now before you guys yell at me and say do a search ... blah blah this and that.... i know a lot of you guys get on this forum to kill time like me... so here is my dilemma... i ordered my z in october and it is finally comin by the end of this month... don't ask why it took so damn LONG!!! now i need your help to make my z faster! i am on a budget rite now... i can only spend 2 g's....so what mods can i do to make my car faster.... i want it to be a safe set up... and don't just say cai... what brand do you guys recommend... cuz basically imma do what u majority says... also note i might try to go force induction in the future... so put that in mind... thanks for your help guys...

 

i spent a total of $210 on jwt pop charger-$80, insaneamine grounding kit-$80, and cut out the resignator on the exhaust-$50. it was definitely worth it, and you still have $1790 to go. you may have to wait for more performance parts to come out. unless you want to do an exhaust that will run you $800. CAI around $240, good luck in whatever you do!

 

read my disappointing dyno thread. nothing you can do will make it significantly faster at this time. Its gonna take an ecu upgrade or forced induction, neither of which is yet available.

 

Let's not forget about squeezing. That's guaranteed results no matter what.

 

I don't understand how you had a negative dyno, when chazzg got gains on all of his stuff?? Just wondering?????
Hogan

 

i heard that too... that after market parts for the z right now does very lil if n e thing for performance... and i also heard that... nissan will come out with parts for the car... we'll nismo is and they will carry it through nissan to not void warranty... and i'm guessing that they will tell us accurate hp gains and since it won't void the warranty... i think i will just wait it out...

 

Venom VCN 2000 Nitrous Oxide

And it's safe! Let the flaming begin. lol. But seriously I hear great things about this system but I am no expert, YET.


USER PROGRAMMABLE

The Venom PC Nitrous System has several key advantages over it's competitors. Their system is completely programmable by the end user. The user simply plugs the Nitrous Controller into the serial port of their PC. Using the VENOM software, the user can configure the nitrous to operate in three various modes of operation.

1- DRAG MODE
In this mode the nitrous operates in the same mode as current nitrous systems operate. The amount you program is delivered to the engine when the control mode has sensed wide open throttle.

2- Linear Mode
In this mode the user programs at what throttle angle should be the starting point for the introduction of nitrous. The control module then adds a proportionate amount of nitrous in relation to throttle angle. The higher the throttle angle the greater the nitrous flow, up to a maximum amount programmed by you. This is expected to be the most popular mode of operation.

3- Timed Mode
In this mode the user programs at what throttle angle the nitrous should be introduced at and how much nitrous should be added (in terms of %). The user also enters an injection time (how long to inject the nitrous for). This is ideal for turbo-charged engines. The nitrous can be energized while the turbo reaches optimized boost levels then is deactivated after a certain amount of time.

Venom's control module reduces the risk of engine damage where other systems fall short. Their system will only introduce nitrous once it has determined the vehicles oxygen sensor is operating properly. The module determines the correct amount of fuel for the amount of nitrous introduced and will dynamically modify the fuel map based on the oxygen sensor input. The system uses the vehicles existing fuel injectors for enrichment and does not apply abnormal pressures to the fuel pressure regulator as do the competitors units.

DRIVER DISPLAY INFORMS DRIVER AT ALL TIMES

Their driver information display indicates RPM, exhaust (rich/lean), throttle and position %, operation mode, injector pulse width and system status. The display is "backlit" for night driving.

EASY TO USE POINT & CLICK PROGRAMMABLE INTERFACE

The software runs on Windows 95, 98, or NT systems, and features a rich graphic interface.

NO PILLS OR JETTING

Since Venom's system is completely electronically controlled, the user does not need to worry about orifices or "pills" as with other systems.

 

if you decide to use nitrous good luck!

 

I'd say the best use of that $2K is the grounding kit and the stock market. Its gotta go up eventually!

Also, Injen has been active on this board promiting their CAI, and I'm planning on getting the upgrade soon, seems like the first tested & fully thoughtout aftermarket product designed FOR the 350Z, not just slapped on with an adapter from their other product lines.

I've seen prices from $200-300 for the unit.

Or you could always buy a barrel of 100-octane from the race track, that'll get you some more power...

 

Yes, Venom nitrous is the way to go! I had their kit on my car before and had excellent results. They should be releasing a kit soon!

 

I hope you have better luck getting info from them than I did. Here's what my email convo with them looked like:

Me - I'd like information regarding the availability and price of the VCN 2000 kit for a Nissan 350z. How difficult is the installation?

Them - What is the year make and model of the car?
(i said nissan 350z, i guess they don't know there is only one year)

Me - 2003 Nissan 350z Track Edition, Super Black.
(I figured I'd give them the color in case they would ask that next)

Them - There is no kit available for that car yet.

Me - What ABOUT the kit is car specific? Is there a generic kit you could recommend?

Them - (this is great) Yes, the kits are car specific.

Me - (Frustrated) Could someone please take 10 minutes out of there day to give me more information than a one sentence reply? What ABOUT the kit is car specific? Is it a plug to interface with the ECU, something to interface with the TPS, etc? Is there a generic kit available now?

Them - We don't even have the wiring diagram for the car yet. Please check back in a few weeks.

 

LOL! they gave you a one line answer at the end again
The kit looks great, but never played with Nitros before, how much power can I expect from the setup?

 

Nitrous kits are rated with RWHP. So a 75 shot means 75hp to the wheels. Nitrous is a touchy subject on forums. Most people seem to hate it. I figure those are the people who have never used it, or experienced it. I didn't like the idea of it until I rode in a car that had it many years ago. After, I was a believer.

 

i will honestly say i don't know jack shizzit about nitro... i stayed away from it cuz i thought i would blow my **** up....so please explain to a noob... how is the nitrous fed to the engine? is it really safe? is nitro fed only when i hit a button or somethin? please tell me how to run nitrous sucessfully b/c i am really interested!!! thanks for all that has responded so far!

 

Shift_Speed,

I'm not the best one to answer since I haven't done any of this yet....but I can give you a small understanding of some of the very basics. IMO nitrous can be run very safely and is probably the biggest hp gain for you money. Everyone knows that there is "some" cost to any modification which gives you hp...you are giving up engine life at least to some degree...but if you do things right and don't go overboard you will very likely never see the "cost" of the mods. As a matter of fact even that is a difficult claim to make since someone probably babied their car and at 100K had some engine problem...and others may have been running with over 400hp well beyond those miles without any required shop time...see what I'm saying?

Couple things I've picked up on is that Nitrous can be run with "dry shots" or "wet or mixed shots". This just explains if the nitrous is being preblended with your gas prior to injection or shot straight unblended. Although both can be run safely, it seems to be the concensus that the mixed is the safer route albeit a bit more expensive. The other thing it seems most agree on is that you don't want to run it without a dump valve (think it's called something depending on who's talking), but it essentially allows you to "dump" the shot once you've called for it instead of running it through if either you run out of road, the room for full throttle, or your friendly neighborhood officer. Don't know the technical implications, but hitting nitrous and then letting off the throttle blows **** up because there isn't enough fuel to mix with and you are basically running just the nitrous then...very hot and damaging.

Hope that is a start for you...I'm sure someone will correct anything I have wrong or needs better clarification.

 

S/C likely will need twice as much; twinturbo needs another fold. I will say spend your on following things

DIY ground kit $1
under pulley around $300
1pc CF driveshaft $500-600
Light weight clutch $500 (you have stick, right?)
and eRAM + K&N $300


I know someone will come out and against the last one, but I found it truly useful, just don't fall for those fake ones. Get eRAM and a big K&N (5" opening), fit eRAM inside the K&N. You do need skill hands to DIY.

 

From HowStuffWorks (regarding Nitrous) ... they can say it so much better than I could have!

 

so who thinks na is better than forced induction for the z? i want expirienced replies ... not some goes nitro all the way and can't back it up... please help me... i need to be the fastest owner in maryland... we'll don't need to ... but i want to thanks to driven, importlife and time n/a for the useful info. keep them coming please... i need to go to work so i'll be back later tonite to read all my goodies haha

 

I think you just need to get more money if you want to be fastest!! Go for twiturbo and start from there....

 

Personally, I think N/A is the way to go for engine reliability. That rarely causes problems.

FI has been known to cause numerous problems and/or potentially shorten engine life when it is done improperly. In the case of our cars, very little is known about how much stress our engine can take on stock internals.

But ... with enough money, you can build just about any engine up to do just about anything. Look at the Supra, that was built up massively stock, and could take a hell of a lot without upgrading the engine internals.

It does sound like you want to do more than an N/A engine can do though. I don't know how much one can go with an N/A build-up, but I really don't think it'd be more than 500WHP?? Someone please correct me here, I'm sure I'm wrong.

I do know that you generate a lot more power with FI, if done correctly!