KillaKam

UPDATE: aFe Takeda Intake Product Review

Hey guys just wanted to let everyone know that I've finished the review of aFe's Takeda intake for the 2009-10' Nissan Maxima. I hope that you all enjoy; thank you for your patience.

Photos will be further down in the thread



Finally was able to set up a group but with aFe and they were more than willing to help everyone out so here you go. The normal retail price on this unit is $292.95. Our group buy price is going to be $245 each with free shipping. So depending where you live that could save you $50+ at least.

If your interested contact Jason Bruce @ jbruce@afepower.com make sure in the subject field you enter "Maxima.org aFe Takeda Group Buy"




aFe is a10 year old company located in Corona, California. The company itself has over 70 employees and two buildings that make up over 100,000 square feet. aFe is also supplier to some companies such as Blitz, Mugen, Volant, and major OE manufactures to name a few. aFe prides itself on their extensive R&D, filter flow, filter testing, dyno testing, on-board diagnostics, as well as manufacturing capabilities. They offer a full line of intakes, exhausts, throttle body spacers, and OE replacement filters.

In 2009, aFe launched their sport compact/import line called Takeda. Takeda is run by the one of the founders of Injen Technology.


Let’s start with the box; I have got to say the Takeda print on the box was pretty nice and it got even better once you opened it up. First thing you saw was a bag full of goodies. In the bag you get a license plate frame, keychain, decal, and a coupon for 20% off of your next order. As you dig further into the box you are able to see the intake pipe and I must say that is beautiful; it is polished aluminum but it has a clear coat anodize so that the intake tube won’t oxidize like all other polished tubes on the market. On the pipe aFe puts their Takeda Decal on it, which is a nice touch in my opinion. Next was the filter; aFe uses a “Dry Filter” technology called Pro Dry S. What that means is that you do not have to oil the filter what so ever and cleaning is a breeze. You can either tap the dust off of the filter, vacuum the filter, or you can use a Takeda Power Cleaner to get it back to 100%. Take note that you should never use compressed air on this filter of it will degrade the synthetic filter element. The great thing is you never have to oil this filter and worry any oil will get on your mass air flow sensor. One more thing that aFe provides is a nice little pre-filter that goes over your filter to protect it more as well as keep debris from getting into the crevices of the filter which I think is the best thing that I have seen yet in an intake manufacturer.
After that I pulled out the “heat shield” which comes in wrinkle black. I can see how it will protect the intake from the head that comes from the CVT but I am not sure how it is going to stop the overall engine compartment’s heat. In my opinion a shield kind of like K&N uses would have been a much better choice. Of course all of the equipment that you’ll need (screws, washers, nuts, and bolts) is provided although you will still be using some of your factory materials.



I have already done this once before and I have got to say that this was actually the easiest install. Everything lined up perfectly and I was able to get everything put in without a problem. One complaint that I did have was there is this small tube that you need to connect from the intake pipe to this little black box next to your engine and I had a very hard time getting that on. In my opinion for this I would much rather prefer a looser tube that slides over and clamping it with some “screw ties”. Other than that all and all install was a breeze.


I have got to say once installed this thing looks beautiful in the car. The shiny pipe catches your eye, the pre-filter over the filter stands out and looks great, and I have got to say it sounds great as well☺. As I said I the installation paragraph, this was a very simple install and again the results great.


After driving around with the intake on my car for a few days I have got to say that this thing is awesome. I wanna say that it has a factory feel when driving normally, (speed limit) but once you step on it, the car just opens up. This is much better than the factory intake in the car and I really have no complaints about this product.



•POWER – Has much more pull to it than the Stillen did in my opinion. I like this one better because it seems to not always be sucking in too much air; because of the size of the cone it takes in less air giving it more of a factory feel which is great but once you step on it then it really opens up and feels much better performance wise. Takeda claims a 6hp and 7ibs x ft of tourque increase although I am not sure how they got theses numbers I am sure as you all know that it is impossible to dyno our vehicles so I doubt that all intake companis out there for our car now stay true to their claims.

•SOUND – Driving this thing around town you still get the whistle that you do with all of the intakes out there which is great; (I love that sound). Once you floor it you can really hear this thing wake up. It has a deep tone to it, even when revving the engine up in my driveway it was much more masculine than the Stillen cold air intake (sound wise) which was great in my opinion.

•MPG – To be honest with you I did not notice any increase and I did not notice any increase in MPG compared to the Stillen intake to this intake. I will be sure to keep an eye on it over the next few weeks to keep track of it and update you guys if there are any changes.

aFe Takeda "Reving" video

I would like to thank aFe for asking me to do an honest review of their intake system for my 2009-2010 Nissan Maxima. When this product was first released I would never have purchased this product with my own money because I always though aFe was a crap brand but that is not true. This product is very nicely built all the way from the looks of the system to the performance gains (at least in my opinion). Because I have not tested K&N and R2C has yet to release their product I can't say anything but what I can say is that I would choose this one over the Stillen intake that I had on perviously any day.

logik05se

**** tease

KillaKam

lol. It's actually not that much of a tease; the product is already out on the market.

I was just asked by the company to do a review so until then take your pick at whats out there and you may be right but I can't state anything until I at least drive the car for a few days with the new intake on it.

If you still think its a teas I apologize; I just wanna keep people up to date on what I am up to.

Kmoney

do you have pic of the intake on your car?

KillaKam

I do but I'm not posting them until the review is finished. I'll have everything up by Sunday; Monday the latest.

Kmoney

ok no problem

Mreim769

Quote:

"I thought we weren't suppose to keep secrets between us!"

-My Girlfriend

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

Nice I'm sure you'll be fair in your assessment. How do you like your Stillen intake?

KillaKam

O yes I will be very fair in my review; Even though I have a lot going on with Stillen I am not going to let that get in the way of my review.

I liked the Stillen one but I actually like the look, and sound of this one it feels like the car performs more as if it had the factory intake box but more powerful if that makes sense and I really like that about this one.

KillaKam

lmao

bk2k3max

Man, come on already and tell us which company it is!! All of this waiting drama is making my tourettes syndrome act up. LOL

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

I see your selling your Stillen so the results must be in... LOL

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

Wow I always thought the Stillen looked good, actually it kept that OEM look which is nice especially if you want to keep it on when you trade in the car people won't think it was messed with.

KillaKam

Not factory look factory feel.

KillaKam

Just uploaded a video for you guys... You can check out the link in my original post

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

Really 6HP increase and you can feel that with the CVT? How did Takeda come up with these numbers??? I think you might be sucked into the sound and looks versus the performance. Do you have an iPhone? You could do performance tests with the Stillen and Takeda using Dynalicious and they have proven to be pretty accurate.

KillaKam

I'm not baseing anything by looks or sound and I am expecually not being "sucked into looks and sound verses performance". That bring said that is why you need to wait for the review to be posted. And to be honest with you I don't know how they came up with that; to be honest with u hp gain claims for each company is a bunch of bs anyways because there is no way to dyno our cars to see correct hp gains. All in all I would take this intake over over Stillens any and to be quite honest with you as you'll see in the review one you floor it the intake makes the VQ come alive much better IMO than the Stillen.

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

Nice can't wait to read the review.

KillaKam

All images are (c) of Kamber B. Bulica

KillaKam

Box What Comes In The Box Cont.

All images are (c) of Kamber B. Bulica

KillaKam

All images are (c) of Kamber B. Bulica

KillaKam

All images are (c) of Kamber B. Bulica

ANNINO

iTrader: (1)

Nice pics man. Looks great. The dry filter is def a step up from Stillen, but I still like the OEM look of the Stillen heat shield. These pics are getting me very excited for that other intake we are waiting for.....

bk2k3max

Oh and Kamber that Little Black Tubing that you were referring to earlier was probably the same little black tubing that was once referenced in a much earlier post as been the "Sound Generator" that Nissan installed in the Maxima's intake system to give our car the appearance of gear shifting in the CVT (despite the fact that we know it doesn't have gears).

I could be wrong though.

Nice intake but I think I'm going to wait on the RC2.

KillaKam

Ya I am in the talks with them right now about it; that was something that I pointed out to them to, lol. But thank you it does look really good.

Ok well then that makes sense; w.e. it is was much more of a pita to put on than the Stillen one only because the tube was tighter.

jboss10

Any kind of group buy on this thing?

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

KillaKam

Working on it.. I should have an answer for you on that tomorrow or Tuesday.

1sik4dsc

iTrader: (1)

whats the price on this intake?.......A group buy would be great and if price is really right i might be interested, im wayyyy to tired waiting for that r2c intake

jboss10

a group buy should be under $250. You can buy this intake now for $250. I would think the GB would be around $220 or less.

Mreim769

Nice review buddy! Thanks!

GEAR_HEAD

I'll give R2C about another week before I jump ship to this one. I wanted a dry filter so I think I would like this one. Thanks to AFE for now screwing around with us like everybody else likes to do.

KillaKam

you could always buy the r2c filter. This intake dosn't require any special mounting like the Stillen one is. As long as it fits over the pipe it works out good.

jboss10

KillaKam, any word on the group buy. Not trying to speed things up, but I would like to know if I should save my money for this or for a new other hobby I have JP

KillaKam

Yes I am just about to edit my original post up top to add in the group buy just got word back about it

KillaKam

BUMP!!

Got a group buy for you guys going on, I would suggest taking it before it is over. I got them to keep it going until the middle of may.

jboss10

bought one today!!!

KillaKam

Congrats man your going to enjoy it

Make sure to post back here once you get it installed and let everyone else know what you think.

jboss10

Yes i will. Jason was great. Let's hope the product and your review is what is says to be

I will deff post back on my opinion. thanks again for your review!!JP

KillaKam

Np man, I can def tell you that it is all I said it is and more. Driving my car for these past few days it takes off much better then it use to from a dead stop. It hits higher RPM's now but settles down once it get you to the speed you wanna be at enjoy.