So you expect the STAGE1 kit to be carb ok correct? This is awesome news for us who live in Cali etc :)

Will be saving the moneys until you guys get this thing out

KYLE - I know that similar questions have been asked a bunch by now, but I am hoping you can answer this specifically for my application:

I have the cat-back exhaust, the headers and the C/A intake from stillen and I let my dealer talk me out of the HFC's. You have already made it sound like the headers may have not been a good purchase if I was going the S/C route with my car :( (Kinda wishin' I woulda held out for the FI. LTH's!!), but either way:

Can you please tell me what your thoughts are on whether or not I should invest in the HFC's to be prepared for the S/C or should I just hold off?

This question actually brings up multiple other questions and answers. This post will be a bit wordy but I will try to keep my answer as short as possible.

First Question: I currently have headers, intake and exhaust, should I invest in high flow cats to be prepared for the supercharger?

First Answer: The combination of these four parts will cause you to run a little bit lean so NO I do not recommend getting the high flow cats in the mean time. I recommend holding off for a bit and waiting for the supercharger. The good thing about the high flow cats is that if you purchase them at the same time as the supercharger, the install shop will probably give you a pretty good deal on the package install since the cats are fairly easy to install.

Second Question: I'm not worried about running too lean with the combination of the intake, headers, exhaust, and high flow cats as I can just get a tune from ACME engineering (yes, that is a fake name, fill in whatever name you want) and that will fix my lean issue!

Second Answer: At this time I do not recommend getting a custom tune done to the car unless you plan on doing your own tuning on the supercharger kit later on. It is my understanding that the current tuner's on the market do not keep your factory tune in place. So, if you tune your car today then you lose your base (factory) map for our tuners later on. This could mean a lot more work later on down the road. Unless there is a tuner available that will remove your factory tuning and then install a custom tune which you can remove later on and replace with the factory tune again, I would recommend holding off on custom tuning.

If I am incorrect about the current offerings for tuning then please let me know and I will edit my post to reflect the correct information.

If you already have headers on your car I wouldn't be bummed or upset about that. I'm just reporting what I've seen in the past with our VQ35 supercharger but this supercharger might be very different. I know the VK56 supercharger that we have for the Nissan Titan and QX56 LOVES the headers...There is still a lot of testing and to be done yet! Don't worry about the small details.

Kyle, you must be referring to the info I gave Josh. You are half right about the tune. The problem only relates to the UpRev software. You can save your stock tune and throw it on there as one of the selectable maps you can cycle through. However, for some "unknown" reason, UpRev decided they wouldnt create the file necessary to fully remove their software from the car. I have no idea how this is going to affect tuning the car for the supercharger... UpRev needs to release an update for us who need to remove it.

Thank you very much for the clarification RCZ!

New years eve update!!!
 

Progress is coming along very well. We received some of the castings back from the casting house this week and next week they will go into the machine shop for finishing. From there we will install them on the test cars and will begin tuning. A little bit of cool information that I have found out today. The casting house who is making our intake manifold and some of the other components also makes aluminum heads for Ford, racing speed boats and numerous other forms of race vehicles. They do some amazing work and they're located in USA!

Also, we have some information on some of the stages that we will be offering for the VQ37:

The STILLEN supercharger kit will have 3 stages.

Stage 1) Tuner kit...All the hardware and equipment minus the fuel management. This kit should be ready in about two months or so. Look for it around the end of February beginning of March.

Stage 2) CARB legal kit. This kit will be 50 state legal, yes it won't have as much power as the other stages but it is street legal!!! More than likely this kit will be running around 6 psi. The release of this kit greatly revolves around the amount of time it takes CARB to grant us a test date and review our results. I can't give a solid ETA on this because it really is up to CARB.

Stage 3) Race kit...This will be a pre-tuned race kit that will not come with any warranty and will not be street legal but it will be a bolt in kit for the guys looking for a bit more power but don't want to bother with figuring out their own tuning. This kit will be developed along side the Tuner kit so look for it to be released around the beginning of March.

Yay dates! Beginning of March sounds good to me :)

Do you have any rough ballpark cost figures for each kit?

What will likely be involved with going from the CARB legal option to the race option and will it be possible to go from race back to CARB legal?

I don't know right now what all will be involved in switching back and forth. It could be as simple as just changing the pulley and tune or it could be more complex than that. Ideally it would be as simple as swapping the pulley and tune though.

No idea on ballpark costs yet. I asked my engineer's if they had any idea and they just laughed at me and said it's still too early to tell. I know they have a goal price range in mind, but I don't know what that is and they won't tell me LOL.

This might sound a little stupid but will your S/C whine by any chance? :D

Not a stupid question at all.

Yes, it will have some sort of whine or whistle. Basically any type of forced induction whether it is a supercharger (roots or centifugal) or turbo will make a distinctive sound.

I know you cant give us a price but is it safe to say that these kits will cost different....ie. Tuner kit will be the cheapest and either the race kit or carb kit will be the most expensive? And also is the only difference between the Tuner Kit and the Race kit is the race kit comes with a tune?

Reason why i ask is if im running a supercharger ill also be running nitrous, so i need custom tuning....so my best bet is to get the tuner kit and get my tuner to adjust everything.

Yes there will be a pretty substantial price difference between the tuner kit and the other kits for a few reasons.

1) the tuner kit will not come with any fuel management. No injectors no fuel pump no tuning...nothing.

2) the tuner kit will not receive any tech support in regards to tuning. If you have an issue with the parts then we will obviously offer support but we can not offer help with the tuning when it comes to a custom setup.

The tuner kit is really designed for the guys who want to push the boundaries but understand that they are going to be taking risks of their own. It will come with all of the necessary hardware and intercooler system and most likely we will have a few different pulley sizes to choose from so that you guys don't need to spend a ton of time and money figuring out the correct size for your application. But everything in relation to fuel management and tuning is up to you.

Right now I don't know if there will be a price difference between the CARB legal kit and the race kit.

Hmm thats a tough one. I agree with how you have the stages set up. That is a good choice for the racer kit. But it still leaves me in a pickel because the tune that comes with it or even some parts wont really work well with my nitrous set up. Then again, now that i think about it...getting the racer kit and working the nitrous system (tune and parts) around that would work better.

I wouldn't put too much thought into it right now to be honest. There is still a lot of information that has yet to be released and some things that are yet to be finalized which can and more than likely will make a difference in your finished setup.

The one thing you can be certain of though, you will not want the CARB legal kit LOL!

Wont need the carb kit...if i can drive around without a cat converter, i think im safe...lol. Damn you! you are going to make me go broke!...lol.

[QUOTE=Kyle@STILLEN;354352]Yes there will be a pretty substantial price difference between the tuner kit and the other kits for a few reasons.

1) the tuner kit will not come with any fuel management. No injectors no fuel pump no tuning...nothing.

2) the tuner kit will not receive any tech support in regards to tuning. If you have an issue with the parts then we will obviously offer support but we can not offer help with the tuning when it comes to a custom setup.

The tuner kit is really designed for the guys who want to push the boundaries but understand that they are going to be taking risks of their own. It will come with all of the necessary hardware and intercooler system and most likely we will have a few different pulley sizes to choose from so that you guys don't need to spend a ton of time and money figuring out the correct size for your application. But everything in relation to fuel management and tuning is up to you.

Right now I don't know if there will be a price difference between the CARB legal kit and the race kit.[/QUOTE]

I just posted in the other thread thinking that I read something that had me excited. Now I read this thread and realize that now is the time for the excitement. I posted a question in the other thread, so I won't clutter this one with the same monotanous verbage. Really, I think folks are curious as to how "aggressive" the race kit will be. I know I am.:tup:

There are discussions as to how aggressive the race kit should be.

Some people are saying that the race kit should be a 100 octane only tune and be really aggressive. Other people are saying that not everyone is going to want to run 100 octane all the time. We are still discussing the possibilities.

Kyle,
What gauges would be the most useful for monitoring my engine when running your SC kit?

I am currently working with a company to develop a couple of gauge pods and guages. My ideal situation would be for them to come pre-loaded ready to go.

If you only run a single guage then obviously you'll just want boost.

If you want two guages, then you'll want boost and air/fuel. Air/fuel you won't watch all the time but it won't hurt to have it.

If you want three guages, then I would suggest boost, air/fuel and a good, accurate oil temperature guage with the issues that the VQ37 has with engine oil temperature.

One thing to keep in mind is that you want to buy a boost guage that is appropriate for the amount of boost you plan on running. Basically, don't run out and buy a 30 pound boost guage because it won't be as accurate for you as say a 15 pound boost guage.

I talked with one of our engineer's/tuner's today and he has done a few kits in the past with NOS on Supra's and Z's and a few other cars and was wondering if you wanted to bring your nitrous in on the bottom end to decrease a little bit of the lag or if you wanted to stack it on top and get that extra 50-75HP on the top end?

hmm thats a good question. I'm going to give my points base mainly for drag racing so if anyone has any ideas feel free to chime in. Both ways has its pro's and cons. If you bring the nitrous in on the bottom end to decrease abit of the lag, those who arent running slicks or at least DR are going to have a hard time getting traction, hence why im programming my window switch to not spray in 1st gear. But then again u decrease the lag and got the power sooner.

But if you spray on the top end u get more power out of it. Personally i would rather go with spraying on the top end. How much lag does the SC you guys are planning on using have? I'm not to familiar with it. I had a Eaton M62 and a Harrop TVS 1320 on my Cobalt and had the power soon as i touched the gas so iiunno how this style SC works.

Centrifugal superchargers do have a little bit of lag but it's not normally as bad as say a turbo kit. Also, we are planning on designing our kit so that there is as little lag as possible, there are some tricks you can do to reduce lag.

Your cobalt used a roots blower which has no lag, instant boost because the blower is right on top of the intake.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know how reliable that setup will be. NOS + FI usually only happens on built motors.

Our engineer put it best...How many massive lines of coke can you do before you have a heart attack...LOL

His recommendation was to do it on the bottom end if you're going to do it. That would be the "safest" place.

I agree with you 100%. My plan is right now im running a 100shot. If/When i go FI im either going to back it down to a smaller shot or just take the kit out. My power goal on stock engine is 400-500whp. I do plan on down the road building the engine up so thats where bigger number goal and FI+Nitrous will come in handy. But for now 400-500whp will do me.

Kyle,

Can I get a discount for trading in my Gen 3 Intake and my headers which will both most likely do me no good if I get the kit? Help a brotha out Kyle!!

Headers should fit, intakes wont.

Kyle,

One gauge pod design that I fell in love with was made by the Speed of Sound company. They essentially took OEM pillar pieces and installed gauge pods on them for a very clean install. Take a look:

Speed of Sound gallery of photos

Kyle, u said that the 350Z lost boost with the addition of headers. The company Fast intentions has long tube headers coming out soon, so I not buy them if I go with your kit?

AFAIK, Stillen was advising against the purchase of headers because they are unsure of yet if the loss in boost will = a loss in power as well, or a gain. With what we know of fitment and location of the SC, which is almost nothing, its also unknown at this time if headers (read: LTH) will be in the way. IMHO, I don't think it will present a problem and will more than likely drop boost, but there shouldn't be a power drop, but a gain.

On another note, losing boost doesn't always mean losing power. Boost is, in a way, a measurement of airflow. The more restricted the pathway the more boost at a given CFM; the less restrictive the less boost, but same CFM. Its entirely possible for 2 like engines to make the same power at different boost levels given one flows more freely than the other. An example is a friends STi; before full exhaust mods his turbo would peak at 20-22 psi, after it peaked at 18-20 psi, yet he gained a good 30 awhp.

If I am wrong in anything I have typed, I just made *** :eek: Please correct if I am, my knowledge is limited.:tup:

+1 for hngonzalez!

That is basically correct.

I wouldn't worry about installing any type of header until we have a chance to test the results of the combination.

One thing to consider is that hi flow cats and headers and Cat-back exhaust plus intake leave the car running a bit lean. So, now delete the cats altogether and include the headers and no restriction or anything and you can pretty much guarantee that the long tube headers will cause the car to run a bit lean.

I would not install any headers from any company...STILLEN, Fast Intentions or any other until we have a chance to test and tune with them.

Kyle,
Should I take my HFCs off and go back to the stock cats in preparation for the SC kit?

Also, would an EGT gauge be useful in addition to boost, air/fuel, and oil temp?

In my opinion, yes. When the A/F starts to go out of whack, the EGT will rise. It's also easier to set an alarm on the EGT than then A/F.

I wouldn't remove the HFC's. I'm positive that we will have a tune for the HFC's so I would just leave them on.

EGT gauges are very helpful. The only reason I did not mention an EGT in my list is because a lot of people won't want to load up their cars with gauges.

When we build our 370 in to a race car we will have boost, a/f, oil temp, fuel pressure, EGT left and EGT right, and a couple more. But, for the average owner, this will be overkill and unnecessary to have this many guages.

Every now and then, depending on what the customer wants we setup a pretty trick EGT setup where the customer can toggle between left and right bank EGT gauges on one gauge. It's obviously easier than having two gauges but it's not practical for racing. For racing it's best to just have two gauges.

Here is a very good tech. article on the different reasons for EGT and a/f gauges.

http://sdsefi.com/techegt.htm

yay another chance to get Defi Gauges is another chance to make me happy in the pantaloons.

so far as the header issue goes, is it possible to alter the CVTC controls in the tune in order to reduce the valve overlap so those who run headers can get their 2 psi back? or are we still waiting for a tuning company to figure that out?

^ Still waiting.

CALM DOWN ABOUT THE DAMNED HEADERS!!! LMAO!!!

I think I scared you guy's a bit and I apologize! I'm only reporting what we've seen in the past...Keep in mind that when we install long tube headers on a Nissan Titan, there is no drop in boost, it runs a bit lean but we correct that with our tune.

If you have header's on your vehicle I would not worry about coming up with a solution today because it might not be necessary. Let us test it for you and see what we come up with.

How happy would you be if I told you the headers gained more horsepower and were a huge benefit?! LOL

I hope no one takes offense to my last post...I just think I got people worked up about the header's more than necessary and that was my mistake.