First of all, Thanks Z Car Garage for the tune. They always take care of me and have done some awesome tuning jobs for me. Rob is the man!

Anyway, my car mainly is for track use. But with my 4.08 Final gear, I always run out of rev with the non-rev VQ. Therefore, I have upgraded the connecting rod bolts and Rev-up Oil pump and increased rev from 6.6k to 7.2k.

At the same time, I purchased a ported used heads with BC 264 cams, BC Valve springs and retainers from a member here. I also port matched and polished the intake manifold, grinded down the top of #1 and #2 lower intake manifold inlets.

Also, upgraded from Stillen HFC to Motordyne ART pipes.

I did not upgraded the bottom end even I have purchased a set of cosworth Pistons. Because I want to try a different route and see how the stock bottom end can handle.

The result is not impressive, I mean for all the works I have done.
14HP and 1 TQ gained.........

Everything below 5k stayed the same as before, but once I hit passed that, car became a different animal, pull all the way up and hit 7k in a blink of eyes. Torque seems increased through the whole power band. Cant wait to test it on the track next Friday at Buttonwillow.



Not sure what happened to the low gain tho, however today has Humidity: 89%, dunno if they would affected the tune... Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Here is the dyno graph:





Mod before:
HKS Air Filter
Motordyne Spacer
Stillen Headers
Stillen HFC
Greddy EVO2 Cat Back
4.08 Final Gear
OS Giken STR Clutch w/ flywheel
UpRev Tune

Mod Changed:
Port and polish Intake Manifold
Resurfaced Cylinder heads and 3 angles valves Job
Adjusted valve clearance to spec
Ported Intake and exhaust Ports
BC 264 cams
BC Valve Springs
ARP Rod Bolts
Rev-up Oil Pump
ATI Crank Pulley
Pathfinder cooling mod
Motordyne ART Test Pipes

 

i say go get an hr im making 299.9 on a mustang dyno with high flows a catback intake and tune and you get a nice 7500 rev line

 

Thats what UP Rev told me LOL! *** Sad ***

 

Looks like a 5.25 percent increase in peak horsepower. That is disappointing. Assume that numbers are SAE corrected so they are comparable.

Dyno runs are with same final drive and done in same gear?

 

SAE corrected, same final drive, I believe in the same gear. I wasnt there watching and I forgot to ask. But I assume it is.

 

i would be pissed if i spent all that money and couldent come close to 300w im only in like 2k your in like what upwards of 6k just a rough est

 

Well don't be put-off with the numbers. Just another example showing how difficult and expensive it is to bump a all-motor 350Z, say, 10 percent horsepower increase.

 

Actually 300whp is not important for me, I know their dyno reads low, their first time I dyno over there with just intake and exhaust upgrades was only 198 whp @.@

But the 14HP and 1Tq gained is just depressing... consider the time I have done to disassemble the engine, port and polish, e.t.c.

The bright side are the car sounds like a V8now, just without the speed, lol. And hopfully the extra rpm will benefit me on the track.

 

Totally agreed with Davidv! I know this is a rough path for going N/A. But the reliability on a NA VQ is unbeatable!

 

darn have u though about giving a shot on a different dyno just for a comaprison? i was thinking of getting those cams! i have the same headers like urs. that is depressing dude :O

 

These motors are simply too small to gain power in the low end without sacrificing power in other places. You managed to keep really EVERYTHING down low while pushing the powerband further out toward 6500. The only thing I think is somewhat odd is that the powerband still falls off rapidly. I wonder where the restriction in the system is at this point... did the 264 cams already run out??

Going to another dyno to get an imaginary number will help nothing but his ego. He's a track guy so I doubt he cares if he makes 300rwhp or 270rwhp as long as it simply works on the course.

Postup some vids of the cam'd car! Maybe a high speed pass at the track if ya have the ability.

 

I'm surprised how jagged the graphs are. Looks like either detonation or false knock (just went through this a few days ago on my own car). Since you have cams the ECU is probably over sensitive to normal noises. You can clearly see some issues at 3.5k and 5k.

 

I think your tuner might not be that great, I am not sure he did the cam timing right. I went from 269hp and 249tq, to 287hp and 255tq after the build, but when I went in for a retune to clean up some problems with it, (it was 106 degrees outside) we started at 278hp and ended at 292hp and 265tq and I gained from mid to top(I plan on going in for a dyno run to see what I make when it is not 106 degrees outside). Also, it seems like your power is falling off pretty quickly. I expected you would make power to at least 6500RPM.

This is the dyno sheet from my last tune, you can see what I was talking about


Here is my non built motor dyno

 

How big of a spacer are you running? How much vacuum are you running in the manifold? The problem is probably a combination of a crappy intake manifold and someone not tuning the cam angles.

 

Thanks for all the advice!

Car doesnt feel restrictive at all. But surely it is a little bit rough on idle, I guess it's because of the cams, beside that, car revs fine tho. I can try to put up a video when I have time!

Classy, u made me jealous! LOL. Do you have a built bottom end? Maybe that makes a difference?


It's a 5/16 Spacer, Not sure about the vacuum reading, I will check once I get back to the shop.

is there a way to check the cam angles with a scan tool to see if it has been tuned?

 

See how much manifold vacuum you are pulling before and after the TB, and ask to see how much (if even) the cam angles were changed. If you're pulling a lot of vacuum, it could mean there is still a restriction in the intake some place. I would be working on a spare plenum trying to open it up a bit, and also look into a bigger throttle body.

 

Try a different intake and exhaust, ones with better flow. I had a Greddy Evo2 and loved it but its not the best exhaust. Try Agency Power, and maybe a injen cai? IMO
I have stillen headers, Ichiba Y, Art's, Agency Power exhaust. Injen cai, kinetix plenum, underdrive pulley set, fidanza flywheel, uprev, and got 270whp from my revup. AP exhaust is lighter too, being a single exit.

 

did you get new lifter buckets? a few of us on G35Driver used DLC coated buckets w/our cam installs and had really good results.

 

thanks KA24DE. I will check the vacuum on Monday. by the way, I just got KA24DE that is going to swap into my Lemon Race Nissan s12. Haha

SD: I heard of those buckets. But I just re-use my old ones. since I have another set of heads. I was able to mix and match all the buckets for the correct valve clearance. So I didnt feel like spending another extra $400+ for all new 24 buckets.

 

i would look at the gains over all.
OP says 198whp with intake and exhaust only?
Now the car makes 276whp!? so if the z is rated at 280 bhp stock, his track car is producing upwards of 350bhp? I know this is all relative but thats pretty decent for the gains to me.

Have you considered the exhaust manifold ports as a restriction? if the heads are ported with bigger cams drawing in more air, what about all the air on the way out? if you have stillen headers know maybe matching the exhaust ports/or switching to a longtube header style would help add hp and torque but more likely massively improve engine response

great gains to me, (i've had 2 s2000s so i know what NA tuning is like)