I think your wrong for his goals.

 

With my first post or my rebuttal to yours? My first post will get him there if he can drive. Against yours... just slapping on a turbo kit/supercharger with no supporting mods is ridiculous.

 

So your saying you NEED an exhaust or plenum to SAFELY operate a Turbo or SC?

 

I'm saying you need supporting mods... plenum, prolly not. Exhaust... yes, fully.

 

That is absolutely not true. TN setups are actually safer on the flash (not that anyone would stay w/o an ems) without an exhaust as they are designed for stock exhaust. Exhaust is to gain m ore power. If you aren't looking for more, you do not need one.

 

Well it sounds to me like I probably can't afford to go FI with a Z, cause I'd rather do it right or not do it at all. What kind of gains are typical from say catback, y pipe, spacer, intake, then a tune?

 

I'd say nothing THAT noticeable, been there done that.

 

Safer is the wrong word. How can you say it is safer when the reflash doens't give you any added protection that a Full standalone or Utec can give you?

 

That is why I said that no one would really stay that way. However adding an exhaust does not make boosting any more reliable or safe.

With that said, and i could be wrong here, I don't recall seeing many people have huge failures with just the TN kit and no supporting mods (ie stock exhaust and plenum).

 

a 12 second car on street tires?

You're going to be spending at least double your budget - if you think $4k turbo kits for a GTI, which are by no means overpriced considering the software work that is included, and that the popular kits on the market are far more complete than virtually any forced induction kit offered for a Z (not to mention, an easier install most times), then trust me, a Z is not for you. It is not a cheap car, or even a remotely affordable car, to mod...though the end results are very rewarding

 

well that would just mean that the Z woudn't be as fast as I had hoped, not necessarily that it's not the right car for me. What/how much did you invest to reach 303 whp N/A? That sounds like it'd be quite enjoyable.

 

buy a other car

 

ok! "I'll go bye A other car". Thanks for the help man!

 

I lost track to be honest lololol - and I don't even want to think about re-tallying it up, I might hurl

but yes, its an absolute blast to drive!

 

Well understandable, but was it all simple bolt ons and tuning? Or alot of internal work/head work etc? cams are no biggie, but aside from that, that's when **** gets really expensive.

 

xyouthx, Fast & cheap is easiest when the car is either boosted from the factory or has a bigass motor that responds well to breathing mods. Basically, you have these four features: fast, maneuverable, cheap, pretty. "Cheap" is the one that you want keep in either scenario .You can forgo the "pretty" and get an EVO. You could forgo the "maneuverable" and get a slightly used GTO (I like the way they look, personnally), or you could forgo the "fast" and get the Z. Any option will run you close moneywise. Just my opinion.

 

Simple bolt-ons and tuning won't get you over 300whp. The Z comes pretty close to maxed out the box, which is why N/A mods don't do much. Nitrous is seriously a great way to go if you're on a budget.

 

yeah that seems to be how it's looking. I was going to get a used Z before my GTI(as you can see how old me SN is), but I test drove the GTI and loved it so I got it, but now I'm at the plateau of what I can mod. I autox it mostly, but I took it to the track just for kicks and she ran 14.33 @ 101, I was told stage 2 GTI's (6MT) can run 13.80's, but our cincy track is terribly slick so I was happy. But now I think it's time to move on, and I just LOVE how Z's look, the sound of the VQ etc, but I picked up a modded EVO from boston with my friend a few weeks ago, and I love that car as well. It doesn't have the looks like the Z, but AWD would be nice here in Ohio during snow season(Z would have to stay parked), and god it's an absolute beast for such little money. 12.1 for under 2k is crazy. I know a Z would never be able to touch that, but a Z isn't much faster than a stage 2 GTI (if any) so I'm not sure if that's the right move. Or if I should just drive it for simple looks on some Volks and just accept that it's not as fast as other cars. Hmm choices. And an 04-05 Z is a few grand cheaper than a used EVO IX.

 

honestly, i would take the Z over an EVO anyday....if the case were say, a porsche, vette, something of that caliber of course, i may sway. I love my Z, it's fast enough to have fun in, fast enough to learn how to drive the **** out of the way it is now. By that time I'll be out of college and have my career going, and budget won't be as much of a problem. Having said that, I wouldn't let the fact that it takes a lot of money to make lots of power with the Z keep you from getting one. It's honestly one of the most fun cars i've ever driven, and i cannot wait to afford to stroke and TT my baby one day, or maybe an LSX swap......