08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

Hello everyone. Let me start by saying that this isn't my first car nor is it my first car to mod. I also know that n/a mods will not net a whole lot of power overall. That said, I was looking to do a few mods like intakes (I have an 08 btw), full exhaust, etc and a tune. So I had some money to spend and I was ready to get my exhaust. After much research and reviewing many dyno results I found that the motordyne ART pipes mated with the motordyne shockwave v2 made excellent power overall but really improved low end torque. I even saw dynos where ppl gained upwards of 30hp and 35ft/lbs. A magazine even did an article testing the setup and got massive gains. So I bought that system and installed it a couple weeks ago. The first start up was great. It sounded amazing and had a nice tone. So, then it was out to the streets. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't feeling huge gains like ppl described. I also noticed a lot of hesitation when I would accelerate hard. So I reset the ecu but still had the same problem. So, today I decided to dyno the car and see what I was puttin down. I brought my sister along to compare with her car (she also has an 08 but stock except for k&n drop ins. So she ran firsy and her best run was 274hp and 247ft/lbs...not bad. Now I was really excited to see what I would put down. My best run was a disappointing 283hp and 253ft/lbs. I couldn't believe it. I felt like I fell for the biggest marketing gimic. I just spent over 2g and didn't even gain 10hp. The ART pipes alone are advertised to boost hp by at least 10 and low end torque by 30ft/lbs! My low end torque was actually lower than my sisters. What gives? As said I'm very upset and don't know what to do. I don't even wanna spend the extra $600 for a tune. Any input on this issue would be great. Sorry for the rant.

AutoDetour

Tune it. Your car isn't going to know how to handle the extra oxygen unless you tell it how too. throw on a few more boltons then give it the full tune with a proper dyno. You will surely feel the difference.

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

I understand a tune will help but ppl were seeing major gains without a tune and theirs cars ran fine. To be satisfied I would have to get at least 20hp from the tune which I doubt would happen.

Voboy

iTrader: (58)

post up the dyno sheets... it isn't all about peak power though.

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

I will post them as soon as I get home from work and scan em. I don't care about the peak power. I am just shocked at the minimal gains compared to my sisters stock z. Either somethings up with my car or her car is making above average power. Is 28x normal hp for an untuned HOUR with exhaust? This was done on a dynojet btw.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Marketing performance gains is a gimic.

The dyno numbers are real, just finagled a bit. Do 3 pre-mod runs. Do 3 post-mod runs. Compare the WORST pre-mod run to the BEST post-mod run. This is where marketers get their big numbers.

Entaille

iTrader: (16)

I'd like to see the power curve of both cars to compare. peak gains aren't everything. I'd also think you'd have to tune after getting rid of the cats. intake, catless, wide open exhaust.. your car must be running very lean. I would expect a car with your mods to make closer to 300whp peak.

also talk with Tony at Motordyne, I am sure he would be glad to give you some input. it's not exactly apples to apples since you are comparing one z to another - you can't claim you only gained 10hp when comparing your car to another car. something is definitely wrong, though.

your car isn't auto while hers is manual, by chance?

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

I think somethings definitely skewed. I know comparing 2 cars isn't always valid however I neglected to dyno my car when it was stock. I'm actually very tempted to put my car back to stock and dyno it to see MY TRUE gains. I'm in the process of talking to tony. We'll see what happens.

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

I forgot to answer the question posted, both cars are manual and all pulls were done in 4th. I understand a tune needs to be done to optimize gains but I still think its valid to do comparisons on a stock map to see gains before and after a tune. I am still shocked that her tq numbers are higher than mine between 2k and 3500. I'll post the dyno sheets asap. Again, is it possible she has a z putting out "higher than usual" power?

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Yes. If you go to a 350Z dyno day, you will see similar Zs putting down dissimilar numbers. Peak numbers can vary as much as plus or minus 10 percent.

singh

iTrader: (2)

while i'm not a fan of motordyne products, maybe you should get a tune since that is what really makes the biggest difference in "feel"..

afterwards post up the dyno I for one would be interested to see what all this motordyne hype is all about

xthejokerx

iTrader: (1)

let me know what motordyne says.....

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

There's a bunch of "hype" posted all over the forum with dyno sheets that prove big gains. That's where I got the impression that I would see decent gains with this system.

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

Tony, as usual, responded in a timely fashion and he said what a lot of people suggested here...TUNE! He also said its very hard to judge gains by comparing 2 Zs, even if they have the exact same mods. I guess my biggest mistake was not dynoing my car stock to see my TRUE gains. He also added that I may have a faulty sensor causing a bad A/F ratio which in turn of course would decrease my power and cause the hesitation I am experiencing. Not sure if that's the case though because I haven't gotten a CEL yet.

I would like to post the dyno sheets but I'm not sure how to upload a PDF...can anyone instruct me?

kacz07

iTrader: (15)

I would talk to Tony and get a tune. You've given your impression before seeking help from the company itself. Additionally, you didn't get a tune to maximize your hard earned mods. Make sure there's not some power hidden somewhere. Good luck satisfying yourself.

kacz07

iTrader: (15)

^I got hung up watching Favre press conference.

kacz07

iTrader: (15)

Press the printscreen button, open it in paint, and post it up as an image.

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

I'm very hard to satisfy haha. I am speaking with Tony ATM and he's giving me some pointers. You are right that I got an impression before a tune, but from reading other ppls posts and viewing their dyno results, it seems like I should have seen better gains even on a stock ecu. But it sounds like I won't know the verdict til i get a tune. I see that you got tuned by R/T Tuning. How do you like the tune/how much more power did you gain. I did quite a bit of talking with them today and they seem pretty knowledgeable. However, when I asked them if the gains I am seeing are common they said they were, yet when I asked if my sisters car had high numbers they told me that it was right around average. So, that is still sticking in my head about only gaining 8hp and 7ft/lbs of torque. How can the power gains be so minimal and neither car be out of the ordinary?

08sleeperz

iTrader: (14)

Ok, I figured it out, hope you can see it ok

This is the dyno of my sister's car



And this is the dyno of my car

350z 6spd

iTrader: (9)

You can't take the difference between the 2 cars as your gain. If your sister's car is running a 12.5-13.0 AFR at WOT, it's going to make much more power than if yours is running a 10.5 (very rich) or a 14.5 (lean) at WOT. So if your tune is now off because of the change in air flow, you're not going to see gains.

I've seen a stock HR that was running a high 10-low 11 AFR at WOT and that is completely stock. So, the cars can vary greatly and until you look at outside factors that cause the differences in power, they're not really comparable. You should have had the dyno operator log AFR on that dyno sheet and it may have allowed us to see if you would gain substantial power from a tune.

Another thing, the stuttering could just be what most other HR's get when they install test pipes. When I only had test pipes on my car, if I would mash the throttle open around 3k-3500 (I think, could have been a little lower, I don't remember exactly) it would stutter a little as it went over that RPM. I would guess it's either a lean spot or due to the cam timing but plenty of other HR owners have experienced the same thing regardless of test pipe/exhaust brand.