MattG

Those look fantastic! They turned out just how I wanted! Can't wait to recieve them now! It's really handy to see the colour too as my Nismo V1 kit fitting has now turned into a full colour change respray so it's good to see how the colour of the centres has turned out! At the moment I'm considering Lambo Balloon White or Mazda Highland Green and those wheels would look great with both colours.

My 2003 Z made 284bhp with the Blueflame on. I didn't get a run before it was fitted for comparison though. It is a full cat back system including Y-pipe.

Yeah, I'd expect more from Cosworth especially. They even went as far as saying the plenum is not intended for FI once people started having problems with leaking end caps. Given it does bugger all N/A what is it intended for?!

Cheers for the info, one to avoid then! Have you done any N/A testing with the Cosworth plenum on a non-revup car?

Ah so you've got the new Velocity Manifold rather than the SSV? Thanks for the feedback, I might try the Motordyne route then if you're not too impressed. Is the noise really mental? I wouldn't want to make my car crazily noisy as it's a daily driver. The fact that the "Stock 350z with no modifications" on the Kinetix Dyno graph revs to 7000rpm makes me a bit sceptical. Mine only revs to 6600rpm! Although here's an independent test of the new Velocity Manifold: http://my350z.com/forum/7825924-post11.html The base dyno already had a spacer fitted too, so that seems like some good gains!

Yeah definitely. Whilst I have your attention, I see you have a Kintetix SSV. What do you think to it? Did it give any gains as they seem a bit controversial on the US forums. Also what's the sound from it like? They look ace! It looks like it's now been superceded by the new velocity manifold though: http://www.kinetixracing.com/new-ssvext ... 03-06.aspx

I've not had mine apart yet so I'm not sure, but my understanding is that it goes under the lower plenum and will therefore lift the whole lot by that amount.

The XYZ Y-pipe looks interesting. If you get the one with the CAT fitted does that mean you can do away with the other two cats before the Y-pipe and still pass an MOT? I'm surprised that you don't see plenum mods as the first port of call too as most people seem to see that as the most cost effective way to go initially. I looked into headers recently and I was under the impression that headers either lost power or made no discernable improvement. Not many folks have gone this route though due to the horrendous labour charges. I did find some people saying the Crawford headers were an improvement but I don't know if anyone over here has tried them to see if they fit a UK car. I know the DC headers fit but they seem to be prone to cracking - not good considering what is involved in swapping them! The sound is supposed to be though! What have you found during your testing with headers? I take it this would have to be an either/or mod with a plenum spacer due to clearance with the strut bar/bonnet (assuming it lifts the plenum)? It would be good to see which helps the most. I suspect the plenum spacer since Motordyne seem to be selling the manifold spacer as merely a way to add clearance for larger injectors. If it added significant performance I'd expect them to be hyping it more. That said, they obviously couldn't sell it for as much as a plenum spacer so that could be a factor! I wish! I'd love to go the SC route but it would involve becoming single again!

That's what I thought too but I've been doing some research recently and it doesn't seem that is the case. Whilst the MREV was just a DE lower plenum and hence a pointless mod for pre 06 cars, the MREV2 is a DE lower plenum that has had some porting work done to it and is supposed to be of benefit even on DE engines. From the graphs I've seen the I think situation is as follows: REV-UP with MREV2 = Better mid range but worse top end than stock. REV-UP with MREV2 and plenum spacer = Better mid range and better top end than stock (or at least no loss). DE with plenum spacer or MREV2 = Decent improvement across the curve, especially mid range. Motordyne say that if you're only going to do one or the other then the MREV2 is the way to go. DE with plenum spacer and MREV2 = Better results than just one or the other but no where near double the effect. The main benefit seems to be peak power delivered over a slightly wider area at the top end. Apparently further gains can be released via a remap. Here's what Motordyne say about the MREV2 on the DE: "When used with on the non-REVUP engine, the gains are very similar to that of the 5/16" spacer but the MREV 2 Manifold will show a slightly lower peak value, with a slightly higher average value and a slightly higher TQ value. Overall, MREV 2 Manifold provides "area under the curve" and is the highest gain plenum mod available." So the MREV2 is of benefit on the DE, arguably more so than a plenum spacer, but if you combine them you're reaching a point of diminishing returns. This thread has lots of info: http://my350z.com/forum/intake-exhaust/ ... pacer.html

Yes I have a couple of 06' air boxes , once my UK car is ready to go , I will try one out. But if you have a remap I am sure you get a few more ponies. Reason I ask about number of runs as we find the 1/2nd runs will show a gain then the car will not allow car to run with full map figures i.e timing degree,s figures. You see dyno figures a fair bit down on the 1/2nd runs , your find your need 6/8 runs to get a proper figure on a dyno. Mark I plan to get an Uprev remap done once I've installed the high flow cats, MD plenum spacer and possibly a MREV2 as well. I saw the guy from Motordyne saying something similar to you about the dyno thing on My350z.com. He was getting variations as much as 10BHP without changing anything. It seems that the ECU is a law unto itself really without a proper remap. I've pretty much assumed that any gains I've seen on the dyno are going to be slowly taken back by the girly ECU although at the moment it still feels punchier than before, especially at motorway speeds.

I don't know what the WHP was, I'll check the dyno sheet and see if it's listed there. Otherwise I'll ask them when I'm back there in a couple of weeks. I know they did a few runs as they were having a bit of trouble getting traction initially, they're too used to those FWD CTRs! The airbox was swapped whilst the car was still on the dyno. I'd seen people in the US saying the later airbox was a good upgrade but no dyno data to back it up. I must admit I was very sceptical after examining the two airboxes, the newer one is identical apart from a slightly larger velocity stack (the gold trumpet thingy inside!). So I was as shocked as anyone to see the gains! Great stealth mod too, someone would really have to know their onions to know that's you'd changed something. And it only cost me £50! Do you guys at Abbey have any 06+ airboxes lying around so you can try and replicate my results?

I got my Blueflame exhaust fitted last week that I bought from a member on here. It was brand new and they hadn't got around to fitting before deciding to sell the Z. They must have bought it a few months back as mine has the silencer in the mid pipe. I'm not that surprised that they decided to remove the mid pipe silencer, the exhaust really isn't that much louder than stock. It's adds a bit more bass below 3000rpm and screams a bit more above that but the engine is still the main source of noise. I'd say it's how the 350Z should have sounded from the factory as it's sportier but even the most picky of people could live with it. I think personally that the mid pipe silencer should be an option as I'd imagine that some people will find it to be ideal with that in place, especially if they plan to pair it with some HFCs or a decat pipe. There's plenty of other options out there if people want screaming loud. I didn't want anything really noisy or that would drone on the motorway but for me personally it is a tad too quiet. So I'm using it as an excuse to get a couple of Ultimate Racing ceramic high flow cats from Adam at Z1 Auto! If it's still not how I want it after that then I might speak to Blueflame about getting my mid pipe swapped to see how that changes things.

I did a couple of dyno runs at TDI North with my 53 plate last week which I'll get posted up in the other thread as soon as get chance. First run was stock apart from a Blueflame cat back exhaust and it made 284BHP IIRC. Swapped out the airbox for an 06+ airbox and it made 291BHP with a torque increase too. The same Cosworth panel filter was used for both tests. Just goes to show the 06+ intake is a big improvement over the pre 06 one, despite the small physical difference between them. I'd imagine the Blueflame has given me some extra too but I didn't get a dyno prior to fitting that unfortunately.

No worries. January is usually a slow time for the car industry (everyone is skint!) so it might not be a bad time to snap up a bargain.

I think what you're looking for is possible but as you've seen you'll have to pounce very quickly. I had pretty much the same criteria as you when I was looking earlier this year. I booked the first week in Jan off work and got up early every morning and hit Autotrader, PistonHeads and the Nissan web site. I was starting to think I was out of luck but then on the Thursday morning a car cropped up at a Nissan dealer 30 miles away that was perfect. I was there by 10am and got the following: 53 Plate GT Pack in Gunmetal with Alezan leather Rays Alloys 54,000 miles Manual FNSH The car was in great condition and I got them to throw in a new set of mats, 6 months tax, 12 months MOT, 12 months warranty and a P3 service. All for £10,490. I'm convinced that if I'd not been off work and had to wait until weekend to go it would have been gone so you have to be ready to strike as soon as something appears! From my experience the £10K mark is the tipping point for a decent UK GT with reasonable miles and as soon as cars get within that zone they sell very quickly. It might be worth making some cheeky offers for cars up for £11K too and see how you get on. I have to say I'm impressed with how the car has kept it's value. I reckon I could resell it for pretty much what I paid for it nearly a year ago!

Wow, that's about half what I've been getting quoted! I'll chat to you more about it via PM when the time comes.

That is excellent service, nice one Ben! Do you guys offer collection of wheels then? I've been thinking of ways to get my Rays to you that isn't going to cost an arm and a leg but I'm not coming up with much at the moment. Was even thinking of a few days away in Devon with the missus!

No problem, cheers Anna. Can't wait to get it fitted!

Normally that bodykit would be waaay to much for me but with that colour scheme it looks amazing. You'd definitely pull over if you saw that in your rear view mirror!

No worries Gaz, all part of the fun of modifying!

I've ordered a Shine kit from Envy as they seemed to be the best of the replicas. That said they are a little over hyped and won't necessarily be a 100% fit. I know that the Nismo side skirts don't meet the door sill properly (i.e. you have to open the door to see it) but due to the flexible hybrid FRP nature of Shine parts a decent bodyshop can heat it up and bend it so it fits properly. Clarkie34 on this forum had this probabem but his bodyshop managed to get them to fit properly. Also some people on My350z.com have said their Shine kit needed quite a lot of prep work to get a decent finish. Whether they are just being tightwads or perfectionists I don't know as others have had no such problems. It could just be their bodyshops have been looking for an excuse to up the cost of the job. One thing to bear in mind with the Shine copies is that due to their flexibility they are much less likely to crack when you accidently catch the kit on a curb or speed bump. Plenty of people have managed to crack their genuine Nismo kits like this as they are made of the traditional rigid FRP. With regard to the delivery times I would expect the Shine kit to take just as long, if not longer, unless Envy have them in stock ready to go. I ordered my Shine kit over three months ago and there's still no sign of it.

I don't think you need anything that small to be honest as there's plenty of room in the stock sub enclosure space for two reasonably sized amps. I've got two Genesis dual mono amps on a custom shelf comfortably fitted in the space where the stock sub was behind the drivers seat. With the grill on you wouldn't even know they were there. Unless you mean those two little VHS cassette sized cubbys behind the seats? That would take come serious doing! I only just got a 6 CD changer in one of mine! I think they amps would get pretty hot in that location too.

Sounds good. I know the Shine Nismo skirts aren't a great fit either so I suspect the original Nismo ones are probably a little off.

There's also these: Zee Bracket: http://www.zeebracket.com/ Stillen Bracket: http://www.mynismo.com/products/?id=3476&rsku=16026 The Zee brackets are widely available through ebay too for about £40 shipped.

Looks excellent! Smoothed rear spats are the only way to go. Is the kit an original Nismo or a replica? It's always handy to know which ones fit and which don't.