ebelen1

I know many people on this board don't like the FIPK and think it's a waste of money. I'm not here to debate this. What I want to discuss is once I got the FIPK in my 3rd gen, I felt results in the mid to top range but no bottom end results. Once I put on the Magnaflow muffler, I feel more bottom range but with the FIPK, the mid to top seems to work even better.

What I'm asking is has anyone experienced the same results? I know that people have said that they like the magnaflow muffler and everyone seems to like the deckplate mod but in combination, this seems to work pretty well. Very little hesitation when you get on the gas and much less restricted feel. Now I'm wondering about headers and how much increase this would be. (BTW, I know that most don't recommend headers for N/A vehicles but after the results with the intake and muffler, I'm second guessing this line of thought.)

89macrunner

i did the airbox mod and have a glasspack...my top end is significantly improved from stock...i can accualy go up hills gaining speed in 5th gear.

for low end i havent really noticed anything speical...the truck runs great at always

Elton

i have a k&n fipk on my truck it came on it when i bought it i got a custom intake tube made i have a lce header and a 2.25 cat back flowmaster delta 40 its got way more power then when i bought it i can pull 5th up hill and gain speed

midiwall

Yeup... (well, with the deckplate mod and a better air filter, but the same base concept)

btw... people generally don't like the FIPK because it doesn't do well in the dirt. It's pretty hard to argue that getting more air into the engine is a bad thing.


I wouldn't do it. I ran headers with my truck N/A for about a year, it was a huge waste of money. Your powerband will shift down a bit (about 500-700rpm) and you'll get a BIT more torque, but it's truely not enough to justify the expense.

The point of running headers is to get more exhaust out of the engine in a shorter period of time. They help on the exhale side of the breathing process - the FIPK or deckplate mod or elbow mod helps on the inhale side.

But, if you're not inhaling more, then having the ability to exhale more isn't going to help. This is why headers are NOT recommended for our engines when they're N/A. The stock manifold is just fine at getting out the little bit more air that you're allowing in with the FIPK. Toss a supercharger into the mix and NOW you have all sorts of air that you need to get out of the engine - that's where headers shine.


Oh... and what engine are we talking about? I assume you're talking about the 3.4L?

ebelen1

midiwall, I knew you'd respond and I thank you for it. Sometimes you get a little extra power and you don't think right.

As far as supercharging, it's big $ and time commitment that I don't want to risk on a DD. Oh well, I'll be happy with my setup until I get the electric fan. Hopefully, the reduction in drag from the fan will make me a little happier. Thanks again.

midiwall

Yeah, I try to jump into these threads where people are talking about headers. It was a $$$ mistake (at the time) and I want to be sure that people hear about it firsthand.

cootees

If you do much off-road I would not suggest the fipk. I have the stock replacement k&n with a magnaflow muffler and I fabricated a mandrel intake pipe(huge difference in throttle response). It's a good combination in my opinion.

Churnd

Headers on the 3.0 make a difference, but aren't worth the cost. I think your results with the FIPK and Magnaflow might be short lived, because your engine's computer will start to make changes to fuel delivery and other things to compensate for the extra air... trying to balance things out to the way they "should" be... stock. So, now you need to figure out how to get the computer from doing that. That's where I gave up on mine... too much money involved.

DavidA

Ebelen1,
I feel the same way. I did a generic FIPK setup along with my Magnaflo and I love it. On the top end it shines. I was on an empty country road stretch I know very well, about 2 miles straight as an arrow. I got up to 100mph in a very short time, it seems to have a much faster 40-70mph+ time now. Plus the Magnaflow growls at about 2k rpm. I love it.

Tomsriv

My $0.02
Usually their is more power to be gained on the exhaust side than the intake side. The engine has to work to push the exhaust all the way out to the back of the vehicle. If their is restriction in the exhaust then exhaust that cannot escape the combustion chamber will contaminate the incoming air. The closer to the heads that you make the flow improvement the bigger improvement you will see. Maybe 4runners are an exception and the manifolds are well designed, but you always need to have the exhaust up to snuff before you mess with the intake.

A lot of FIPK's are badly designed and suck air from the engine compartment. So the gains in airflow are offset by the intake of hot air. On my 2.7L I removed the intake elbow and noticed no difference. I am considering adding a header, but the California 2.7L's already have a Tri-Y style header from the factory. If I add a header I will also weld up a 2 1/4 inch exhaust from a V6 runner.

ebelen1

Yup, exactly what he said. My truck would be struggling to get to 70+mph without the magnaflow. I could get to this mph; I would just have to get on the pedal hard. With the magnaflow, it's not nearly as difficult and the response is pretty good (albeit, for a truck).

ebelen1

I get what you're saying but I've tested the heat after substantial driving and the area where the FIPK is getting air is normally 20 degrees less than the heat in the engine compartment. As you probably know, the FIPK has a heat shield in the design. I was wondering if the heat shield was just for looks but after testing it, there is colder air getting into the engine.

surf4runner

i have the fipk and was considering a new muffler next since a header is very unlikey. i also now have a funtional hood scoop and would go as far to say that the engine runs cooler, by about the thickness of the needle. so in theory the fipk should be drawing more cool air in, as the heat is pushed/pulled out under the 4runr. my mileage has improved to a more consistant 20mpg vs. taking it easy to get there. i thought more dirt/ashes would end up in the eng compartment, but after trailing around after the fires this weekend, that doesn't seem to be an issue. ie. no ashes on the filter

hondavxr

I think headers are a great power adder, even with a NA motor. I know in many Honda motors you can see dramatic results with different headers. The downside on the Toyota trucks are, have you seen how the headers are placed? The time alone removing the old one and installing the new one is just too long. Who wants to have crazy bruised knuckles, scrapped fingers, and cuts to get a few stinking ponies? The labor alone out weighs the gains. That is probably the reason why there is not a lot of manuf. jumping to make headers for these motors. There is always power to be made from nicely designed header, but companies have to consider r&d time, cost, labor, and the MOST, profits. In the end, profit and cost beat out everything.

ebelen1

My only other experience with headers is when I had an Accord way back when. Headers, test pipe that replaced my cat and cat-back exhaust made my 2.0 feel like an Si. I just assumed this worked on all vehicles. I was wrong...

sandcrawler

is this really true?

and, if so, would pulling the ECU/EFI fuses and/or disconnecting the battery reset things back to original specs -- taking advantage of the extra inward and outward flow??

midiwall

If it was, then the ECU would be fighting a supercharger because of the additional airflow.

Chris is right, the ECU _will_ adjust for the new airflow, but it's all good.

Without the ECU adjusting, then more airflow would create a lean condition since you're mixing the same amount of fuel with more air. Instead, the ECU will watch the front O2 sensor, see the lean and add more fuel to compensate. More fuel = more power.

The ECU _is_ pushing the A/FR back to the "stock" point of 14.7:1, but to do it, it's adding fuel. You _want_ this to happen.

sandcrawler

great post midiwall. thanks.

Churnd

That makes sense. I kept thinking I was getting a loss in power as time went on... guess I was just getting used to things. The humidity in the air down here can really mess with your perception of how your engine is performing.

midiwall

Oh dude, humidity SUCKS. My truck switches from being right-on to a slug when the weather shifts from a dry 63* to a rainy 63*. Right now, it's 58* and raining here... the truck is running like crap. 58* and dry, and I'll start racing ricers.

Humidity is an issue 'cause the air becomes so saturated with water that it's very difficult to get it to absorb the atomized fuel from the injectors. So the fuel starts to condense back into liquid form which makes for a horrible explosion factor when it comes time to spark it.

Remember, you can literally drop a lighted match into a pail of gasoline and expect it NOT to explode. But, drop the match into a small volume of gasoline vapor and you'd better duck.


Skip the talk about cold-air intakes, I think we should find a way to dry the air as well.