Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

TPrelude-370z · 12-29-2015, 01:49 PM

Glad most of you made up as it is silly to argue on these forums (even though I just wrote a long argumentative response to a negative dude on the bmw forum talking about an unrelated subject).

Now I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers here, but speaking of unrelated posts, I don't think many of you read the initial post of what this thread is about (I probably wouldn't have either as it is ridiculously long, that's what she said). This thread was solely about power potential. I mentioned it like a dozen times that it has nothing to do with looks. I am well aware the Z is a much prettier car and to be honest, I think the BMW is outright ugly. I never even thought I would own a bmw in my lifetime, but there are very few turbo power plants that were in my desired price range and 2 door. It kills me even to have a back seat. Every time I look back to change lanes and see a huge back seat and big window, I think what a practical lame car. The interior is nowhere close to as cool as mine was. My Z was beautiful and well put together and I enjoyed it for 4 years. Once I get a car exactly how I want it, it's time to move on. I can't just enjoy it without progression, that's just how I am, I get bored. I also enjoy making something that isn't so attractive into something better looking. You must remember, I have the Z, I have driven both cars, and the Z cannot compare when it comes to modding without adding a 8k turbo kit. A guy on this forum had a supercharged g37 pushing significant whp and mentioned it wasn't even close to his 135i with minor bolt ons and tune. For the time being, I was willing to give up form for function. Like dating a hot chick that's not so great in bed and moving on to a not so hot chick that is really good in bed, it's a trade off. The only thing is, usually you don't take the less attractive girl out much, hahahahaha.

To Birdman quoted below, again, all love here, just a friendly response.

"The only way a 135i is effective is when you have invested as much as you would to TT a 370z. At that point yeah the 135i hits 390whp and 450tq, but a TT 370z usually his 550whp 475tq easy without much else besides the TT kit and tuning. A bunch of supporting mods and you are able to easily push 800whp 750tq

So in hindsight you were better off investing that money in a 370z and making some real power. Turbo'd 4 cylinders can only make so much power and go so fast. Twin Turbo'd VVEL VQ37HR's can make some real power and blow by the little murdered out 135i"

The 135i is a 6 cylinder, not a 4 and stock hp numbers are under rated if you check out dozens of dyno sheets. It consistently pulls 280hp and 280tq to the wheels on varying dyno's. The stock Z pulls roughly 260-275whp and very low tq numbers 230tq on a good day. I'm not going to post dyno's, but these are consistent numbers. With that said, the two cars with similar stock hp ratings, but the Z is lacking significantly in tq, by 50wtq. That is a huge difference from stock. We all know a tune and breather mods for a turbo car destroys the bang for your buck on a Z. Full bolt ons and a tune you are looking at 315-330whp and 250-260wtq for the Z. The bmw reaches 350whp and 400tq with just a plug and play jb4 until that cost 530$. Add the same bolt on's that you would put on the Z and you are closer to 400whp and 450wtq. The cost for the bolt on's is relative to the cost for Z bolt ons. There are dozens of dyno graphs for both cars to prove my case. Spending another 8k on top of that for a Z to match those numbers is a huge price point difference.

Forget about which car you like better and look at this objectively. Instead of spending 8k, I can spend 2 for full bolt ons and have a rocket sleeper. People keep chiming in on the looks, but that's not the point of the thread. I enjoyed the Z for a long time, but there is something to be said about having a lot of tq. If the Z came out with a stock turbo, I'm sure I would grab another one in the future. Both cars hold their value very well so it's not like I'm going to lose a fortune on a future trade in. With just the 530$ tune, the 135 would destroy my Z in a heads up race (remember, handling is not a question either, just power). I enjoy the newness of modding a different car and making the most out of something that may not be so visually appealing. As I get older, I care a little less about people ogling my car, and more about how fun it is to drive in a straight line.

To me the bmw is not a status symbol at all as you see hundreds on the road per day and I only see a few Z's on the road per year. Let alone that look like mine. I could go on and on, but I just wanted you guys to look at both cars objectively as far as power potentially bang for your buck and forget about looks as we all know there is no comparison. I am already in the process of making drastic changes as pictured below. There are some alternative side skirt options that don't look as terrible as weird curved stock ones (least favorite part of the car)

Pictures between the 2 cars not for comparison. When I first got the Z, it wasn't the hottest chick in the world to me either. Lastly, even though I'm sure nobody wants to chime in on this, I planned on painting the stock rims (first picture) gloss black and keeping them for the winter here in Chicago before I get a nice set for the spring. Opinions on leaving them silver, or painting them gloss black? I can't find a picture of those specific wheels in black. It will be dropped 1.2" and windows tinted, but that's about it for the winter.