Hi, I'm sure this question has been asked 1000's of times but i'm a little lazy to go digging thru all the old forums.
I want to get a intake...preferrably a Cold air intake...Any ideaS?

I've heard that these are the good ones, im not sure if they are cold air or not :
Injen
K&n
Aem
Iceman

Please let me know if which intake would be the best without installing a Ecu chip. the chip is out of my budget for know since im buying new rims and a bodykit.

 

Personally, I think most of the kits out there are degrading the stock box and cold air intake it already has. It's simple, the stock box has a tube that directs to the front of the car that can take in cold air, right in front of the radiator. That is the best thing you can do. Some people on the forum have made their own custom cold air intakes that probably can do a little better. I say just get a drop in filter to the stock box (K&N) and like I did, I guided the cold air from the front of the grille more towards the tube from the stock box. Let me know if your interested, and I can give you more details. The way its setup, it's almost like ram air...at a low cost budget...
I think all the other kits out there that don't have a tube directing to cold air hurts the performance cause it is sucking in HOT engine compartment air...To me, it doesn't even look cool. It takes away from the elegance of the engine compartment too. Sometimes, stock is best...How else can you crank out 300HP out of a 4.0L. THE VVT-i is AWESOME!

 

He dude I know you mean well but you should do some more research on the GS400/430 before you put down that these other intakes degrade the STOCK one!!!:eek:

 

My main point is that many of the aftermarket intakes don't supply it with the cold air tubing the stock box has. I have a GS400, and compared to what I have seen in the aftermarket products, the stock box is better simply because it sucks in the air from outside the engine compartment. If you can remember that the tubing goes right above the radiator and has about a 7 in opening to take in cooler air right from the grille. You know that oxygen molecules can't take up the same amount of space in hot air than in cold. If your engine is sucking in hot air, and lots of it because of the bigger aftermarket tubing and less restrictive filter, it will degrade the performance compared to the stock box that sucks the air from outside temperature, a lot cooler in every weather condition compared to inside the engine compartment.

If you look at most of the aftermarket systems, their owners still try to re-modify it to take in cold air. Or the create a custom enclosure, (like stock, but obviously bigger) and does the same thing, but if you aren't directing the cold air in there, even though you are sucking in more, it is more hot air not cold, like the stock that is directed to the outside of the engine compartment.

Under normal driving conditions, or even racing conditions, it is best that you direct cold air into your intake.

There are aftermarket intakes that are better than stock. But if they don't direct cold air to the throttle body, it was made for looks and show, rather than performance. Also, metallic tubing absorbs more heat than plastic, though it doesn't look as nice and shiny, plastic tubing is the way to go, for performance. And if you get one that has a heat shield, make sure the heat shield is made from fiber glass, and stay away from metallic substances, it absorbs more heat...

Enjoy....

 

My SRT intake with the ECU is awesome. I added 27 RWHP to the car with it. THe heat shield works. I thought the same thing you did but the DYNO told the story.

 

Ya heard the man...looks to me the SRT is a step towards the right direction...

 

There is a point to what you are saying about the air temp, however, the benefits of some intake systems outweigh the negative effects of increased air charge temps. I don't have any personal experience with any of the Lexus systems, but find this to be the case on several other cars I've owned in the past and hey, a motor is a motor.

Cold air intake + SRT would be ideal I'm sure but SRT by itself seems to be pretty good as well. Might be something for SRT to work on for their next design!

 

Doesn't the SRT system change the ECU as well?....Has anyone tried changing the ECU without changing the intake system hardware as a test? A motor is a motor in theory...but with all the advances you have in the VVT-i technology and special tweaks you do to the car to bring out every bit of HP you can get is critical to the hardcore racers who race for a living...for us regular consumers, just wanting a nice sweet ride and using it as our daily drivers, its good enough....I don't see anyone driving their cars at peak performance day in and day out anyway....every bit helps...
Regards,

 

Yes, the SRT Intake comes with a ECU. I recommend visiting their site for some details, and mine, HERE read up on it.

Also, do a Search. The Intakes for the GS have been discussed about a <insert Dr. Evil tone here> 1 billion times.