damnyankee38

I have seen several people installing grounding kits, but I don't know the reason. Can someone enlighten me??

jnkirk1974

They even out the electric current in your car. The electric current has a tendency to dip and surge. Grounding kits keep everything nice and consistant.

These are great for any car, but especially for those cars with powerful stereo systems, video, etc. All those electrical mods can really draw power from the car.

damnyankee38

So, it is not really needed on a stock Z?

overZealous1

iTrader: (27)

pretty simple really, just helps provide better grounding of motor related sensors for quicker and better responce from ecu. typically just a bunch of wires that go to various parts on the motor (just distribute evenly around motor) then back to the battery negative.

alpine

that is if it's really necesary....

no it's not....

it's just nice.

There are improvements in electrical quality and distribution, and that helps any and all aspects of electrical components, in this case, the goal is to do anything to assist the ECU perform/respond better, so if you are a performance nut, you gotta have it.

if you are a gadget nut, you gotta have it.

if you appreciate electirical quality, and it's affect, then you gotta have it.

If you just want your car to drive the way it would regullary, no you don't need it.

and yes I have one because of first three options and I had that way back when my car was still NA

jnkirk1974

No, it's not needed. It's just nice to have. If you have an automatic, you'll see a little difference (if you get a 10-wire kit).

However, it's not needed for a stock vehicle.

Philthy

iTrader: (3)

purely cosmetic upgrade - does nothing for performance.

alpine

Sorry but this is inaccurate... I know there are guys/shops/mags whatever that will tell you it gives you x power, or y improvement, and maybe some of that is not accurate either but I can assure you that it is NOT strictly cosmetic.

I am not the engineer some people are, so I can't drop all the science right now, but let me give you my "real experience and testament".

Back when my car was NA, and before I even had my own custom pop charger, there was a "blip" on my tach at just about 3500/4000 where if I was driving normally and gradually gaining power/speed, there would be a definite sensation of some kind of surge/jump in power...

Nothing drastic, nothing exciting, and to many drivers possibly undetected, however at that time a few people that I knew agreed that the blip was there with my car, and some of them, with their own.

I believe it was HFM that I first exchanged this with, and I believe that he had a grounding kit at that time, and when I drove his car, that blip was NOT there... I didn't believe it at first, but acknowledged he had nothing else, he had the blip before, and then he didn't.

So I go a head with my custom popcharger, which was a 300Z Apex'i intake filter, and I had some friends of mine make an adaptor plate, got rid of the box and plumbing, to have the first intake mod on the 350z before anyone/thing else.

anyways, my blip became more noticeable, and of course breaking 4500, on a power run, there was a much larger jump in power, due to the intake.

I got the earlier version of the insane amine (anyone know what's up with him lately?) grounding kit and jumped into the car immediately afterwards and there was NO BLIP... none... at the 3500 mark, and when hitting 4500, instead of that lurching feeling, it was 100% linear...

Acceleration and response was noticeably more accurate.. and this was before I was really an avid 350z driver in the performance arena and had only driven a half dozen other z's (this was mid to late 03) I believe...

So I ended up with a JWT pop charger, got rid of that as it was noisier than it actually performed and my custom pop charger was better, got the K&N typhoon and that thing rocked! Nice sound & better performance than my custom or the real pop charger.

yes really.

Anyways, at my first group dyno run, my car out performed, several other cars by 5-10HP when other cars had more mods and tweaks in comparison to my intake and I did have a JWT/Nismo lightened clutch at the time, but that does not show up as measurable HP it just changes the response time, improves the acceleration curve.

Now this could have been attributed to my motor just being a little stronger than the group that was there, but what can I say.... I had those minor mods, plus the grounding kit, and my car did better than the avg car there that day.

yes really.

jnkirk1974

Completely inaccurate. From an electrical standpoint, it makes everything work more efficiently.

alpine

I also forgot to mention, that my car now that it is TT, exhaust, seems to drive very, very, very nicely, in comparison to some other FI cars I've driven and I can't help but wonder that my grounding kit is still contributing more than one might realize.

As with the post prior to this, it is to make the electrical components work better, which is what I posted originally a few days ago.

thank you, and now back to our regullary scheduled reading....

Philthy

iTrader: (3)

Believe what you want, but it doesn't make HP - I'll be very happy to entertain your technical explanation on why it makes everything more efficent and provides more HP to the motor...

All of the above statements are subjective - my car runs smoother? The electrical components in your car are grounded to the car already - they wouldn't work if they didn't have a sufficient ground point. Increasing the ground point wire size beyond what’s required does nothing for performance. Adding a bunch of wires to your motor, and then connecting them to the car is pointless –

Spend your money as you wish - I see a bunch of guys spending thousands of dollars on speaker wires and RCA cables and they'll debate all day long that they hear a difference - to bad it’s all just snake oil they purchased.

Take your car to the dyno, perform a run - then disconnect your grounding kit wire and give it another go - We've done this several times and the results were always the same, no HP difference.

jnkirk1974

Nobody here is claiming that it makes horsepower! It just helps with the electrical system. It seems that someone needs to explain to you what a grounding kit actually does.

Philthy

iTrader: (3)

LOL - ok, I'm ready to learn what they didn't teach me in college when I received my EE.

Re-read the thread - alpine stated that he believed that the grounding kit gave him that little extra hp... and people stating it improves the performance and speed of a motor sensor?

Like I said, it's your money - spend it as you wish. You have you subjective opinion that you can't prove, and I have what I was taught - If I'm misinformed, then prove it to me and I shall learn something new and the forum readers shall all benefit from your education.

Dave B

iTrader: (2)

I had the Grounding Gear 10-wire kit on my 03 G35 5AT. I got it because everyone (and I do mean everyone) said it would improve the 5AT's response in auto and manumatic. I noticed absolutely nothing. Nada. After two weeks use, I removed it and sold it.

Philthy

iTrader: (3)

The only HP or any other performance to be ‘potentially’ gained would only occur if an electrical component was malfunctioning due to a ground issue. (This is highly unlikely on a well engineered brand new vehicle) Even at that, I don’t see how grounding the motor to the chassis would correct a faulty ground wire on the ECU, transmission, radio, etc…

jnkirk1974

Alpine didn't make any outrageous claims about HP at all. He simply stated that he mods ALONG WITH THE GROUNDING KIT worked better......which has been proven by many people after installing a grounding kit.

Not every great mod will show up on a dyno. A grounding kit is a perfect example of this.

Again, a grounding kit is NOT snake oil. I have plenty of people that will back me up on this.

Owners of automatic transmissions have also reported seeing benefits in the shifts that the car makes. I have a 10-wire kit and have seen the benefits.

overZealous1

iTrader: (27)

the purpose is not just finding ground for the sensors, but providing an easier path to ground.

Tackett

OK, If I may inject my thoughts here. Correct me if I am wrong, but I was told that 90% of your power actually comes from the ground, and in order to get the max amount of voltage available, the groundwire needs to be atleast twice as large as the power wire. I am no EE, and the fella that told me this was also no EE, so I am asking a sincere question. But on the other hand, even if this is true, and the car already has sufficient ground and power cables to supply the voltages, wouldn't a grounding kit just be overkill? Kind of like upgrading a 3 foot culvert to a 6 foot culvert when youll only be running through 2gpm?

kalima275Z

iTrader: (4)

It completely seperates, on average, $30 from the purchaser and his/her bank account. Nah, j/k

jnkirk1974

Although the factory grounds may be "sufficient", there was pretty of room left for improvement. You'll quickly learn that the factory doesn't always do the best job. Car manufacturers are widely known for taking the cheaper and functional route. The electrical is typically one of those areas where they can save some money.

Again, the factory grounds may be ok, but you CAN improve them. It's not overkill to make them better. In fact, there are also cases where grounding kits can prolong the life of some engine components.