i spoke to a guy at the gym who owns a mod shop here in cali. i asked him various question about turbo applications on the z or going N/A. somewhere along the line he says " Whenever i go to the track, any z thats there goes home on a toe truck. All years of the z have problems with blowing engines." then he said that the reason was because of a small oil pump or filter something...?? i don't remember exactly. I'm think he was talkin about stock Zs that are slapped with turbos. But is that true for stock Zs? of there tracked/ street driven? He said exactly " they rev too high and the engine cant take it thats why they blow." That didnt sit well with me. Can anyone shed some light?

 

In the 350z's infancy, turbo motors were iffy.
Now, thats mostly a myth.
People have learned to stay away from certain engine managements and turbo kits.
People push 400rwhp with very few issues.

 

now how about a stock z tracking it ( engine at constant high rpms ) or a N/A engine? They wont blows right?

 

I'm not sure what sort of mechanic told you all of this but he didn't give you correct information at all. You do know the z is made for the track why the would the engine blow at high rpm's especially in n/a form.

 

That is what im trying to figure out. He continually spoke about some sort of oil pump or filter or something that cant circulate the oil quick enough in 350z s. Makes since though if he was talkin about turbocharged z s.

 

he must have been talking about a re-call i believe the rev-up engines had which where consuming more oil then they where suppose to but i don't think any engines got blown up. You just had to put oil in the motor more often. As far a turbo/supercharged engines on a stock block. The motor on a stock block is usually good for 400rwhp. With a good tune and a good turbo kit it should be pretty dependable.

 

ok so let then me with my hr z are good stock? btw would you recommend i go force induction to get 400 rwhp or go N/A? i like N/A because its more reliable.

 

you would have to supercharge or turbo your z to get 400rwhp. It isn't even possible to get 400rwhp in n/a form on the z. Yes...if you have an hr you are good. Actually if you have an hr i believe you can achieve more than 400rwhp on a stock block with it still being dependable. The hr can hold more boost than the previous engines because the internals are stronger.

 

That is false. You can achieve 400 rwhp. Quite a few shops here in Japan have done it. Even Cosworth was close. They hit 438 and I believe it was on a dj but not installed in a car. And the VQ38DE-HR tuned by Amuse made 400 hp on the dyno so its possible not many people have done it in the states though.

 

well, let me put it this way we wouldn't want to see the bill he would be recieving to achieve 400rwhp out of a z. Boost would be your best option price wise. If your rich then you can do the above.

 

how about those stroker kits from GTM? like maybe a 3.8?

 

turbo....unless you have lots and lots of money to build n/a even with a stroker kit it will be really expensive.

 

yah but r u sure of the reliability? im very skeptical. and by alot do we mean excess of 10,000?

 

Once you get around the oil temp problems your Z should track with no problems. Unfortunately, for me I learned that too late. There's a couple guys on the board that track their cars at Willow Springs and drive them down from Norcal. That's a 7-9 hour drive before and after tracking them. If I'm not mistaken they both only used a larger oil pan to cope with the oil temps. However, I think the main culprit for reliabilitiy are the REV-UP motor. I don't know all the details about the REV UP models but those are the troublesome group. Some work fine while others were in the dealerships a couple of months later getting new engines after failure. I think that had something to do with the rings and PCV system.

As for FI or NA don't expect to get a lot more than 300whp if you stay NA. That alone is about $3000-$5000. Although 400whp NA Z's exist they are mainly for dedicated race teams trying to stay competitive (which is still a struggle against OEM FI cars).

 

ok so N/A out of the question. So i can go F.I. safely on my stock motor and be reliable if i stay under 500 hp..and produce 400rwhp?

 

I'm not trying to be a douche, but this question had been asked a thousand times. Do a search, or spend some real time in the FI section and i gaurentee you will find the answer to all your questions.

IMO, if you are this concerned about blowing your engine if you go FI, you are probably never gonna completly enjoy it. So you might as well stay NA.

Obviously the more you try to squeeze out of your engine, the more you affect reliability and longevity. That may mean you only get 100,000 miles out of it vice 200,000 miles. Or that may mean you blow it 20,000 miles down the road because you didn't take the proper precautions when adding power mods. It all depends on how much you want to spend, and how much extra power you want. You gotta pay to play. And if you aren't willing/can't afford to do it right, then stay NA.

In addition, if the Z is your only car/daily driver. You may want to buy a beater before you start pushing the engine to it's limits.

 

I've only seen and read about blown Z's more so on this "forum" then i have seen at my local track (Etown NJ)..

 

To build a reliable turbo set up, the engine needs forged internals. Most guys have oil pan spacers, oil coolers, and the oil pump from a REV up DE, which flows better.
It's only safe to run low boost on a stock engine. Many guy's have blown engines from over boosting on stock engine.

 

wow sounds like u talked with a retard actually who knows nothing about a z., yeah u cant go throw 30psi to a stock block i mean be realistic, but a safe tune at 400-450whp and around 10psi should hold up just fine..ive been at 420-425whp for over 10k miles now on stock block and track the car every once in a while and daily drive it..Ever hear of supporting mods? many many people are running around with stock block turbo/supercharger setups and track them and are daily driving them also..myself included...do it right and dont half *** it, and def. dont take it to that moron at the gym

 

Let me clear some things up. well i have the cash to go either F.I. or Built N/A. i already knew if u slap a turbo or supercharger on a car u will blow something if you don't do it right and i also the life of the car will be cut. What i need clarification on is what the guy meant when he said "all year 350z s blow engines." was that comment he made pertaining to F.I. 350z s with stock block, or the just any 350 ( i.e. stock 350z ). It wasn't my intention to start up a conversation on how you should install a supercharger or turbo the correct way or what i want to do with my 350. I just wanted some of the expert on the forums to shed some light on this guy's comment her made about 350s. that the oil something cant move oil around fast enough, that at high revs the z blows its engine...and so on.


B.T.W. what i do want to do with my z in the future is just to make it perform a little better than the 370z (acceleration, 1/4th, handling,...so on)