and a 14mm socket a flat head and philips head screw drivers plus some others just cant remember right now. Decent intake just unhappy with the open air box.
Its not the best photo but this is the K&N Installed

Volant review: Took the K&N out and changed to the Volant intake. Finish on the intake was very good. SOTP the intake had a little more power then the K&N and a good ammount over stock along with much better lower end when pulling hills with trailer. The install instructions left a lot be be desired. To install this intake right you need to remove the grill shell. Remove a plastic baffel that forces are into the side of the raditor. Also depending on your model might need to relocate or force move the horn a little. The tube is a little had to get to fit just right on both sides. Total install time is about an hour and a half to install with removing and reinstalling the grill. Tools: you need a 10mm and a 14mm socket a flat head and philips head screw drivers maybe some others too. So far very happy with it.
Installed

Edit: I also have a Magnaflow cat back exhaust system that might give slightly differnt SOTP mesurments than a stock exhaust

 

i concur with Irongrave's assesment of the 57 series K&N, i also have it, if no price it too low for an intake it's a great choice. i'd rate it an 7 out of 10, mostly because you do gain top end performance but it sacrifices a little on the bottom end (1k-3k rpm) and it can be found for relatively cheap. also there is a slight drone at highway speeds. install was very easy, took only a 30 mins or so

 

here is the series 77
Review: The sound is amazing past 3000K rpms 9/10. Only issue was the sealing around the heat shield. It took the longest to install.

 

Blinging Injen

 

Blinging Injen

did it have a big different in response and top end?? How does this intake sounds. i will need new mods since ill have a 3 body on with some 33s.. Let me know, i want some good ratings and willing to spend for the better ones.

 

Airaid Quick Fit intake. Works good and nice sound at WOT! I upgraded the filter to an AEM Dry flow filter though so I don't have to mess with oiling the filter. I really like the intake, reuses the lower portion of the stock airbox so you still get the connection to the fender well for drawing colder air, and it's one of the less expensive intakes for the frontier. Noticed an improvement in power from the butt dyno but no actual dyno numbers to show. Overall well woth the money.

 

did it have a big different in response and top end?? How does this intake sounds. i will need new mods since ill have a 3 body on with some 33s.. Let me know, i want some good ratings and willing to spend for the better ones.

I will chime in on this, as I have the same intake, but in a black powder coat.

As for the body lift, you might need to get a little crafty in figuring out a way to mount the rubber bushing. Also, I could maybe foresee the intake tubing sitting more at an angle, due to the lift.

As for response, I sure noticed a difference, or so I think I did. It is also very loud under wide open throttle, but pretty mild under normal driving. If my camera recorded sound, I would try and get a sound clip.

 

StormNismo, Nice job on the intake info, now a question for all you physics and aerodynamic genuises, What is the difference in HP gain at 5,000 feet with an intake mod vs the difference at sea level? Do you get a bigger difference up high because every bit of air makes a difference, or do you get a bigger difference down low because the overall pressure is higher?
My guess is the up high difference is better because you can only force so much air through the intake and your % gain with mods is higher at higher altitudes where every gram of air makes a difference.

 

I wouldn't consider myself a "physics or aerodynamic" [spelling corrected] genius, but have built plenty of performance powerplants and my father-in-law has his own 100% complete machine shop and builds racing / performance engines. My guess would be that you might see the biggest % performance improvement in the higher altitudes, but the greatest overall HP and torque would be generated closer to or below sea level.

An engine is a sophisticated air pump and 100% of racing technology is dedicated to pumping more air through the contraption with less friction or restriction. Anything that can be done to reduce mechanical friction loss or the airflow restriction would be a significant benefit.

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The one thing I'm surprised about is that there hasn't been more work or attempts to develop intake spacers out of plastic or some other non-conductive materials. The slightly increased runner length of the spacer, coupled with the lower heat transfer into the manifold would offer significant increases in both torque and HP. The torque improvement would come from the slightly increased runner length (actual runner length leading into the combustion chamber) and the HP improvement would come from a cooler and more dense air charge into the chamber.

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My someday DIY performance dream setup:

One of these days if things ever slow down enough for me to have the time I might try to put a decent new intake spacer together out of high temp plastic (neoprene or some other substance). Unfortunately it would have to be port matched and machined the same way a real metal part would be, but I think it would be worth the effort. I'm **guessing** that a well-sealed 1/8" - 3/16" well-made plastic spacer / gasket would be good for a 5 - 10% increase in both torque and HP. If that were coupled with a freer flowing intake like a K&N filter (alone) or one of the cold air kits, AND a less restrictive muffler I could realistically see a genuine 15% - 20% + performance increase. The last thing I'd like to do is add a catalytic converter from a bigger motor (like a Q45 motor, or even a chevy 350) for less restriction.

[Changed to add a link to one of the spacers I was referring to]

NWP Engineering, Inc - Phenolic Thermal Intake Manifold Spacers - Eliminate Heat Soak in your Nissan!

This company makes these spacers for the 3.5L motor, not the 4.0 yet, unfortunately. Most of these plastic spacers come from race proven technology, not just marketing hype. And it looks like this one is advertising a reasonably realistic performance increase.

 

did it have a big different in response and top end?? How does this intake sounds. i will need new mods since ill have a 3 body on with some 33s.. Let me know, i want some good ratings and willing to spend for the better ones.

Kris answered your intake question the way I would have.

 

I've got the K&N with a Flowmaster 50 SUV muffler and I really desire more low-end torque. Seems like all of the dynos show the power and torque peaks in the 4k-5k range. I know the characteristic of this engine is geared more toward high-end revving, but is there anything out there that will improve the low-end up to 2500 RPM?

 

I've got the K&N with a Flowmaster 50 SUV muffler and I really desire more low-end torque. still feels pretty gutless up to 2500 RPM. I know the engine's characteristics are geared more toward high RPMs, but is there a good way to improve the low-end?

I swapped intakes to get a little more low end. I tow a decent amount and felt like the K&N was hurting when pulling hills. Swapped if for the Volant and couldnt be happier. Adding a set of headers might help a little if you dont want to change your intake

 

What about changing the filter itself? seems like most all of these intakes are basically the same from the throttle body to the base of the filter. Is there another filter design that would yield more air flow? the AFE cone filters do not have the cap on the tip of the filter. Would this increase air flow?

 

I'm not sure on that but I know the the pipe I had from the KN was more oval shaped and the pipe for the volant is more round. And the volant filter is a lot smaller.

 

So I purchased an AEM Dryflow filter to hook up to my K&N intake. Looks like the measurements will work. From what I've read, the AEM should flow better than the K&N. Plus I like the no-oil idea.

 

I went trail riding this weekend and the shroud on the K&N held its own keeping the mud and water out of the filter.
Check out the pics:

you can see the clean square on the cover for the hood on top of the shroud:

 

I went trail riding this weekend and the shroud on the K&N held its own keeping the mud and water out of the filter.
Check out the pics:





you can see the clean square on the cover for the hood on top of the shroud:

thats one of my big concerns (and one reason I still have a stock intake) all these big open boxes scare me. lots of water around here...

 

Anyone going to post about the AEM Brute Force?

 

i'll post bigger pix tmw or in couple days, but here is the link to my Fujita intake...got it for free, cuz they needed a test vehicle, and used mine...there is a short clip of my truck on the dyno on the top-right of the site...

http://www.f5air.com/feat_ma2817.html

 

Anyone going to post about the AEM Brute Force?

ya thats what im wandering, im interested in the AEM brute force ill chose AEM over k&n any day

thats one of my big concerns (and one reason I still have a stock intake) all these big open boxes scare me. lots of water around here...

ya i agree with you on that, im gettin one so that i'll have a reason to not go mudding, but i have to admit that person got some balls to go muddin with a open air box.

 

The closed box intakes interest me the most. The injen looks like a lot of filter is exposed, while the volant seems weatherproof. Am I right on this?

 

Is there any intakes that let you keep the front piece of the engine cover??

 

I'm new to this site, but I was thinking about getting the AEM brute force also, I like the no oil idea, I read a review on it, has install info, claims about 14hp and 4lb/ft at 4000 rpms.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/2005realtruck/129_0512_frnt/

 

I'm new to this site, but I was thinking about getting the AEM brute force also, I like the no oil idea, I read a review on it, has install info, claims about 14hp and 4lb/ft at 4000 rpms.
Project Nissan Nismo Frontier - Four Wheeler

Those are bogus torque / HP numbers they quoted. Until you get ABOVE 5252 RPM, you shouldn't see big differences in torque and HP numbers like that.

HP = torque (260) * RPM (4000) / 5252 = 198 HP.

Assuming you add 4 lbs of torque

HP = torque (264) * RPM (4000) / 5252 = 201 HP.

In other words, using a baseline of 260 lb/ft of torque, you MIGHT get 3 extra horsepower by increasing torque 4 lb/ft.

So, the numbers they are quoting are bogus. Please see my posting on understanding Horsepower and Torque... Unfortunately there is a LOT of misinformation that is promoted by "performance" vendors because people don't know any better.

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f11/understanding-horsepower-torque-how-make-more-44747/

 

new here also, looking for a good performance intake, was looking at injen or volant any suggestions? 05 4.0 thanks.

 

Both the injen and volant are great intakes the volant is more like the stock air box with the expection of the ram air horn.

 

Thanks you have a great fronty by the way, I also see you went with the volant is there any specific reason, if you don't mind me asking thanks for your input.