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***Update***
I completely un-installed the Z1 CAI kit with about 5k miles on it after discovering a HUGE rip in the silicone/rubber towards the base of one the intakes where the clamp was. I’ve installed a few intake systems before, and the other intake was completely fine, so I’d like to think it wasn’t me over-tightening the clamp but who knows and I don’t want to play the blame game with Z1 for that reason. I’d much rather just share my (not fantastic) experience with others on the forum so they don’t run into the same problems, count my loss and move on. I can't upload the picture of the intake to this post for some reason, so I'll reply below with a picture of the ripped intake. It’s collecting dust in a box now that I installed a set of very lightly used R2C intakes with the black hex filters, and I couldn’t be happier with the SRI + heat shield setup they made. I don’t feel any real noticeable power gains, maybe a little more torque, but definitely don’t feel any loss coming from the Z1 kit. Throttle response greatly improved, and the weirdest thing I’ve noticed is how much smoother it is rowing between the gears with the 6-speed manual, especially going from 1st to 2nd. All of the throttle response issues I had with my Z1 kit were probably related to that tear, but I’m just glad I removed it before it did real damage. The sound of the Z1 was probably a little louder if I had to say, but in a different way. You could definitely hear the Z1 intakes more than the R2C , but probably because of the heat shields and engine liner coming into play for the R2C kit. When you get on the throttle with R2C’s it sounds entirely different than stock or the Z1 kit- much deeper and louder.
Oh and one last thing, there was no hydro shield ever for the Z1 kit and I didn’t think it’d be too inconvenient here in NC but **** did I start worrying about those intakes constantly being wet from the rain. I never had an issue with it in rain or washing my car, but the intakes would definitely be wet and dripping a few drops of water when I’d pull in the garage after it had been raining. Too much water and risk for me lol, I couldn’t be happier not worrying about that anymore.
***Review***
I just wanted to share my experience so far with the Z1 cold air intake, which has been amazing for about 3k miles and going on my car. Just for info, my car was a bone stock 2013 G37S 6MT coupe prior to the intake. I've always been a happy customer and supporter of anything Z1, and this intake doesn't lack in quality and I'd definitely recommend it if you're considering pulling the trigger. I had thought about the Takeda and Stillen Gen 3 intakes but decided on the Z1 kit mainly because of the no cutting required and also because, well, it's Z1.
Install:
The install was super easy and only takes a couple hours, just follow the very well written and clear directions Z1 provides on the website (I'll add a link to the intake page with directions below), and also be sure to use or go buy some silicone spray if you don't have any, I can't say that enough lol. I made it 10x harder for myself because I didn't feel like waiting until a store opened the next day that had some but still a really simple install none the less. You don't need to remove the front bumper at all either, there's plenty of room in front of the radiator to get everything installed easily. The only issue at all that I had was after the install I noticed some slight rubbing on the driver's side intake tube, where it was rubbing against the engine bay and causing a slight rattling noise at certain times. I just adjusted the piping a little and have it a few mm off of the engine bay now and it's been fine since then and doesn't look like it's rubbed anymore. There are some pics of it attached. I also did an ECU reset after, but won't be doing a tune until it's time for an exhaust.
Thoughts:
Money very well spent. I couldn't stand the pedal lag with the stock air boxes, and this definitely fixes that and feels like there's been a small power gain from butt dyno tests, lol. The sound from it opening up the engine air flow a little is much better and significantly more noticeable than stock on my car too. You can definitely hear the intakes also if people are wondering that. It might not be as loud as a short ram intake but it's definitely noticeable especially at certain rpm's. I have also driven in several rain storms and not had a single issue with water intake. I wash my car like normal still also, just don't be a moron and spray water directly into the grill and intakes. I do wish Z1 would make a hydro shield for their custom sized air filters, but I'm planning on upgrading to the nicer filters they offer anyways so I can purchase some hydro shields then since they seem to be a more standard size and shape, similar to (if it's not) a JWT pop-charger filter like I used to have in my G35 I attached a few pictures from after the install which I hope helps anyone who was as curious as I was. Excuse the missing Infiniti emblem haha, it got lost in my recent move after it fell off during the install, so I'll get a replacement at some point.
I've also always been curious as to how much air flow is lost due to the small factory intake holes in the radiator support, so I'm thinking about taking it all apart and trimming that down and smoothing the edges to allow it to fit without and constriction through the intake holes. If you have any thoughts or words of wisdom on that, please chime in, or if you've done it yourself already I'm really curious to know if it's made any difference. I'll be sure to post an updated review when I attach the high flow air filters, and am ordering some Tein's for black friday (either the Basis Z or Flex Z, leaning more toward the basis but that's another post) so I'll be posting more soon
Damn if I didn't live in Commifornia, I would definitively do it. I like what you did to your grill. I guess there is enough room to mount the air filters, how easy would they be to clean? My car goes for my first smog check in Feb. I have had the car since Nov 2016. At least they gave me that amount of time to be free.
Damn if I didn't live in Commifornia, I would definitively do it. I like what you did to your grill. I guess there is enough room to mount the air filters, how easy would they be to clean? My car goes for my first smog check in Feb. I have had the car since Nov 2016. At least they gave me that amount of time to be free.
Yeah it’s a bummer they aren’t CARB approved yet but hopefully soon for everyone out west. They definitely seem easy enough to clean and remove though to get around that temporarily for a test. Just pop off the radiator top cover and you can unscrew the clamps that hold the intakes onto the silicone tubing, and you can pull the filters off. I’ll be taking them off to upgrade to the nicer filters after ab 5k miles on the original filters, and will post an update (with pics) then with how the originals have held up and how clean they are. And thanks, it came with that grille when I bought it thankfully, but I think it’s just the factory option midnight black grille.
Thanks for the review and pictures! Very well put together. The black tubing looks great.
I plan to pull the trigger on these with the "pop charger' filter upgrade when the price comes down (hopefully under $500) on Black Friday. Having installed them without pulling the bumper, do you think that the larger filters would go in the same way? Also, when passing the silicone tubes through the air box holes, were the tubes deformed significantly? Do you think the factory holes are restricting a good bit of air flow?
I wonder if Z1 has dynoed the intake before and after cutting the core support. I'd also be interested in knowing how much was lost (if any) by not opening up the intake holes.
Thanks for the review and pictures! Very well put together. The black tubing looks great.
I plan to pull the trigger on these with the "pop charger' filter upgrade when the price comes down (hopefully under $500) on Black Friday. Having installed them without pulling the bumper, do you think that the larger filters would go in the same way? Also, when passing the silicone tubes through the air box holes, were the tubes deformed significantly? Do you think the factory holes are restricting a good bit of air flow?
I wonder if Z1 has dynoed the intake before and after cutting the core support. I'd also be interested in knowing how much was lost (if any) by not opening up the intake holes.
Thanks man! Yeah honestly I wish I would've just done the upgraded filter combo in the first place since it's a lot cheaper than buying the filters separately like I'm going to now. I'm with you there on waiting for the black Friday deals too, I'm waiting for some Tein Flex z's to go on sale...I do think the upgraded filters will still be able to fit in front of the radiator without having to pull the bumper though. There was plenty of room left when I was putting in the filters, I saw a couple posts where people had somehow damaged their filters and wasn't quite sure how they managed that with how much space there is for the install. As far as the silicone tubes bending through the factory air inlets, I was a little curious myself but the tubes form perfectly to the shape of the factory intakes where they elbow in through the radiator support. I'm going to reach out to Z1 today to get their honest opinion on if the radiator support should be cut/rounded out but they said it was fine as-is in everything I'd read from them. I'll share whatever info they send me, and hope that helps - I'll definitely snag the upgraded filters if they are on sale for black friday too, and will post an install update asap when I get them.
I heard back from Z1 already (great customer support always) and they recommended NOT to modify the radiator support which was nice to hear. Hope that helps anyone else curious to know.
Thank you for the detailed reply. If Z1 doesn't recommend any cutting and you think the larger filters would fit with the bumper attached, I may save $300 and do the install myself. I put in my post-mafs and drop-ins, and that was a fun, fairly easy DIY. I can't imagine the CAI would be much more difficult, especially if it doesn't require any cutting, or pulling the bumper.
I'll probably give Z1 a call and see if they have any dyno numbers with and without the cut core support. My last dyno numbers were fairly low (308/257), and with ported plenums, HFCs, and a custom y-pipe, I think the stock air boxes are my primary flow restriction. I'm hoping for 320-330 wheel on the re-tune, so I'd probably have them cut the core support if that bottleneck lost more than about 5 whp.
Thank you for the detailed reply. If Z1 doesn't recommend any cutting and you think the larger filters would fit with the bumper attached, I may save $300 and do the install myself. I put in my post-mafs and drop-ins, and that was a fun, fairly easy DIY. I can't imagine the CAI would be much more difficult, especially if it doesn't require any cutting, or pulling the bumper.
I'll probably give Z1 a call and see if they have any dyno numbers with and without the cut core support. My last dyno numbers were fairly low (308/257), and with ported plenums, HFCs, and a custom y-pipe, I think the stock air boxes are my primary flow restriction. I'm hoping for 320-330 wheel on the re-tune, so I'd probably have them cut the core support if that bottleneck lost more than about 5 whp.
I’d definitely do the install yourself and save the $$, since you’ve already done some work on it with the post mafs it should be really easy, not too much more than that. Just use silicone spray to get the elbows through the factory inlets and it’ll be a quick install after you pull the factory boxes. Also here’s a link to a DynoJet run from Z1 with the upgraded filters on a Stillen intake with mods similar to yours other than the headers. Looks like the upgraded filters do prove a gain, definitely over the gen 3’s included filter so I’d imagine with a tune you’d see a very decent gain over the stock boxes. I was a little surprised and happy to hear the Z1 techs recommend against cutting the radiator support so I won’t be doing that anymore when I install the upgraded filters. The less cutting the better I definitely think...for now lol...
Thanks for the pics. They tell me I can't run a CAI because the filters would block and/or contact my oil and trans exchangers.
Ahh that’s a bummer...I bet a lot if not all of the room up front is taken up with the oil and trans cooler. Which row oil cooler did you get from Z1? Depending on what engine/turbo setup I go with down the road, I’ll run the Z1 34 row oil cooler myself if I keep the VQ in the G and rebuild it. I’ve heard great things about it so far.
Had my CAI installed at Z1 over the weekend. Got a solid BF deal on the CAI w/race filter upgrade ($468 out the door vs. $600+ w/tax). My initial impressions mirror those of Faulkenstein's exactly. Great look, sound, and quality, with performance to back it up. I have the same intake and car color combo, and with the exception of the larger filters, my install looks exactly like the pictures. After talking with Spencer and Benjamin at Z1, they strongly recommended shaving down the intake holes, as running the silicone tubes through without enlarging the opening would definitely create a bottleneck. It's by no means necessary, especially if you don't mind potentially leaving a few hp on the table for the peace of mind that comes with having modifications that are completely reversible.
That being the case, I had the install done and the car retuned while I was down there. I'm up from 308/257 to 317/264. I'm still waiting on the new dyno plots, but I suspect the gains under the curve are larger than the peak numbers would suggest. The car feels much stronger throughout the rev range than 9 whp would lend one to believe. Unfortunately, it rained all day Saturday, so the retune was done in 100% humidity. On top of that, I'm still running the factory midpipe and muffler, so I'm willing to bet they're restricting some airflow up top.
I'll post my own write-up on the intakes when I've put more miles on them, but as Faulkenstein said, it's money well spent, especially if you can get a deal. I, like him, would definitely recommend these.
Had my CAI installed at Z1 over the weekend. Got a solid BF deal on the CAI w/race filter upgrade ($468 out the door vs. $600+ w/tax). My initial impressions mirror those of Faulkenstein's exactly. Great look, sound, and quality, with performance to back it up. I have the same intake and car color combo, and with the exception of the larger filters, my install looks exactly like the pictures. After talking with Spencer and Benjamin at Z1, they strongly recommended shaving down the intake holes, as running the silicone tubes through without enlarging the opening would definitely create a bottleneck. It's by no means necessary, especially if you don't mind potentially leaving a few hp on the table for the peace of mind that comes with having modifications that are completely reversible.
That being the case, I had the install done and the car retuned while I was down there. I'm up from 308/257 to 317/264. I'm still waiting on the new dyno plots, but I suspect the gains under the curve are larger than the peak numbers would suggest. The car feels much stronger throughout the rev range than 9 whp would lend one to believe. Unfortunately, it rained all day Saturday, so the retune was done in 100% humidity. On top of that, I'm still running the factory midpipe and muffler, so I'm willing to bet they're restricting some airflow up top.
I'll post my own write-up on the intakes when I've put more miles on them, but as Faulkenstein said, it's money well spent, especially if you can get a deal. I, like him, would definitely recommend these.
Haven't been online too much so apologies for the late reply, but that's awesome to hear you've had a great experience with the race intake kit. I just removed my entire Z1 kit sadly after a part failure (updated the original post) but I think it was due to the original/ non-race filters they include. The race filters seem to be made much better with quality in mind, and I think if I had them on, my intake tear wouldn't have happened. When I originally purchased my intake kit I also reached out to Z1 to get their honest input on trimming the intake holes out to fix that bottleneck, but they emailed me back saying they recommended against cutting it which I thought was surprising, so it's good to hear their techs personally DO recommend cutting/trimming out the radiator support. Made no sense not to trim it. I'll definitely keep my eyes out for the review! I'm in ATL frequently since I'm from there originally so definitely I understand the humidity there lol
The ripped/torn Z1 intake after 5k miles. It tore completely through the silicone/rubber underneath the clamp. The filters were also pretty dusty and dirty on the inside after removing them.
Last edited by goldbug; 01-23-2019 at 06:03 PM.
Reason: Update
11-04-2018, 02:23 PM
but still a really simple install none the less. You don't need to remove the front bumper at all either, there's plenty of room in front of the radiator to get everything installed easily. The only issue at all that I had was after the install I noticed some slight rubbing on the driver's side intake tube, where it was rubbing against the engine bay and causing a slight rattling noise at certain times. I just adjusted the piping a little and have it a few mm off of the engine bay now and it's been fine since then and doesn't look like it's rubbed anymore. There are some pics of it attached. I also did an ECU reset after, but won't be doing a tune until it's time for an exhaust.
I attached a few pictures from after the install which I hope helps anyone who was as curious as I was. Excuse the missing Infiniti emblem haha, it got lost in my recent move after it fell off during the install, so I'll get a replacement at some point.
Ripped Z1 intake pic
