I've been reading all I can about making NA modifications so I hope I'm not too repetitive here. I'd like to see a no risk step by step procedure to get as much HP out of the engine without FI and with a slightly louder thoater sound than stock and still meet the pollution standards. If I try to average out what I've read here and filter out the mis-information this is my guess of what I should do, in order.

1) JWT PopCharger (and a carbon fiber tube cuz it looks great)
2) Crawford plenum and strut bar
3) Pulleys
4) Crawford headers and HF cats
5) Borla TD exhaust
6) AEM UEGO Wideband A.F ratio gauge (optional but couldn't hurt) If there are two more gauges that are useful I'd put them on the A-piller again cuz it looks good.
7) Some sort of EGU mod, no clue what to do here. Most discussions here about the ECU are in the context of FI. Something a good tuner can optimize on the car.
8) Cams, no idea which ones. I'll hold off on this until I'm not concerned about the warrantee.

I don't mean to start a big discussion of the pros and cons of all the parts but does this look like a reasonable plan? Have I missed anything?

Any guesses of how much HP I will gain with this?

Thanks

 

You will be at roughly 250-260 whp (dynojet) which is approximately a 20-25 PEAK whp gain.

 

Not to beat a dead horse but if HP is your goal go FI.
Most usefull NA mods in my opinion:

3.9 EVO final drive
Tilton Clutch/Flyweel
New rear end.....

 

in my opinion if you want an NA beast i would go with these mods:


3.9 final drive
lightweight flywheel and clutch
technosquare raised rev limiter
short shifter
and some very beefy tires

 

I think the pulleys should be your first upgrade. You can feel the difference the first time you drive the car. Anything that frees up weight on rotating mass (Pulleys, Flywheel, to a lesser extent... Lightweight Wheels (keeping the same diameter) will provide an awesome increase in acceleration and response. Keep in mind not everyone wants to go FI and put down 400whp on a stock motor... The VQ35DE just wasn't made for boost so if you are going to do it do it right and look at spending 20k at the end of the day. I am currently weighing my options and am thinking of either an APS ST or TT with lowered boost (1-2psi lowered compared to stock) or an HKS SC on a stock block. I'd be happy with 325rwhp and would be able to push my car without worry. I may also just try to stay NA and get some beefy cams and see if I can hit over the 300rwhp mark without High Compression... We'll see.

 

I would try a different exhaust, the borla is ok, but if you go with something lighter, you will notice the weight savings, and that will help with your NA plans. Something like a titanium exhaust, like JIC, or amuse if you have the money.

A lightened flywheel, crank pulley, and 3.91 final drive are all probably your most important mods.
after all is said and done, an ECU reflash may be something worth while to look into as well.

 

Take EnthuZiast and faris' advice. NA breathing mods just arn't cost effective for the Z IMO.