Need some honest opinions

Tony D · 08-29-2004, 06:17 AM

Hi everyone I'm new here, but a very experienced modder, this site is very helpfull, but I need some people who have installed the exhaust/intakes, to give an honest opinion if you can actually feel any difference, or if the noise is clouding judgment? I just traded a 350Z roadster, I spent thousands modding, and seemed to lose low end w/exhaust, and just seemed to add noise w/CAI. The only mod that gained anything on butt dyno was a Nismo lighter flywheel.(obviously not an option here). I also had a Hemi Ram, and was a little dissapointed w/stock so I added exhaust/intake and it seemed to get louder and slower. And the only place the Armada seems to lack is at the higher RPM's and near redline drop. That being said, I am a performance junkie, and there is never enough, so I am all over anything that will actually help. Sorry for rambles, but I really need everyone to strap on a pair,and give me and others new to Titan and Armada some honest opinions.

Thanx

pciley · 08-29-2004, 08:40 AM

I have the Banks Exhaust, Volant CAI, and also replaced the resonators with 3" straight pipes. My 1/4 mile times have dropped from 16.1 seconds to the VERY low 15's at the track, so there's obvious proof.

Titan21 has the Volant, the Banks, and the JBA Headers. You can ask him what he thinks of the power mods.

They do work, Jet Tech has dyno'd his truck with the intake and may have also dyno'd his truck with the exhaust.

MikeZ has a custom dual exhaust setup and is thinking of getting an intake.
MikeZ has also been to a dyno with his exhaust and came back with impressive numbers.

Juma has power mods.

Ask all of the above users and they will hopefully tell you the same. There is power to be had with these minor modifications.

Regarding the loss in the low-end of the RPM range:
When I initially installed the Banks (that was my first mod), I reset the computer for about an hour and on the first few drives I noticed a loss in the low end, especially from stops. After resetting the computer for several hours and driving several hundred miles on different trips it didn't feel as such any longer.
With the addition of the intake and other exhaust mods, I REALLY have a noticable increase in low end over stock. The obvious proof to anyone is that I can now spin the tires from every stop if I want, and I could not do this before. Also, I had the exhaust on the truck when it was very new and not quite broken in completely. Now with 8000 miles it runs alot stronger especially with the power mods.

PHOEBISIS · 08-29-2004, 10:15 AM

You have 18" wheels,right?You can go to 17" wheels and lower profile tires(the offroad wheels are 25 lbs 2 ounces-17" steel are 31 9-don't know what the 18" weigh,but safe bet they are heavier).You will drop some weight on the wheels,and the tires;the effective weight loss will be even more since the diameter will be less.You will also lower your gearing.
I would save my pennies and wait for a SC rather than do the intake exhaust mods.They have shown Dyno(maybe 20 hp total) and 1/4 mile improvements with these mods, but some of the improvement could be "breakin" ;can't say how much,of course.N2O is about the same cost~$1000 if you consider labor-as the intake and exhaust mods.I'm not a fan of the intake and exhaust mods because of the noise increase and modest(maybe 8% total) power increase.. With N2OYou can get 50 hp easy and the noise only increases when you want it too.
No one has produced a ECU upgrade for the Titan yet.Luck,Charlie

LikeaRock14 · 08-29-2004, 10:33 AM

Nitrous would be a fast, easy, on-demand power mod, but w/ even a smaller shot, if you use it a lot then you'll put wear on the engine like crazy, as you probably already know. Nitrous isn't really the best bet if you're looking for all around performance either.
If you're looking for more all around power, a drop in or full intake, exhaust, and especially an ecu upgrade along with it, you'll notice significant gains. It IS common for people to notice a slight loss of low end w/ an exhaust system. Some do, some don't, every engine seems to act slightly different with this mod. However, if you're looking for more power at higher rpm's and towards redline, the exhaust will show significant gains. At higher rpm's, the engines forcing more cfm's through the exhaust, so reluctantly when you free up the exhaust system, you of course allow the engine to breath easier and unleash higher rpm power. Pair this w/ an intake, you've got yourself some noticeable gains.
You CAN do an exhaust and/or intake w/out getting al the noise. Volant has a very clean and highly spoken of intake system. They have a system in which utilizes an air box, but it's coated with something, don't remember off hand, but it allows the intake to still do its job and suck in cold air, but the box also cuts down on intake noise. I'm not sure if they have a system available for the Armada or Titan yet, but it's worth it to check.
As for exhaust, you can make it quiet too. Magnaflow or Spin Tech have the quietest interior resonance levels of most exhaust companies. Spin Tech has it's own unique sound, and is powerful and sounds awesome under accel, but it's hardly heard at higher rpm's. I've got one, going to be two, Spin Tech equipped vehicles, and I've got the louder model on my 4.3, and I can barely hear it at highway speeds. It's there, but it's not a drone.
Magnaflow's 5x11x22" muffler is good too. The 5x11" case models utilize a dual internal pass core so it absorbs more heat and more sound, thusly significantly cutting down on interior resonance.

As for programmers or ECU chips, ANY of them will show a significant gain. I personally would reccomend a custom tune, since you hasve the option to tune it to whatever you feel, and usually they come with money back garuntees and free upgrades. Not sure who has done a Titan program yet, but it's worth it to check around!!!

Dolan

GETSOMZ28 · 08-29-2004, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony D

Hi everyone I'm new here, but a very experienced modder, this site is very helpfull, but I need some people who have installed the exhaust/intakes, to give an honest opinion if you can actually feel any difference, or if the noise is clouding judgment? I just traded a 350Z roadster, I spent thousands modding, and seemed to lose low end w/exhaust, and just seemed to add noise w/CAI. The only mod that gained anything on butt dyno was a Nismo lighter flywheel.(obviously not an option here). I also had a Hemi Ram, and was a little dissapointed w/stock so I added exhaust/intake and it seemed to get louder and slower. And the only place the Armada seems to lack is at the higher RPM's and near redline drop. That being said, I am a performance junkie, and there is never enough, so I am all over anything that will actually help. Sorry for rambles, but I really need everyone to strap on a pair,and give me and others new to Titan and Armada some honest opinions.

Thanx

Honestly, are you making claims based feel or actual dyno results? Big difference. There are dyno numbers of stock vs modded Titans with CAI and catback and are proven to gain both hp and tq. If you are a performance junkie, I would suggest getting a C6! Your Armada doesnt seem to be peformance oriented with HUGE 22" wheels...

Fontana Titan · 08-29-2004, 11:27 AM

I did my exhaust mod first. Sounded great but honestly don't know if I felt too much on the bottom end. I did notice a difference in the mid to upper RPM rangers under acceleration. I drove it like this for a couple of months.

A few weeks ago I installed a K&N Seriess 77 FIPK and WOW. It made a huge difference, even at the bottom end where I feel the exhause may have robbed me.

Titan Power · 08-29-2004, 03:00 PM

Since the Titan makes a healthy amount of power to begin with, and it is such a heavy vehicle, it takes quite a bit of extra power to be able to really feel it. I believe that there is still quite a bit of power locked away in the engine. While normal bolt ons like intake and exhaust can be a step in the right direction, I wouln't expect dramatic increases. But they may be of further benefit down the road when combined with other changes.

For a 32 valve V8 with 5.6 liters of displacement, there is still plenty of opportunity to make more power. I'd guess that there is quite a bit of power to be had in the upper rpm band with a change of cams and/or cam timing. Of course, there would be a trade off in low end torque.

Jason K.

Tony D · 08-29-2004, 03:09 PM

Thanks for the replies!, I understand that 22" wheels are going to hurt performance, but I also didnt say that speed was my only quest. I asked because before I spent the $ I wanted some opinions on wether or not you could feel the difference. I got exactlythe opionins I wanted, and now I cant wait to get my intake, and will probally get the Magnaflow!(love the sound), there is also not always a correlation between dyno #'s, and how the car drives. My dyno's on the Z were quite a bit higher than stock, but it never felt that much faster.

Thanks again

pciley · 08-29-2004, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LikeaRock14

... and especially an ecu upgrade along with it, you'll notice significant gains.
... Volant has a very clean and highly spoken of intake system. They have a system in which utilizes an air box, but it's coated with something, don't remember off hand, but it allows the intake to still do its job and suck in cold air, but the box also cuts down on intake noise. I'm not sure if they have a system available for the Armada or Titan yet, but it's worth it to check.

...As for programmers or ECU chips, ANY of them will show a significant gain. I personally would reccomend a custom tune, since you hasve the option to tune it to whatever you feel, and usually they come with money back garuntees and free upgrades. Not sure who has done a Titan program yet, but it's worth it to check around!!!

Dolan

Looks like you just joined this month. FYI about 20 or more active posters here have the Volant CAI. Also, there is no ECU change available yet.

On the Volant, I'm not sure what you meant by, "an air box, but it's coated with something, don't remember off hand." If you are refering to the OIL on the Filter Element itself, its just that... K&N uses the same idea, only their oil is thicker, doesn't have to be re-oiled as often, BUT the K&N oil does seem to be causing some problems with the Titan's MAF/IAT sensor, which in our trucks is a combined part. No one has reported any MAF failures with the Volant. You will read below about fitment issues, which have since been resolved, and a new box has been released by Volant. ($$$).

LikeARock, Here's some stuff for you to look at.
ATT: Volant CAI Owners ! or prospective buyers (regarding Volant)

Computer Modification/Tuning ?? (RE the ECU)

Welcome!

Bob · 08-29-2004, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LikeaRock14

Nitrous would be a fast, easy, on-demand power mod, but w/ even a smaller shot, if you use it a lot then you'll put wear on the engine like crazy, as you probably already know.

Please explain how a 50 shot of spray would cause any more engine wear than 50 hp added by other mods?

HOU-TITAN · 08-29-2004, 09:22 PM

JetChip has a ecu upgrade for the titan!!!

smoothTitan · 08-29-2004, 11:21 PM

i cannot belive bob asked that question

Bob · 08-30-2004, 12:56 AM

"Belive" it

If you know then please enlighten me

the head · 08-30-2004, 05:29 AM

I'm with Bob. You run nitrous only occassionally (when you want it). Mashing the throttle down with other mods (especially a supercharger) would put more load/wear on the engine more frequently. But to me there is little difference. I had 140,000 miles on the stock short-block of a 87 mustang with 200+ nitrous runs and it was still pumping out the same power off the nitrous as it was at 30,000 miles. The other side of that coin is that I also knew another mustang owner with 90,000 miles on his stock short-block going from a Paxton to a Vortech in that time and his was just fine too. We both were switching to stronger blocks so that's why we changed them out. Don't knock nitrous until you, yourself, have tried it. There are a lot of idiots and people who spray more than they should be that give nitrous a bad name. I'm a big fan of it.

I didn't notice any power from the Banks but my timeslips at the dragstrip bear out some gain.

Also, power feel can be deceptive without a dyno or timeslips at the track. A loss of power will feel like a "strong gain" when the engine is simply making the power as it comes out of that loss. This is a big-time thing in the sportbike world where people throw on an exhuast and don't jet the bike and swear it pulls really hard in the mid-range. They go to the track and run slower. I'm not a fan at all of the so called butt dyno because it can be deceiving and added noise from a mod can also throw in a mental thing that the vehicle is making more power because it sounds cool.

I have not run an intake system yet, but with all the feedback here it seems that is a good way to go along with the mid-pipe replacement that some folks are now doing.

Your mileage may vary.

pciley · 08-30-2004, 08:19 PM

milage will increase with intake and exhaust... at least I can say that my milage increased with the Banks and Volant.

Thats after I got my foot out of the floor board

if you like the mods at first, you will probably be all over the throttle so obviously until you start to ease up a few tanks later, you will see a noticable improvement.

I agree with Bob and The head.

A 50-shot of NOS occasionally used will not wear on your engine any more than adding 50 hp worth of mods... There are some adverse effects from heat, etc. (can you tell I'm not a NOS expert

) on your engine's internals, but those won't begin to destroy your stock motor unless you are trying to go with 200 shot or something stupid like that.

I agree, when used responsibly and in moderation (ie. 50 shot on a 5.6 L 305 hp motor with a GREAT bottom end like only Nissan/Toyota (Supra) can build) Nitrous Oxide systems are not going to hurtcha. I had a POS Honda Prelude that I sold at 160,xxx miles that still ran strong.

I was running a 35-45 dry shot on that motor with stock internals, not very often though, maybe once every 1000 miles or so after 120,000. Never had any problems.