Hi everyone,

First let me say that I have an 04 G35 Coupe 6MT. I apologize in advance for the long post - I put cliffs notes at the bottom if you cant get through it!

I am living in the Virgin Islands and am debating going ST or S/C. I have one of very very few Z/Gs in the whole territory, so riding in someone else's FI'd Z/G isnt really an option. Where I am, there are no infiniti dealers and the one nissan place here knows little-nothing about any cars, much less a Z or G (they didnt even know what my car was..) As far as maintenance goes, I guess I've been lucky and have had no real problems. Just small things I've been able to fix myself.

Anyway, as I was saying, I'm considering going Vortech SC or Turbonetics ST. My reasons for wanting FI are probably like most of yours- it would be more fun. My goal is mainly to be a lot faster than stock- able to beat anything in the same class as the G and hopefully a step above (m3, srt8,GTO), nevermind other cars (SRT4, evo, mustang)

It seems that NA is an easy way to spend a lot of money and not get very far on my engine.

So far, I've done nothing to my car's powertrain/drivetrain. Not even an intake. Nothing.
I'm not that experienced in doing this stuff, and there's no dyno shop here. My cousins do seem to know a fair bit- I've watched one pull the engine out of his 95 maxima, change some parts on the pistons, and rebuild, all himself. His brother has done similar things with his 91 Supra Turbo. Theyve both done these things more than once. A friend also did a SRT4 swap with a normal Neon. They all think that I should go FI (of course) We contemplated shipping the car to the states, but that isnt cheap, costing $3-5k, and I'm not sure if it would be worth it for 400whp or less....

So, having said all of this, should I try to go FI? Is this kind of skill set enough help? (In all honesty they'd be doing most of the work, and whatever I did would be under their supervision) Also, is a dyno required to do this safely? Or should I just go buy a M3 or some other car? One more thing - shipping the car to the states wouldnt be that cheap - $3-5k at least

Any advice would be appreciated. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I would appreciate any words of wisdom you guys have.

Cliffs Notes - Live on an island with no dealers and a stock 04G 6MT. Want T-netics ST or Vortech SC. No dynos, no dealers. Just some family that I've seen do swaps and internal stuff. I have no experience; is that enough install help?

 

If you're a competent mechanic something like the Vortech should be within your compass to install (about 15 hours for a first go) and should run out of the box - mine didn't but I am perhaps an exception that proves the rule.

A tune will assist with power but it will work nicely without a tune probably giving you 320-330 rwhp.

I'm sure someone can send you an install guide for you to check over?

 

Thanks for the reply. I thought the T-netics, Vortech kits come with guides and everything you need...?

 

well for starters you will need to look at your tunning options, is there some body readily avaible to tune your car if you get a vortech set-up, if you go turbonetics you cant tune but you will need a dyno shop near you to check your a/f readings but you can send your ecu for re-flash/ re-tune. there is always the possibility of blowing your motor on either set-up so what are your options for a re-build. with that said when i installed my kit i had no problems, but i have read of may people that dont have problems with the vortech set-up. so imo its more of how much of a risk are willing to take.

 

They do of course - Vortech one isn't on their website as a download, that's all

Just to be different, here is a Vortech install done in the UK (see how easily threads go off topic over here!!)
http://350zuk.com/forums/index.php?s...232&hl=vortech

there are lots on here too

 

If I went turbonetics ST, I thought it would come with a reflash that would give me a safe starting point (altough I woudlnt be able to get the most out of it without a dyno)

 

it doesn't come with a reflash. once you get your kit, you send your computer to turbonetics and they reflash your stock computer. quick turnaround time and they provide the shipping box. if you wanna check your air/fuel, just get a wideband or if you wanna get a little more in depth; get a wideband with datalogging capabilities.

 

just a option but you can get the Stillen supercharger that comes with tune it says not to change anything from stock and be happy with that or your best bet is to not do anything to your since there is no tunners in the area just not worth in in my opion.

 

Shipping your car is $700 from St. Thomas to Port Everglades FL with Crowley Lines. Car is stateside 3 days later. ..... NOT $3-5K. Problem solved. I live in St Thomas. Where r u living?

Respect
JET

 

cool, but its still 1400, + insurance... maybe not 3-5k if on crowley so maybe 2k..? that doesnt sound so bad, but im not sure if we have to pay tax on the way back?

 

In your situation with no kind of mechanical skill and absolutely no tuner shops around, I would probably just get a diff car If I absolutely had to have a fast car. If you cant afford it to get a new car and still are determined to speed up what you got I would get the Stillen SC due to its simplicity and out of the box reliability and ask one of my knowledgeable buddies really nicely for their help. I personally wouldn't touch a turbo without a tuner shop around to assist with making sure its right, but thats just me.

 

well i have some skill, but im always around them, and im thinking they can do whatever i cant,... but i get your point...

 

I have the vortec, it's great. Love my car but if I lived where you do I WOULD 100% GET RID OF YOUR CAR. Any mods void warentees. I have 376rwhp and it's fast but not that fast.

 

The Turbonetics kit does use a VERY safe reflash out of the box that will get you the power you want without NEEDINg to go to a dyno. As long as you install a wideband AFR gauge with the kit you can verify the AFR of the kit as soon as its ready to go. In your case I would say go with the Turbonetics kit. It doesn't need any dyno tuning to get very good numbers out of the box (377 RWHP at 8 PSI on a stock exhaust) and its very easy to self install. In fact there are TONS of board members who self installed theirs. I have the install manual here http://members.***.net/turbonetics35...icsinstman.pdf if you want to take a look at the install work...

 

Not that fast compared to what? An exotic or high end German? Not that many cars outthere can claim over 400bhp.