nightcrawler_8

iTrader: (5)

i was soo excited and happy to have all my bolt-on mods installed, i didn’t expect to be sooo fast.. but at least faster than i use to be.


i have the following mods:

UR crank pulley
MD plenum spacer/ ISO thermal.
helix Throttle body spacer
Injen CAI
Tomei headers and test pipes,
Fijetsubo Y pipe.
Blitz nur spec catback.

when i was bone stock, i raced with my borther's 2007 GTI. ait was close race in the first 3 gears. then i started pulling away.


the shock is after installing all my mods. ( didnt reflash or tune the car ) we raced again to see what would be the difference. and i was sooo dissapointed to have the exact same race results.

whats would be wrong ???

soo damn dissapointed.

Blu_Blur

iTrader: (1)

The Z's engine is very well-tuned from the facotyr so ironically some NA parts might actually detract from performance. One of the biggest culprits when it comes to this is headers. They typically do nothinf for the car and in a good amoujnt of cases, take away torque and leave hp the same.

Having a spacer is good but if you want the biggest difference in NA performance is to go with high flow cats or straight through piping. Also, look into getting a tune. There might be a possibility that you are messing with the AF ratio too much by not having enough fuel going into each cylinder cycle. When i say tune, I am saying with a relatively cheap EMS like a Greddy E-Manage Ultimate which is what I use but I am turbocharged.

nightcrawler_8

iTrader: (5)

thanks for the advice.

but from what i read while searching and all the article about Tuning. tuning will correct the A/F ratio and usually the differenc you get is minimal. i mean. let say your car in teh dyno got 250hp. with a tune u can get the best out of your mods and make it like 260. but in my case i feel like i didnt gain anything at all. you knwo what i mean.

i am going to tune the car with unichip soon.

str8dum1

iTrader: (11)

unfortunately a quick search before you bought that stuff woulda told you what you learned.

a good dyno tune will make a lil more power. dont know how much a unichip will do.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

You will make more from tuning than any single one of those mods would offer.

I'm still a big proponent of forced induction on this car. After you experience an FI Z, you will realize what we mean by saying NA mods are generally a waste of money.

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

With the mods, you opened up some more top end but you may loose some low end torque due to headers. I don't know enough about Tomei headers but headers are a tricky thing. I think most people underestimate the amount of science that goes into a good set of headers. Anyways, even a very fast car is only as good as a driver that knows it's strengths and weaknesses and knows how to leverage that info to go faster. Don't take it personally but perhaps you need to re-train your driving habits and learn how to drive the car that will probably behave differently now. Where did you race? Was it from a roll? At the track from a stop? How do you feel about your skills as a driver?

Remember, fractions of a sec are considered big on the track. Often times, perceived small difference may record as a big one in racing standards. Shaving 0.2 off your 1/4 mile is considered significant. Now think about it, if you didn't have a stop watch, would that kind of difference seem like a lot? Would you even think there was a difference? Also.....maybe your friend got better at driving too

nightcrawler_8

iTrader: (5)

i did all the search necessary... and i was not expecting much. but even that lil amount of power i want i couldnt get.

i dont know if something is wrong. if there is something i can check ..

craigo'sznprgrs

iTrader: (35)

+1.

I was one of the lucky ones. I bought just an exhaust when I was na, and received this advice, and exactly after 2 passes down the drag strip with disappointing results, I promptly sold my exhaust and test pipes and went FI.

I have progressed from single to twins to twins with built motor now, and would offer the same process to anyone thinking of bolt-ons.

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

True....Generally, NA mods seem like a waste after you work on any FI car and see the gains. The problem with the Z is that, for the cash I spend on putting a good build into the Z, I can buy a pretty nice car, mod it slightly and be within the same performance bracket......and not loose warranty coverage on my parts in the car It's tough for me to justify dropping that much cash on a Z build. Some of us just can't afford/justify that. Kudos to you if got twins. I'd love to have them too, I just don't want to pay

nightcrawler_8

iTrader: (5)

thanks for the reply dude.

i agree with you. about many things.

Where did you race?

we raced in an open street. it was very late night. ( we were the only cars in teh street for like 2 hours not even a single car passed :P )

Was it from a roll? At the track from a stop?

we tried from both. role and dead stop. from rolling it was exactly teh same as we raced before i install any mod( bone stock ) and i was shocked.

from dead stop i always get the jump since my Car is MT and his is DSG.


How do you feel about your skills as a driver

my driving skills are not bad. just average. but its me who drove the last time when i was stock . and its me who is driving now.... even i felt that i did better this time in terms of shifting.



i am not trying to say or trying to change facts..

but i just wanna know.. is this normal ??????

nightcrawler_8

iTrader: (5)

i didnt pay much on my mods as most of them i got them as a gift.

ALL MY MODS COST ME 1500$

i knwo that one day i will be TT, so i am modding my car and keeping in mind that i will lose some parts when going TT.

and those parts am going to lose i got them for free ( gift )

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Oh really? Example of what you would buy that would accomplish this and still be in warranty?

You can buy a turbocharged 350z making 450+hp for around 20k if you wanted now.


To the OP - buy a UTEC, get the car tuned, and don't rely on street racing to measure how powerful your car is. Do it right an take it to a dyno for a tuning session and you will have before/after proof that your car is making more power.

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

20K in mods or 20K total? If 20K total, can you actually buy a used Z for that with twins?

armt350z

iTrader: (6)

Ditch the TB spacer... That right there on a N/A car is a waste and has been shown To actually make you lose power. you dont have a need for any vacuum lines so why have it? I've never seen the tomei headers in person so i cant speak on those, but its another area that potentially can hurt. plus the fact that aftermarket headers seem to lean out your AFR at certain rpm ranges. But you seriously need to get a reflash or tune on the car, the factory ECU just will not adjust to make the most out of your mods. With UTECS running about $750 theres no reason not to, plus it can easily carry over to FI.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

You give me nothing objective to work with. No dyno test results. No time slip. Nothing.

BhamZMan

iTrader: (1)

Should have done a before and after dyno. That would of answered all your questions.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

You can buy a used 2003 for low-mid teens, and a used turbo setup for around 20k total.

Vas@Extended

iTrader: (17)

I agree with taurran.... After I got a ride in a single turbo G... I hated my Z after that.. and I quit modding it. Im done with NA. Turbos ftmfw

yoichi

iTrader: (4)

Get that tuned asap!
Also in order for headers to be worthwhile, you need a nice set of cams.
Tomei or Brian Crower makes a nice set. 264s would be ideal. Like many say, there is nothing that beats F/I but some of us still like to be NA. Trust me, get a UTEC. It made a world of a difference for my car. Mid-range power is very noticeable. And the benefit of the UTEC is that if you decide to go F/I down the road, you can still tune w/ the UTEC.

nightcrawler_8

iTrader: (5)

this is Tomei headers:







and i got them along with Tomei test pipes.

http://www.tomei-p.co.jp/_2003web-ca...exmani_en.html