TURBO KIT QUESTION
1.) I'm not too sure how much to spend on a turbo kit and I'm kind of torn right now. I'm not looking to make a crazy amount of power in the car and I just want a small amount of boost to maybe get me to 350whp. Any suggestions? Since I'm not looking to abuse my car, would a 1200$ eBay kit suffice or should I save 1900$ for the rev9? I am on a budget but I'm willing to spend some money on this build. If there are any other suggestions, I'm all ears.
2.) What're some important upgrades that I need to make sure that my car is able to take that amount of power, if any?

SUSPENSION QUESTION
1.) Are lowering springs viable for the 350z or would I have to get true coil overs for the rear?
2.) I want some better fitment on the car. Right now I have the stock wheels and I'm looking to upgrade to an 18/9.5. If I get suspensions that lower the car around an inch and a quarter and get the 18/9.5, would it work or would it rub?

THANK YOU GUYS. I'm looking forward to building my car!

 

Your head isnt too too far off but the ebay kits are nice for the price but prepare to have fitment issues to the point where you will need to (likely) source a welder to make the kit work. It’s not a bad path if you prepare yourself for more expense down the road on maintenance, repair, upkeep of the turbo kit bc it is really poorly put together, the turbo will wearout, the BOV and wastegates are cheap and will cause issues … this is both true for the $1200 or the $1900 kits.

You might as well plan for up to 400 to 425hp because the cost will be the same.

‘Budget’ and ‘turbo kits’ should not be used in the same sentance…
Things that immediately come to mind:
-buy once cry once
-do it nice or do it twice
-cheap, reliable, fast (pick two)

Further - $2000 plus whatever it takes to get the kit installed/fitting right on your car is only the first wave of cost. You will need fueling upgrades (fuel injectors and a fuel pump ~$500). You will need tuning software and a street tune or dyno tune (likely uprev will be your best bet and be around $600 to $800 for software and tune). Factor in another $1000 to $2000 for misc stuff that you need/want with a turbo’d car - such as gauges, an oil cooler, a dampening crank pulley, you may need clutch/flywheel upgrades, and you may need to pay someone to install the kit and support mods too.

Your best best it to hang around and read what others have done on their turbo builds and see what they did that worked, that didnt work, and what they would have done if they had it all over again.

Do either a turbo build or a suspension build but you wont have money to do them at the same time (doesnt sound like)…

Suspension is another area that you dont want to skimp on. The OEM suspension is pretty good from the factory and other than being heavy you wont get a better ride quality or performance upgrade without spending $2500 to $3000 on the low end. Coilovers, camber/toe arms, traction bars, sway bars are all going to be expensive and it’s something you dont want to buy the budget stuff as it’ll fail and cause significant damage when it does.

 

If you really have questions on the REV9 kit then I will help, but generally new accounts with 1 posts don't ever follow through with plans.
I've had the kit(formerly godspeed) on my car for like 8 years.

 

I used to join forums before I’d get cars but I have a pretty big budget it turns out. Instead of saving for a new car I chose to stick with the Z and put some upgrades to enjoy it for 3 or so years.

 

THANKS! I’m turning my money to focus on the Z because I fell in love with how it drives. Since the suspension is good I’ll just go for a higher end Turbo and whatever more parts I need for it as well as some bigger wheels. If you know any reliable turbo kits within the 2-4K range that are good lmk;! I’ll be researching myself as well. Thanks a lot tho, very detailed!

 

For your power range goals, I'd hunt for a used vortech kit OR a quality used TT or single turbo kit.

I just finished building mine and make over 600 (single turbo built motor).

If I were to do this again on a stock block with a turbo and a goal of around 400hp "reliably" I would allocate around $10k to do it. This should cover a decent used kit/turbo, fuel, cooling, clutch, gauges, tuning, tires, and suspension if you do all the labor yourself.

 

yup … you could look for a custom built kit too … this might be your best option as the bigger brands are no longer making off-the-shelf kits … if someone was in colorado and wanted a custom kit for the $4k mark I would probably do it …

Keep 18” wheels and look for lighter wheels - anything bigger and/or heavier will slow the car down …

as mentioned above - read as many turbo/SC build threads as you can and you’ll get a good feeling and a good roadmap to what is needed for a FI build


I was gonna say look into the Vortech as well!

All good stuff in this post except twin turbo … do not do twins! Massive pain in the groin if/when things go wrong, twice as much stuff to buy and twice as many places for problems to come up…if you turbo, just stick with a small 500hp to 550hp single turbo…it will spool up sooooo fast and put you in your peak torque extremely fast!

 

Agreed, pretty happy with my "used"/never installed V3.

 

May I get the link to the single turbo kit that you suggest? I saw the Vortech website and only saw superchargers? I'm not too sure but around 5-6k seems possible for me to afford.

 

Vortech makes superchargers and what we suggest you look into for your power goals and budget. You don't want the headaches that come with a turbo kit at only a $5-6k budget.

 

i have a 10k budget but just that amount for the turbo. The rest I’m saving to make sure my ca rn doesn’t break

 

I would keep an eye out for a used Momentum kit, Soho kit, or boosted performance kit. All nice options that would likely be around that $5-6k mark.

 

Solid advice … maybe the turbo is good? Maybe it’s not but the price will reflect this.

 

Exactly. Hit or miss on the state of the components. My used Momentum kit was about $5k, but replaced and recoated most of everything.

 

https://vortechsuperchargers.com/pro...nt=17021165319

Is this one the V3 that you're talking about?

 

yeah - very good reputation and people make good power with it. It’ll get you to OEM blocks capacity and at/around 425hp it’ll make 375ft-lbs to 400ft-lbs of torque (which is about what the engine will hold).

 

Correct, I got the blower, plugs, pipes, intercooler and injectors here for 3K plus shipping. I opted for a larger intercooler, larger oil cooler and ID 1025 injectors. I had Z1 do the install and tune bc if something wasn't correct I'd be unable to troubleshoot and basically be dead in the water. There were other parts and labor involved so my tab at Z1 was about $8K including UpRev tune. It's at 470hp according to my tuner, I could shoot for 520 with a smaller pulley but I'm happy for now. A lot of $$$$ but it's totally not the same car, it absolutely demands respect from the driver.
I'm in the Atlanta area, pm me if you want to go for a ride.

 

For all of the entire kit, Z1, and the tune, it was 8k? That sounds perfect. Where did you get the kit installed?

 

No, I picked up a "used" kit for $3K. Upgraded injectors, intercooler, oil cooler, new sleeves, other parts and labor, UpRev was separate $8K. Z1 did the work.

 

Oahhhh, that’s not too shabby. I’ll try to look for more things that fit my budget. So what you did and just figure out how to cut 1k off it. Thanks alot!