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350Z chipped?


chrisjones6699

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Hmmmm ok then, any ideas how to get to 300bhp?

Why 300?

 

If you really want an easy 300bhp, just sell yours and buy an '06 or GT4 ;)

 

Wheres the fun in that? + if i had the money to buy an 06 model....i would of :lol:

 

the money you'll spend getting it there, you might as well have saved up and got an 06

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Its very hard to get extra bhp out of the Z

 

If the accepted mantra is true (I have no opinion), the ECU dials out gains from the normal mods that people make.

 

Your best bets for first mods might be

-plenum spacer (better mid range torque)

-high flow exhaust ( better escape = better response)

-CAI (nice noise)

:thumbs:

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1st off, its not all about the BHP!! Also, throw out your goal to start with! And also decide what and where you want the power for... If its about wasting fuel and burning people off the lights then is there a point in spending 3 or 4k? If its about getting on the track, where do you want the power? Lots of time you wont be using all the power... It may be you want to be able to out brake or get it hugging the corners and delivering the power out of the turn... You can turn up to a track with 300bhp and a 200bhp car could whip your arse... 1 because its better set up, 2 its lighter and 3 cause the other driver is better than you!

 

Anyway... Down to tuning... 1st you need to find a trusted dyno that gives a pretty true figure. Then get it dyno'd, you may find that you only have say 260bhp at the fly (it has been known!) and getting to a target of 300bhp may be impossible without spending loads of cash... It may be that your car needs a good service, plug change etc etc after its been dyno'd to see if there is a change there...

 

Then its onto mods! Plenum Spacer 1st and maybe CAI (its been proven that the stock CAI esp on the 06 is one of the best CAI's for the car, but if your going down the tune route then the car may need more air so an after market one may be required) then onto the zorst, y-pipe and cats, exhaust manifolds etc etc... Its worth doing maps after the mods to see where there are increases and even decreases! Clutch, fly, pullies and final drive can also help to change the power delivery depending on where you want the power...

 

Once you have done this little lot (you may have seen little gain from the mods, even decreases) its time to chip with a piggyback or to get a reflash to tie everything together, change the timings, AFR etc etc... Again a few options available and people have their opinions!

 

The VQ isnt an easy engine to get lots out of easily but it can be done, there are ways of stroking, sleeving, changing cams, porting and polishing etc the list is pretty endless of you planning on gains in a N/A form...

 

To be honest with the amount of time and effort that I and many owners have spent on trying to get gains and with the different options available that are not really documented and proven (ie someone that fits a 5zigen zorst and a typhoon, may get different results to a 5zigen zorst and a popcharger!) I would go FI with a supercharger from the start! Nice easy gains, not too much cash, cant really push the limits of the engine (400ish without engine builds / re-enforcement!), in FI terms is reasonably easy on the engine.

 

This again is pretty much my opinion, and others out there on this and the other 350z forums have their opinions, so sit back, search, read do your research and then go for it! Just dont expect it to be easy!

 

Anyway, if your in south wales, have a word with Ian on here... I think he recommends Ninja Tune factory for the tuning and modding work!!

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Its very hard to get extra bhp out of the Z

 

If the accepted mantra is true (I have no opinion), the ECU dials out gains from the normal mods that people make.

 

Your best bets for first mods might be

-plenum spacer (better mid range torque)

-high flow exhaust ( better escape = better response)

-CAI (nice noise)

:thumbs:

 

 

+1 you have to spend a lot of money to get a NA car there. Piggyback ECU and rolling road cost starts at around £1k I believe.

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1st off, its not all about the BHP!! Also, throw out your goal to start with! And also decide what and where you want the power for... If its about wasting fuel and burning people off the lights then is there a point in spending 3 or 4k? If its about getting on the track, where do you want the power? Lots of time you wont be using all the power... It may be you want to be able to out brake or get it hugging the corners and delivering the power out of the turn... You can turn up to a track with 300bhp and a 200bhp car could whip your arse... 1 because its better set up, 2 its lighter and 3 cause the other driver is better than you!

 

Anyway... Down to tuning... 1st you need to find a trusted dyno that gives a pretty true figure. Then get it dyno'd, you may find that you only have say 260bhp at the fly (it has been known!) and getting to a target of 300bhp may be impossible without spending loads of cash... It may be that your car needs a good service, plug change etc etc after its been dyno'd to see if there is a change there...

 

Then its onto mods! Plenum Spacer 1st and maybe CAI (its been proven that the stock CAI esp on the 06 is one of the best CAI's for the car, but if your going down the tune route then the car may need more air so an after market one may be required) then onto the zorst, y-pipe and cats, exhaust manifolds etc etc... Its worth doing maps after the mods to see where there are increases and even decreases! Clutch, fly, pullies and final drive can also help to change the power delivery depending on where you want the power...

 

Once you have done this little lot (you may have seen little gain from the mods, even decreases) its time to chip with a piggyback or to get a reflash to tie everything together, change the timings, AFR etc etc... Again a few options available and people have their opinions!

 

The VQ isnt an easy engine to get lots out of easily but it can be done, there are ways of stroking, sleeving, changing cams, porting and polishing etc the list is pretty endless of you planning on gains in a N/A form...

 

To be honest with the amount of time and effort that I and many owners have spent on trying to get gains and with the different options available that are not really documented and proven (ie someone that fits a 5zigen zorst and a typhoon, may get different results to a 5zigen zorst and a popcharger!) I would go FI with a supercharger from the start! Nice easy gains, not too much cash, cant really push the limits of the engine (400ish without engine builds / re-enforcement!), in FI terms is reasonably easy on the engine.

 

This again is pretty much my opinion, and others out there on this and the other 350z forums have their opinions, so sit back, search, read do your research and then go for it! Just dont expect it to be easy!

 

Anyway, if your in south wales, have a word with Ian on here... I think he recommends Ninja Tune factory for the tuning and modding work!!

 

This just gave me a reality check! I can honestly say that im not sure why i want more power!? Im very happy with my 350Z and the only thing i really, really want is Brembo Disks and pads all round. I was also considering a new exhaust system but thats not important!

 

Thanks for that dude! :)

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most people mod the car for noise only.

 

i run a Typhoon CAI and an invidia True Dual Exhaust (they are for the noise) = if bought form new that would set you back about £1200

 

at some point i plan to change the plenum or add a spacer and maybe sports cats = easily another £700

 

so already pushing £2000

 

there is also a possibility for re flashing the ECU, but nothing has been seen in the UK as yet and we are all watching a thread on it at the moment (search for RStuning) might see a cost of around £500

 

so that would see me spend easily £2500 to get 24 bhp if I'm lucky and if i was already on 276 bhp to start with that works out at a cost of around £104 for every horse you gain.

 

i don't know if i'll got hat far, I'm quite happy with the setup i have, some of the changes i have planned are partly aesthetic.

 

...

 

as a comparison if you went supercharger route, i think the out lay is around £10,000 to do it properly, might be less, but definitely over £5000, so best case scenario i'll take the middle figure £7500 and it should see you to around 400 bhp so a gain of around 124 bhp at a cost of around £60.48 for every BHP gained.

 

theoretically supercharging is cheaper and would give more power and torque, but the outlay is big, how ever you look at it.

 

hope that helps

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Its very hard to get extra bhp out of the Z

 

If the accepted mantra is true (I have no opinion), the ECU dials out gains from the normal mods that people make.

 

Your best bets for first mods might be

-plenum spacer (better mid range torque)

-high flow exhaust ( better escape = better response)

-CAI (nice noise)

:thumbs:

 

The accepted mantra isnt really true after many discussions on these forums and guidance from those in the know! The ECU dosnt seem to dial out gains! It does not adapt to additional mods... It simply keeps working on its maps and has its limitations so if you add more air, the ECU may not be running the map to give it more fuel (the stock ECU runs a number of maps depending on temp, altitude etc), so the car may run lean and not get any gains! The ECU could simply tell the throttle body not to open as far cause there is too much air and still run the same amount of fuel...

 

The car/engine has been "choked" to get it through certain environmental tests when it was designed so the ECU will always try and keep it in these limits.... knowing what has been choked and how to unlock them safely is where the tuners earn their crust!

 

Unfortunalty as the cars are not that common in the UK a lot of tuners have never seen a zed and dont know that much about them, even those that have seen them / own them dont get alot of time on them as they have other cars to play with and ones that give easier gains... The tuners in the US and japan have managed decent gains but then some of their mods / chips dont work here due to different fuel, weather conditions etc... Performance modding a Zed isnt easy and deffo not cheap, but the smile you get on your face when you floor it or go through a tunnel (after lowering the window!!) makes it all worth it!

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Id have to agree with 3FiddyZ in that you should really sit down and ask yourself why you are doing this and why you want the power before going for it.

 

I bought my Zed and got straight on the globally accepted list of basic power mods (exhaust, cats, plenum, CAI etc) without reading up about it first. My Zed now sounds absolutely awesome and Im sure it has a bit more poke when flooring it away from lights but Im sure when I get it dyno'ed Ill see next to no gains in BHP (again I could be wrong but the gains in BHP will be minimal for sure).

 

The common adverts you read about an exhaust adding 15bhp and a CAI adding 10bhp (namely ebay sellers spouting that garbage) just arent true.

 

Best thing you can possibly do is upgrade the suspension and brakes so that you can drive your car a lot faster. It wont be any more powerful but it will sure get you moving quicker then any basic engine mod will do for you. After that you wanna get yourself to CAT driver training for a day with Yoda. Modifying yourself and the way you drive is way more valuable then modding the car IMO.

 

Good luck with it all and dont be put off doing mods mate - just be realistic with yourself in what you are going to get out of them. Do it for the noise, the handling, the looks and the feel instead of the power and you cant go far wrong.

 

:thumbs:

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I agree with whats been said so far really. Depending on what you what to get out of the car. If you want a track car just make it light as possible, get coilovers, arb's, roll cage make that chassis stiff as hell. Get a decent brake upgrage. Then learn to drive on a track Ie cat driving school.

 

If you what power to burn porkers and m3's etc, look at boost, APS TT kit from the states will set you back about $7k so £5kish then double that (at least) to fit it and tune it etc. Then don't expect to use it everyday, the more power you put in the more that will go wrong, clutch wont last long, and other parts won't last as long so it'll be in the garage more than you think.

 

Or if you what what most of us want, a great looking car that's faster than most but not all. Make a few exterior mod's, get a nice sounding exhaust, CAI, plemum spacer, upgrade the brakes slightly, you'll have a very nice looking everyday car. Even look at a ecu upgrade to bring the mods together but won't be reaching 300hp :D

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