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I gradually installed all the pieces of this kit in 3 stages as I had the time and money. First, I did the Stillen exhaust (any high flow exhaust would probably work) which is of high quality, fits well, and sounds great. I noticed a little better performance as well. I have had this on my car for about 1 1/2 years and no issues.
Next, I did the headers and Z1 high flow cats with their thicker gaskets. I got new Nissan OEM gaskets for the headers/engine block. With all the stories about the Demon bolts, I had one of my master Nissan techs do the headers and cats. (I think these are the only parts I did not put on the car myself) He did not have any real problems, even with the demon bolts, but said the headers took a little while due to tight clearances. This really made the car sound fantastic at high rpm and made it feel a bit quicker too.
DC Headers
Z1 Cats
Finally, I got the Intake Plenum, Cold Air Intakes, and ECU tune to finish off the kit. The intake plenum really did not have a ton of material removed on any of the ports and it could probably be duplicated by anyone with the right tools and skill. If you get this part, be careful pulling off the hoses and re-installing them as they are all plastic. When you bolt it back up you want to start with the bolts in the center and work your way out at 10 ft/lbs. each. Bolt up the throttle bodies before you attach the intakes.
Z1 Intake Plenum
The cold air intakes are pretty easy to install. It is just the front bumper that is a complete PITA to get off/reattach. I tried to install everything by just going in from the top, but it is simply not possible. Use some thin grease on the inside of the silicone tubes before attaching them. Use a lot more on the outside of the silicone tubes before pushing them through the plastic radiator support. I thought these would be really loud, but they are only slightly louder than the car was under full throttle with the headers, cats, and exhaust. They are really no louder than before 99% of the time.
Z1 Cold Air Intakes
The ECU was the last part I put back. This is located behind the glovebox, no matter how many people at Z1 (3 for me) tell you it is in the passenger kick panel. The guys at Z1 claim you can get the ECU out without removing the glovebox. This may be true, but I bet it takes a lot longer and the glovebox is not that difficult to remove. I also had them tune out the CE lights I was starting to get from the cats.
Z1 tuned ECU
Stage 3 made probably the most performance difference out of all of them, especially the ECU tune. I am sure the intakes and intake plenum helped, but the difference in acceleration is very noticible. At slower speeds you notice more torque, almost as if your gears are shortened and you feel like you have adequate power in every gear. High RPM's are where things get interesting. It really pulls hard when you need it. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like if you floor it, the pedal now has 50% more travel.
The car overall is a lot more fun to drive at any speed and the V6 sounds fantastic opened up. The car finally feels fast, instead of just quick to me. And that is saying a lot as my job allows me to drive some extremely fast cars. The only thing bad I noticed so far is that my mileage has decreased about 2mpg. Keep in mind this is compared to my mileage probably going up about the same amount when I just had the headers, cats, and exhaust on the car due to it probably running a bit lean. Not enough of a difference for me to reconsider the upgrades. I would definitely recommend these mods to anyone serious about performance.
Great write up. Very curious to see dyno and trap speeds with this combo.
Either I am getting old or there are so many cars with so much more power than this, that I don't know that I would ever pay to dyno it. Or even get the same numbers on different dynos. Z1 has dyno sheets right on their website if you are curious.
I don't think it is fast enough for a 1/4 mile, especially the one we have locally. Everyone complains about the grip. My Evo had a Stage 1 tune from AMS on it that added considerable power. I also had much wider/stickier tires to hook up and a stiffer suspension to minimize losses. I ran there a couple of times with what seemed like great launches and still could not hit the stock times in the 1/4 mile.
I am more concerned with lap times at my local tracks and driveability since I drive it every day. I would much rather have a car that drives well 100% of the time than some ticking time bomb with a peaky powerband that is awful to drive most of the time, but supposedly put down a great dyno run or 1/4 mile number once in perfect conditions.
Those metrics just provide some insight to curious people like myself. If I was you I would only dyno it if there happens to be some local dyno day event and its $50 or less to get a couple pulls in. It's nice to see the exact power you make at the different parts of the powerband. If you do, just make sure to get SAE numbers since STD varies a lot based on conditions. Regardless, it sounds like you have a fun car on your hands.
Those metrics just provide some insight to curious people like myself. If I was you I would only dyno it if there happens to be some local dyno day event and its $50 or less to get a couple pulls in. It's nice to see the exact power you make at the different parts of the powerband. If you do, just make sure to get SAE numbers since STD varies a lot based on conditions. Regardless, it sounds like you have a fun car on your hands.
Yes, very satisfied with the results of all the mods so far. I am getting excited to get it to some road courses. Still snow on the ground though so it might be a bit...
Dyno would be pointless..most want to see what gains they had stock compared to the parts they put on..
all you are going to see are numbers after the parts were installed.
what's the point nothing to compare it to!
if the drivetrain loss is 15%... then for the claim to be 400hp..
we should be able to expect a range of 340ish rwhp give or take... other variables considered
that would be my comparison...
Dyno would be pointless..most want to see what gains they had stock compared to the parts they put on..
all you are going to see are numbers after the parts were installed.
what's the point nothing to compare it to!
That's a good point. I should have done a dyno before I started doing all the mods. Then again, without doing the dyno pulls close together it seems like there would be too many variables. That's the one thing I hate about dyno pulls. People will take one 2 years later on a different dyno in different conditions and brag about the results. I guess I just did not want to be that guy. If I had access to the same dyno as Z1 I would probably expect 310-320 at the wheels since I do not run test pipes and we have crappy 91 gas.
The best I can judge is the immediate gains I see from driving it and my lap times on the track. Judging on the vastly different experience I have driving my car, I can easily say I would recommend the same upgrades if you have the time and money to do it.
A dyno has more value than before/after peak Hp/torque numbers.
It is very useful to see the shape of the HP and torque curves.
It is very useful to see where your AFRs are at under WOT. (can be done with much better accuracy via the OBD port)
Was the rev limiter increased?
If so, the curve will tell you if it makes more power at 8,000 RPM vs 7,500.
Either way, I'll bet your car is a bit more fun now
never going to see it..very few have hit in in the 370z.
you more than likely going to see mid-320 to low 330
and plus every dyno is different and you will get different reading..
dyno should be used to measure before and after parts and for tuning if you can't street tune.
Originally Posted by micafd3s
if the drivetrain loss is 15%... then for the claim to be 400hp..
we should be able to expect a range of 340ish rwhp give or take... other variables considered
that would be my comparison...
A dyno has more value than before/after peak Hp/torque numbers.
It is very useful to see the shape of the HP and torque curves.
It is very useful to see where your AFRs are at under WOT. (can be done with much better accuracy via the OBD port)
Was the rev limiter increased?
If so, the curve will tell you if it makes more power at 8,000 RPM vs 7,500.
Either way, I'll bet your car is a bit more fun now
Car is definitely a lot more fun now. I would attribute most of the increase from this round of mods to the ECU tune because I cannot imagine big gains from the intakes or intake plenum.
02-17-2017, 04:31 PM
