alzZed

Hmmm good point about the ECU intervention, it may well be the case but essentially horsepower debates are best taken up with the folk claiming the gains, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be in K&N's best interests to make these claims without the ability to back them up? I agree that 8bhp either way isn't going to make much difference though, so it's probably a moot point. I can't say I've noticed any hesitation Dave, in fact quite the contrary (unless I'm imagining it) as the throttle reponse seems to have sharpened somewhat? Anyway, plus or minus a few ponies and definitely minus a few hours for the installation, it's well worth the effort just for the sound in my opinion

Interesting point Lexx and one that's much debated but for K&Ns part they swear blind their Typhoon kit offers gains in bhp or your money back. Not sure how many people, myself included, can be bothered to dyno the car before and after to prove a point though and frankly I don't much care either way as it's the noise that I'm interested in and the results are undeniably fine in that respect

I have this too. Interesting to hear someone else refer to it as an "Owl-like" noise as I described it as sounding like a flock of birds either coo-ing softly or nesting underneath the car. Again, it seems to be worse when it's really cold. My noise does disappear however when the clutch is depressed, so that if I start the car and keep the clutch pedal depressed you won't hear the birds at all until you release it. Although it's odd it does appear to stop after a couple of minutes and only return again when the engine has completely cooled.

I fitted the Typhoon kit to my 313 HR engined Zed (twin airbox) a couple of weekends ago. It did take me and a mate a fair while (4 hours or so) but as we'd never attempted anything like this before we were ultra cautious. The kit itself seems very well engineered and fits together precisely and logically if you follow the included blow by blow how-to guide methodically. The guide was only ambiguous on one occassion which prompted a bit of head scratching followed by some guesswork and a leap of faith, but it worked out just fine in the end In fact the only slight problem with manufacturing tolerances came right at the end when fitting the new filters as the diameter of the two items was clearly different. We tried swopping them over in case there was meant to be a discrepancy between the two sides but that wasn't the case, so we ended up using a screw driver to prize the tigher fitting filter on, although this too really wasn't much of a hassle. Once it was installed to my amazement the car ran just fine from the first turn of the key as it has done ever since. It idles just as it did with the oem kit on and only when you nail the throttle from around 4000 rpm does the extra induction noise come in to play and what a noise it is - lovely K&N also state that the kit will give guaranteed extra bhp if installed correctly which equates to an average of just over 8bhp at the wheels (circa 10-12 at the crank). I would definitely recommend this kit to anyone wishing to gain a deep throaty indcution roar during play time but preferring to keep it more discreet while cruising and around town. Furthermore I'd suggest that anyone who enjoyed playing with Mecano when they were young (or even to this day - you need to get out more ) will enjoy the challenge of taking large parts of your engine bay to pieces and putting it all back together again. It's a very satisfying experience and I only panicked once at the mid way point when all the parts were out and I wondered if my poor car would ever work again Al

Okay thanks coldel, the advice on where to find the plate and how to align it makes me feel I should try it myself. I wouldn't consider myself 'handy with the spanners' but am prepared to have a go. That way at least if you're unfortunate enough to break anything, you know exactly what parts to buy to put things right Cheers Al

Alex - how so? I'm confused as to how you can get access to the plate without removing what's above it first, including the gear lever/knob? Another part of the reason I decided to leave the procedure to Nissan is that not having attempted this before myself, I'm not sure how to align the gear selector plate anyway? In fact come to think of it I don't even know what the plate looks like, although I'm kinda hoping I'd know it when I see it

Ah okay Colin, thanks for this although the thought of taking a couple of wrenches to the gearlever assembly doesn't fill me with confidence They said it would take an hour so my main concern isn't one of cost, more one of entrusting my car to someone who may only have as much experience as me of removing the gear lever assembly and adjusting the gear selector plate, which is nowt

On the back of Alex's suggestion that my gear selector plate could well be out of alignment, I tried this morning in vain to unscrew the gear lever to gain access to the plate (someone mentioned elsewhere that it takes the strength of two grown men to achieve this, something I clearly don't possess), so I ended up driving down to my local Nissan dealership (Marshalls, Cambridge) to book the car in. I spoke to a technician who to my slight concern suggested "you can't really put them back wrongly". I told him there were rather a lot of owners on the forum who'd disagree, having experienced just such an issue and particularly when having a clutch replaced. I suppose my question is this: should I be trusting someone with my baby who clearly has little experience of such issues? On the other hand they are a well established dealership who sell a lot of GT-Rs and Zeds. It begs the question, if you can't trust them then who are you going to trust?

Thanks for that Alex, I'll give it a go tomorrow as long as its not raining or snowing. I had enough of the cold yesterday when I spent over 4 hours in a rented workshop installing a K&N Typhoon cold air induction kit and froze my proverbial nuts off (yeah I know that's slow but I'd never done one before and the car does have twin airboxes, so requires twice the number of parts fitting) Sounds beautiful now though Cheers Al

Not meaning to hijack someone else's thread but while on the subject of gearboxes I thought this may be a good place to ask? My car has problems selecting gears for the first 5 minutes of every day until presumably the gearbox oil has warmed. Is this considered normal for a Zed (I've only had her less than 2 weeks - she's a 57 plate 313hr engined car with 26k on the clock) or is it potentially a sign that something may be amiss? The box works fine once warm, albeit with a heavier action than most and a fairly high clutch (I have considered both to be 350Z traits?) although 5th and 6th gear aren't always straightforward as they don't seem to be exactly where I would expect them to be (i.e as far to the right as the lever will travel) but rather slightly back towards 3rd and 4th (if that makes sense?) - they slot nicely provided you get the lever in the right plane. Could this be a problem with the gate maybe? The previous owner (it's a 1 owner car) has only just had the dual mass flywheel replaced as it was making a noise which was traced to the flywheel but didn't replace the clutch as when the car was stripped down it was deemed to have loads of life left in it. To complete the picture, there is a noise from 'under' the car which only lasts for about the first 15-20 seconds of a cold start, which may well be a noisy thrust bearing (I hear these too are quite common and not really cause for concern). I appreciate that's quite a lot of points and questions in someone else's thread but maybe it might help the original poster too? Al Btw - I'm based in Cambs in case anyone wishes to suggest somewhere local who might help (If indeed I need help )

Congratulations Bobby, Looks rather like my new toy although being twilight grey it's a couple of shades lighter than yours. Still haven't managed to take any pics to post (they're coming, honest) but did spend most of yesterday fitting a Typhoon cold air induction kit (twin airboxes means twice the amount of work but twice the fun) which to my amazement occured without drama. The induction noise is now a deep growl at full chat and the throttle reponse is quicker, well worth the expenditure both in terms of money and time. So what you waiting for? Get modding

Great, looks like you got a very nice replica kit there and fairly hassle free. The problem is I seem to be opening my own little can of worms here, as the more I look into it the more money (I haven't got) I need to spend to finish my car as I'd like. I don't think I can do the body kit without new wheels (the 18" Rays are nice in their own right but to my eye don't lend themselves to body enhancements), so would have to buy a set of 19" Rota GT-R's (+ tyres) too. Problem is I would then wish to lower the car onto some Eibachs or Teins to complete the look. Now with the new toy looking so stunning I'd have to give her a new voice via a Zorst (Borla for preference) and a cold air intake system. But if you go for a cat back then surely you need some HFCs and maybe some new headers and then a remap and...and... Aaaarrrrggghh - the list is never ending and driving me bonkers It'll end in financial ruin I tell you

Okay thanks, that sounds like outstanding vfm. Are there any issues with fitting any of this kit that a potential buyer should be aware of before purchase?

Sounds like it could be the one to buy as I like the "fairly subtle" approach, although the rear wing (which I like too) is perhaps less so Buster - is that your orange Zed in the banner and if so, is that a replica V2 wing I see? I have to admit to warming to the idea of a V2 or Gia Cuzzo rear wing as they look great. Do you mind me asking where you got yours from and how much you paid?

Thanks for that Steve, still new around here and finding my way about. It seems you can get pretty much anything for your Zed on this 'ere forum