Ok, first, let me start off by the experience I had AFTER everything was installed just to give you an idea, if you want to get straight to the review of the Vortex Motorsport Single Turbo, skip the next paragraph:
Here's a cool story. So... First night on the newly installed turbo and I get pulled over. It's late at night, probably around 1am. I'm on 19 by nebraska (In Pinnellas County Florida) coming back home from the quaker steak and lube car show, in about 4th gear, experimenting with the turbo, listening to the Blow off valve, quickly glancing at all of the gauges to make sure they are functioning properly. I see this car way behind me trying to catch up. So I slow down. Keep in mind I didn't look at my speedometer while I was checking my meters, because it's stock and I know it works. I'm just thinking this car wanted a go. NOPE! It's a cop. So he pulls me over... now if you know me, I'm a cocky son of a bitch when it comes to cops due to my past experiences with them... So I'm all set to go into "Lawyer, Warrant, Nothing" mode. He comes around the car (I already have the windows down) He says in an amused and almost admiring voice: "WHAT THE **** DO YOU HAVE IN THAT THING?!" So I tell him It's my first day on this new turbo.. and he's like... " I was going a buck 30 since the country side bridge and you were STILL pulling away from me until you started slowing down, I was at the point where I was loosing sight of you" He then asked if he could look under the hood (I know my car is street legal so I said sure). But he wasn't even looking to pop me. he was asking about the metal work, the custom welds, and was amazed at how we got such a large turbo to fit into a 370z.. credit to Hendrik Kuyt.. So he says: "Look, I'm not even going to give you a ticket because A., I'm off work, B. You made it fun as hell for me and C. I love driving fast and I can't in good conscience give a ticket to such a beautiful car. You obviously put alot of money into the car and I can tell by how shiny the piping on the turbo is that you're not trying to ******** me." He continues to tell me to keep it on the Gandy bridge, because he wants to personally witness me beat the crap out of this arrogant GTR owner that's always giving him problems. He then advises me that most cops won't give a ticket to fast cars on 19 when it's late at night and it's on an open stretch with minimal to no traffic. But even so, stay in the middle lane and be careful of inebriated drivers and a handful of transients."
I'm not advocating that anyone speeds or bragging about getting out of a ticket.. But Major Plus 1 to Broskie Cops!
Anyway, On to the Review!
First; let me preface by dispelling the notion that this is a "Kit". There is nothing Kitish about this, it's a build. They take an extremely large precision turbo;
an Insane Intercooler (forgot the name and the specs but will look them up) here's a pic though:
,
a turbosmart blow off valve... the rest of it is all custom metal work done at the shop. The custom wastegate, The quality of the welds, the thought that went into how all of the piping was going to be routed by cutting into the bumper, re-locating alot of the fluid tanks... This Shop has clearly mastered every aspect about this build.
Now my car was "complicated". I've had so much other stuff done to it that alot of my other parts couldn't be re-attached. My cool little machine gun purge kit for the zex nitrous... gone. Fuel pressure gauge doesn't work anymore because the sensor doesn't fit the new fuel rails. little stuff like that is a bummer but it's to be expected.
I couldn't be happier with the build though. The tune was dialed in in about an hour. They basically created their own templates for different PSI levels and just tweak it to the idiosyncrasies of each Z.
The Result:
AFR doesn't drop below 11.9 even at full boost. Couldn't be happier. Now if you get this kit and it starts smoking the first time you drive it; don't panic, it's just the blanket. happens for about a day or 2 then it's good to go. It DOES however have to be replaced about once a year. It's top mount so it's needed to keep things cool.
Overall I couldn't be happier. She's purring like a kitten at low rpms due to the 11:1 stock block... and when that boost kicks in she sounds like an angry V8 that pouts when you let off the gas and the BOV does it's job.
I'm a happy guy right now. I'll write a post if I blow the motor as I plan on driving her hard. But for now, she shows no signs of any problems whatsoever. no leaks, nothing. Happy.
I have two short vids that are processing on youtube right now. I'll edit with them. Nothing too interesting but It's still a Z on a dyno
Edit: Vids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIME...ature=youtu.be just running the engine to tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvY9...ature=youtu.be 8psi