Grounding Kit
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here is a link for some grounding wires. i am not sure if it is the ones you have. if this doesnt help, which wires do you have? good luck.
grounding wire instructions
grounding wire instructions
I have had my 2003 Touring Z for about a month now and I am ready to access some performance enhancements beginning with the cheapest and easiest. Grounding kits came to my attention first. I understand the idea behind it, however, I would appreciate some real-world, road-tested experience and opinion on these wires.
Thanks,
Bobby in Chicago
Thanks,
Bobby in Chicago
If you understand the theory behind it, then you should also recognize that on a brand new car there shouldn't be much of a problem with the electrical connections between major components.
After a couple of years when corrosion and oxidation start to build up on bare metal, then the grounding kit may really do you some good.
Before then, it will just look cool.
I saw some anecdotal evidence that your idle will be smoother. There is also the subject observations by some owners who claim that the throttle is more responsive.
I thought there would be no difference myself when I made my first set. But I went ahead and did the dyno testing and found out they do work. http://www.maxground.com/ground.htm
Can you feel the horsepower increase - no. You can't really feel the increase you get from an exhaust or CAI either. Both change the sound of the engine so you think you can.
A ground kit should be thought of as just one more small piece of the horsepower puzzle. When you put on three or four aftermarket performance goodies is when you can really feel it. Or save your money until you can afford forced induction and then you get it in a big way. IMHO
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I've got the 5-wire kit. Without truly paying close attention to every minute detail of engine performance, I can't tell if there are gains. However, I do know that my idle seems to be smoother and I don't have as much of that background noise from the Bose speakers.
It's nice to have if you want to do something cheap and easy for starters.
It's nice to have if you want to do something cheap and easy for starters.
I did one before and after dyno the same day as 8 other 350Z's. This is much more telling then running multiple dyno's on the same car.
You can find dyno tests on single cars with ground kits in import tuner magazine and many others.
From the first pull to the second pull you will almost always get some improvement without any mods. The oil is thinning and the tires are expanding. Getting a bigger increase from the first and second pull then 8 other 350Z's who did nothing between pulls is a better test in my opinion. I used the percentage increases from all the cars to determine whether the ground kit works. This also eliminates the standard margin of error problem people talk about as well.
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I'm confused. This is what I think you're saying:
You ran 1 before dyno and 9 after dynos. Each after dyno was done on a different car, only one of which had a before dyno.
If this is the case, you have no idea what the before numbers were for the other 8 cars.
You ran 1 before dyno and 9 after dynos. Each after dyno was done on a different car, only one of which had a before dyno.
If this is the case, you have no idea what the before numbers were for the other 8 cars.
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I think he's saying that 9 different Z's did a few pulls. On his second pull, the increase was larger than the increase the other 8 Z's showed, and he's attributing this to the grounding kit.
Either way, the difference in performance is minimal. As DiRN stated, this is mostly an engine bay dressup mod.
Either way, the difference in performance is minimal. As DiRN stated, this is mostly an engine bay dressup mod.
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Either way, at most he seems to be saying he did one before and one after dyno for each car. With such a minimal power gain, you'd need multiple after dynos to insure that the gains were real, and not just a fluke.
On a side note, I know the best gear for a 6MT to dyno in is 5th. What is it for 5ATs?
On a side note, I know the best gear for a 6MT to dyno in is 5th. What is it for 5ATs?
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I'd assume it's 4th? It's supposed to be a 1:1 ratio gear, which is usually the gear below the top, but I'm really not sure since I'm no mechanic. Gains on a dyno can always be debated... too many factors involved. If the gain is anywhere less than 15 hp, you could argue that it had nothing to do with the car.
There were a total of 9 350Z's that did dyno pulls on the same dyno on the same day. I downloaded all the runs so I could do a fair comparison of changes between each cars first and second pull. Between the first and second pull on my car I hooked up the grounding kit.
My car had the biggest increase in horsepower readings of any car tested that day. Which is even more impressive since it is an automatic and makes much less horsepower then the other 6 speed 350Z's.
Bottom line is a grounding kit will improve performance. Is it something you can feel - no. You can't feel the few ponies you get from that CAI or exhaust either, but since they alter the sound it seems like they are doing more. A grounding kit is just one more piece of the horsepower puzzle. If you want every pony you can get it should be considered. Its just like changing out your spark plugs to the newer exotic plugs. You won't be able to feel the difference they make either, but its one more piece to the puzzle.
If you want big results you will need big dollars and forced induction.
:stupid:
re: "standard margin of error"
I understand that you have a business to run, but you shouldn't use terms you don't understand. You end up looking even less credible than your claim (and I'm not debating your claim). I wouldn't buy from you based on your argument regardless of what you're selling.
How does a total of 16 dyno pulls with 8 different cars eliminate the "standard margin of error?" This ought to be good...
You would expect the margin of error to exist for all cars doing pulls on the same day using the same equipment. If I had stopped with the data from my first and second pull it would be easy to say the dyno test proved nothing. You could claim it was within the margin for error of the equipment.
By looking at the first two pulls from the other 8 cars you can calculate the increase for each of the cars. You can look at the standard deviation and use a control chart with a +-3 sigma variation to determine if your data is "in control" which it is. This is statistically more meaningful than looking at just one vehicle. In statistics the larger the sample size the more meaningful the data. A sample size of two pulls leaves a lot to be desired over a sample size of 18 pulls. I could have connected and disconnected the ground kit for several runs and had more data on my car. The problem is if you assume the dyno has a standard margin of error equal to the % increase then you could assume the ground kit made no improvement. I don’t know what the advertised margin for error is on this particular brand of dyno or how it changes with the age and condition of the dyno.
The percentage increase between the first and second pull of all 9 cars would include the margin for error in the dyno equipment. The fact that my car had a bigger increase than the cars tested before or after it on the same day using the same equipment is attributable to the fact that I hooked up the grounding kit and no one else did. This is what I meant by removing the margin of error, since it existed in the numbers on all 9 cars.
I'm not a statistics expert by any means, but I have had just enough of it in college and at work to be dangerous.
I have tried to make the best grounding kit at the best price I can. I have tried to be totally honest about how they work and unlike most of the other builders I went to the trouble to do some dyno testing to back it up. You don’t have to agree with my test results or buy one of my kits. You can buy a competitor’s kit and get the same results if they are using 4 gauge OFC cable and gold plated ends. I even posted a do it yourself on one of the other boards so you could make your own.
So I’m not sure what I have said that makes me “less credible” or what terms I “don’t understand”.
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