Hi all,
I have been seriously MIA on the forums lately because life, guys. You know how it is :P
Anyway, here is a mini review for you all. I received my FI car back from Tony in March, and I have since put around 8,000 miles on the kit. At around 9 psi, I'm putting down 500whp and 450 lb/ft on 93 octane pump gas. W/o boost controller at around 6 psi, the output is noticeably less but still far more potent than stock (obviously haha). I would guess around 380whp if my butt dyno is calibrated correctly. ANYWAY.....
On to the meat. This car is now certified monster status. VWs and Hondas hate me even more now and decide to release multiple beehives worth of noise upon sighting my Z. Do not, I repeat, do NOT engage. The turbos tend to spool up starting at 2500 rpm and really hit stride by 3k. There is ZERO drop off of power all the way to redline, which is extremely impressive. Very smooth power band. Whiteline diff bushings + 305mm Pilot Super Sports = Grip. I LOVE driving this thing, except for a few gripes, which I will address now.
Now, let's address something that almost nobody (probably) cares about who has put FI on their Z: gas mileage. I did a raw number tank-to-tank calculation, so this IS accurate. On 6psi (low boost), with about half city driving and half highway driving, I got a combined 19.274 MPG, with 366.212 miles to a tank. This calculation assumes a 19 gallon tank, even though most fills won't be that large due to the "emergency" reserves, which are roughly 1 gallon of fuel. For those of you who don't know, the onboard fuel computer is completely inaccurate once you swap out the injectors, which is part of any turbo upgrade due to the increased fuel flow necessary. My Z's computer said I would get 479 miles to the tank, and let's just say that number starts dropping real fast lol. I can safely say that consumption increases on 9psi compared to 6. I would guess around 17 MPG, but that number will drop very rapidly if you stay in boost a lot, which is the whole point hahaha.
Now, that all being said, I have a feeling the car is running slightly rich. Any time after letting the throttle off a boosted run, the smell of fuel quickly fills air when the windows are down, and my rear bumper repeatedly gets blackened (which admittedly looks kind of badass on red). AFR seems to hover around 10.5:1 under boost, which is safe (if not too much so), but the car has all of the symptoms of running rich: gas mileage drop, fuel smell, black rear bumper. I can't say I blame Seb for tuning it like this due to the unknowns that can appear from CA to PA. Completely different climates.
Along those lines, the F.I. exhaust is fantastic..... when the climate is right. I'm running 3" downpipes to a 2.5" CF exhaust with 100 cell HFCs. If humidity is low, the exhaust sounds godly. Just incredible. THIS is what it should sound like, and since CA weather is generally less humid year-round, I am going to assume that this exhaust was tuned for such a climate, hence it's legendary status. Once the humidity kicks in, however, the drone can be an annoyance. Above 3K it's totally fine, but 2K-3K is the killer. I was browsing threads and noticed that a member had a Helmholtz resonator fitted to his exhaust, which wasn't FI but a similar design. It eliminated the drone issue, and I have been exploring whether or not this is a viable option. Any input from Tony would be very appreciated.
No issues with holding boost using the Apex'i AVC-R controller, which I don't think anybody else has used yet on the 370z, so kudos to Seb at Specialty Z for dialing this in very well. Great controller.
So far, after 8K miles, I give this kit high marks. Very fun to drive, no major issues, and it puts a smile on my face every time.
Well done, Tony and the F.I. crew (and Seb). Well done.
PS Tony, I got your message and will try to catch you later today. Cheers!
Ninja Edit: Forgot Pics! I also have one with my gf but she'd probably cut my head off if I posted it lol.