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the difference a good tuner will make

32K views 31 replies 9 participants last post by  Turbo_Z 
#1 ·
so basically i took the Z (2003 m6) to one of the "best" import tuners for all cars on the east coast. im talking about 1600whp supras, 1000whp evos yadda yadda. the guy who owns the supra is a good friend of the family so we figured his tuner would take good care of the Z even though she is slow. i had talked to the shop about possibly installing my cams and valve train which is a decently expensive job so i thought they would see this as a good opportunity. well needless to say they did a joke of a job. only did 7 total pulls tuning the car, tuned it on the maf voltage, and jacked maps from a cammed z(my z isnt cammed yet although all my parts are sitting and waiting for my tech to install them). the baseline was 240whp. all he got out of it was 247whp. for my mods that was REALLY low so i did some research and come to find he had jacked the maps and not tuned on a wideband. the tuner had the balls to tell me his DJ reads high!

i took the Z to the shop where my bf's ls2 gto gets work done. the tuner there, eli (who had never used utec before let alone tuned a z) showed me on hypertermial the sketchness of the first tune. the afr on the ond tune was 11 to 12 across the board, the new afr is around the 13-13.2 mark. eli redid my tune ( i only have the dyno from the first session, it got late so i came back the next week and he finished it off) and in conclusion got 270whp and 265tq in its final pulls. mind you all pulls where done in 4th gear on a dyno jet. eli's DJ is fair. it read an intake only 03 m6 z at 232/225 ten minutes after my run. eli's dyno was not corrected but i do beleive the first shop corrected his numbers. it is def a very different car after eli's tune and has pulled away from mid and low 13 sec cars on the streets. ill post up the final sheet if i can find it since i think i deleted it from my email and the dyno of the tomei cam tune (hopefully sometime by the end of the month).
 

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#2 ·
so basically i took the Z (2003 m6) to one of the "best" import tuners for all cars on the east coast. im talking about 1600whp supras, 1000whp evos yadda yadda. the guy who owns the supra is a good friend of the family so we figured his tuner would take good care of the Z even though she is slow. i had talked to the shop about possibly installing my cams and valve train which is a decently expensive job so i thought they would see this as a good opportunity. well needless to say they did a joke of a job. only did 7 total pulls tuning the car, tuned it on the maf voltage, and jacked maps from a cammed z(my z isnt cammed yet although all my parts are sitting and waiting for my tech to install them). the baseline was 240whp. all he got out of it was 247whp. for my mods that was REALLY low so i did some research and come to find he had jacked the maps and not tuned on a wideband. the tuner had the balls to tell me his DJ reads high!

i took the Z to the shop where my bf's ls2 gto gets work done. the tuner there, eli (who had never used utec before let alone tuned a z) showed me on hypertermial the sketchness of the first tune. the afr on the ond tune was 11 to 12 across the board, the new afr is around the 13-13.2 mark. eli redid my tune ( i only have the dyno from the first session, it got late so i came back the next week and he finished it off) and in conclusion got 270whp and 265tq in its final pulls. mind you all pulls where done in 4th gear on a dyno jet. eli's DJ is fair. it read an intake only 03 m6 z at 232/225 ten minutes after my run. eli's dyno was not corrected but i do beleive the first shop corrected his numbers. it is def a very different car after eli's tune and has pulled away from mid and low 13 sec cars on the streets. ill post up the final sheet if i can find it since i think i deleted it from my email and the dyno of the tomei cam tune (hopefully sometime by the end of the month).
I could be very wrong, but those AFR's are very high. Not to say its necessarily a problem, but I'd definitely log any detonations, as a bad bunch of gas could spell the end of your engine. I've never seen someone recommend going much above 12:1AFR.

~Pat
 
#3 ·
I could be very wrong, but those AFR's are very high. Not to say its necessarily a problem, but I'd definitely log any detonations, as a bad bunch of gas could spell the end of your engine. I've never seen someone recommend going much above 12:1AFR.

~Pat
all my buddys running tuned n/a set ups are running 12.8 to 13.2. have had no problems with rod knock or spark chatter. my goat runs that lean (13.5) as well. many untuned bolt on z's have leaner afr then 13.2.
 
#4 ·
Your AFR's are fine if you're running 93 octane. Out here in Vegas, we shoot for 12.7:1 on 91 octane. Just for information purposes, your dyno numbers are in fact corrected. They're SAE corrected.
 
#6 ·
the first set yes they are corrected, the second set im pretty sure they are not. thanks for the props guys...hopefully with the cams and valvetrain ill be able to take it to 7200 with good use :)

on a side note anyone have dynos or numbers from full bolton, cammed tuned nonrevups?
 
#7 ·
My bad. Guess I was talking about something I didn't really know. Congrats, your numbers look good.

~Pat
You would be correct on a forced induction motor. I usually shoot for 11.7:1. NA cars, I aim for 12.7:1.


the first set yes they are corrected, the second set im pretty sure they are not. thanks for the props guys...hopefully with the cams and valvetrain ill be able to take it to 7200 with good use :)

on a side note anyone have dynos or numbers from full bolton, cammed tuned nonrevups?
Both dyno charts are corrected. The way to tell is to look in the upper right corner. The "CF: SAE", means your numbers are SAE corrected. That's the preferred correction factor.
 
#8 ·
You would be correct on a forced induction motor. I usually shoot for 11.7:1. NA cars, I aim for 12.7:1.




Both dyno charts are corrected. The way to tell is to look in the upper right corner. The "CF: SAE", means your numbers are SAE corrected. That's the preferred correction factor.
thanks i miust have been thinking about the most recent one, im on my bf's a$$ about emailing it to me
 
#10 ·
thanks guys...i dropped my car off last night at my friends shop to install tomei 264 cams and jwt valve train. hopefully it will be done tommorow and ill have it on the dyno fri or sat to get tuned . ill post the final results up. there is lil info on n/a cam setups and i have found NO dynos whatsoever so should be good info for ppl heading that route
 
#14 ·
Nice! I have been trying to find the time to install my cams for a while now. Can't wait for the results. I'll post my dyno sheets as soon as they're in.
 
#15 ·
QUOTE (chrisaray @ Mar 8 2008, 01:39 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504161
Nice! I have been trying to find the time to install my cams for a while now. Can't wait for the results. I'll post my dyno sheets as soon as they're in.


good luck. seems most ppl are afraid of it but it didnt take long and we didnt pull the motor, like some ppl told me they would have to do (Z1 in ga and forged i think).

that last dyno i posted was i/e/h/testpipes/spacer and tune.

i dynoed the car with all those mods plus cams WITH NO TUNE and it did 255/245. hopefully ill see a 20 plus hp gain of the tune since the afr is just as jacked as the first time it was untuned. should be sometime next week. keep your fingers crossed :)
 
#16 ·
QUOTE (NoZYet @ Jan 6 2008, 05:49 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=473928
I could be very wrong, but those AFR's are very high. Not to say its necessarily a problem, but I'd definitely log any detonations, as a bad bunch of gas could spell the end of your engine. I've never seen someone recommend going much above 12:1AFR.

~Pat

You are thinking about Forced Inducted cars. I tuned turbocharged cars for around 11:0 - 11.5:1 afr.

My NA Z is tuned for 13:1- 13.5:1 on 94 octane.
 
#17 ·
QUOTE (illz33 @ Mar 8 2008, 07:23 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504430
You are thinking about Forced Inducted cars. I tuned turbocharged cars for around 11:0 - 11.5:1 afr.

My NA Z is tuned for 13:1- 13.5:1 on 94 octane.

tis true. when i was richer the car ran like crap. im thinking with cams in it it will want it a lil richer. any thoughts. i think icobra is around 11 ish.
 
#18 ·
QUOTE (baby_ruiner @ Mar 8 2008, 06:47 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504439
tis true. when i was richer the car ran like crap. im thinking with cams in it it will want it a lil richer. any thoughts. i think icobra is around 11 ish.

Yep, you are going to have to add a little fuel up top. Which cams are you using?

You would still want to hover around 12.5:1 - 13.5:1 ... depending on your poison for an NA car.
 
#19 ·
QUOTE (illz33 @ Mar 8 2008, 07:02 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504444
Yep, you are going to have to add a little fuel up top. Which cams are you using?

You would still want to hover around 12.5:1 - 13.5:1 ... depending on your poison for an NA car.

im running tomei 264s with a 10.2 lift (about .410ish") well i really want to keep my tq which is around mid 260s before the cams. i have seen a few de's put down 280whp (full bolton no cams) with my same tq and always wondered what robbed me of the hp (my peak was 268 i think). when i put that cams in i did have to replace the spark plugs and some other misc parts (totaling almost a grand grr!) so i wonder if that robbed me some power as well. any ideas?
 
#20 ·
QUOTE (baby_ruiner @ Mar 8 2008, 08:21 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504453
im running tomei 264s with a 10.2 lift (about .410ish") well i really want to keep my tq which is around mid 260s before the cams. i have seen a few de's put down 280whp (full bolton no cams) with my same tq and always wondered what robbed me of the hp (my peak was 268 i think). when i put that cams in i did have to replace the spark plugs and some other misc parts (totaling almost a grand grr!) so i wonder if that robbed me some power as well. any ideas?
Those 264 Tomei's are good stuff. Would be my choice (or 272) for cams with the non revup VQ.

Your hp suffers up top because of the "normal" intake restrictions (plenum, etc) of the non revup. Those cams will CERTAINLY open that can of worms up.

Did you do a plenum spacer of some sorts? That helps the inbalance on the non revup.


I would imagine you'll top 280whp.. But, don't worry if you don't, it'll still pull like lightning with excellent throttle response. Dynos are just rollers that put out inaccurate numbers from dyno to dyno.. Don't put much stock in them. As long as you our happy that is all that matters. And that you have more power than before.. and can use it more often.


Did you touch the rear diff yet? LSD or 3.9 + R&P? THAT, with cams is fire... pure fire.
 
#21 ·
i really would have wanted bigger ones but i didnt for two reasons:
1. its my daily for now (im on my quest for a low milage 01-03 white s2k for a beater)
2. i got these brand spanking new for over 1/2 off retail

ive been pretty happy with the car before the cam install in the 268 tune. its hasnt lost to a car its ran (all been low and mid 13 sec cars). i do admit i play a lil on the street (its due to the stupid gotat driving bf of mine) but i would like to break 13s on DR with less then 5 grand into power mods and tuning.

i do have breather mods: here is the list:
jwt popcharger with heat shield and titek cf intake duct (doubtful the duct does anything)
motor dyne 5/16
stillin SS headers
IP test pipes
greddy evo2
utec
tomei 264
jwt springs and shims
(i had a new nismo cai but sold it bc i didnt want to risk a cai in atl driving conditions)

i would love for the peak hp to shift to the right and the tq to stay put
 
#22 ·
QUOTE (baby_ruiner @ Mar 8 2008, 08:54 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504478
i would love for the peak hp to shift to the right and the tq to stay put

before variable cam timing, that would have been difficult. Today, with the right tuning, you'll hardly notice the torque dip, but the power up top will come on strong.


You are going to roughly shift power 1000rpm to the right with the 264 (268?) Tomei.

Your peak power should be right around/at 7000-7250rpm. If it were me (and it's not) :) and it were my show, I wouldn't spin it past 7400rpm.


stop street racing. :) It's totally gay..
 
#23 ·
QUOTE (illz33 @ Mar 8 2008, 07:59 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504484
before variable cam timing, that would have been difficult. Today, with the right tuning, you'll hardly notice the torque dip, but the power up top will come on strong.


You are going to roughly shift power 1000rpm to the right with the 264 (268?) Tomei.

Your peak power should be right around/at 7000-7250rpm. If it were me (and it's not) :) and it were my show, I wouldn't spin it past 7400rpm.


stop street racing. :) It's totally gay..
thanks for the input, im excited about the extra power band i am going to get and happy i upgraded my valve train to compensate. im not the one to rev that high on a daily basis, specially with gas being like it is. and street racing is le ghey, just had to put the other na vq boys and a m3 and sti in their places
 
#24 ·
QUOTE (baby_ruiner @ Mar 9 2008, 12:09 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504599
thanks for the input, im excited about the extra power band i am going to get and happy i upgraded my valve train to compensate. im not the one to rev that high on a daily basis, specially with gas being like it is.

p.s. The reason I mentioned not going above 7400 was due to your current bottom end (short block). Otherwise, you could be up around 7800-8200, but your cams will not pull that high.

I'd be stoked too. I once had a set of cams in your spec that I was going to install. Hence the reason I'm giving you the numbers.

You're going to have a nice setup. What about the rest of the car? (suspension)
 
#25 ·
QUOTE (illz33 @ Mar 8 2008, 04:27 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=504457
Those 264 Tomei's are good stuff. Would be my choice (or 272) for cams with the non revup VQ.

Your hp suffers up top because of the "normal" intake restrictions (plenum, etc) of the non revup. Those cams will CERTAINLY open that can of worms up.

Did you do a plenum spacer of some sorts? That helps the inbalance on the non revup.


I would imagine you'll top 280whp.. But, don't worry if you don't, it'll still pull like lightning with excellent throttle response. Dynos are just rollers that put out inaccurate numbers from dyno to dyno.. Don't put much stock in them. As long as you our happy that is all that matters. And that you have more power than before.. and can use it more often.


Did you touch the rear diff yet? LSD or 3.9 + R&P? THAT, with cams is fire... pure fire.
R&P??? what is that...just curious.
 
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