For my FI guys, worth the cost?
08-26-2015, 02:37 PM
#1
For my FI guys, worth the cost?
What's up guys, specifically my FI or former FI guys! I need the wisdom of snails from you guys. I have recently become victim of realizing how adjusted I am to the cars' power now. I have always been a fan of turbo'd vehicles (have driven supras, evos, subarus, etc. owned by friends) but for some reason have always stuck with NA. After doing a lot of research and asking fellow g37 owners (Diego, JSnow, etc.) I am convinced that going FI seemed to be the best thing they have done to their cars. I know I want to go FI whether it be on my G37S or my next car (if I decide it's not worth it to turbo the G37). The question I am posed with now is whether it is worth the cost. From my understanding, going TT cost a significant amount more....as I've learned from Jared Snow and Tony Pham, but your potential for power is much greater. Supercharger seems to be the most affordable route (plug and play/less components) but lacks the potential for power like TT. For what the car is, would you guys feel it was or is worth it to go FI on our VQ's or should I choose a better modding platform (335i, E92 M3, etc.)? 
08-26-2015, 03:46 PM
#2
Registered Member
iTrader: (13)
If I had it to do it all over again I probably wouldn't have gone FI. Don't get me wrong the power I had while my motor lasted 412 for 4 months and then ( 467 WHP) = 3 days. was GREAT but unless you have a spare 10k laying around for WHEN the motor lets go I would suggest staying NA, and getting a factory FI car. This is just my .02, I was in my car for close to 15k when it popped. thats is a lot of funds to lose , I only recouped 5k from selling the SC when I took it off. There are success stories out there, Guys that have had the G's FI'd for 2 years or more but there is WAY more that have lost motors,trannies Etc.
08-26-2015, 04:05 PM
#3
honestly I ve never done the FI thing and if I did I would go the same route as Tony did and that's going the whole 9 yards building the block to withstand that kind of pressure. I know people are saying this engine or that engine is stronger and can handle boost but lets face it, it didn't come with boost that should say something.
but mainly what ANMVQ said unless you got the extra change to do it right or I d just buy a car that came with boost it would be cheaper in the long run.
but mainly what ANMVQ said unless you got the extra change to do it right or I d just buy a car that came with boost it would be cheaper in the long run.
08-26-2015, 06:50 PM
#5
My experience - I built racecars at a shop that specialized in Subarus, so I'm very familiar with turbos large and small. When I got the G, I wanted NA. I was tired of the turbo lag, and the whole rubber band feeling of a turbo's throttle. Some are worse than others, but all turbos do it - it's how turbos work. So I was pretty excited to have throttle response again but I missed having power. So recently, I added a supercharger. It keeps the throttle response, and it increases the power, but as you said, it's fairly limited by how much more you can get out of it. But it drives like an NA car. I chose the Stillen because it uses a centrifugal supercharger, which means that the boost is variable, dependent on engine RPM. This is important if you care about being nice on the engine. it means that for daily driving, you're only seeing 1-2 PSI at the lower RPM range. If you have a clean tune, that's pretty much the same as stock in terms of extra stress on the engine. Compare that to a turbo setup, which builds all of it's boost within a 500 RPM range, so it 'hits' hard when it comes on boost. That's great! But it also means you're stressing the engine internals pretty hard from that RPM till redline. Now, unfortunately, the Stillen kit is the only supercharger on the market right now, and it has a lot of shortcomings. So to address those, it does cost more than just the kit price, which gets you in the turbo territory. I still stand by my choice for a supercharger over a turbo, but I'm not chasing max horsepower. I was looking for a combination of *more* horsepower but with a little more piece of mind than a turbo kit would offer. That, and the throttle response.
I have about $10K in my setup with all the other coolers, and I fully expect it to outlast my interest in this car. As long as it does, it would have been money well spent. HOWEVER, if I pop a motor, and need to put in another $5-10K just to have the car running again, then no, I wouldn't consider that worth it. Do everything you can to avoid that. That would be $15-20K to have a car you don't trust. Regardless of how fast it is, you won't get on it. THAT wouldn't be worth it.
I have about $10K in my setup with all the other coolers, and I fully expect it to outlast my interest in this car. As long as it does, it would have been money well spent. HOWEVER, if I pop a motor, and need to put in another $5-10K just to have the car running again, then no, I wouldn't consider that worth it. Do everything you can to avoid that. That would be $15-20K to have a car you don't trust. Regardless of how fast it is, you won't get on it. THAT wouldn't be worth it.
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jroyalty7 (08-26-2015)
08-26-2015, 11:55 PM
#6
If I had it to do it all over again I probably wouldn't have gone FI. Don't get me wrong the power I had while my motor lasted 412 for 4 months and then ( 467 WHP) = 3 days. was GREAT but unless you have a spare 10k laying around for WHEN the motor lets go I would suggest staying NA, and getting a factory FI car. This is just my .02, I was in my car for close to 15k when it popped. thats is a lot of funds to lose , I only recouped 5k from selling the SC when I took it off. There are success stories out there, Guys that have had the G's FI'd for 2 years or more but there is WAY more that have lost motors,trannies Etc.
08-26-2015, 11:56 PM
#7
honestly I ve never done the FI thing and if I did I would go the same route as Tony did and that's going the whole 9 yards building the block to withstand that kind of pressure. I know people are saying this engine or that engine is stronger and can handle boost but lets face it, it didn't come with boost that should say something.
but mainly what ANMVQ said unless you got the extra change to do it right or I d just buy a car that came with boost it would be cheaper in the long run.
but mainly what ANMVQ said unless you got the extra change to do it right or I d just buy a car that came with boost it would be cheaper in the long run.
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08-27-2015, 12:35 AM
#9
My experience - I built racecars at a shop that specialized in Subarus, so I'm very familiar with turbos large and small. When I got the G, I wanted NA. I was tired of the turbo lag, and the whole rubber band feeling of a turbo's throttle. Some are worse than others, but all turbos do it - it's how turbos work. So I was pretty excited to have throttle response again but I missed having power. So recently, I added a supercharger. It keeps the throttle response, and it increases the power, but as you said, it's fairly limited by how much more you can get out of it. But it drives like an NA car. I chose the Stillen because it uses a centrifugal supercharger, which means that the boost is variable, dependent on engine RPM. This is important if you care about being nice on the engine. it means that for daily driving, you're only seeing 1-2 PSI at the lower RPM range. If you have a clean tune, that's pretty much the same as stock in terms of extra stress on the engine. Compare that to a turbo setup, which builds all of it's boost within a 500 RPM range, so it 'hits' hard when it comes on boost. That's great! But it also means you're stressing the engine internals pretty hard from that RPM till redline. Now, unfortunately, the Stillen kit is the only supercharger on the market right now, and it has a lot of shortcomings. So to address those, it does cost more than just the kit price, which gets you in the turbo territory. I still stand by my choice for a supercharger over a turbo, but I'm not chasing max horsepower. I was looking for a combination of *more* horsepower but with a little more piece of mind than a turbo kit would offer. That, and the throttle response.
I have about $10K in my setup with all the other coolers, and I fully expect it to outlast my interest in this car. As long as it does, it would have been money well spent. HOWEVER, if I pop a motor, and need to put in another $5-10K just to have the car running again, then no, I wouldn't consider that worth it. Do everything you can to avoid that. That would be $15-20K to have a car you don't trust. Regardless of how fast it is, you won't get on it. THAT wouldn't be worth it.
I have about $10K in my setup with all the other coolers, and I fully expect it to outlast my interest in this car. As long as it does, it would have been money well spent. HOWEVER, if I pop a motor, and need to put in another $5-10K just to have the car running again, then no, I wouldn't consider that worth it. Do everything you can to avoid that. That would be $15-20K to have a car you don't trust. Regardless of how fast it is, you won't get on it. THAT wouldn't be worth it.
08-27-2015, 12:59 AM
#10
Registered Member
One thing to consider that haunts a lot of people is you'll always want more. You get the SC on there and you're happy and amazed, but eventually you get used to it and will want that bump again, and it's never ending for most people.
jamin
08-27-2015, 03:47 PM
#14
It's as good a platform as any to go FI. 500-550hp is what VQ37VHR can do safely on stock internals, it will do as much as 700hp but that's very risky on stock motor. Can something go wrong at "safe" levels of power? Yes but of course there's always a possibility of something going wrong, even with 100% stock car. You can purchase a built turbo car for 30cents on the dollar and play with it or you can have it built and pay 2-3 times as much. Either way, FI is a lot of fun but well modded NA car is no slouch either. Sometimes I miss my G35 NA coupe, then I hit 12 psi of boost and I don't miss it anymore. 
08-27-2015, 04:27 PM
#15
Wow that would be amazing if you would allow me to experience TT on the G37. I am in the San Antonio area, I've seen your car before, both at JMS (when they moved to their new location) and at Nismo Fiesta in Austin.....both times you weren't next to it lol