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