350z NA Suggestions
08-12-2014, 07:57 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
350z NA Suggestions
First and foremost its a privilege to be a part of a community in which majority of us own a 350z.
I bought a 2005 35th Anniversary back in May of this year. Amazing car. Just the 350z itself is amazing, kudos to the designers (but those 370z's though..
).
My car is full stock with the exception of a cold air intake by K&N.
My clutch is almost out.
Here are my questions:
1.) I like to keep my engine stock, because I have no money to put in the crazy amounts of work for the engine for supercharging or turbo (heard turbo to do it the right way its at least $20,000). Is there a clutch out there that's suitable for my stock engine car for street racing? and I'm talking DD. I'm not sure entirely what I'm looking for since my clutch is almost out and I never had the feel of a new clutch except for the Subaru BRZ, those clutch grabs are smooth as hell, it doesnt shake the car when the rev is not match. I want a clutch that grabs smoothly and its street friendly racing. I have no intend to take my car to track, maybe someday but I'm just not that big into engine mods at the moment. The way my clutch grabs gives a huge response feel if I dont rev match. I've heard JWT and other brands and I HAVE SEARCHED THIS FORUM, but I just keep getting mixed reviews and plus the threads are old. So I am politely asking for any opinions from everybody.
2.) Is there a way to increase my car's HP without engine mod? For instance, when I stumbled upon the Borla Exhaust System website for the 350z, it claims the HP of my car will go up between 5-15%. Besides getting rid of weight on my car, what's the right direction you guys can give me for this?
3.) I dont know jack about cars. When I drove on my dad's 2014 Hyundai Sonata she was smoother than my 350z. Is there way of some type of suspension or mods I can do to make my care drive the buttery smoothest as possible? She is a beautiful car, I'm just tired of racing here on and on and soon she will be a DD, full. This question has been in my head for awhile, is it even possible for this car?
Many Thanks,
Blanqshot.
I bought a 2005 35th Anniversary back in May of this year. Amazing car. Just the 350z itself is amazing, kudos to the designers (but those 370z's though..
).My car is full stock with the exception of a cold air intake by K&N.
My clutch is almost out.
Here are my questions:
1.) I like to keep my engine stock, because I have no money to put in the crazy amounts of work for the engine for supercharging or turbo (heard turbo to do it the right way its at least $20,000). Is there a clutch out there that's suitable for my stock engine car for street racing? and I'm talking DD. I'm not sure entirely what I'm looking for since my clutch is almost out and I never had the feel of a new clutch except for the Subaru BRZ, those clutch grabs are smooth as hell, it doesnt shake the car when the rev is not match. I want a clutch that grabs smoothly and its street friendly racing. I have no intend to take my car to track, maybe someday but I'm just not that big into engine mods at the moment. The way my clutch grabs gives a huge response feel if I dont rev match. I've heard JWT and other brands and I HAVE SEARCHED THIS FORUM, but I just keep getting mixed reviews and plus the threads are old. So I am politely asking for any opinions from everybody.
2.) Is there a way to increase my car's HP without engine mod? For instance, when I stumbled upon the Borla Exhaust System website for the 350z, it claims the HP of my car will go up between 5-15%. Besides getting rid of weight on my car, what's the right direction you guys can give me for this?
3.) I dont know jack about cars. When I drove on my dad's 2014 Hyundai Sonata she was smoother than my 350z. Is there way of some type of suspension or mods I can do to make my care drive the buttery smoothest as possible? She is a beautiful car, I'm just tired of racing here on and on and soon she will be a DD, full. This question has been in my head for awhile, is it even possible for this car?
Many Thanks,
Blanqshot.
08-12-2014, 07:59 AM
#2
Registered User
Thread Starter
For questions 3, I meant the amount of bounce I feel in my car. I don't car about the outside noise, but when I go over the small cracks on the road or even the major ones, she's as not as less bouncy as the Hyundai Sonata.
I don't mean to compare these two cars. I still love my 350z.
I don't mean to compare these two cars. I still love my 350z.
08-12-2014, 08:35 AM
#5
New Member
I would go with OEM clutch, but I have heard good things about the JWT clutch.
How many miles does the car have? Depending on that since you are changing the clutch you might as well do some other basic maintenance on the car. For instance, without a doubt change the diff fluid and tranny fluid. I recommend Redline fluid for both.
Since you don't know about cars it is difficult to say what to do. When my clutch went on my Sentra, I took the opportunity to really look over the underneath of the car and engine bay to see if any maintenance was needed.
Change the clutch, the fluids, spark plugs, etc.
An exhaust will add some performance, but most people get them for sound. Some people like the Borla but in my opinion you have way better options for the price. Depending on how loud you want I would check out companies such as HKS, Motordyne, Tomei, Agency Power, Nismo (discontinued), and Greddy.
How many miles does the car have? Depending on that since you are changing the clutch you might as well do some other basic maintenance on the car. For instance, without a doubt change the diff fluid and tranny fluid. I recommend Redline fluid for both.
Since you don't know about cars it is difficult to say what to do. When my clutch went on my Sentra, I took the opportunity to really look over the underneath of the car and engine bay to see if any maintenance was needed.
Change the clutch, the fluids, spark plugs, etc.
An exhaust will add some performance, but most people get them for sound. Some people like the Borla but in my opinion you have way better options for the price. Depending on how loud you want I would check out companies such as HKS, Motordyne, Tomei, Agency Power, Nismo (discontinued), and Greddy.
08-12-2014, 08:35 AM
#6
General & DIY Moderator
MY350Z.COM
MY350Z.COM
iTrader: (64)
My first suggestion--after you fix the clutch--is to take your Z to a road racing track and learn to drive it with some qualified instruction. Street racing is a terrible waste for the Z and you'll learn more in an afternoon at the track, than you would crashing or having the Z impounded on the street...
08-12-2014, 08:36 AM
#7
New Member
Another option if you want some power and if your stock exhaust is in good shape is to keep the stock exhaust and install HFCs. My buddy had a set of Berk HFCs on his G37 and it sounded beefy without being too loud.
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08-12-2014, 09:00 AM
#8
Registered User
Thread Starter
I just get mixed reviews with the JWT. Majority of the people I know never even heard of it. They mostly stick with Nismo, Heddy, or HKS. The friends I know. I heard they have a "Higher Engagement Point" which I'm not sure what that means.
SQuaLZ, I bought it at 40,000 miles for $13,000. Apparently whoever had it in the past really went hard on the clutch since its almost out.
I'll take into your suggestions and change the fluids. But is it just underneath the engine bay I should get the Mechanic to look at? Everything else seems fine.
I'll look into the HFC's, never heard of them. I don't want anything "Mustang" loud though.
SQuaLZ, I bought it at 40,000 miles for $13,000. Apparently whoever had it in the past really went hard on the clutch since its almost out.
I'll take into your suggestions and change the fluids. But is it just underneath the engine bay I should get the Mechanic to look at? Everything else seems fine.
I'll look into the HFC's, never heard of them. I don't want anything "Mustang" loud though.
08-12-2014, 09:01 AM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
My first suggestion--after you fix the clutch--is to take your Z to a road racing track and learn to drive it with some qualified instruction. Street racing is a terrible waste for the Z and you'll learn more in an afternoon at the track, than you would crashing or having the Z impounded on the street...
08-12-2014, 10:28 AM
#10
If you look at the mods in my sig, I spent probably around 2500-3000 total, including the tune and gained about 30-35WHP.
Knock on wood it runs great and feels healthy for about 2 years since the mods.
The Borla system by itself is probably the most quiet of the aftermarket systems. It has a deep tone, no rasp, and no drone for me. Only drawback is that it comes in pieces and its a clamped system. I haven't had any problems yet though with any leakage.
I added Berk HFC's and the sound was the same just amplified. I suggest getting some HFCs and seeing how you like the sound paired with the stock system, then go from there.
As for the suspension, the car shouldn't really bounce. These cars should be a stiff ride, as they were designed to be. You should feel every little crack. Softening up the ride really takes away from the point of owning one. Yes, you can put in less stiff of a suspension, but it's really a waste of money and a downgrade to the car.
I hear the best bang for the buck in terms of acceleration would be to get 4.08 gears installed.
Knock on wood it runs great and feels healthy for about 2 years since the mods.
The Borla system by itself is probably the most quiet of the aftermarket systems. It has a deep tone, no rasp, and no drone for me. Only drawback is that it comes in pieces and its a clamped system. I haven't had any problems yet though with any leakage.
I added Berk HFC's and the sound was the same just amplified. I suggest getting some HFCs and seeing how you like the sound paired with the stock system, then go from there.
As for the suspension, the car shouldn't really bounce. These cars should be a stiff ride, as they were designed to be. You should feel every little crack. Softening up the ride really takes away from the point of owning one. Yes, you can put in less stiff of a suspension, but it's really a waste of money and a downgrade to the car.
I hear the best bang for the buck in terms of acceleration would be to get 4.08 gears installed.
08-12-2014, 10:58 AM
#11
Congrats on the purchase this year. I personally think the 350z has better exterior styling when compared with the 370z stock vs. stock although some of the tastefully modified 370z I have seen are just mind blowing.
Anyway I don't have any experience with changing a clutch. I do know that the OEM slave cylinder which releases the clutch is a cheap plastic cylinder. This part is often replaced with a metal cylinder when switching the clutch to prevent leaks down the road. I would do this even if you aren't having any issues with your slave cylinder at this point.
Zspeed is a sponsor of this site and has a good selection for the type of parts you are talking about. They also have good customer service that will answer your questions if you plan on making an order. I recommend checking them out:
http://www.zspeedperformance.com/
As far as getting more HP on the cheap here is what you will see mostly discussed on this forum...
CAI - cold air intake (I use nismo)
Plenum Spacer
HFC or test pipes (I own Berk HFC but haven't installed yet. Test pipes get a slightly higher HP increase but are much louder and stinky since there is no after treatment media in the pipe.)
New exhaust back end (I use nismo)
After this you're ready for an osiris uprev flash or tuner. there are other similar ECU tuners, but Osiris is probably the best available for us.
What you are doing with all of this work is increasing your intake airflow on the front side and decreasing your exhaust back pressure. Couple this with an aggressive ECU tune and you're going to be squeezing more power out of that stock VQ35. Thanks to Nissan's engineering for daily driver intent and high safety margin you can get a significant increase with these simple modifications although there is certainly a lot more gains to be had by going with FI or a full blown engine swap.
As far as the comfort of the ride... suck it up and have fun. That bumpiness is what makes it possible for you to take sharp corners at high speed with minimal body roll. If you want to really enjoy the road, you have to feel the road. I'm sure there are super cars out there that have it both ways. Magneride systems allow you to switch from agressive to luxury ride style. May be some air bag systems that do the same though personally I don't mind the stock ride.
Anyway I don't have any experience with changing a clutch. I do know that the OEM slave cylinder which releases the clutch is a cheap plastic cylinder. This part is often replaced with a metal cylinder when switching the clutch to prevent leaks down the road. I would do this even if you aren't having any issues with your slave cylinder at this point.
Zspeed is a sponsor of this site and has a good selection for the type of parts you are talking about. They also have good customer service that will answer your questions if you plan on making an order. I recommend checking them out:
http://www.zspeedperformance.com/
As far as getting more HP on the cheap here is what you will see mostly discussed on this forum...
CAI - cold air intake (I use nismo)
Plenum Spacer
HFC or test pipes (I own Berk HFC but haven't installed yet. Test pipes get a slightly higher HP increase but are much louder and stinky since there is no after treatment media in the pipe.)
New exhaust back end (I use nismo)
After this you're ready for an osiris uprev flash or tuner. there are other similar ECU tuners, but Osiris is probably the best available for us.
What you are doing with all of this work is increasing your intake airflow on the front side and decreasing your exhaust back pressure. Couple this with an aggressive ECU tune and you're going to be squeezing more power out of that stock VQ35. Thanks to Nissan's engineering for daily driver intent and high safety margin you can get a significant increase with these simple modifications although there is certainly a lot more gains to be had by going with FI or a full blown engine swap.
As far as the comfort of the ride... suck it up and have fun. That bumpiness is what makes it possible for you to take sharp corners at high speed with minimal body roll. If you want to really enjoy the road, you have to feel the road. I'm sure there are super cars out there that have it both ways. Magneride systems allow you to switch from agressive to luxury ride style. May be some air bag systems that do the same though personally I don't mind the stock ride.
08-12-2014, 11:18 AM
#12
Registered User
Thread Starter
If you look at the mods in my sig, I spent probably around 2500-3000 total, including the tune and gained about 30-35WHP.
Knock on wood it runs great and feels healthy for about 2 years since the mods.
The Borla system by itself is probably the most quiet of the aftermarket systems. It has a deep tone, no rasp, and no drone for me. Only drawback is that it comes in pieces and its a clamped system. I haven't had any problems yet though with any leakage.
I added Berk HFC's and the sound was the same just amplified. I suggest getting some HFCs and seeing how you like the sound paired with the stock system, then go from there.
As for the suspension, the car shouldn't really bounce. These cars should be a stiff ride, as they were designed to be. You should feel every little crack. Softening up the ride really takes away from the point of owning one. Yes, you can put in less stiff of a suspension, but it's really a waste of money and a downgrade to the car.
I hear the best bang for the buck in terms of acceleration would be to get 4.08 gears installed.
Knock on wood it runs great and feels healthy for about 2 years since the mods.
The Borla system by itself is probably the most quiet of the aftermarket systems. It has a deep tone, no rasp, and no drone for me. Only drawback is that it comes in pieces and its a clamped system. I haven't had any problems yet though with any leakage.
I added Berk HFC's and the sound was the same just amplified. I suggest getting some HFCs and seeing how you like the sound paired with the stock system, then go from there.
As for the suspension, the car shouldn't really bounce. These cars should be a stiff ride, as they were designed to be. You should feel every little crack. Softening up the ride really takes away from the point of owning one. Yes, you can put in less stiff of a suspension, but it's really a waste of money and a downgrade to the car.
I hear the best bang for the buck in terms of acceleration would be to get 4.08 gears installed.
08-12-2014, 11:20 AM
#13
New Member
First and foremost its a privilege to be a part of a community in which majority of us own a 350z.
I bought a 2005 35th Anniversary back in May of this year. Amazing car. Just the 350z itself is amazing, kudos to the designers (but those 370z's though..).
My car is full stock with the exception of a cold air intake by K&N.
My clutch is almost out.
Here are my questions:
1.) I like to keep my engine stock, because I have no money to put in the crazy amounts of work for the engine for supercharging or turbo (heard turbo to do it the right way its at least $20,000). Is there a clutch out there that's suitable for my stock engine car for street racing? and I'm talking DD. I'm not sure entirely what I'm looking for since my clutch is almost out and I never had the feel of a new clutch except for the Subaru BRZ, those clutch grabs are smooth as hell, it doesnt shake the car when the rev is not match. I want a clutch that grabs smoothly and its street friendly racing. I have no intend to take my car to track, maybe someday but I'm just not that big into engine mods at the moment. The way my clutch grabs gives a huge response feel if I dont rev match. I've heard JWT and other brands and I HAVE SEARCHED THIS FORUM, but I just keep getting mixed reviews and plus the threads are old. So I am politely asking for any opinions from everybody.
2.) Is there a way to increase my car's HP without engine mod? For instance, when I stumbled upon the Borla Exhaust System website for the 350z, it claims the HP of my car will go up between 5-15%. Besides getting rid of weight on my car, what's the right direction you guys can give me for this?
3.) I dont know jack about cars. When I drove on my dad's 2014 Hyundai Sonata she was smoother than my 350z. Is there way of some type of suspension or mods I can do to make my care drive the buttery smoothest as possible? She is a beautiful car, I'm just tired of racing here on and on and soon she will be a DD, full. This question has been in my head for awhile, is it even possible for this car?
Many Thanks,
Blanqshot.
I bought a 2005 35th Anniversary back in May of this year. Amazing car. Just the 350z itself is amazing, kudos to the designers (but those 370z's though..
).My car is full stock with the exception of a cold air intake by K&N.
My clutch is almost out.
Here are my questions:
1.) I like to keep my engine stock, because I have no money to put in the crazy amounts of work for the engine for supercharging or turbo (heard turbo to do it the right way its at least $20,000). Is there a clutch out there that's suitable for my stock engine car for street racing? and I'm talking DD. I'm not sure entirely what I'm looking for since my clutch is almost out and I never had the feel of a new clutch except for the Subaru BRZ, those clutch grabs are smooth as hell, it doesnt shake the car when the rev is not match. I want a clutch that grabs smoothly and its street friendly racing. I have no intend to take my car to track, maybe someday but I'm just not that big into engine mods at the moment. The way my clutch grabs gives a huge response feel if I dont rev match. I've heard JWT and other brands and I HAVE SEARCHED THIS FORUM, but I just keep getting mixed reviews and plus the threads are old. So I am politely asking for any opinions from everybody.
2.) Is there a way to increase my car's HP without engine mod? For instance, when I stumbled upon the Borla Exhaust System website for the 350z, it claims the HP of my car will go up between 5-15%. Besides getting rid of weight on my car, what's the right direction you guys can give me for this?
3.) I dont know jack about cars. When I drove on my dad's 2014 Hyundai Sonata she was smoother than my 350z. Is there way of some type of suspension or mods I can do to make my care drive the buttery smoothest as possible? She is a beautiful car, I'm just tired of racing here on and on and soon she will be a DD, full. This question has been in my head for awhile, is it even possible for this car?
Many Thanks,
Blanqshot.
08-12-2014, 11:21 AM
#14
Registered User
Thread Starter
If you look at the mods in my sig, I spent probably around 2500-3000 total, including the tune and gained about 30-35WHP.
Knock on wood it runs great and feels healthy for about 2 years since the mods.
The Borla system by itself is probably the most quiet of the aftermarket systems. It has a deep tone, no rasp, and no drone for me. Only drawback is that it comes in pieces and its a clamped system. I haven't had any problems yet though with any leakage.
I added Berk HFC's and the sound was the same just amplified. I suggest getting some HFCs and seeing how you like the sound paired with the stock system, then go from there.
As for the suspension, the car shouldn't really bounce. These cars should be a stiff ride, as they were designed to be. You should feel every little crack. Softening up the ride really takes away from the point of owning one. Yes, you can put in less stiff of a suspension, but it's really a waste of money and a downgrade to the car.
I hear the best bang for the buck in terms of acceleration would be to get 4.08 gears installed.
Knock on wood it runs great and feels healthy for about 2 years since the mods.
The Borla system by itself is probably the most quiet of the aftermarket systems. It has a deep tone, no rasp, and no drone for me. Only drawback is that it comes in pieces and its a clamped system. I haven't had any problems yet though with any leakage.
I added Berk HFC's and the sound was the same just amplified. I suggest getting some HFCs and seeing how you like the sound paired with the stock system, then go from there.
As for the suspension, the car shouldn't really bounce. These cars should be a stiff ride, as they were designed to be. You should feel every little crack. Softening up the ride really takes away from the point of owning one. Yes, you can put in less stiff of a suspension, but it's really a waste of money and a downgrade to the car.
I hear the best bang for the buck in terms of acceleration would be to get 4.08 gears installed.
08-12-2014, 11:25 AM
#15
Registered User
Thread Starter
Congrats on the purchase this year. I personally think the 350z has better exterior styling when compared with the 370z stock vs. stock although some of the tastefully modified 370z I have seen are just mind blowing.
Anyway I don't have any experience with changing a clutch. I do know that the OEM slave cylinder which releases the clutch is a cheap plastic cylinder. This part is often replaced with a metal cylinder when switching the clutch to prevent leaks down the road. I would do this even if you aren't having any issues with your slave cylinder at this point.
Zspeed is a sponsor of this site and has a good selection for the type of parts you are talking about. They also have good customer service that will answer your questions if you plan on making an order. I recommend checking them out:
http://www.zspeedperformance.com/
As far as getting more HP on the cheap here is what you will see mostly discussed on this forum...
CAI - cold air intake (I use nismo)
Plenum Spacer
HFC or test pipes (I own Berk HFC but haven't installed yet. Test pipes get a slightly higher HP increase but are much louder and stinky since there is no after treatment media in the pipe.)
New exhaust back end (I use nismo)
After this you're ready for an osiris uprev flash or tuner. there are other similar ECU tuners, but Osiris is probably the best available for us.
What you are doing with all of this work is increasing your intake airflow on the front side and decreasing your exhaust back pressure. Couple this with an aggressive ECU tune and you're going to be squeezing more power out of that stock VQ35. Thanks to Nissan's engineering for daily driver intent and high safety margin you can get a significant increase with these simple modifications although there is certainly a lot more gains to be had by going with FI or a full blown engine swap.
As far as the comfort of the ride... suck it up and have fun. That bumpiness is what makes it possible for you to take sharp corners at high speed with minimal body roll. If you want to really enjoy the road, you have to feel the road. I'm sure there are super cars out there that have it both ways. Magneride systems allow you to switch from agressive to luxury ride style. May be some air bag systems that do the same though personally I don't mind the stock ride.
Anyway I don't have any experience with changing a clutch. I do know that the OEM slave cylinder which releases the clutch is a cheap plastic cylinder. This part is often replaced with a metal cylinder when switching the clutch to prevent leaks down the road. I would do this even if you aren't having any issues with your slave cylinder at this point.
Zspeed is a sponsor of this site and has a good selection for the type of parts you are talking about. They also have good customer service that will answer your questions if you plan on making an order. I recommend checking them out:
http://www.zspeedperformance.com/
As far as getting more HP on the cheap here is what you will see mostly discussed on this forum...
CAI - cold air intake (I use nismo)
Plenum Spacer
HFC or test pipes (I own Berk HFC but haven't installed yet. Test pipes get a slightly higher HP increase but are much louder and stinky since there is no after treatment media in the pipe.)
New exhaust back end (I use nismo)
After this you're ready for an osiris uprev flash or tuner. there are other similar ECU tuners, but Osiris is probably the best available for us.
What you are doing with all of this work is increasing your intake airflow on the front side and decreasing your exhaust back pressure. Couple this with an aggressive ECU tune and you're going to be squeezing more power out of that stock VQ35. Thanks to Nissan's engineering for daily driver intent and high safety margin you can get a significant increase with these simple modifications although there is certainly a lot more gains to be had by going with FI or a full blown engine swap.
As far as the comfort of the ride... suck it up and have fun. That bumpiness is what makes it possible for you to take sharp corners at high speed with minimal body roll. If you want to really enjoy the road, you have to feel the road. I'm sure there are super cars out there that have it both ways. Magneride systems allow you to switch from agressive to luxury ride style. May be some air bag systems that do the same though personally I don't mind the stock ride.
08-12-2014, 11:35 AM
#16
Your car is 255WHP? Even after the Mods it's only that much? That was one frustrating topic I personally discovered when I learned about cars. Excuse me for my tiny knowledge but I believe my car is 300HP but as far as WHP I would take it to Dyno but God.. I just don't like how that 300 is not the real number being pushed towards the wheels.
Plus mine is AT, so I lose a few more parasitic hp.
Most car manufacturers label their hp ratings at the crank.
Also beware there are some dynos out there that inflate the numbers
PS - mine is 2005 anniversary (AUTO) meaning its 287HP crank. Yours is Anniversary MT, so you have the 300HP revup engine. (keep an eye out for oil consumption!)
Last edited by JERZ350; 08-12-2014 at 11:37 AM.
08-12-2014, 11:39 AM
#17
Your car is 255WHP? Even after the Mods it's only that much? That was one frustrating topic I personally discovered when I learned about cars. Excuse me for my tiny knowledge but I believe my car is 300HP but as far as WHP I would take it to Dyno but God.. I just don't like how that 300 is not the real number being pushed towards the wheels.
08-12-2014, 12:31 PM
#18
Registered User
Thread Starter
08-12-2014, 12:32 PM
#19
Registered User
Thread Starter
Yep. Pre-2007 stock they put down anywhere between 225-235whp, something like that.
Plus mine is AT, so I lose a few more parasitic hp.
Most car manufacturers label their hp ratings at the crank.
Also beware there are some dynos out there that inflate the numbers
PS - mine is 2005 anniversary (AUTO) meaning its 287HP crank. Yours is Anniversary MT, so you have the 300HP revup engine. (keep an eye out for oil consumption!)
Plus mine is AT, so I lose a few more parasitic hp.
Most car manufacturers label their hp ratings at the crank.
Also beware there are some dynos out there that inflate the numbers
PS - mine is 2005 anniversary (AUTO) meaning its 287HP crank. Yours is Anniversary MT, so you have the 300HP revup engine. (keep an eye out for oil consumption!)
And I didnt know the 35th aniversary AT were cranked at 287.