So what exactly is wrong with the Stillen SC kit?
 

So I have been reading on the supercharger threads and there seems to be a lot of bashing of the Stillen kit. I have not read any details, though, as to what the problems are with the Stillen kit. I've read about some really lame gains with the box tune, but that seems to be fixed with a proper tune. If anyone can tell me issues members have been having with the Stillen kit or direct em to some threads that explain the problems, that would be great. I am leaning towards a GTM stage 1.5 kit is I do it, but would like to do my full research since the Stillen one is CARB approved.

Thanks

The problem is stillen doesnt put enough sugar in their kool aid

if you can relate to this, this is spot on.

But tells you there is more than enough

tip. register your car in CA in a county that doesn't require smog. i have one of my cars still registered in the city of Bishop with a friend. it's carb, so you know its gonna be mild. carb = nazis. TRUST me i know.

stillen kit.. no real air to air FMIC. vortech s/c. canned tune. etc. if you really read and do your research, you'll see a GTM S/C kit is the way to go if thats the route you want to take. I'm going GTM 1.5. I've read for countless hours and went back and forth between turbo/s and superchargers. I originally wanted the stillen, because i'm a CA resident and i'll move back one day. but fact is, stillen is good if you want a CA legal alternative that will make a little bit of power. if you modify it, its not carb legal anymore anyway. when i move back to CA, i'll remove my kit, register the car in a county that doesn't require smog, and reinstall it. problem solved. and btw, I have read things about registering your car through a PO box in CA. do it in a county that doesn't require smog and i think you're home free. just travel to renew your tags once a year. :)

If u want power in carb state, stick to bolt ons.

This is interesting. So I should make a fiend in Bishop or look into P.O boxes...

the PO box thing is so people that live in RV's and travel / don't have a permanent address can get their registration. only a few states do it if i remember.

Wait, are you saying having a SC kit is a felony? The funny thing is I will probably be putting the stock cats back on if I do it.

Please don't feed and spread this BULLSHÍT. This is 100000000% wrong, you can get a ticket, that's about it.

But thank you for your service :usa:

youre welcome, DE. and i guess i read it wrong all that time ago. I used to drive a 96 GSX, big turbo, no cats, smokey. I had CHP pull me over, and refer me to some code where it listed it all out. maybe it was that if a shop removed stock cats it could be a felony? I forget. I was exhausted when i posted that and I appologize for the bad info

One of the things people dislike is even with a good tune the Stillen kit falls below the GTM kit in HP and TQ, mainly TQ.
Also, all who try to reach 500whp stop and switch kits, the stillen kit just seems limited in its expand ability.

I have known a few owners and they like it for what it is and the power it provides. With a good tune and supporting mods it can be a solid kit, just limited versus other options.

should offer the V7 JT or YSi as an upgrade

Would say anything is wrong , per say? True you will NOT see 500 WHP probably the only thing wrong. But is a very good kit . I had it modded something's (SC impeller, pump , injectors , heat exchanger, an MAF's) and was still under 500 WHP (457) but as a DD an have smog in MA Was nice to have a CARB kit.

Not saying the Stillen kit is great or anything since I don't have it, but when they say 500hp, they mean bhp so if you get 425whp, you are hitting their rating, though it seems like most don,t hit that either.

They say (at least on the phone) that all their mods/gains are measured in WHP.

Not sure what you mean? You saying they wont make 425WHP? You are right if your saying their kit and their "box" tune, Heck I made NA 298 WHP on their tune I only made 342 WHP:confused::confused:

UPREV tuned made 412 WHP:driving:, Just proves their tune SUX..

Every plan to get around CARB has risks. If you are going to do the out of area registration, make sure your driver's license matches. It is a red flag if it doesn't. If you get popped near your house, the chances increase that you'll get popped again by the same cop and he'll then know whatever story you told about just visiting is BS.

GTM will never have a CARB certified kit, so OP go ahead and buy the Stillen kit and get a good tune for it. Yes it wouldn't be CARB approved anymore, but no one will know.

You know what, looking over all their info again... The Stillen kit looks just fine. I think every member that has it is actually making the numbers they promise 480-510hp, and they get around 420-430WHP...
I thought they always advertised WHP numbers and gains (which they told me on the phone) but it looks like for their S/C kit, they measured WHP and HP at the flywheel

The purpose of getting a stillen is for the CARB certification right?

You'll never make those numbers with the stillen kit.

custom tune and upgrades yes, but then it is no longer CARB certified. Risk serious fines to hope to make what other kits make with ease? To each his own I suppose.

a custom tune without changing any parts kills the carb certification? How would they know as long as you have the sticker?

Yes, changing anything from the setup that was tested technically voids the CARB certification. There is no way in hell they would know it had a custom tune, though.

then you're all good, just gotta get that sticker, haha

If you want to play that game, there's no way they would know you changed out injectors, pullies or tune.

An wouldnt know you changed anything, the Impeller is not visable, an if you upgrade the heat exchanger they cant say anything. That would be like "sorry sir you fail for having a larger raditor" LOL

As ANMVQ stated in the first page, the Stillen kit with a custom tune is not bad whatsoever. Its still a better alternative than going the n/a full bolt ons route, if you are calculating horsepower per dollar. Purely lacks for room to go close and beyond 500whp... Which EVERYONE says they want to hit, till they get their car back with the extra 100+whp. If you aren't looking to build the engine to handle more power, then this would be one of better options that we suggest to our customers.

Would Stillen have a problem if I asked them to change their pulleys and bypass valves to something not plastic? People seem to say those need to be upgraded as well as possibly the injectors.

In all honesty if I go back FI and dont go twins low boost ( Save the auto tranny and t case) I will be going back to the Stillen Kit.

I didnt even realize the pullies where plastic??? But I went with a upgraged BPV anyway.

Some of us are still hoping for a GTM CARB approved kit, but I fear you're right...

see there is no problem with their kit, most of the people who bought their kit live above sea level and their canned tune doesnt compensate for it

if you do not live at or around sea level, you wont make their advertised power, just like you wont make nissan's advertised power of 332hp

their air to water intercooler is perfectly fine as long as you are not doing dyno run after dyno run because a fan cannot cool the intercooler down fast enough unlike driving and if you need a bigger heat exchanger, you can buy one legally since intercoolers are not regulated by CARB(as said on their website) so in theory you could take the car to an intercooler shop and have them install an air to air intercooler legally without losing exemption

if you want to go supercharger, get the stillen(since you live in california) and modify it with stillen and vortech parts(so stillen 9lbs pulley, vortech impeller, ect.), will it void the carb exemption, but no one can or will check that your pulley size, your impeller, ect. and see if it is to spec and ALWAYS get a custom tune for their supercharger, their canned tune is good if you want longevity out of their kit stock(so no modifying the kit) but if you want to actually make good numbers, get a custom tune, i dont know a single person with a stillen supercharger(for the 350zs/G35s and 370zs/G37s) without a custom tune

some people will tell you to register your car in an area with no smog and that will only work for so long, even no smog areas have to conform to CARB standards, regardless if there are smog checks in your area or not

refs can not legally take apart your supercharger without either your permission or a court order so dont worry about modifying the kit and losing exemption, unless you were really doing something stupid(like street racing), you'll be fine

and if you are gonna go the illegal route, you might as well go all the way and get a twin turbo kit

honestly all the hate on stillen is the same on all Z forums, just remember to take everything you read here with a grain of salt(including my post)

which is why i created this thread to clear up stuff regarding the Stillen kit since a lot of the hate wasn't explained

most of the hate stems from the WHP people get when they dyno the car, what a lot of people dont realize is that there are a million factors when it comes to showing WHP, something as little as being 1ft above sea level or 1% less humidity can make a difference on a dyno's whp readings

all a dyno is really good for imo is tuning, you can see your before and after so you can see what you gained with the custom tune and imo dynos are the worst way to measure whp unless your car is in a test environment where everything can be controlled

honestly if you really want to feel the stillen supercharger, i highly suggest heading to stillen and going for a test ride in their car, i went on a test ride and all i can say is it blew my mind, and their car has their carb kit with a different BPV(from what Kyle@stillen told me in person)

go with something you like and not what people on the internet like, just remember numbers are just numbers, who cares if you are making less power on a dyno than john doe and jane doe, if you're happy, thats all that matters

and remember having a well balanced car will always be better than having a high HP car, my uncle would always get **** for his stillen supercharger build on his G35(stage 4 roots blower) because it only made 366whp yet his car would smoke others cars from light to light and on canyon runs when their cars made 400+whp

i guess the main point to my post is dont get caught up with numbers like most people, and just go with what you want

They don't have a 7AT tester car to try out, do they to geta real direct driving experience comparo? Everytime I get talked out of blowing my money on this, people (the forum) plant the seed back in my head, haha.

they dont have a 7AT 370z unfortunately, just the 6MT

since you have the 7AT you might want to look into building the transmission and getting a transmission cooler before you get a supercharger as supporting mods since the 7AT is not as strong as the 6MT

i know GTM has something for the 7AT(i want to say valve bodies but im not sure)

im sure you could get away with the stock tranny but it would be cheaper to build the transmission to support the supercharger now than it would to rebuild the entire thing when it blows up, just remember, supporting mods can make or break your car, literally lol

also you will want to go back to stock gears for the supercharger since you will have traction issues if you keep the 4.08 gears

good luck with build OP

Wow, I'm actually surprised to hear you say that after all the hassles you've had with that kit.

Don't you have the awd G37?

If you do than you made more power than what they advertised because awd has a greater drive train loss(about 35% give or take) so on their tune, you should have only made 325whp give or take so assuming drive train loss is not that bad, the 342whp you made seems right on track with what stillen advertise for their kit

one of the biggest concerns with the stillen kit is the placement of the MAF. the primary MAF also functions as the intake air temp sensor. the ecu uses IAT's (along with a few other sensors) to adjust timing on the fly, hotter air and the car pulls timing. with every other forced induction kit, the MAF's are placed after the intercooler, which means the ecu gets a true IAT reading and can adjust accordingly. with the stillen kit, the ecu is basically reading ambient air temp as IAT since the maf's are in the bumper before the blower. so during hot summer months when the heat exchanger gets heat soaked and the intake temps are increasing, your ecu is still reading whatever the temp is in the bumper, not the true temp of the air entering the engine.

Heatsoak?

I have talked extensively with stillen kit owners and stillen themselves about this issue and unless you're dynoing your car back to back to back or sitting in traffic(and when you start moving, the intercooler cools down), you wont experience heatsoak.

Any proof of heatsoak outside of those conditions? I can tell you that my intercooler on my eclipse experiences heatsoak in similar conditions and that is an air to air intercooler.

And while I do agree that MAF placement could be better, there is a reason as to why stillen placed the sensors there when designing the kit, and if it were a problem, it wouldnt have been designed that way.

:facepalm: