nighthawk285
New member
Alright, I've had enough seat time with this guy now, so time for the official honest review thread. For those that don't know me and my truck, back in April I upgraded injectors/turbo to a set of 205/30s and a KC S2. My power and build goals are having an aggressive multi-purpose truck that has power on tap when I want it, can be my DD/tow pig when she needs to, and look good doing it. I've always done my builds as "air first, fuel second" and until this point, this was no exception. If you've done some research and looking around, you'll probably find that most people have sized 190/30 injectors with an S2, and have upgraded to a 2.5 or S3, or non-VGT once they start getting into the +200cc range. So...long story short, at this stage of my build, I knew I'd really be pushing the turbo/air system to keep up with the bigger sticks.
I originally had an AFE Stage 2 intake on the truck. It was on it when I bought it, flowed well, the filter tube always passed the white-glove test, and throttle response was ok so I never thought twice that it would never be insufficient. Well, after I did the upgrade to 205/30s that changed. That intake, as good as it was, with the ProGuard7 that was on there just didn't seem like it was enough. I played with it, trying different things, bugging tuners to move vane positions to try and give it more zip off the line but kept coming up short......it just didn't have the low end snap that I wanted without pushing down the throttle harder and putting a little smoke out the tailpipe. I have known about the No Limit for years, but like many, the expensive price tag had kept me from pulling the trigger. BUT, that being said, I had read and heard many people say that they were the best, so I sent a PM over to Jeremy@NoLimit to get the hookup. He PM'd me back later that day letting me know the options and that to call him to place the order. So I called the shop number in his sig (not the cell) and talked to a guy named Luke. He was very helpful, knew right what I wanted, and addressed a few of my questions correctly. Being that my truck is a Job1 '05 model without a MAF and instead with 2 IAT sensors, he sent me an additional grommet to put the IAT1 back in the tube as well. So far so good right?
A couple days later a big white box showed up on my porch :hyper: The first thing that jumped out when I set it on the tailgate to open was the "Made In America" sticker. I can always appreciate products that are made in the 'states and companies that believe in quality products over cheap outsourcing.
I opened the box and removed the top layer of packaging and this was shining in my face
My first thought.....that's a huge ******* filter....and that's no lie. The intake piping is big, but the new AFE filter that comes with it is absolutely huge. Honestly, my initial intent was to sand the welds smooth and re-polish the pipe, but after seeing the quality of the welds, I was happy enough to keep them there. Even on the inside, the welds look great. Looking back through Google pictures before I had bought this, I kept seeing the MAF sensor on the top....since I don't have a MAF and Luke knew it he had sent me a block off plate. Honestly with the No-Limit stuff I was expecting a big hunk of machined aluminum with their name in it, but a small piece of unfinished plate is what showed up. With the parts just in my hand, I was initially disappointed because in my mind, this beautiful intake pipe was going to be ruined by this dinky little plate.....eh...no biggie, so I'll polish it right? BUT.....I made the call to do it later (and was glad I did) because it was a non-issue. Once I was mocking up everything in place, the MAF hole and the block off plate actually go on the bottom anyways, so there was no need to make it special and shiny since it can't be seen anyways.
Putting everything in was easy......ish. The new parts fit great and tight, but like I said......that filter is HUGE and so the intake pipe has to be clocked just so, so that when the filter is tightened in place, it doesn't hit the battery tray, intercooler, or the fan shroud. I used some spray glass cleaner as some lube where the pipe meets the silicone boot and it worked great. The polished pipe goes great with all my other goodies too.
It was in place, fired up and the first thing I noticed was the sound. The sound of the turbo sucking air resonating through the metal pipe is music to my ears. I know a lot of people don't care for it, but I absolutely love it. Hearing the intake and exhaust of an engine to me is almost like hearing my daughter's heartbeat for the first time....it's exciting and relaxing all at the same time.
First impressions were also quite good, and have proven consistent in the past few weeks of driving. The "snap" in the throttle was back like it was with the smaller stock setup, and it didn't need so much fuel to get there that it smoked....throttle response seems more crisp now, even with the bigger turbo, and I was able to go back to the initial tunes that were sent to me and have only needed one revision from there. As far as data goes, with this mod.....I honestly don't have any hard numbers. EGT numbers at cruise, WOT, and under heavy load are unchanged......I didn't do any CFM or Vacuum testing (although Chatham036 may have something in the works soon for that), and without a MAF, I can't "really" tell where there's better flow vs. not by the butt dyno. As far as hard data or undisputable facts, the best thing I have to go off of was the filter minder lol....it was getting sucked in to 3/4 on a hard run, and now it doesn't even flutter. Jay, if you move forward with your testing, I'd be interested to see improvement on the lower end of the RPM band rather than just the top as maybe "proof" of the increased throttle response. Comparing to another intake system, maybe looking for the same or higher CFM flow at a lower vacuum pressure? The physics works out on paper just with the change in the pipe size but we all know how real world is different :thumb:
All in all, this is an awesome intake, and NoLimit has been a great company to deal with and I would order again. Mike, thanks to you and the NL team for providing a great product, and Jeremy......thanks for your help, sorry you didn't get the credit because Luke is an order whore hahahaa.
I originally had an AFE Stage 2 intake on the truck. It was on it when I bought it, flowed well, the filter tube always passed the white-glove test, and throttle response was ok so I never thought twice that it would never be insufficient. Well, after I did the upgrade to 205/30s that changed. That intake, as good as it was, with the ProGuard7 that was on there just didn't seem like it was enough. I played with it, trying different things, bugging tuners to move vane positions to try and give it more zip off the line but kept coming up short......it just didn't have the low end snap that I wanted without pushing down the throttle harder and putting a little smoke out the tailpipe. I have known about the No Limit for years, but like many, the expensive price tag had kept me from pulling the trigger. BUT, that being said, I had read and heard many people say that they were the best, so I sent a PM over to Jeremy@NoLimit to get the hookup. He PM'd me back later that day letting me know the options and that to call him to place the order. So I called the shop number in his sig (not the cell) and talked to a guy named Luke. He was very helpful, knew right what I wanted, and addressed a few of my questions correctly. Being that my truck is a Job1 '05 model without a MAF and instead with 2 IAT sensors, he sent me an additional grommet to put the IAT1 back in the tube as well. So far so good right?
A couple days later a big white box showed up on my porch :hyper: The first thing that jumped out when I set it on the tailgate to open was the "Made In America" sticker. I can always appreciate products that are made in the 'states and companies that believe in quality products over cheap outsourcing.
I opened the box and removed the top layer of packaging and this was shining in my face
My first thought.....that's a huge ******* filter....and that's no lie. The intake piping is big, but the new AFE filter that comes with it is absolutely huge. Honestly, my initial intent was to sand the welds smooth and re-polish the pipe, but after seeing the quality of the welds, I was happy enough to keep them there. Even on the inside, the welds look great. Looking back through Google pictures before I had bought this, I kept seeing the MAF sensor on the top....since I don't have a MAF and Luke knew it he had sent me a block off plate. Honestly with the No-Limit stuff I was expecting a big hunk of machined aluminum with their name in it, but a small piece of unfinished plate is what showed up. With the parts just in my hand, I was initially disappointed because in my mind, this beautiful intake pipe was going to be ruined by this dinky little plate.....eh...no biggie, so I'll polish it right? BUT.....I made the call to do it later (and was glad I did) because it was a non-issue. Once I was mocking up everything in place, the MAF hole and the block off plate actually go on the bottom anyways, so there was no need to make it special and shiny since it can't be seen anyways.
Putting everything in was easy......ish. The new parts fit great and tight, but like I said......that filter is HUGE and so the intake pipe has to be clocked just so, so that when the filter is tightened in place, it doesn't hit the battery tray, intercooler, or the fan shroud. I used some spray glass cleaner as some lube where the pipe meets the silicone boot and it worked great. The polished pipe goes great with all my other goodies too.
It was in place, fired up and the first thing I noticed was the sound. The sound of the turbo sucking air resonating through the metal pipe is music to my ears. I know a lot of people don't care for it, but I absolutely love it. Hearing the intake and exhaust of an engine to me is almost like hearing my daughter's heartbeat for the first time....it's exciting and relaxing all at the same time.
First impressions were also quite good, and have proven consistent in the past few weeks of driving. The "snap" in the throttle was back like it was with the smaller stock setup, and it didn't need so much fuel to get there that it smoked....throttle response seems more crisp now, even with the bigger turbo, and I was able to go back to the initial tunes that were sent to me and have only needed one revision from there. As far as data goes, with this mod.....I honestly don't have any hard numbers. EGT numbers at cruise, WOT, and under heavy load are unchanged......I didn't do any CFM or Vacuum testing (although Chatham036 may have something in the works soon for that), and without a MAF, I can't "really" tell where there's better flow vs. not by the butt dyno. As far as hard data or undisputable facts, the best thing I have to go off of was the filter minder lol....it was getting sucked in to 3/4 on a hard run, and now it doesn't even flutter. Jay, if you move forward with your testing, I'd be interested to see improvement on the lower end of the RPM band rather than just the top as maybe "proof" of the increased throttle response. Comparing to another intake system, maybe looking for the same or higher CFM flow at a lower vacuum pressure? The physics works out on paper just with the change in the pipe size but we all know how real world is different :thumb:
All in all, this is an awesome intake, and NoLimit has been a great company to deal with and I would order again. Mike, thanks to you and the NL team for providing a great product, and Jeremy......thanks for your help, sorry you didn't get the credit because Luke is an order whore hahahaa.
