Hi all, I have a 2008 350z 6mt. I am the original owner and am looking for some proven mods that will increase HP and torque. I do want to stay normally asperated. Does anyone have intake and exhaust recommendations based on your own experience? I have been searching and reading tons of info on the Web and haven't really come across any definite combos that work. Most of the info I have found ends up going round and round with one person liking a particular part and another person saying it is junk. If I were purchasing parts today, based on the research I have done, I would do a Stiller cat back exhaust and cai. I'm not looking for dyno results I'm looking for real world, seat of the pants results. Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

Get a rear differential with a 3.7 or 3.9 Nismo final drive and a drop in stock intake box high flow filter (x2). Most bang for your buck, real world results that you can feel. Closer gearing is a torque multiplier while the drop in will be more free flowing.

 

Which hi flow, drop in filters are recommended . K&N?

 

AEM dry flow, or any reputable drop in filter. If you don't over oil the filter or get crazy with the oil spray, I have never had issues with the oiled K&N filter. I have had K&N in several cars over the span of 20 years, many newer cars with MAF sensors never a problem.

 

The usual intake, exhaust, and tune will add power. However much power depends on the specific combination of parts, and the capability of your tuner. While dyno results will vary between different cars and machines, they can be useful to measure the benefits of your added mods if you stick to the same one, and similar conditions.

I honestly doubt you will have any 'feel' of a gain with drop in filters. Personally not a fan of K&N based on poor filtration.

The simple answer is, larger diameter intake, and larger/ minimal restriction exhaust will correlate to more power. Obviously it's not as simple as this, and other factors come into play with variances in engines, environments, aftermarket parts, etc... as stated.

 

I think Nissan had plenty of time to iron out intake and exhaust wrinkles and are getting as much out of the engine as they could (and still maintain a warranty). I think you gotta take it a step deeper and no intake or exhaust mod is going to make much of a difference.

If you want more power you have to increase the VE of the engine - turbo/supercharger/nitrous and a tune.

 

Are there any aftermarket intake manifolds for the 07/08 350z? I have seen some but I think they are for the pre 2007 DE motors.

 

https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-pro...hr-p-8834.html

You won't get much bang for your buck out of intake and exhaust without a tune. Like I said, cheapest way to make the Z feel instantly more responsive is a rear differential with closer gearing.

 

This. ^^^^ VQHR makes power higher in the power band. Gears take advantage of this and it’s the ONLY non-FI mod you’re really going to FEEL.

 

I've heard nothing but good things about 3.7 or 3.9 final drive, paired with an aftermarket LSD. I would focus on other driver mods like lightened flywheel, brake cylinder brace, rear diff brace / solid diff bushings, stainless steel clutch and brake lines, etc. If you do replace your exhaust, I would listen to sound clips on youtube and see if there's a setup you enjoy more than the others.

As far as power mods go, a stock HR will put down ~255 whp on a dynojet dyno, and with a couple grand in parts, you could hit 300. I've seen the mixed opinions on this, some owners say forced induction is a better investment, and others swear by n/a reliability. I'm not sure who I'm paraphrasing here, but I say "value is in the eye of the buyer," and if you want n/a gains with Stillen parts, you could do intakes, high flow cats, exhaust, and a tune to get to around 285. Whether that's worth it is up to you, personally, I track my z, so I'd go that route. Not everyone drives their z in the same conditions.

(whp = wheel horsepower, not crank. Your z was advertised 306 hp, which translates to 255 whp)

 

Before I went to boosted I know that my '07 HR was impressive for an na Z. I loved the setup that I had on it and it ran like a champ; always had good UpRev tunes (yes, get UpRev tuning if you don't already and find a good tuner). I had the Stillen ultra long tube intakes on it; like mentioned above good drop in's and stock intakes would be the way to go, but those dual long tubes (Stillen or Injen) look very impressive under the hood compared to stock even though they probably don't add much more if any hp, if any over the stocks, but I'd do it again no question. I'd stay away from K+N and go with something like AEM drop in's or their big cone shape ones; got one on my current setup and can easily be cleaned/re-used). Get the dry flow and screw the oiled k+n's.

I got the 3.9 fd gears and I'd do that again in a heartbeat; just ask the guys who have the 3.7 or 3.9 if they recommend them! *(not to mention combined with lightweight flywheel).

Exhaust: I wouldn't even hesitate to get the full Motordyne TDX true dual exhaust "with" the ART pipes! You will be glad every time you fire up and drive the car; will have many compliments also. I personally have no doubt that you would understand what I'm saying and be glad that you made that choice; best I've ever heard, good looking and get's maximum back pressure scavenging; just talk to Tony (who designed it; worked for NASA) and he will explain it all to you; very fine system and adds TQ and some whp too
I tried some different combos of mods in the early days (AEM short rams and a pretty cool Y pipe back single path exhaust), but looking back, wasted time and money on certain things, but like I said, would install the fd gears, MD exhaust, if not dual ultra long tube intakes just good drop in filters and of course always having the good tunes with several different maps for extra/less timing, fueling, etc. to play around with. *Sorry to ramble so much, but you can definitely get that hr of your's to rev quicker while adding some tq and whp and have a nasty growl to go with it.

Good luck with your future mods!

*Check out my thread (BigBlue's HR) and there is a GoPro vid that I did with my na hr when it was in it's "na prime" with all of the mods that I've mentioned; I wrap it up pretty good in a couple of spots; was my first attempt with my GP camera attached at my rear license plate area, but it shows some pretty good live action.

Edit: I did a flyby vid on my thread #68 to show off the exhaust at a high speed; car was boosted then, but check it out for the MD exhaust at 140 in 5th. *found the na vid; #14, at least what I can see haha!