No dirty thoughts here. What’s a G-tube?
In the G35 community, a REALLY common upgrade is to swap out the original intake pipe, with all of the sound baffles and chambers, and replace it with the intake pipe from a 350Z, aka Z-tube. Seeing as how there are PLENTY of Z-tubes from the 350Z community, one can be bought for pretty cheap, installed in a G35 and increase the intake sound and probably add a couple extra hp.
The intake tube on the G35 is slightly different in that there’s a double bend from the throttle body to the air box wheras the Z-Tube only has one bend right at the throttle body. An aftermarket intake tube with that double bend is what’s called a G-Tube. It’s this double bend on the stock intake tube that many believe was the difference between the horsepower rating between the G35 and the 350Z: 280hp vs. 287 for the non rev-up engines and 298hp vs. 300hp for the rev-up engines respectively.
So what’s the reason behind the differences in design? To be honest, I’m not too sure. I’ve never heard of an explaination on why the design difference. I do know that in the G35, the way the airbox is mounted and the location of the A/C lines, if you install the Z-tube you may encounter some clearance issues. The Z-tube may actually rub on the aluminum A/C lines and could actually puncture it. And that’s not exactly a cheap part to have replaced.
That’s one of the reasons why I went with the carbon fiber G-tube. It helps with the A/C line clearance and peace of mind. Plus with the double curve it kind of adds to the whole intake system and differentiates itself from all of the other intake systems on the market.