Just curious on everyone's opinions on the z's capability.. I am getting a Red 03 z track edition on Wed. 9/21.. And hopefully by this weekend I will have everything ordered, once I figure out what I am going to get!!

Body- Greddy kit & wing (not sure yet which one)
Wheels- Need help here..
Motor- Need help here..

I really want 20's in the rear and 19's in the front.. But I havn't heard of people doing this so there must be a reason.. Whats the widest rear 19 I can get with out spending half the car's cost on a set..?? I want a wheel that when looked at from the rear- is flush w/ the fender, I don't like the "sunk" look on some of the z's..

A.) As far as motor goes, I was definately going to go w/ the Vortech SC, remove cat w/ stock muffler, and tune it.. But now after reading..
B.) The re-gearing and full tuning seems to be a good option, maby cheaper. That would include, but isn't limited too, intake, electronic tuning of somesort, headers, exhaust, cams, and ofcourse the gearing?? What are the, lets say, 0-100 mph in the -- A.) vs B.) ?

I need some help, it seems the more I read the more confused I get! So many options, and I have approx. $7-10k I would like to spend immediately.
Figure $1300+- for kit, $2000+ for wheels/tires, so the rest on motor I guess..

Thanks and HELLO

 

Here is a link to the car I'm gettin..

CLICK 4 EBAY PICS




ps- Can a geared, less hp car out run a higher non geared hp car..?? I have motorcycles and gearing is always the number one best/cheapest power upgrade you can do!! Its not always having the power, its how the power gets to the ground.
Is there more extreme gearing ratios than the 3.9?

 

gearing and power go hand in hand - along with the redline - as in how far can you push each gear. Then there's weight, rotational mass, weigh distribution, tires, etc etc, there's so many factors that all have to be considered to find a good balance.

Vortech or NA, that's a pretty good debate. Depends on what you want your car to do. If you focus on just hp, that's cool, but eventually you'll wish you had better handling too

with an NA car, the car is much more bulletproof than with FI. You focus more on your own driving ability and saving weight and grabbing a few hp here and there with new parts.

The vortech is nice, but does add about 80-90 lbs to the front of the car, is more maintenance as in more oil changes, watch the gauges more often, always listening for odd sounds, replacing belts every 10k miles and retightening belts etc. It has a lot of power though, and it's cheap and controlable power

The good news is most NA mods will work with the vortech. You can make your Z well balanced with some NA mods, suspension/handling, looks, tires/wheels, etc etc then do the vortech kit later - and hopefully you'll be better at driving your car by the time you "graduate" to more power

 

tdiddy question: You got it at high bid on EBay? "mike241usmc" Just wondering as to the usmc part.
vortech is a good way to go, my friend Louzer has one in his. Check him out on the NorCal area, and he can give you a lot of info on it and what goes good as to keep it safe running etc.

 

If you don't want the wheels/tires, I'll buy them from you...

 

No, I am trading him outside of ebay..



And YES, THE STOCK WHEELS ARE FOR SALE RIGHT NOW.. MAKE ME A REASONABLE OFFER (I know approx what they are going for).. Thanks

 

build motor first....cosmetics last....

people here are pressing the 600hp envelope

Since you have a decent amount to start with....don't play games.

look at the SGP racing motors short block/long block confugurations first.....start there.....If you go NA...11.5:1 pistons, cams etc

If you go FI,8.5:1 pistons and APS TT ...or a good old Stillen Stage 3 SC.....

The one thing all these mods have in common ....is torque where you want it....

I'm sure 10k will be smoked by now if you go FI....but you will be happy...

The next bit of cash should be geared toward a clutch that can handle all of the power

ATS carbon fiber clutch......

I love spending money I don't have ......but it is what I would do....if I had the extra $$$

 

Well, I am getting the Tilton (I believe) clutch flywheel.. Do I need to upgrade the clutch while I am at it?? Or is this sufficient?? Thanks for your help (all)..

 

the tilton comes with everything you need, but because it's a smaller diameter clutch, you can't use it with other clutches or flywheels

Make sure you're comfortable getting a tilton. I have a full street tilton and even though I'm used to it at this point, many people aren't. Many people think it's horrible to drive - hope there aren't a lot of hills where you live. Anyway, just giving a word of caution cause you do trade off a lot of ease in drivability for the extra performance it gives. The street version will not hold FI power levels. You might consider getting the JWT flywheel/Nismo clutch combo or the ATS twin carbon disc clutch/flywheel. However the tilton is the cream of the crop as far as NA performance goes

 

On one hand you plan to add horsepower (headers, exhaust), then negate the additional horsepower with added weight (body kit and 20 inch wheels). How about reviewing “Sticky: New 350Z owners, read this before doing any modifications to your Z” and coming up with a plan.

BTW EVERYONE is going forced induction.

 

both FI and NA are coming along pretty well

FI kits have no problem getting more power, but there's some pretty huge traction issues - that the vortech kit BTW doesn't have. Maybe someday someone will make some sorta traction control EMS that adjusts boost release in order to gain traction

NA is making good strides as well now that there are some decent piggybacks/EMS's coming out to market to tune all these mods.

Bodykits can be lighter weight. Usually bumper, side skirts and rear bumpers are urethane, CF, or fiberglass. The stock ones are urethane. Other body panels are aluminum. So if you replace any aluminum body panels with a lighter material, you'll save some weight. Most hoods don't save weight or much weight. Spoilers aren't THAT heavy... The 20 inch wheels though will kill a lot of performance and durability to really push the car

 

19's it is.. Can you get a 19x10 or 10.5??


I think I am going NA.. Is there more extreme gearing than the 3.9.. ie 4.1?? Doing this and cams + clutch + headers/test pipes + intake + Emanage Ultimate or piggy back of some sort = ME HAPPY RIGHT????

 

3.9 is the most extreme gearing and really should be enough. It's enough for the pro's, surely it's aggressive enough for you.

I'd only consider higher really if you're able to rev to 7500 or something

 

Whats the highest you can rev with a piggy back or reflash I guess it is??

 

regular engine on an 03 would be 7100 with a flash
stock is 6600

the new ones can be flashed to rev to 7500 from what i hear
stock is 7000

 

Well I appreciate all the input, but once again I still don't know what to do to the z???!@@! I am getting it tomorrow, and then going out of town immediately, I will be back on SUN and post some pics..

I guess NA is the way to go for me..

Let me ask this.. If I have the following mods what kindof hp / cars will I be
running with 0-100mph??

3.9 fd gears, Tilton flywheel clutch, nice air intake, Plentum, test pipes to stock exhaust, piggy back or reflash.. + 19'' wheels

What am I roughly looking at?? This sound pretty good for me, but would I really not even be close to a tt or sc car 0-100 mph?

 

Red Track model huh...

Here's a thought for you......

Red Track

370 RWHP / 370 ft/lbs torque.

Enjoy your new car!

 

Ughhh I cant stand when people ask questions like this. You can put all those mods above on your Z, not drive it to its potential and get beat by a good driver in a stock Z down the 1/4 mile. There are way to many variables for anybody to give you an estimate. Im assuming by the questions your asking that you dont have much modding or racing experience, if so thats fine we all started somewhere. With those mods + 19" wheels Id be surprised if you went 13.5 down the 1.4, the wheels are hurting you more than your mods are helping. Plus the Tilton clutch/fw is horrible for dragging.

My advice to you would be to get your Z, learn it, get used to it. Then go to the track and see if you can even hit 13's stock. If you cant you need serious practice. If you do hit 13's stock, then id say your ready for some mods. You wanna do a decent NA set-up you have many choices to make. For under $2000 in mods I am running almost 12's NA-I have the trap speed to hit 12's I just havent found the launch. Look at my mods and track info link in my signature to get an idea of what a Z can do with bolt-ons witih a few well selected mods. But remember you could have more mods than me and not ever come close to running these times. The best mod you can do is make yourself a better driver. BTW I have run faster than many s/c and even some turbo Z's down the 1/4 with 100+ less whp. Good luck with your Z.....

 

you'd be far far far away from a TT or SC. I'd expect to gain about 15whp or so with those mods and some faster accelleration. The tilton clutch and 3.9 FD are road course parts. They're really not meant for thw 1/4 mile. You'll see the most benefit from those parts on road courses and they don't give you any measureable hp really. They will give you faster lap times though

 

I disagree on the FD. The 3.9 FD would be an awesome NA 1/4 mod. Along with slicks your 60ft's would decrease, and you would still be crossing the traps in 4th gear, just slightly higher up in powerband. Saying a 3.9 FD wont help a Z down the 1/4 is like saying 3.73's or 4.10's in a domestic car wont help them down the 1/4, when done correctly it most def will.....