Well I'm new to the world of 350Z's, and my buddy has seeked my help for making his car faster. Im just trying to get some questions answered that I havent been able to find, I have done a lot of work with turbo RX7s, and am trying to apply some of the stuff to his Z, but one my main question is, what are most people tuning their cars with, and do people have a problem with running test pipes, ie the car turing on the cel, or cutting back on power. In rx7 land most people have gone to stand alones just for their ability to control everything, but i know some newer obdII cars have laptop programs to reflash the ecu or even monitor it while the car is running. is anyone running one of these on their car?
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What are you wanting to know? What turbo kits people are using?
I've seen people using: GReddy E-Manage (piggyback), HKS F-Con V-Pro (standalone), Unichip (piggyback), Technosquare ECU reflash (reflash), and Autronics SM2 (standalone) (going to be used on Light Speed Performance's 350Z soon).
Regarding exhaust mods...they can help extremely...anywhere from 20-40rwhp from swapping out the stock cats to test pipes (non-resonated). Quite a few people don't have a problem with the CEL coming on and some do...seems like a hit or miss deal.
I've seen people using: GReddy E-Manage (piggyback), HKS F-Con V-Pro (standalone), Unichip (piggyback), Technosquare ECU reflash (reflash), and Autronics SM2 (standalone) (going to be used on Light Speed Performance's 350Z soon).
Regarding exhaust mods...they can help extremely...anywhere from 20-40rwhp from swapping out the stock cats to test pipes (non-resonated). Quite a few people don't have a problem with the CEL coming on and some do...seems like a hit or miss deal.
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2003 model didnt have any problems with test pipes, but most of the 2004+ throw CEL when test pipes are installed.
What exactly are you needing to do? There is not much tuning that can be done on a stock z. aftermarket mods give some results, but you will not see big gaines unless you supercharge or turbo..
So first question is what are you trying to achieve?
Second is, what is your budget?
What exactly are you needing to do? There is not much tuning that can be done on a stock z. aftermarket mods give some results, but you will not see big gaines unless you supercharge or turbo..
So first question is what are you trying to achieve?
Second is, what is your budget?
he got an intake for it while i was at jrtc, it kinda sucks but were to put a different filter on it, and make a heat shield for it, i was driving it around yesterdad stopped and popped the hood and was like holy **** thats getting hot air blasted on it straight from the radiator. we are on a definte budget here, were going to order dc sports headers, they always seem to make a good product and its relativly cheap compared to most other headers on the market. as far as the rest of the exhaust its going to be a custom 3.5 single all the way back with one exit on the passenger side, were probably going to use 2 borla xr1 mufflers, or 2 dynomax ultra flows. he wants to put twins on it, but he wont be able to afford that until after we get back from iraq, and at that point it will probably be a FJO or AEM stand alone running the entire engine. but until that point im not sure on what to use to tune the engine as an fjo setup will require almost a complete re wiring on the engine. i was wondering how people are like the safc on these cars, i used one extensivly with my wideband on my friends tsi with great results. but i was looking for a little more
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Not too many people use the SAFC on the 350Z. AEM hasn't released, and probably won't for at least another year, the EMS for the 350Z. JRTC intake??? Never heard of it. 3.5" is going to be extremely overkill, 2.5" is fine for N/A and F/I (under 600rwhp). After 600rwhp, I would go with 3.0" tubing.
Not too many people use the SAFC on the 350Z. AEM hasn't released, and probably won't for at least another year, the EMS for the 350Z. JRTC intake??? Never heard of it. 3.5" is going to be extremely overkill, 2.5" is fine for N/A and F/I (under 600rwhp). After 600rwhp, I would go with 3.0" tubing.
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I would bet you will loose power and/or torque with 3.5" piping..
The only way to really tune the engine currently is with an ECU reflash... That runs around 500$ and it is wasted unless you have several mods for the reflash to be designed for. (The reflashes are vehicle specific taking into account engine mods)
The only way to really tune the engine currently is with an ECU reflash... That runs around 500$ and it is wasted unless you have several mods for the reflash to be designed for. (The reflashes are vehicle specific taking into account engine mods)
ya the intake sucks, its like an apc knockoff of something, its complete garbage, umm the car wont have a stand alone for another 18 months and by then aem will probably have the plug and play ready for it, but even if it doesnt its no big deal as i've hooked up stand alones before, but with the electronic **** on this car, well probably just run it in conjunction with the stock ecu. ya on the exhaust, i know 3.5 is big, its still going to be a single with 2 mufflers on it, but it leaves room for more enhancements like cams, a reflash as most people seem to say that tuning a stock ecu isnt going to happen, and new plenums. who knows maybe even porting the heads. i was doing somelooking and we might just go and do a single turbo on this car with an exhaust setup similiar to a grand national.
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I wouldn't port the heads...the heads on this motor are great.
I would do:
Test pipes (non-resonated if you can stand the rasp, you'll gain more power with non-resonated than resonated)
ProFlow or 350EVO throttle body (350EVO's throttle body work is done by ProFlow, but 350EVO offers a core exchange to prevent downtime, Proflow's is a little cheaper due to no core exchange, ProFlow bores it out and polishes the throttle body plate)
Cat-back exhaust...I suggest Borla (deepest sound I have ever heard for an exhaust for the 350Z), Injen (sounds ricey IMO), or Stillen (sounds pretty deep), all of these claim the highest gains, all are dual exhausts, Injen is the only true dual out of those though; if you are going custom, I would say this is up to your friend. Personally, I would go with 2.75" (mandrel-bent) titanium tubing with either two HKS Ti (or Carbon Ti) mufflers (true-dual) or one HKS Ti (or Carbon Ti) muffler (you would use a y-pipe for this)
KJR Performance crankshaft pulley (stock size, but it is lighter), gains about 4hp (not bad for a crank pulley)
Altered Atmosphere ECU reflash - $495 I believe
Intake manifold/intake plenums: I would wait and see what Kinetix's intake manifold does, but right now it looks like the gains are pretty crappy for the price, not to mention they aren't great for F/I either at that price, we'll see though. 350EVO plans on making one, which means it will be geared towards N/A...so you'll see much better gains from that. Also, another company that is reputible is coming out with an intake manifold and it should be promising as most of their products are. If you don't want to go with a intake manifold...I would go with either a Crawford cast upper intake plenum and Nissan OEM 300HP model lower plenum or plenum spacer (AAM or Motordyne Engineering) and Nissan OEM 300HP model lower plenum. (or even an APS upper intake plenum + Nissan OEM 300HP model lower plenum)
This depends on if you plan on going F/I or not...if you are staying N/A or have some extra money...I would get an Injen cold-air intake. If you are going F/I, I wouldn't bother touching the stock intake
Some other things that I think are interesting performance mods (not necessarily power, but helps the power:weight ratio by weighing less and/or transferring weight or cooling the engine better)
Motordyne Engineering hood spacer (this decreases engine temperatures all around the engine by 45 to 50 degrees F...should be good for the track days to help stay cool and prevent heat soak from happening sooner
Odyssey PC680MJT battery, weighs less than stock and won't decrease the performance of the battery; mount this battery in this: Moroso battery box and use these cables to mount it behind the drivers seat in that compartment: Moroso battery cable kit
Moroso fuel cool can. For every 10 degrees you cool your fuel, you gain 2-4%hp...I figure to mount it where the stock battery used to be and use: Summit Racing 2' fuel line and get some fittings for it and you should be set, just run the lines that go to the fuel rails and run them to the fuel cool can and then run the new lines to the fuel rails
Other things are removing the rear wiper and motor. Also, going to lighter wheels would help. I can't think of any other mods that would benefit you vs. the cost.
I wouldn't port the heads...the heads on this motor are great.
I would do:
Test pipes (non-resonated if you can stand the rasp, you'll gain more power with non-resonated than resonated)
ProFlow or 350EVO throttle body (350EVO's throttle body work is done by ProFlow, but 350EVO offers a core exchange to prevent downtime, Proflow's is a little cheaper due to no core exchange, ProFlow bores it out and polishes the throttle body plate)
Cat-back exhaust...I suggest Borla (deepest sound I have ever heard for an exhaust for the 350Z), Injen (sounds ricey IMO), or Stillen (sounds pretty deep), all of these claim the highest gains, all are dual exhausts, Injen is the only true dual out of those though; if you are going custom, I would say this is up to your friend. Personally, I would go with 2.75" (mandrel-bent) titanium tubing with either two HKS Ti (or Carbon Ti) mufflers (true-dual) or one HKS Ti (or Carbon Ti) muffler (you would use a y-pipe for this)
KJR Performance crankshaft pulley (stock size, but it is lighter), gains about 4hp (not bad for a crank pulley)
Altered Atmosphere ECU reflash - $495 I believe
Intake manifold/intake plenums: I would wait and see what Kinetix's intake manifold does, but right now it looks like the gains are pretty crappy for the price, not to mention they aren't great for F/I either at that price, we'll see though. 350EVO plans on making one, which means it will be geared towards N/A...so you'll see much better gains from that. Also, another company that is reputible is coming out with an intake manifold and it should be promising as most of their products are. If you don't want to go with a intake manifold...I would go with either a Crawford cast upper intake plenum and Nissan OEM 300HP model lower plenum or plenum spacer (AAM or Motordyne Engineering) and Nissan OEM 300HP model lower plenum. (or even an APS upper intake plenum + Nissan OEM 300HP model lower plenum)
This depends on if you plan on going F/I or not...if you are staying N/A or have some extra money...I would get an Injen cold-air intake. If you are going F/I, I wouldn't bother touching the stock intake
Some other things that I think are interesting performance mods (not necessarily power, but helps the power:weight ratio by weighing less and/or transferring weight or cooling the engine better)
Motordyne Engineering hood spacer (this decreases engine temperatures all around the engine by 45 to 50 degrees F...should be good for the track days to help stay cool and prevent heat soak from happening sooner
Odyssey PC680MJT battery, weighs less than stock and won't decrease the performance of the battery; mount this battery in this: Moroso battery box and use these cables to mount it behind the drivers seat in that compartment: Moroso battery cable kit
Moroso fuel cool can. For every 10 degrees you cool your fuel, you gain 2-4%hp...I figure to mount it where the stock battery used to be and use: Summit Racing 2' fuel line and get some fittings for it and you should be set, just run the lines that go to the fuel rails and run them to the fuel cool can and then run the new lines to the fuel rails
Other things are removing the rear wiper and motor. Also, going to lighter wheels would help. I can't think of any other mods that would benefit you vs. the cost.
hes on a budget as in this car is not even getting a stainless steel exhaust, its going to get a 3.5 inch single off a y pipe with 2 borla xr1 mufflers. ya i was considering a hood spacer, but i havent looked to see if i can make one, i have access to a machine shop so i could probably make something there, i have bored out throttle bodies before but only for hondas. and this throttle body looks expensive if i **** it up and break through part of it, which ive done on one before cause it was a shitty casting and had uneven thickness for walls.if the heads were to be ported the car would be getting custom cams from lsm, but 4 cams are expensive, also is porting which is a waste unless you can actually get cams to move more air. as for the cool can not sure if we want to start chopping up fuel lines yet, i would wait till he gets ready to go ss braided lines and an fitting for the whole thing along with custom rails, yes i was defintly thinking about an odyessy motorcycle batter and mounting it in the storage compart or even the small optima red as thats where i had mine in my 7, wheels are out of the question right now, probably the next thing after exhaust will be 300hp lower plenum and a crawford upper.
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Still wouldn't recommend larger than 2.75" to 3.0" for N/A and future F/I...oh well though.
Why? $20 can get you one from Motordyne Engineering.
Yeah, I would just get ProFlow to do it
I would look into Tomei 268 cams then...custom cams will be too much for the lack of power you will achieve. This comes from someone who has built tons of Nissan's. I was going to do custom cams too but he said he would have to do quite a few before he could get the results I wanted (more low-end power than top-end).
Just buy some adapters if they aren't the right size fitting for the fuel cool can. No hacking should be required.
No need for all of these custom parts...just contact Altered Atmosphere or CJ-Motorsports (I recommend CJ-Motorsports) for fuel rails or any fuel products you need. They both make complete return fuel systems and CJ-Motorsports even offers the fuel pump as an option for a little extra $$ and they will have a twin pump setup for those wanting over 600-650rwhp.
I wouldn't go with Optima, you will save more with Odyssey or Hawker...why go with Optima if you could get Hawker or Odyssey and lose more weight without sacrificing performance?
Ahh.
Cool, Crawford plenum is good, and the shorter intake runners on the lower intake plenum that is on the 300HP models should be a good combo.
Still wouldn't recommend larger than 2.75" to 3.0" for N/A and future F/I...oh well though.
Why? $20 can get you one from Motordyne Engineering.
Yeah, I would just get ProFlow to do it
I would look into Tomei 268 cams then...custom cams will be too much for the lack of power you will achieve. This comes from someone who has built tons of Nissan's. I was going to do custom cams too but he said he would have to do quite a few before he could get the results I wanted (more low-end power than top-end).
Just buy some adapters if they aren't the right size fitting for the fuel cool can. No hacking should be required.
No need for all of these custom parts...just contact Altered Atmosphere or CJ-Motorsports (I recommend CJ-Motorsports) for fuel rails or any fuel products you need. They both make complete return fuel systems and CJ-Motorsports even offers the fuel pump as an option for a little extra $$ and they will have a twin pump setup for those wanting over 600-650rwhp.
I wouldn't go with Optima, you will save more with Odyssey or Hawker...why go with Optima if you could get Hawker or Odyssey and lose more weight without sacrificing performance?
Ahh.
Cool, Crawford plenum is good, and the shorter intake runners on the lower intake plenum that is on the 300HP models should be a good combo.
ya if its only $20i wont **** with it, its not worth my time, i also dont want to break through on that throttle body cause i dont really know what the casting thickness is, the custom cams would be from lsm, if you guys dont know who they are, they make some sick ass cams, you send them a head, intake manifold, and exhaust manifold, they flow it, design a cam based on your needs for what your combo flowed, grind the cam, sell you the rights to the profile, and send you on your way, they can not produce that same profile for anybody else without your permission, and if you want more cams like yours you tell them and they can make more, the do some indy car work, and a lot of nhra cams, the do everything. personally i like optima batteries because of 1 the warranty, and the fact i had one get eaten by my waterpump bolts in my 7, and survived a PD fire, it had a gaping hole in the side, melted plastic, and still functioned flawlessly. the company i was going to use for the fi stuff is kinsler fuel injection out of troy michigan, ive used them for all my fuel injection stuff, they have top notch service, and know EVERYTHING about fi. they have been in the game a long ass time. ordered the 3.5 inch borla xr1s yesterday only like 400 or so for 2 mufflers and a y pipe collector. now i just have to find some local truck shop thats got 3.5 inch bends and piping. its not like oakland county michigan where you can find everything you need right there. its like trying to find anything in tennessee is a pain in the ass
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I would be careful saying you know everything about FI.. There are alot of blown 350z motors around here from people who thought the same thing.. The Z does not react to any mods like other cars do. It is all new territory, but there are a few people breaking ground almost weekly on all the issues with modding the z engine.
I would be careful saying you know everything about FI.. There are alot of blown 350z motors around here from people who thought the same thing.. The Z does not react to any mods like other cars do. It is all new territory, but there are a few people breaking ground almost weekly on all the issues with modding the z engine.
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