It seems like almost every day we are reading about someone else has blown their motor. The question then remains: Is any type of FI safe on a stock Z motor. My answer is yes, depending on three factors:

1. The amount of power
2. The quality of the tuning
3. How you use the system

The first two are fairly obvious, the third point is not.

A stock motor of any kind in a street car is, to some degree, detuned from it's maximum potential. It is this detuning that gives you a safety margin and reliability. Aftermarket tuning taps into this "reserve" potential at the expense of reliability. One needs to accept this in principle. You can not simply hammer a highly tuned Z motor as if it were stock and expect it not to break. If what you want is a fully reliable 400whp, it'll cost $60k minimum, be it building this car, or buying something with that much power stock. In actuality, it is still much cheaper to build this car to get that kind of reliable power. The bottom line is you need to use the FI power cautiously and selectively on stock internals. There is still plenty of fun to be had. You don't have to be at WOT all the time. 60% throttle will still give you a nice push in the back. Use the power for freeway passing and occasional high speed bursts. Save the drag launches for a "once in a while" kind of thing.

So what's the point you ask. Why spend so much money on a system and not use it? Well....that is an individual decision. To me, it is worth the money to have the power there to use occasionally and in certain situations. I don't have to nail the throttle at every light to be happy. An FI system will still give more smooth power delivery at 70% throttle than any NA mods ever will. Slowly pushing in the gas pedal in 5th gear and feeling that rush of power come on is still fun and very safe.

It's all about realistic expectations.

 

I disagree for the most part.

 

Some people hammer the cap out of the cars day and night, and dont break anything with F/I and high boost levels. Others run low boost and break their rods at 5.6psi.

Tuning is certainly critical, but based on some wells tuned cars that also took a crap, I think the stock internals will eventually fatgiue and fail with time. It's just a matter of time.

I agree that with type of motor, you definately need to accept the fact that it will not be as safe and reliable as a stock motor....ever.

 

u sure about that 60thousand remark? I was thinking 15-20 would be more than enough to have a safe F/I 350z with new pistons and rods.

 

$60K? Come on man, think about that for a bit. You do not need $60K to build a reliable 400whp machine.

 

Understand where you are coming from man, but I think that is a little over exagerated. Im sure you can build a "reliable" F/I car for much less that 60k, reliable meaning running the hell out of it whenever you want without being scared it is gonna blowup. Although you have to always be open to the thought that it could happen and accept it because the car will probably never be as reliable as it once was when stock. BTW, in my opinion, if you have the parts for a strong motor, tuning is everything in keeping that motor reliable cause one bad ping or knock and its all over.

 

I think he meant about $60k including the cost of the car

 

I think the $60K remark is that you can spend $35K on a Z and $25K in internals/FI/tuning etc to get reliable 400whp, or just spend $60K on a car that already has reliable 400whp (like a vette).

You also need to keep in mind that not all Zs are identical. You could have 2 people runing identical mods and tuning and one will break and one will run forever. Just depends on the luck of the draw. You might have a rod that is at the low end of tolerance and snaps at low PSI where someone with rods at the hgh end of the tolerance could run for a long time.

I guess you need to hope for a strong motor, but plan for a weak one.

 

A corvette doesnt make 400whp...it makes 400 crank HP..right?

And yeah, I presume he meant the price of the car. But I think the number is still too high. An enthusiast model Z is $29K retail, and $15000 can easily get the job done in terms of a TT kit, installation, tuning, guages, and the forged internals, and labor.

So maybe $45K. Of course, then you need wheels, suspension, tires...the list goes on and on....and on!

 

So let me get this straight - the path to successful FI is to..not press too hard on the throttle.

What is the point of FI if:

• After spending ~8K, you are tuned so conservatively tuned (~320whp) that you are still barely in the 12s?
• Every time you hit the gas pedal, you fear that your motor will blow under the strain of ~400whp?

In my opinion, this motor was either meant to make ~230whp stock, ~250whp with minor bolt ons, or ~500whp with a built engine and turbos. If the rods were better (a slated change for 2005), then I think that ~400whp on an unbuilt engine would also be reasonable. Anything else is a bit risky or wasteful...in my opinion

 

I've got F/I'ed and every who knows me or have seen my cars at drift events know it's being driven hard. Stock internals and stock fuel system. No problems yet. *knock on wood*

 

Ahahah, I almost fell outta my chair when I read that.

 

Sorry to get a bit off topic but how's the driveability of your FI cars? I didn't think my Z was fast since I have a bike but after some canyon carving this weekend I realized how fast it really is. I wonder why I dream of Ferraris when the Z put a grin on my face the whole day. I have a turbo on the way but now i can't decide if I should upgrade the the internals or just go with the stock settings of the turbo. I was thinking of getting it up to 500 horsepower but is that really needed? But then again, seeing a supercharged G35 squat and move away very briskly from a turbo civic that decided to tag along was quite a sight!!

 

FI cars rock. Drives like stock until you stomp it, and then bye-bye everyone around you.

You'll love your turbo.

 

Im

 

Exec,

Your reply was hilarious because you replied to a 4-paragraph post with a single sentence. There was no clarification of WHY you disagree, or what it is you disagree on. Just the fact that you disagree, for the most part.

I find that funny =D

 

Oh


OHHHH BWahahahhaha

 

I wasn't thinking about just the engine, but a car this capable needs upgraded tranny components, brakes, wheels/tires, better oil cooling, suspension,etc. All totaled, it will be $60k with labor costs included for a completely "balanced" vehicle. And yes, I was including the price of the car.

 

Hey don't get me wrong. If my car kicks ***, I'll be loving it as much as anybody. Of course I'm going to use the power....DUH!!!! Just not ALL the time.

 

^^^for $60K^^^^ it will peform better, and make a hellevalot more power than anything on the road.