TRD CAI Installation COMPLETE

[kizz]

Hey all,

I bought a TRD CAI intake from ebay the other week, and finally installed it, but now just have a couple of questions I dont feel have been answered in other threads.

1. It could just be me, but I almost feel as if the car doesn't pick up as much. Second gear, screaming all the way up to lift used to feel awesome, although now it's louder it feels a bit like it's taking a bit longer to get up there.. Has anyone had this before?

2. When I turn the car off, the CAI sounds like it takes one last gasp for air, but it makes a weird sound when it does this (Like a hiss). Does anyone know what this is? Normal?

I followed the instructions on here and on the Installtion papers that the CAI came with..

Thanks.

Edited July 11, 2009 by kizz

[DJKOR]

As for number one, I hear the TRD intake is better down low and you should be getting gains as such. It could be your mind playing tricks on you, but I guess someone else with the TRD intake should enlighten you on this.

For the second question, there is nothing wrong there. I actually like that sound a CAI/SRI makes when you stop the engine. You pretty much explained the sound yourself. It is one last gasp for air really, but you hear it differently because the ignition to the engine is cut and you just hearing the air being sucked past the closed butterfly valve in the throttle body.

[kizz]

As for number one, I hear the TRD intake is better down low and you should be getting gains as such. It could be your mind playing tricks on you, but I guess someone else with the TRD intake should enlighten you on this.

For the second question, there is nothing wrong there. I actually like that sound a CAI/SRI makes when you stop the engine. You pretty much explained the sound yourself. It is one last gasp for air really, but you hear it differently because the ignition to the engine is cut and you just hearing the air being sucked past the closed butterfly valve in the throttle body.

Hi DJ, thanks for the reply.

I have the pod sitting tightly behind the fog light. God knows how I managed to make it fit, but i pushed it up high and it sits nicely. I wonder if maybe a dyno tune would be good?

And yes, thanks for clearing up that last bit of air going through. Guess it makes sense that there's no other noise to disguise it.

Thank you.

EDIT: Also, temps were around 26-27 today, so I think i'll wait till tonight till it cools down and then really give it a boot.

Edited July 11, 2009 by kizz

[chicaboo]

You will always lose power down below 3000rpm with a CAI. But from 4000rpm onward it will be better than stock. It will also take a bit of time for the ECU to adjust to the CAI, and then it will be better again. The hiss is normal, even on a stock car if you listen carefully.

Gav.

[SuperDave]

I wonder if maybe a dyno tune would be good?

Unless you have an adjustable ECU, or piggy back, there is nothing that can be tuned.

Could try giving the MAFS a clean as newly oiled filters are prone to coating it with oil.

[kizz]

You will always lose power down below 3000rpm with a CAI. But from 4000rpm onward it will be better than stock. It will also take a bit of time for the ECU to adjust to the CAI, and then it will be better again. The hiss is normal, even on a stock car if you listen carefully.

Gav.

Hi Gav, thanks for that info.

So, would that also meaning below 3000rpm = enhanced fuel economy? :P :P

[azzman372]

1. I feel that under 3000 revs it feels "normal" but when you hit 4000 revs that is when it really picks up

2. Yeah the sucking noise is normal and happens with my TRD CAI as well

Congratulations on fitting the TRD pod onto a facelift sportivo! I don't know how you did it cause I couldn't do it without taking the foglight off. I have a K&n pod filter now and that works like a treat

[123R-Prozak]

1. I feel that under 3000 revs it feels "normal" but when you hit 4000 revs that is when it really picks up

2. Yeah the sucking noise is normal and happens with my TRD CAI as well

Congratulations on fitting the TRD pod onto a facelift sportivo! I don't know how you did it cause I couldn't do it without taking the foglight off. I have a K&n pod filter now and that works like a treat

will have to show our stivo's when i give u the eyelids..

[kizz]

1. I feel that under 3000 revs it feels "normal" but when you hit 4000 revs that is when it really picks up

2. Yeah the sucking noise is normal and happens with my TRD CAI as well

Congratulations on fitting the TRD pod onto a facelift sportivo! I don't know how you did it cause I couldn't do it without taking the foglight off. I have a K&n pod filter now and that works like a treat

Thanks mate!!

It wasn't easy by any means though. I had to remove the fog light, then put the pod filter up, but I had to really push it up, then take advantage of the flexible rubber and bend the filter from where the intake tube goes in, THEN quickly screw in the fog light. Now the filter sits on the fog light, maybe a bit tightly but it's nothing that I feel would be wrecking it in anyway. The only thing i had in mind was the hot air coming off the fog lights going into the engine :(

[encounta]

Have you reset you ECU yet?

[kizz]

Have you reset you ECU yet?

I did so the other night, but i'm guessing the ECU would be reset as I had the battery out for over 3 hours... Correct me if i'm wrong tho please.

Thanks.

[DJKOR]

I did so the other night, but i'm guessing the ECU would be reset as I had the battery out for over 3 hours... Correct me if i'm wrong tho please.

I would be more than certain that your ECU was reset then. See how it all feels after a few hundred kilometres of driving.

[chicaboo]

Nah, you really do lose power below 3000rpm. :P Ported headers recover that back to about stock power anyhow.

Gav.

[SuperDave]

I did so the other night, but i'm guessing the ECU would be reset as I had the battery out for over 3 hours... Correct me if i'm wrong tho please.

I would be more than certain that your ECU was reset then. See how it all feels after a few hundred kilometres of driving.

After a reset the car will feel nice and crisp for a hundred or so km. But for the next hundred or so it will feel like a dog, but comes good again after that phase; just need to ride it out. Its part of the learning procedure the ECU goes through.

[kizz]

I did so the other night, but i'm guessing the ECU would be reset as I had the battery out for over 3 hours... Correct me if i'm wrong tho please.

I would be more than certain that your ECU was reset then. See how it all feels after a few hundred kilometres of driving.

After a reset the car will feel nice and crisp for a hundred or so km. But for the next hundred or so it will feel like a dog, but comes good again after that phase; just need to ride it out. Its part of the learning procedure the ECU goes through.

Thanks alot for the info.

I've been driving it as hard as I can without coming to the attention of the cops, but yes I guess all I can do it wait for a couple hundred Km's and see how it is then.

[AE102]

when resetting the ecu - on start up after disconncting battery/pull fuse let the car idle for like 20 minutes and dont touch anything, believe me it makes a difference then go for a drive, it will still take a few pulls to adjust. when you said you had to push the filter right up thats not right - the filter should be clamped at the end of the pipe. i had to shorten my trd piping to fit the huge filter with the foglight correcly. i tried a injen filter as space was still tight but the smaller cone didnt perform as well.

sounds even better now with a few more mods but still put a massive naughty grin on my face - and the looks from by-standers!

[kevman77]

Hey all,

I bought a TRD CAI intake from ebay the other week, and finally installed it, but now just have a couple of questions I dont feel have been answered in other threads.

1. It could just be me, but I almost feel as if the car doesn't pick up as much. Second gear, screaming all the way up to lift used to feel awesome, although now it's louder it feels a bit like it's taking a bit longer to get up there.. Has anyone had this before?

2. When I turn the car off, the CAI sounds like it takes one last gasp for air, but it makes a weird sound when it does this (Like a hiss). Does anyone know what this is? Normal?

I followed the instructions on here and on the Installtion papers that the CAI came with..

Thanks.

With the CAI you should now be making more bottom end power so the transition into lift will not be as abrupt or pronounced. The power band will be smoother, sorta like i-vtec.

The hiss is normal when the engine stops sucking in air for an aftermarket intake such as yours.

[chicaboo]

Hey all,

I bought a TRD CAI intake from ebay the other week, and finally installed it, but now just have a couple of questions I dont feel have been answered in other threads.

1. It could just be me, but I almost feel as if the car doesn't pick up as much. Second gear, screaming all the way up to lift used to feel awesome, although now it's louder it feels a bit like it's taking a bit longer to get up there.. Has anyone had this before?

2. When I turn the car off, the CAI sounds like it takes one last gasp for air, but it makes a weird sound when it does this (Like a hiss). Does anyone know what this is? Normal?

I followed the instructions on here and on the Installtion papers that the CAI came with..

Thanks.

With the CAI you should now be making more bottom end power so the transition into lift will not be as abrupt or pronounced. The power band will be smoother, sorta like i-vtec.

The hiss is normal when the engine stops sucking in air for an aftermarket intake such as yours.

This is true for the CES CAI, but not for the TRD CAI. And it's not bottom end either, when you go from small cam to big cam you are going from top to mid on each cam respectively. The TRD CAI lacks bottom end (low rpm) but is very strong in the mid rpm, so there is a huge wallop of power at lift. Just look at the dyno in my sig, you will see how the small cam swells in the middle. Thes CES however makes good power everywhere, so the lift transition is smoother (but it's twice as loud :P).

NB: The dyno dynamics program is 4:3 aspect stretched out on a 16:9 widescreen here, so the scale is stretched horizontally. When you see the actual graph printout, it looks like a turboed Nissan taking off on boost a little later than normal.

Gav.

[DJKOR]

^ I don't think I've ever heard the transition into lift so defined before. In your video you really do notice it compared to what you hear on the road.