JonnyC

iTrader: (19)

My bad guys. Maybe those were just his plans. For some reason the 600 number was in my head, but maybe that was from you CMyTails. I actually haven't been tracking where people are at with their HP numbers because I'm just trying to get my car running right

athenG - Same thing happens to me. Driver's side bank (don't have another wideband) goes real lean sometimes when it has a rough idle.

athenG

iTrader: (2)

/\ My problem only happen if I idle for more than 3mins, it only happen if I sit on a stop light for more than 3 mins though. Not sure if my 02 sensor is starting to go bad too coz I did get a P1273 error before. I was thinking of sending my injectors to be tested and cleaned just to eliminate that part too.

I never had this problem before until this Winter. This is my 2nd Winter with STS and this was also the worst Winter we had for the past 6 years in NYC. I'm tired of seeing temp in a single digit.. It is getting warmer now so I'm hoping it was the colder climate that was giving me problem.

Boozt

Hey fellas...been awhile since I posted. Update- I ditched the APS Plenum (Cali smog inspection) and went with a Motordyne spacer. Throttle response is actually a little better with the spacer and nothing was lost up top. No other changes to the turbo set up but a little tunning and I no longer throw codes....Set up is working great with 400 +/- RWHP. I am installing a Mastergrade TS rear diffuser (I think fitment is no issue based on pics and dimensions) but, of course, the part has not arrived yet. When I get it in I'll post pics, etc with an update- Jim

tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

Hey guys. Who here drives daily with their Z/G and STS turbo system? I'm curious how the system performs year round. At the moment, my G coupe is my only vehicle.

When I finish the FI project, I plan on getting a beater to drive around but every once in a while I'd like to be able to take the G out and cruise around town or go out with friends. Just wondering how day to day driving is like for the owners of this system.

Also, does anyone have HFCs at the moment or stock Cats? Right now I'm running Berk HFCs and am wondering what the exhaust note would sound like with them installed. Does it sound close to stock exhaust sound with stock cats/HFCs? I plan on keeping/using the HFCs when I go FI.

Also, has anyone added a resonator for a little quieter exhaust note? Sorry for all the questions but this is the first application of FI that has me debating whether I should go single turbo vs. Vortech (not saying anything's wrong with the other turbo kit choices either.)

Finally, if someone can point me in the right direction, I'd like to see a video clip of a car with stock Cats or HFCs.
(maybe like an idling video etc.)

I know I've got a million questions and a lot more research to do. I'm greatful you guys were able to put this thread together period. Very helpful BTW

I look forward to contributing positive data as I learn more about this system!

CMyTailsBlink

iTrader: (4)

I think the Motordyne spacer is probably the best mod out there for the intake manifold. The Kenetix ssv was a giant hunk of crap, and was way over priced for minimal hp gaines. The APS manifolds are nice, but still expensive, and now the Cosworth piece is rediculously expensive, and really doesn't make much power over any of the other intake mods out there. I have the motordyne space and i love it. decent price and definite gains. The only other intake that i would "like" to have is the Speed force racing manifold, but thats the most expensive piece out there, and I don't know that it performs any better than the other mods. That would be piece more for bling factor than anything.

Jim, please post some pics of the rear once you get the diffuser mounted up, i'd definitely like to see.

CMyTailsBlink

iTrader: (4)

My car is a daily driver, but i can't really speak of year round performance. I had mine through the summer and drove it everyday, and it was fine. Keep in mind, mine is the most extreme STS built Z out there right now, and like i said, it was perfectly fine. If your sticking closer to just the normal bolt on kit, you'll be perfectly fine. Your gas mileage will drop, regaurdless of what STS says, and thats only because your gonna have a hard time staying off the throttle, its addicting to hear the turbo spool, especially when people are around to hear. Seriously though, this kit is an awesome mod, and will do fine throughout year.

Just my personal recommendation, ditch the HFC, go straight pipes.
I have the stock nissan midpipe resonator in my exhaust and i think i sounds great. My car is significantly louder than a stock Z/G, HFC's or straight pipes. Keep in mind again, mine is not just your basic sts kit, or stock motor.

Why the concern with staying so quiet?? Let that baby scream. I love all the nasty looks my neighbors give me when i drive by. They're just haters

Hope some of this can help out.

tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

I live in Chicago and it gets coooolld in the winter time. On nice sunny days like today, I like to take the G out for a spin. Days like 10+ degrees or so.

With the vehicle, exhaust and turbo system properly warmed up, driving in these conditions should be ok right? I read Athens' post above where he said his RPMs started acting up in the cold East Coast weather this past winter after 2 years. I guess my question is, can driving in the cold have any other negative effects?

Right now, I'd like to stay around 350-380WHP with the noise level I have now with HFCs and my HR Ypipe. I mean a little louder is ok but that's about it. (The spooling turbo and BOV sounds are fine)

For me, I could live with that. I don't street race, I don't plan on tracking my car. The added F.I. boost will be for fun on those lonely roads when I'd want to open up once in a while (maybe like 1x a week or so) and enjoy a lil rush here and there.

Heck sometimes now, I drive and barely hit 4K RPMs. (When I'm trying to be conservative)

Under these conditions I was wondering how I can keep the sound close to stock and then BAM when I open it up, I can experience some of that performance exhaust note combined with the whooossh (if that makes sense)!

Thanks! It definitely it helps. Part of the reason I want to keep the exhaust sound level down is because I have to go for emissions tests here in Illinois. I want to increase my chances of passing! Plus when I drive my coupe around town in Chicago, the less exhaust sound I make the better (especially when cops are around).

Mike_G

iTrader: (3)

If you run a stock set up you can keep it relatively quiet. IMHO there are aftermarket exhaust more obnoxious than this kit...
I have stock cats and mid pipe. Had plans to replace the resonator in the mid pipe. After talking with Bobby @ CIN It was not going to yeild any gains. You do run the risk of taking out the turbo IF a cat lets go. Around town its fun to bang some gears.. it will growl and the turbine sound is beyond distinctive. In some cases I tend to upshift a tad early If I am trying to keep it quiet.
You sound alot like myself.. I locked the cruise on the interstate this past sunday avg between 35-38 mpg
Someone else maybe able to help with input on year round use...

tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

Mike 35-38MPG! Holy crap. FI pays for itself when the car's driven like grandpa haha

I'm weird like that. Sometimes I'd drive super conservative with cruise control and all and other times I'll open it up a lil bit!

That's good to know that I can keep the car/system relatively quiet if need be and go there when I feel like it if you know what I mean

Do you have any video clips of your car? I'd love to hear how your setup runs.

As for the cat letting go, what's the possibility of that happening? Is the actual turbo sucking air through the exhaust pipe? If so is it that strong where it'd rip the honeycomb cells out of my Berk HFCs?

In that case, I'd have to toss my stock cats back on then but then I run into the stock cat restrictions and possible power loss etc arrggghh....decisions...decisions

As for changing the resonator, I think leaving the stock one on would be a great call on my end. Like you said Mike, if I swapped out for an aftermarket one like the Magnaflow for example, it wouldn't make much of a difference since there are no gains from the swap plus I like the OEM sound anyway.

Thanks for your input bud! I've learned a lot from this thread already.

Mike_G

iTrader: (3)

No clips, hopefully in 2 weeks I will get some footage... Going to be scheduling for tune & dyno time

tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

Sounds great. I'll keep my eyes glued here for more details. Does anyone have information on the question about the HFCs ^ ^ ?

athenG

iTrader: (2)

Here's a video video of my car at 5psi and with stock CAT..

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t=MVI_1479.flv

here's a video with my current setup (with TP)

Edit: forget about the "From The Outside" part coz that was with CAT.

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tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

Athens that actually sounds pretty good! From the videos, your car in FI form sounds quieter than some of the NA counterparts on those clips.

I have to see this kit in person now. We have a guy on Chicagoz.com who's just about done installing this in his Z. He's getting ready to have Sound Performance do the last bits of tuning and he's all set.

Hopefully I can make it that day to check it out. So far so good

JonnyC

iTrader: (19)

Hey tiguy99,

I'm up here in Madison, and frequent Milwaukee a lot (like this weekend). I have the STS with Berk HFC's (metallic). I actually just purchased a MagnaFlow resonator to replace the stock one with (same thing that goosegoose on here did) because the exhaust note is to loud to bear sometimes. It's not too bad, but around 2k - 2.5k rpms it drones a lot. I actually don't even want to start the car up early morning/late at night because I might disturb my neighbors.

I'm going to be switching to resonated test pipes (most likely) because I'm worried about my HFC's blowing out at some point and destroying my turbo. After I have those installed, and have the resonator replaced, I'll have to see if it helps quiet it down.

As for the sound quality - it sounds sick! Very smooth, just music too my ears. It's just too loud for me right now.

Unfortunately, this is the only video I have right now
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i36SE9rPlsQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i36SE9rPlsQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

- Jon

JonnyC

iTrader: (19)

Do you know if he's running the UTEC? I'm hoping to find a place to tune my car in the event that I can't take the time to tune it myself. I know that GRD and SP don't really do much with the UTEC - one of the places might not even work on it in fact.

tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

Jonny, the tunnel clip was great! Where is that? If you're on Chicagoz, lookup EXE Chris. I think he's headed to SP but I'm not clear on what kind of tune he's getting.

I was going to call Irfan at GRD where they installed my HFCs and ask what kind of tune they use and see what they say about my HFCs.

I'm wondering what the dangers are switching back to the stock cats. What other brand resonators can we use that would make the exhaust note have no drone and sound close to stock?

JonnyC

iTrader: (19)

That's under the Monona Terrace in downtown Madison.

Some people have said that stock cats are safer than going with HFC's. I'm not sure about that though.

Not many people have modified their exhaust much. I only know of goosegoose who went with the MagnaFlow 12216, which is the one that's sitting in my living room right now. He also installed a smaller one right before the turbo. That info should be somewhere in this thread - good luck finding it

So, as for quieting things down, we are kind of in uncharted territory. Goosegoose had good luck with his though, and he had resonated test pipes on. Hopefully I'll have my new exhaust on within a month or so.

I'm actually the admin of www.WisconsinZCrew.com. We're hoping to head down to on of your guys' events this year, so I'll be sure to let you know if we do.

tiguy99

iTrader: (3)

Nice. I'll check you guys out on the site. As for both groups uniting.....heck yeah!!!! Let us know. By the time you get here, both you and EXE Chris on ChicagoZ should both have your STS fully running etc so I can see both in action with different exhaust choices.

As for the exhaust, I was looking up some Magnaflow resonators on their site. Can more than one by connected to deaden the loud exhaust or would that be overkill?

I'd love to research how these resonators work in FI applications like this one because like you mentioned this is uncharted territory at the moment.

While I'd like a more civilized FI sound, I definitely don't want to introduce problems that will hurt the system and reliability of my car either

JonnyC

iTrader: (19)

Yeah, hopefully I'll have my car running right for one of our meets. At our first meet last year, there was a group of ChicagoZ guys that came up for it (in Madison). Was kind of a lame event, but luckily some Madison guys put together a cruise after that was awesome. I hope it was worth it for the ChicagoZ guys.

From what I know, the Mangaflow 12216 is really the only option for a resonator (from Magnaflow). It's better quality than the Dynomax (packed tighter, full stainless), and it's cheaper. And looking at the stock mid-pipe, there's really only room for one - and it barely fits. However, you can do like goosegoose did and install one where the stock muffler goes - on the exhaust pipe that feeds the turbo right there in the back.

We'll see how it sounds with the 12216. If it's still too loud, I might do the same thing that goosegoose did.

For performance, I don't think there's really anything to worry about. The resonators are straight through design, with the pipe inside being perforated with fiberglass surrounding it to absorb the sound. So it doesn't inhibit flow, other than possibly creating some turbulence. The main thing you have to worry about though is the "blowing out" - the fiberglass burning up and making it's way out through the holes in the center pipe.

I'm pretty confident that with resonated test pipes, and the beefier resonator, it should help quiet it down while keeping the nice smooth exhaust note. We'll see.

athenG

iTrader: (2)

/\ hey let us know how it turn out.. I'm getting sick and tired of the loudness and the smell with the TP. I can deal with the smell if it is at least quiet or vice versa....