I know many of you don't like the Stillen Supercharger due to the hood change, but I ordered one for my Roadster. The hood should be finished on Tuesday and the SC will ship tomorrow. This is the first performance upgrade to my car, so I will be able to see the added performance of the SC alone. After this, I will put the Stillen exhaust on and consider other performance enhancements.

Will my Roadster be the first forced induction Roadster, or are there others out there?

Strange Z

 

Congrats please post some pics if you get a chance!!!

 

cant wait to see the pics!

 

A Suggestion for you on the SC upgrade

IMHO you might want to reverse the order of the installation and install a good exhaust like the Stillen or others prior to the SC install. You'll be bringing in lots of air and need a better way to get rid of it than your stock exhaust setup.

Even with the Stillen exhaust things could be better like the need for headers or hi flow cats. These mods prior to the SC install will make a world of difference in your final dyno numbers and the way your car responds to FI.

Good luck on the upgrades.

 

I don't mind the hood change, it's the lack of hp that thing puts out that bothers me.

 

I am thinking about going with the Stillen SC...please post a LOT of pics. Nice roadster!

 

Can you cancel the stillen sc order? I would, if possible. As Ralphus said, the power that the stillen sc puts out is pretty pathetic. If you can reverse the order, go with an ati procharger, and get a borla or injen exhaust. Good luck, and I think you'll be the first fi'd roadster.

 

Why would anyone go with the procharger unit? The longer these things are out the more engines we read about being damaged. What are we up to ... 4-.... now; correction, that we know of? I'd be worried about putting too much compression on motor that is already 10.3:1. It's not a turbo motor with low compression like the 90-96 motors are. The ATI unit rides on the threshold of too much. It sounds like it's a wild ride though. My .02.

 

I dont think the ATI puts out more boost than the stillen. I think both put out about 7 lbs?? I think the issue has been tuning of the ATI's and that people that run them too lean burn up their motors.

 

I agree with this statement full heartedly, the procharger's fmu has extremely rich settings out of the box to be on the safe side, but this leads people to have their fmu set, and they sometimes set it too lean which causes the engine to have problems, but imo the stillen supercharger is a waste of money, I've seen NA z's get close to the numbers that the stillen puts out.

 

The reasons listed above are the reasons I did not get the procharger. After reading about the lean condition engine destructions, I had further conversations with Stillen regarding their technology. With their SC, no adjustments are necessary to the mixture. That gave me some comfort, because I beleive the problems with the procharger are largely due to installation problems. Given the fact that my engine expertise is largely from my experience with my high compression, normally aspirated, carbureted, 468 Chevy (in my 67 Camaro), I am not going to install the SC myself and wanted the installation to be as goof proof as possible. This is also true because I don't have a particular mechanic I am familiar with in this area. Right now, my nissan dealership is planning to install the SC. I think this is a good approach as they are very familiar with the engine.

With regard to the assertion that you can get the same performance out of a NA car, I assume you are not asserting that adding a SC to all of those other mods would not create more HP. Essentially, if I am unhappy with the HP once I get the SC on, I will put more upgrades on the car. Also, I was attracted to the Stillen SC due to the warranty. Maybe not because I intend to use it, but because the existence of the warranty shows that Stillen beleives in its product.

I will post pics as soon as the install is complete (and maybe I can get the installer to take some photos in the process).

Strange Z

 

ATI, I hope you are listening/reading this. I think this issue is losing many sales for you. Many people do not want to buy a SC and add it to their new car, void their factory warranty, and then have problems with their Z. If you want to increase sells significantly, you need to find a way to make your product come with a warranty for the entire motor. If Stillen can do it, you can too.

 

You have it a little mixxed up, the problem is caused not because it is set too lean on installation, but people feel the need to set it more lean, and that causes the problems that are becoming apparent. If you install it correctly and don't touch it, you will be fine, and your engine will run great.

 

Whatever the problem, I know no one wants to spend $30-35,000 on a car, then add another $4-6,000 for a SC and have it blow up and they have to pay for another motor because there is no warrranty.

I know if I upgrade my Z, I really do not want to hear about it was this persons or that persons fault. What i want is to know it will be fixed.

 

Amen. I will have wait and see if I am happy with the performance, but I would rather be conservative than end up with problems. In the interim, I discovered that the strut tower brace bar has to be removed (I guess this is probably pretty obvious) for the SC to fit. In order to make up for its loss, I ordered the Stillen sway bars. Also, it ocurred to me that the hood may look better on the Roadster because it will balance out the bumps behind the roll bars on the toneau (sp?) cover.

Anyway, I'm sure the exhaust will come soon, I just don't want to overload my service order at the dealership. When they install the SC, they will also be installing an OEM spoiler, an airbag kill switch, and now the sway bars.

Also, I want to get my rims and tires soon, so I have to wait on the exhaust.

Strange Z

 

the exhaust installation is pretty simple, an hour of work (two if you don't have access to a lift)

 

what happened to driving a car a while before modding it?

ah well..good luck!

 

I already did that. I have 3300 miles on my Roadster.

 

ChromeRoadster, where in BayArea are you? I have only seen 1 black roadster in milpitas area. Maybe you should come to the next bay area meet. Check northern CA section for details.

 

I live in Concord and work in SF (although I have a commuter car, so I don't regularly drive the Roadster to work). I went to Z's by the Bay, but that is the only meet I have made it to. I'll check out the Northern CA section for the dates, but right now work is exceedingly busy, so I don't know if I can make it any time soon.

As far as other Bay Area Roadsters, mine was the first at Dirito Bros in Walnut Creek. After mine, they had at least three others that are now sold. Another Chrome, one Silverstone, and a Super Black.

I have had my Roadster for over two months (and over 3300 miles), but I have only been next to a 350Z about 3 times. I just have not seen that many when I'm in my Roadster (maybe I should slow down).

Thanks for the invite.

Strange Z