With the info provided in the last few posts I got my cowling replaced by my dealer with the new-style one.

Warranty fix, zero dollars. 3 days for the new cowling to arrive after my phone call asking them for the fix and 1 hour in the service department getting the swap made. Kudos to Streeter Nissan of Reno. Anyway...

The "chads" in the new one are, as previously stated, much better formed and in my estimation wouldn't block as much air as one of the malformed original cowlings did. However, they will probably block more air than one that has already had the "de-chadding mod" done to it.

My take...

If you have already de-chadded and are happy with the results, don't bother getting the new cowling.

If you are thinking about de-chadding and haven't done it yet, get the new cowling and try it out first. If you still want to go the de-chadding route after trying the new cowling out for a while, the design of the "chads" in the new cowling will make de-chadding a little easier to accomplish. It has only 4 attachment points per "chad" (vs. the old cowlings' 8 attachment points per chad) to take the razor blade to.