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Do Boltons really Help?

Old 04-06-2006 | 07:08 AM
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Default Do Boltons really Help?

share some positive/neg experiences, regarding power gains with boltons. A whole lot of people say that they'd rather go FI, first, if they were to do it again. Many peeps have gotten minimal gains, some experience LOSS of power etc.
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:27 AM
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You do feel minimal gains which is always nice, but in the long run after you look at all the money spent, you'll probably be wishing you went F1. I myself love all my breathing mods cause it just sounds sweet so depends what your looking for.
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:32 AM
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In general, aftermarket addons are of poorer quality than OEM, and offer minimal performance gains - nearly always significantly less than the manufacturer claims. In the specific case of the Z, the VQ motor is about at the limit of its' capability at 287/300 hp - the only way to get big gains is through FI, which will shorten the engine's life. Unless you're racing, the added HP isn't going to be of much use anyway - for the street, the Z already has all the power you can reasonably use.
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:43 AM
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I'm not sure what your question really is.

Bolt-ons are things you can "Bolt on" to the engine. A turbo kit is a "bolt on", an exhaust or intake is a bolt-on.

Some bolt-ons can be used for both N/A and FI for example, exhaust, intake manifolds, spacers, crank pulleys.

I suggest doing a search and finding all the answers.

Arin
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:45 AM
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Help what?
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:46 AM
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Just put it this way. If you spent 6 grand on bolt ons. ex. intake, headers, exhaust, cams, plenum, etc etc you'll see a small gain in hp and tourque. Now take that same 6 grand and buy a turbo kit. Your going to see a much bigger gain. So really the question you should ask yourself is how big are your pockets? If you don't have any limitations on your financial spending then I'd go with the turbo.
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:49 AM
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Originally Posted by welles
In general, aftermarket addons are of poorer quality than OEM, and offer minimal performance gains - nearly always significantly less than the manufacturer claims. In the specific case of the Z, the VQ motor is about at the limit of its' capability at 287/300 hp - the only way to get big gains is through FI, which will shorten the engine's life. Unless you're racing, the added HP isn't going to be of much use anyway - for the street, the Z already has all the power you can reasonably use.
that statement is not necessarily true. if you have ever seen the oem exhaust and manifolds you might change your opinion.

as far as gains-i did all the boltons i/h/e pulleys, lightweight flywheel clutch, tuning, and grounding kit and gained less than 25whp. it cost me about 2500 for all my parts and i did most of the installs myself. was it worth it? hell no, i could almost have bought a supercharger for that price and gained 100 whp.
Old 04-06-2006 | 07:56 AM
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Originally Posted by PoWeRtRiP
that statement is not necessarily true. if you have ever seen the oem exhaust and manifolds you might change your opinion.

as far as gains-i did all the boltons i/h/e pulleys, lightweight flywheel clutch, tuning, and grounding kit and gained less than 25whp. it cost me about 2500 for all my parts and i did most of the installs myself. was it worth it? hell no, i could almost have bought a supercharger for that price and gained 100 whp.
It all depends on the combination of parts you used, plus the car isnt healthy sometimes. There are a lot of people that have made a lot more power with less mods. Maybe your tuning was bad, you never know.
Old 04-06-2006 | 08:07 AM
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Originally Posted by 97supratt
It all depends on the combination of parts you used, plus the car isnt healthy sometimes. There are a lot of people that have made a lot more power with less mods. Maybe your tuning was bad, you never know.
i doubt it. there have been too many people that gained the same or less with the same combination of mods. until you add cams, its very unlikely you can gain more than 30 whp.
Old 04-06-2006 | 08:09 AM
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I really want to turbo the Z but i dont think it is really worth all of the money. Sure it would be amazing to have one hell of a fast Z but i would rather buy a used stock Z06 and still have the factory warrenty. I have enough fun driving the Z with my Intake, test pipes, and Yokahama Advan Tires. After I get rims and UR pully im done as far as mods go. Sure No power gains but i like the satisfaction of working on my car.
Old 04-06-2006 | 08:14 AM
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I'm, personally, getting some decent gains, so far. I dyno'd 264 whp and 235 wtq with plenum spacer and popcharger alone. I'll be installing my Helix test pipe this weekend. when I have decided on my exhaust, I'll dyno again and keep close tabs on my baby. You all should check your power curves and A/F. Even if it isn't too bad, you still should reflash it or emage it to milk every ounce of hp and torque I was lazy and didn't get a base dyno, though..
Old 04-06-2006 | 08:20 AM
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If you get every bolt on, intake, exhaust, test pipes, spacer, UTEC, headers, crank pulley, clutch and fly. You will gain more than 30whp, but the main thing is the combination of parts. Some parts honestly suck at producing power.

Tuning is also a key factor, if you have a UTEC or EU you will gain some good power.
Old 04-06-2006 | 08:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Cannysage
I'm, personally, getting some decent gains, so far. I dyno'd 264 whp and 235 wtq with plenum spacer and popcharger alone. I'll be installing my Helix test pipe this weekend. when I have decided on my exhaust, I'll dyno again and keep close tabs on my baby. You all should check your power curves and A/F. Even if it isn't too bad, you still should reflash it or emage it to milk every ounce of hp and torque I was lazy and didn't get a base dyno, though..
therefore we have no idea how much you gained. you could have gained 5 hp, or you could have gained 20. without a baseline we can only guess.

the most important thing however is that you are satisfied with the gains. thats the best part.
Old 04-06-2006 | 08:57 AM
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Where is Robert K when you need him...

Personally, i'm not sold on FI. It'd be sweet, don't get me wrong. But I'm paranoid (ex: going to reset the ECU in case popcharger stalls!), and FI is not great for the paranoid mind. I just don't have that money to throw around!
Old 04-06-2006 | 09:23 AM
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go with F/I... after you get F/I simple "bolt-on's" gives bigger gains.(and im guessing by bolt-on your talking about N/A)
Old 04-06-2006 | 10:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Clapton9286
Where is Robert K when you need him...

Personally, i'm not sold on FI. It'd be sweet, don't get me wrong. But I'm paranoid (ex: going to reset the ECU in case popcharger stalls!), and FI is not great for the paranoid mind. I just don't have that money to throw around!
Here I am. I'm very happy with my $800 worth of bolt-ons. Refer to sig for more info or ask what you are looking for. As far as bolt-on pick up this month Modified Mag and see the write up on the engine build up that should be done to get 500 crank HP.
Old 04-06-2006 | 10:39 AM
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There was nothing wrong with Boltons until that no talent ***-clown started winning grammys.

Old 04-06-2006 | 10:44 AM
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Can't see pics.
Old 04-06-2006 | 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Cannysage
I'm, personally, getting some decent gains, so far. I dyno'd 264 whp and 235 wtq with plenum spacer and popcharger alone. I'll be installing my Helix test pipe this weekend. when I have decided on my exhaust, I'll dyno again and keep close tabs on my baby. You all should check your power curves and A/F. Even if it isn't too bad, you still should reflash it or emage it to milk every ounce of hp and torque I was lazy and didn't get a base dyno, though..
This is very strange. Did you just answer your own question?
Old 04-06-2006 | 10:59 AM
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if you're happy with about 55-60whp bump from all the bolt-ons (and ecu) then by all means go that route...thats what i'm doing.

if you're looking for 100whp or more, the ONLY way to do that is NOS and/or FI. (unless you get a stroker kit...but again..alot of $$)

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