Klinger350Z

This review is not a spewing of tech specs, you can get that from AAM’s web site, this is more from a daily use point of view.

Let’s start with the basics:
2005 350Z 5AT, fully stock, 75k miles. dyno’d at 236.27 HP, 214.67 TQ

Post conversion:
AAM valve body upgrade
AAM hiflo cats
AAM 3” duel exhaust
AAM TT , 6psi, dyno’d at 394.23 HP, 341.19 TQ

The good:
This is my daily driver so not much hard driving. Boost comes on at 3k rpm and is constant up to redline. There is very little noticeable lag. The TQ is noticeable but not over powering. The installation was done at AAM’s shop so I cannot comment on the ease of installation. From the pics I was given, the installation looked straight forward, once the engine was out. The final result is unassuming from the top, a hint of the intercooler from the front and a very clean appearance from underneath. The turbo’s are tucked away from sight, but to be honest there is not much room to begin with. Everything looks to just fit nicely and neatly under the hood. I have a VERY mild setup at 6psi giving me a 60% increase in HP and a 63% increase in TQ. With the base tune, the Z drives like you would expect it to have come from the factory.

The bad:
I really don’t have anything to complain about. I have logged over 4k miles since the installation and I only have one small issue, really just an annoyance. Because my car is an automatic, the majority of my driving is at 2000 to 3500 rpm’s. This is where the transmission wants to be. The issue is the turbo’s have a ‘whistle’ just before boost comes on. This whistle occurs right around 2200 – 2500 rpm. It is very short and if you are strong on the gas it passes so quickly you don’t even hear it. But, if you are slowly accelerating (going up a hill, slight acceleration, etc) when you will hit that rpm range you will get a 1 to 2 second whistle. I know I’m being picky, just want to be fair with the review. Once you are past 2500 rpm’s you start to feel the boost, you let up on the throttle and the AT kicks you back down to 2k and you are without boost. I find myself using trip tonic shifting, as I can keep the rpms between 3000 and 4500, a smooth comfortable spot, with the occasional run up to 5500 rpm just for fun. But this defeats the reason for the AT (mindless automatic shifting). In the spring, will be trying some things to minimize the whistle.

Overall:
I am happy with how AAM Competition’s Twin Turbocharger System came out. I thought I might have jumped the gun by installing this on a stock motor with an automatic transmission but I feel it still works in this configuration. The valve body upgrade is a must with the AT and I could have kept the stock exhaust with what my goals were, but I am still glad with how this came out. I know I have plenty of room to grow if I want to. Building the engine, transplanting into a MT car or just keeping it as is. The thing that amazed me the most was how quick you are at passing speeds. I found myself, while passing, approaching 100 in no time at all. I have to continually exercise what little maturity I have to just stay out of trouble. The AAM TT makes it really easy to love driving my Z again. I would highly recommend the AAM TT if you want to run 600+ HP. I also wouldn’t discourage anyone who wants to bolt this on their stock motor and be at 400HP either. This is just a good kit for any configuration you want it to be in.

Conway_160

iTrader: (1)

Looks good but what is up with the boost levels? They seem to stay flat then start to spike and you start to lean out.

Klinger350Z

That dyno run was done using the tune from AAM, I still need to tweak it to smooth out some things. I'm never in that rpm range so it wasn't that concerning to me at the time. But that will be one of the first tasks I will work on when I bring the Z out of winter storage.

str8dum1

iTrader: (11)

So you made 394 at 8.5psi, while they just posted another dyno on a 6mt making 605 on 9psi?? weird.

But that looks like classic boost creep. might be able to port the internal gates, but prolly not.

Looks like you are out of fuel or they didnt tune for the creep. Either way, that needs to addressed even if you dont rev that high.

And looking more closely, do you know if that was just on wastegate springs? Boost seems very uneven if its just on a spring. Can you get the graph with a smoothing of 0?

Klinger350Z

My application is with a DE + AT, the 605 is using a 370 MT. not really comparable. If you want to compare the two I would use the % of increase then account for the AT. I had a 60% HP increase at the 6psi setting. I don't know what the 370 had before the install. or if its tune eliminated the boost creep.

Yes, it looks like boost creep, I know I need to do some tuning work. That graph was just to compare against my baseline (from the same local shop).

The turbo has a wastegate actuator that can be set from 5 to 10 psi. Mine are actually set to 6psi. They are not the most stable at that low setting, what I should do is use the integrated boost control solenoid valve and an aftermarket boost controller, like a Haltech. That's next years project. Right now the snows flying and the Z is in storage.