Start off with the basics... intake, exhaust, grounding kit, Stillen engine damper. I have an '03, I had a reputtable tuner shop install a Unichip (piggyback ECU), retune the timing and A/F mixture, and have dynoed 258whp. Nissan claims 287 at the crank stock, NOT SO! Try more like 267.. had mine dynoed before and after, 221whp compared to 258whp (chp - 17% drivetrain loss). In other words don't believe everything you here from the factory, get the facts from a real tuner shop! 37whp has cost me $1700.00, hp is not cheap... about $45 per pony! Neo is not the fastest, but he is quick. And like Sentry65 said, don't forget about weight and handling. It all makes a difference!

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2003 Touring
Injen Intake
Borla TD Exhaust
Stillen grounding kit
Buddy Club Voltage Condensor
Stillen Engine Damper
Greddy Strut Bar
H&R Sport Springs
H&R Wheel Spacers
B&M Sport Shifter
ADR Wheels
VIS Carbon Fibre Hood and Z33 Wing

 

yeah, well it's all gonna depend on the dyno you dyno at which determines your rwhp

I think 287hp is about the right rating

some dynos at some locations around the world dyno stock Z's at 215whp, others dyno stock Z's at 240whp. There's so many factors

The type of dyno makes a huge difference - the ones that bolt up to the wheel hubs, vs rollors, vs load based ones, all vary whp across the board. Then you have elevation, fuel octane that's available, temperature, humitdity, how hot your car is, how the dyno fan is blowing, possibly what gear you dyno in if you have a light weight flywheel or drivetrain, etc


I'd recommend adding on simple stuff first and fully educating yourself on the pros and cons of each setup.

The things you can't go wrong with are handling and weight savings stuff. Making NA power with this car has proven to be difficult and not as effective as FI. However, adding FI totally changes the car. It'll drive totally different and handle different. It'll also be a little more on the edge with engine safety and will requre a lot more maintenance, and even more expensive mods to keep the car running well.

And while FI kits are getting better and it's gradually becoming easier to reach 500whp reliably or semi-reliably, NA mods are also getting better as we learn more about the ECU and the engine

 

Just keep in mind the eManage will fry your car if you leave it on when the engine is running. Or at least one version of it will and I don't care if not all of them do, if they put out such a piece of cr#p that will fry my engine then they deserve to get the bad press...

 

since I'm putting in a hawker odyssey battery, I have no intention of leaving my ignition in the ON position for any length of time anyway

but yeah, I'm glad everyone figured out what people have been doing to fry the coils with the emanage or emanage ultimate

 

Untill the Lotus owner kills them on the track since the car dosent way anything.

 

yeah people don't realize how much weight affects, well everything - accelleration, braking, handling, etc

 

Ive seen lotuses keep up with some high hp cars on tracks and do it at 25-30 mpg lol

 

I think maybe Neo's Z was dyno'd on the Dastek magnetic resistance load based dyno. That dynamometer is state-of-the-art, the most accurate and repeatable dyno available. If so then I would tend to believe what he states about his results. With that dyno you can pretty accurately predict the actual crank HP.
I think that's what his car was dyno'd on because their is a shop in Nor Cal (Neo's location) that installs Unichip and they have the Dastek dyno. I don't know of any other local shop here in Nothern California that has this and the shop is a Z car specialty performance shop. And, I must admit that this is the shop that my Z is at right now getting all of the N/A upgrades listed in my sig.
All the engine hardware is great stuff, but I believe it is the Unichip and Dastek dyno that will do miracles for it all. But all that being said I could be wrong about where Neo had his stuff done.

 

As far as power,
I'd say clean up that lean air/fuel mixture right away. Get an ECU reflash first.
Then start on the intake side, a cold air intake, and an intake plenum spacer or a new plenum. Maybe consider a grounding kit. Move on to exhaust, Y-pipe, y-pipe back exhaust (or eliminate these in lieu of a true dual setup) , test pipes/high flow cats, and headers.Then move on to cams, JWT or Nismo works well, I'd prefer JWT but thats me.
Then I'd bring in that thing and get the ECU dyno tuned again for all those mods you installed.
Somewhere (wherever you can/want) add the shorter gearing, and pick out htings you don't mind losing for weight reduction. You would also want to consider a good suspension setup, upgraded brakes, and a nice set of wheels and tires.

 

Can you guys perform a reflash on the 2005 Z yet?

 

to save $$$ reflash after you have modded to satasfication, to get most out of every mod reflash after each.

 

NA? For starters, headers & exhaust along with JWT pop charger is an excellent start if you ask me. rich, san jose, ca

 

thanks guys for all the input, just put in my first mod this past weekend ... JWT Popcharger. Also, just received Nismo Headers and catback exhaust to be installed next.

Input on the JWT pop-charger:
i hope everything has a whistling soud that comes from it when reving or else i really screwed up somewhere. But sounds really good. You do feel more pull at higher RPM's mainly after 5rpms. But i dont know if it really feels like 6rhp as it claims. But, overall im really happy with it.

Question on Reflash?
So from reading the thread, i should get reflashed after most of my mods have been done right? I hear that i definitely should get it reflashed after installing headers, is this true? Finally, how much does a reflash cost and where is a good place in southern cali to do it?

 

Get your reflash after your mods. Technosquare, Inc. can do your reflash. www.technosquareinc.com. They are located in Southern California. Once they get your ECU and list of mods they will reflash your ECU to match the mods.