A&Q about 350Z
Q:
Check this out…I have a 2003 Nissan 350z performance. My friend has a 2000 ford mustang gt with a K&N fender intake and a flow master exhaust system… every time that we raced at the drag strip he would beat me by like a fender.. Well the other day I took out my filter to clean it and forgot to put it back in. we went and raced and I kicked his ass by like a car. We raced three times and I beat him all three. I can’t believe how much power my 350z gained without the intake in… my Question is what can I do to get this power out of my car? Should I put in a better intake? And is it dangerous to run the car once in a while without the intake in??
Thanks………
A:
It's been said the aftermarket intakes don't do a whole lot. In fact some were found in the begining to actually hurt performance. As for removal of the air filter it's rather stupid to do that. You are putting the engine in great harm by allowing everything sucked in to enter the engine. Letting the engine run in a garage for a few seconds or something is fine but going out and racing like that isn't smart. While I understand you forgot to do it the first time I wouldn't recomend doing it again. That being said I'll tell you this. One time I was at the track there was a guy there with a 350z bone stock. He did three runs pulling 14.6 each time. Now mind you this is a 3000ft above sea level so times are a little higher than they should be. Regardless, he removed his air filter just to see if it would make a difference. He ended up running a 14.4. Put the filter back in and ran a 14.6. Then again took it out and ran a 14.4. He couldn't believe the difference and neither could I. So it's no doubt you saw a difference racing your friends mustang as you were dropping your times by about .2 secs. I think if you get a good aftermarket intake you'll be faster but not as fast as running with no air filter. Then again running with no air filter will cause engine malfunction so it's better to have it even if you are slightly slower.
1977 280z: Intake, exhaust, high flow cat, header, euro damper, cam, MSD, adj. FPR, 3.7 lsd, F+R sway+strut bars, 2580lbs
1984 300zx: intake, exhuast, high flow cat, headers, JWT ECU, F+R sway bars, F strut bar
06 WRX TR
A:
yes, get an aftermarket intake.
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'05 350Z Chrome Silver Touring
'73 240Z
A:
I found a cigarette butt in my airbox when I changed out my air filter to the K&N. You wouldn't want something like that flying up into your intake :) What's more important, two tenths of a second on some fun runs, or not having to buy a brand new engine? Even fine pieces of sand or debris can be harmful enough to damage your Z.
Get a CAI or pop charger or drop in air filter (and exhaust, synthetic lubes, better tires, etc), and work on your driving skill. Your Z will thank you :)
'04 Daytona Blue 350Z Enthusiast - B-Stock #34
Tanabe Sustec 36mm chromoly front sway bar
K&N drop in air filter
Hawk HPS brake pads
Pioneer Premier CD/MP3 head unit
18% tint rear and sides
A:
Get a drop in filter from K & N or JWT pop charger. Not very expensive and no downside. I have the drop in and I like it. Performance gain isn't too significant but you can tell the difference at 4000 rpm all the way to redline.
A:
its a pretty dangerous thing to do running without a filter but that .2 second difference kinda amazes me.