It's so hard to really grok how something like a CAI or exhaust system is going to sound and feel and perform from just quickly crafted words on a web page, so I decided to go all out on my recent Volant CAI install. Here's my video for step-by-step installation, before and after performance testing (MPG/power/sound), the whole 9 yards. Grab a mug of your favorite morning brew, sit back, and enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrvXLlrwcn4

And PS, short answer for the testing:
Quarter mile time faster by about 1/4th of a second.
Zero MPG improvement, though somewhat inconclusive (some sectors of my test route were better, others worse, and the sum total was the same).
Sound, no different when cruising or until you go past 1/3rd throttle, and then it's simply glorious

RacerZX wrote:Zero MPG improvement, though somewhat inconclusive (some sectors of my test route were better, others worse, and the sum total was the same).
Sound, no different when cruising or until you go past 1/3rd throttle, and then it's simply glorious

Thanks for that. I've had my eye on one for a while. That 3rd bolt stays in when you pull off the original air box, which is why the instructions told you to remove it a few steps later. I found that out the hard way when I installed my new headlamp assemblies & had a bitch of a time getting that stupid bolt undone & then later tightened. Someone on the forum here pointed out you just pull the air box up and the bolt pops through.

Bummer that the box wouldn't go on though.

If you do notice any slight mpg improvement, let us know. That would be the main reason I'd install one.

Carl,

Nice job. I looked into doing this on my 08 V8 as well over a year ago and still have not done it. If you follow this link...

http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0

On page 2 towards the bottom, user forgottenzone installed one on his V8. He was able to work the box into his system. He didn't post it, but through PMs I was able to find out how he did it. Here is what he told me...

Forgottenzone..."All modifications i had to do. The bolt hole inside the filter box did not match to the hole on the pathy fender well. So either drill the bottom of the box plastic to match the pathy bolt hole or simply use sheetmetal self taping screws with washers and screw into the well.
when you take off the OEM box, there is a bolt mount that is next to breaklines next to the fender wall. When you remove the oem box you will see the piece of metal sticking out with has a nut welded to it where the oem box gets bolted to. It sticks out and it wont let you mount the box properly. What i did was I used the grinder with metal cuting wheel and i cut it off. This will alow the box to sit nicely on the fender. Last thing you need to do is go to lowes or homedepot, and grab some 1 inch thick foam insulation tape. They sell them in the insulation isle for insulating windows doors. there is going to be about inch inch and a half space between the fender intake whole opening and the air box opening. I used the foam tape, taped it all around the hole on the fender. Made 2 rows of tape one on top of the other to make it thicker. then mounted the box. this will give you a good air tight seal. Thats it."


Hopefully this might help if you wanted to put the box in. I'm still debating to do this mod or not. I've not heard back from forgottenzone in a while.

Jon

I'll keep you posted, but I'd say in day-to-day driving I'm seeing .5 to 1 MPG increase. TBD on if a long highway cruise feels any better...

I'm really not worried about the air-box not fitting, lots of CAI kits do without it, and warmer air will give a bit better MPG if anything. If this was a boosted high-octane sports car motor I would worry about detonation with a warmer intake charge, but with the Pathfinder's truck motor I'm not worried in the slightest.

Woh, so my nifty AEM Filter Minder is already tripping red and indicating a filter change is needed. I'm going to pull the video down until I get this sorted out.

Just ordered a K&N Filter Minder to test with and compare...

So after a long winter hibernation that included moving in December (fun fun for the holidays!), I'm finally alive and tinkering around with this project again.

I got the cotton pleated K&N style filter for my Volant CAI kit and threw it on, and sure enough it did NOT trip the AEM filter minder (which trips at .36 psi).

"So the K&N style filter flows better than the big Powercore filter, like that's a big surprise, but how does this all compare to the stock setup?!?" I hear you cry. Indeed, totally incomplete before and after data has troubled my sleep all winter long.

So today I threw the whole stock setup back on, with a brand-spanking-new-fresh-from-the-shrink-wrap-Nissan-OEM filter, and a K&N Filter Minder attached (it provides a more progressive reading than the AEM, up to the same .36 PSI max reading, though it's physically much larger than the AEM gauge). Went for a brief yet brisk test drive and slammed that K&N minder into the stop begging for mercy and to, please, please sir, change your filter.

So...no good data yet! But I'm working on it. I need a filter minder that reads higher so I can truly tell how the OEM filter reads new, to compare it to the Volant Powercore filter, which is what was in my video, and is really what I would prefer to run (I don't like the K&N style cotton and oil filters for various good reasons...).

I took the Youtube video down while I worked at sorting this out, as I didn't want to steer anyone into buying the Powercore until I was confident it truly does what it's supposed to do. However I'll set it to "Unlisted" now so you can view it from the link on this thread if you want to check it out...

Thanks for the update. I'll stay tuned.

Thanks for the video... love your choice of working music LOL

Any updates?

I found a filter minder that goes up to 25 inches of water (about .9 PSI), and so was able to measure the stock air filter as coming in at 11 inches brand new (the old AEM and K&N filter minders I tried only went up to 10 inches).
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal ... 0006474264
Now I'm going to run the stock setup for 10K miles and see how it reads, but honestly this is going to take some time.

I think at this point, putting in the Volant CAI with the Powercore paper filter and the AEM *20 inch* filter minder would be the perfect setup. But I'm not actually going to do that until I collect the data on the stock system so I can compare it directly to the Powercore filter...
http://www.aemintakes.com/store/product ... QgodxjgAAw
http://store.newlevelmotorsports.com/128566.html

Or, if you want maximum power (but IMHO unacceptably weaker filtering), get the pleated cotton (K&N style) filter and the 10 inch filter minder and you'll be good to go. I haven't fully tested the cotton vs. Powercore filters yet to see what the exact power & MPG differences are, but I can at least confirm a difference in pressure drop across the filter which implies the cotton one provides less restriction.

Yo!

10K miles since my last post, and on the OEM setup the stock filter is still just at 11 inches of water in spite of visually looking somewhat dirty (I think the official change interval is like 30K miles? I'd believe it, though putting a minder on it would be the properly geeky thing to do).

With the 10K OEM test done I swapped my Volant Powercore system back in, and it's only drawing 7 inches, so now I have the data and peace of mind to let it run (and enjoy that fantastic sound) until it starts rising up towards 10 inches and then I'll swap it (which according to Volant should be 100K miles!).

The Volant Powercore intake setup is now 100% RacerZX Approved (tm): A little more power, a little more MPG, almost never change your filter again, and lots and lots of fantastic intake growl for the go-peddle.

Nice to hear. I ended up buying the K&N setup from another forum member that sold their pathfinder. Though it would be a nice cost saving idea.