Hey guys, been throwing around which manifold to buy, and by the time you buy the Crawford piece with the new strut bar, you could have the SSV with no need for a new bar. Anyone know more about the SSV than me. I know the Crawford is Great, but with the price, The ssv seems to be the right choice. By the way, for now the car is staying NA, If that helps any of you Veterans out there.

 

ssv loses torque down low on na engines. do a search. much has been written.

 

I beg to differ. Gained 12-15 ft.lbs from 2000-5000 over the Crawford.

https://my350z.com/forum/forced-induction/143581-kinetix-ssv-dynoed-n-a.html

 

hehe. i just read that post. nice gain, but i think even isdunique, who owns kinetix, posted a loss down low when he posted his na dyno results here several mos ago. i could be wrong, tho.

 

With the longer runner length it would not make sense that it would lose torque down low. Honda proved that with their dual stage intake manifolds.
In pre- VTEC the manifold uses the longer runners to increase bottom end torque.....when VTEC hits, a butterfly set opens that diverts intake air into a shorter runner configuration. This shorter runner length in the upper rpm's augment the power at high rpm's that would be lost with the longer runners. This is proven by my duno as the torque levels off at 5000 rpm's to meet the crawford torque levels.

 

I can't say I "feel" any loss in torque when I put the SSV on. I felt it was a little stronger. I came from a Crawford V4 plenum - so not as good as the latest version

the other benefit is the 10 lb loss and looks, maintaining the stock strut bar, and ability to use thermogaskets, which I haven't done yet, but is supposed to lower temps by like 10-20 degrees or so

 

My honest feeling now that I've run both the Crawford and the SSV is that the performance gains are close to the same. Close enough that either one will satisfy that need.

The real question you need to answer is what you want beyond the performance gain.

If are buying strictly for performance and only considering the piece itself, I say go with the Crawford.

If you are looking at getting the Crawford and a strut bar, then it becomes a toss up, but still slight edge to them.

If that extra $100-$200 over the price of the Crawford plenum + strut bar is worth it for the 'bling' factor and losing a small amount of weight, then go SSV.

I definitely like my SSV, but would never try to steer anyone away from the Crawford plenum.

 

yeah, I agree fully with that


Another thing is I think I felt like the stock strut bar was better than the crawford because it uses all 4 bolts and does not have any rotational joints even though the bar is straight. The car felt a little more reactive when I put the stock bar back on.

I'm actually really happy I went with the SSV as it turns out. I'm sure for NA the 350EVO will be better, but when I consider I'll be using thermogaskets, jethot coating the manifold, then wrapping it with thermowrap I think it'll really help to keep the charge cool.

My thoughts on that are the intake air is cool and will cary any heat that builds up in the first place in the manifold. It's not enough to cool the outside of the manifold though which will pick up hot ambient temps. Jet hotting and thermotaping the manifold will block or slow down the heat being absorbed into the manifold, then the colder air rushing thru it on the inside steadily gets carried away.

The manifold is still flexible for FI use too

 

Seems every Dyno I've seen with the SSV , has run richer than the before dyno . Logic says that...leaner would say more air flow....richer less air flow . I just dont see it being worth the $700 price tag .

 

richer does not mean less air flow on a car with a MAF. On a MAP car it probably does

 

interesting. why the difference?

 

What thermogasket do you use with the SSV? Is that the Motordyne "ISO Thermal Upgrade"?