What's the different? 300hp? 400? 500?

olddudesrule · 07-24-2013, 08:48 PM

To the OP, the power difference you feel can be quite subjective. Prior to buying my stock Nismo, I chased hp with a 350 hp FFR Cobra, a 550 HP GTS Viper, and lastly a 600hp C7 Z06. The truth of the matter is, the chase gets expensive, and if you really want to play, you will pay. The Z06 was an absolute blast, fast as any street car should be, but if I blew the motor screwing around, it was gonna cost me @ $10-$14K for a new LS7. That little piece of information really kept me from romping on it much (as well as the lack of LE attention I desired).

I never tracked the cars much, so I rarely ever used them to their potential. Sure, it put a big freaking smile on my face every time I hit the start button, but in the end, I decided to go with a "simpler" sports car, with enough power for the road.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have $$$ to burn, go S/C or TT, but understand that you will, in reality, rarely ever use it's potential unless you track it, and that, in and of itself, is gonna raise your costs substantially. Not trying to be Debbie Downer, just sharing a couple of decades of experience....

Enjoy!

luigi90210 · 07-25-2013, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sr2208

Hi there,
I really want to know what is the different between 300hp 370z and 400/500hp 370z.

I always see some ppl post a dyno chart/video on youtube but say it's 400whp 500whp.

I have no idea how fast are they.
A stock 300hp 370z 0-60 is around 5. So what will a 400whp/500whp 370z get? 4.5? or just a bit quicker?

Thanks.

to answer your question, basically, a FI Z will pull a lot harder and faster than a N/A Z, that is a fact

my opinion on this though differs from most people, if you ask me which is better, ill tell you it depends on the setup, what kind of race, ect. sure making tons of WHP looks great on paper, but if the car is unbalanced and the power curve is jaggid and has spikes in certain places, that car will never be able to touch a balanced car making 50 less whp through the corners but take the same cars and race them in a straight line, the one making more power will smoke the balanced car

at the end of the day though, its up to you and what your goals for the car are, i recommend going for a ride in a FI Z one day, i rode in the stillen 370z once and all i can say is WOW, completely different than my car

in fact, it made my car feel slow for a few weeks until i got use to it again

sr2208 · 07-25-2013, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luigi90210

to answer your question, basically, a FI Z will pull a lot harder and faster than a N/A Z, that is a fact

my opinion on this though differs from most people, if you ask me which is better, ill tell you it depends on the setup, what kind of race, ect. sure making tons of WHP looks great on paper, but if the car is unbalanced and the power curve is jaggid and has spikes in certain places, that car will never be able to touch a balanced car making 50 less whp through the corners but take the same cars and race them in a straight line, the one making more power will smoke the balanced car

at the end of the day though, its up to you and what your goals for the car are, i recommend going for a ride in a FI Z one day, i rode in the stillen 370z once and all i can say is WOW, completely different than my car

in fact, it made my car feel slow for a few weeks until i got use to it again

Thanks. Your experience is useful to me. Well, my goal is to track the car, I don't like drag race actually but track. What I worried is TT Z maybe generate too much heat, even though GTM has good reputation, still an after market kit. I need more opinions to judge it. Of course it should be fine for 1-2 round but what about 3-4? Not sure yet and still waiting for someone's experience.

I drove evo and dc5r before, not heavy mod for both. They are brilliant on the track. But you know, the Z has attracted me somehow, and she is rwd(I drove awd,fwd.), I think I don't need to mention why the Z attracts me obviously you guys knew it.

I dont even know where can I install the GTM kit in australia, hopefully it is not a complicated kit otherwise I am not sure anyone in aus can install it properly.

sr2208 · 07-25-2013, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olddudesrule

To the OP, the power difference you feel can be quite subjective. Prior to buying my stock Nismo, I chased hp with a 350 hp FFR Cobra, a 550 HP GTS Viper, and lastly a 600hp C7 Z06. The truth of the matter is, the chase gets expensive, and if you really want to play, you will pay. The Z06 was an absolute blast, fast as any street car should be, but if I blew the motor screwing around, it was gonna cost me @ $10-$14K for a new LS7. That little piece of information really kept me from romping on it much (as well as the lack of LE attention I desired).

I never tracked the cars much, so I rarely ever used them to their potential. Sure, it put a big freaking smile on my face every time I hit the start button, but in the end, I decided to go with a "simpler" sports car, with enough power for the road.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have $$$ to burn, go S/C or TT, but understand that you will, in reality, rarely ever use it's potential unless you track it, and that, in and of itself, is gonna raise your costs substantially. Not trying to be Debbie Downer, just sharing a couple of decades of experience....

Enjoy!

I dont consider other cars in this range, I like the Z because of the appearance, I don't care how much power she came from stock, what I care is how much power she can generate after tuned. Of course, I have no idea of the GTM quality, I dont want to kill the Z with more than $20k. As long as it's safe, I think people always willing to spend 20k, even more.

chrischhorn · 07-25-2013, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sr2208

I dont consider other cars in this range, I like the Z because of the appearance, I don't care how much power she came from stock, what I care is how much power she can generate after tuned. Of course, I have no idea of the GTM quality, I dont want to kill the Z with more than $20k. As long as it's safe, I think people always willing to spend 20k, even more.

If power is not your main goal but tracking is, I personally would upgrade suspension, brakes, brake ducts, oil cooler, diff cooler, wider wheels and tires, new diff, sway bars, etc. and see how much more power you need after that. Make the mods to put the power down before you add the power to see how you like the balance of the car first. If you go FI without the supporting mods first, you're going to hate the Z as a track car. The car has enough traction problems as is. The VLSD will heat pretty quickly and turn into basically an open diff.

luigi90210 · 07-26-2013, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sr2208

Thanks. Your experience is useful to me. Well, my goal is to track the car, I don't like drag race actually but track. What I worried is TT Z maybe generate too much heat, even though GTM has good reputation, still an after market kit. I need more opinions to judge it. Of course it should be fine for 1-2 round but what about 3-4? Not sure yet and still waiting for someone's experience.

I drove evo and dc5r before, not heavy mod for both. They are brilliant on the track. But you know, the Z has attracted me somehow, and she is rwd(I drove awd,fwd.), I think I don't need to mention why the Z attracts me obviously you guys knew it.

I dont even know where can I install the GTM kit in australia, hopefully it is not a complicated kit otherwise I am not sure anyone in aus can install it properly.

you can do the GTM TT kit but i would look at others dynos and see their power curve, usually turbos do not have smooth power curves because of the turbo lag(think about it, you're N/A until your turbos start making boost, and when you start making boost, your torque shoots up with your HP)

i personally am a fan of the supercharger kits for our cars because they tend keeps a similar powerband to a stock car since boost matches revs(IE you will not be hitting max boost at low RPM unlike a turbo where its very common to make full boost at low RPMs)

with any FI kit though, you are going to have increased heat, so you want to at the very minimum install an oil cooler(size is dependent on what you do with the car but bigger can be better sometimes) but i would recommend a radiator upgrade on top of the oil cooler if you plan on tracking the car often

i suggest you look into GTM's supercharger kits(stage 1, 1.5, 2 and Twin supercharger) and Stillen's supercharger, honestly take what most people say here with a grain of salt about the stillen kit, everything seems to be over exaggerated imo, i know a few stillen supercharger owners for the 350z/HR/370z(for both cars, the stillen superchargers get ragged on all the tiem) and all of them are very satisfied with the kit and i personally have yet to meet up with someone in person who has had the stillen kit and hated it(all the people i usually meet who hate it have N/A Zs)

luigi90210 · 07-26-2013, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrischhorn

if power is not your main goal but tracking is, i personally would upgrade suspension, brakes, brake ducts, oil cooler, diff cooler, wider wheels and tires, new diff, sway bars, etc. And see how much more power you need after that. Make the mods to put the power down before you add the power to see how you like the balance of the car first. If you go fi without the supporting mods first, you're going to hate the z as a track car. The car has enough traction problems as is. The vlsd will heat pretty quickly and turn into basically an open diff.

this guy speaks the truth

Chuck33079 · 07-26-2013, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luigi90210

you can do the GTM TT kit but i would look at others dynos and see their power curve, usually turbos do not have smooth power curves because of the turbo lag(think about it, you're N/A until your turbos start making boost, and when you start making boost, your torque shoots up with your HP)

i personally am a fan of the supercharger kits for our cars because they tend keeps a similar powerband to a stock car since boost matches revs(IE you will not be hitting max boost at low RPM unlike a turbo where its very common to make full boost at low RPMs)

with any FI kit though, you are going to have increased heat, so you want to at the very minimum install an oil cooler(size is dependent on what you do with the car but bigger can be better sometimes) but i would recommend a radiator upgrade on top of the oil cooler if you plan on tracking the car often

i suggest you look into GTM's supercharger kits(stage 1, 1.5, 2 and Twin supercharger) and Stillen's supercharger, honestly take what most people say here with a grain of salt about the stillen kit, everything seems to be over exaggerated imo, i know a few stillen supercharger owners for the 350z/HR/370z(for both cars, the stillen superchargers get ragged on all the tiem) and all of them are very satisfied with the kit and i personally have yet to meet up with someone in person who has had the stillen kit and hated it(all the people i usually meet who hate it have N/A Zs)

Turbos definitely have a different power curve, but it's not a problem. You just have to adjust the way you would approach a corner. Torque coming on earlier isn't a bad thing, the car will just want something different from your driving style to be smooth. You really should be looking at throttle response, not the shape of the curve. A SC will always have a sharper throttle since it's belt driven. You definitely give up some response with a turbo in exchange for much greater torque. The turbo will have more area under the curve since you're making more power earlier. If you decide you'd rather not make full boost until closer to redline, you can set up your boost controller to do that on a turbo kit.

For heavy track use, I'd stay away from the Stillen more so than for street use. It has an issue with heat soak. The heat exchanger is undersized, and I'd rather have an air-to-air intercooler on track over a water-to-air. You'll hit a wall going for more power with it since the MAF piping is undersized, the injectors are too small and the tune they give you with it is bad. You can make it better, but I'd always start with a kit where the ceiling is higher. Once you figure in the cost of fixing the Stillen kit's shortcomings you're getting close to the cost of a GTM kit. There's a lot of guys here on the forum who bought the Stillen kit and have now pulled it off in favor of a turbo setup. I've never seen someone take off a GTM kit.

luigi90210 · 07-26-2013, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

Turbos definitely have a different power curve, but it's not a problem. You just have to adjust the way you would approach a corner. Torque coming on earlier isn't a bad thing, the car will just want something different from your driving style to be smooth. You really should be looking at throttle response, not the shape of the curve. A SC will always have a sharper throttle since it's belt driven. You definitely give up some response with a turbo in exchange for much greater torque. The turbo will have more area under the curve since you're making more power earlier. If you decide you'd rather not make full boost until closer to redline, you can set up your boost controller to do that on a turbo kit.

For heavy track use, I'd stay away from the Stillen more so than for street use. It has an issue with heat soak. The heat exchanger is undersized, and I'd rather have an air-to-air intercooler on track over a water-to-air. You'll hit a wall going for more power with it since the MAF piping is undersized, the injectors are too small and the tune they give you with it is bad. You can make it better, but I'd always start with a kit where the ceiling is higher. Once you figure in the cost of fixing the Stillen kit's shortcomings you're getting close to the cost of a GTM kit. There's a lot of guys here on the forum who bought the Stillen kit and have now pulled it off in favor of a turbo setup. I've never seen someone take off a GTM kit.

this is also very true and i do agree with you as far as the stillen being bad for track use without some modification to the kit but i feel if OP is going to do light to moderate track use, the stillen kit should be fine(just swap out the heat exchanger for a larger unit and run a 70/30 water/coolant mix)

thing is a lot of the people who ran the stillen here live outside of california(or have residency out of california), as a california resident, for me to get the GTM kit and go around getting fake smogs is going to cost more in the long run vs fixing and modding the carb legal kit(yes i know it technically voids carb legality but no one will check it ever, even the smog refs)

id love to PM about this topic some more

as far as turbos go, it all depends on the tune and the set-up, when i modded my turbo eclipse, it threw off my power curve a bit and i have some spikes down low, as a whole though it wasnt bad(plus lag wasnt really a problem since its a small turbo) but i personally love the throttle response N/A gives and that is something a turbo will never be able to fully achieve

DIGItonium · 07-26-2013, 03:03 PM

I think before you start dumping a lot of money into this car just drive it and get a feel for it. Power at the wheels is around 270-290. If you want more, then the easiest way to do it is forced induction. Just be aware that more power equals more heat. If you want to play it safe, then go all motor and shed some weight if you intend to track this car.

I don't track my car, so my setup is plenty fun as it is right now. Keeping it clean from bird doo doo and chunks of asphalt is difficult haha.

07-24-2013, 08:48 PM	#76 (permalink)
olddudesrule Enthusiast Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 252 Drives: 2012 Nismo Rep Power: 12	To the OP, the power difference you feel can be quite subjective. Prior to buying my stock Nismo, I chased hp with a 350 hp FFR Cobra, a 550 HP GTS Viper, and lastly a 600hp C7 Z06. The truth of the matter is, the chase gets expensive, and if you really want to play, you will pay. The Z06 was an absolute blast, fast as any street car should be, but if I blew the motor screwing around, it was gonna cost me @ $10-$14K for a new LS7. That little piece of information really kept me from romping on it much (as well as the lack of LE attention I desired). I never tracked the cars much, so I rarely ever used them to their potential. Sure, it put a big freaking smile on my face every time I hit the start button, but in the end, I decided to go with a "simpler" sports car, with enough power for the road. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have $$$ to burn, go S/C or TT, but understand that you will, in reality, rarely ever use it's potential unless you track it, and that, in and of itself, is gonna raise your costs substantially. Not trying to be Debbie Downer, just sharing a couple of decades of experience.... Enjoy! Streetlife, luigi90210 and Leuz like this.

07-26-2013, 03:03 PM	#85 (permalink)
DIGItonium A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 3,800 Drives: 09 Z34-TT 6MT Rep Power: 42	I think before you start dumping a lot of money into this car just drive it and get a feel for it. Power at the wheels is around 270-290. If you want more, then the easiest way to do it is forced induction. Just be aware that more power equals more heat. If you want to play it safe, then go all motor and shed some weight if you intend to track this car. I don't track my car, so my setup is plenty fun as it is right now. Keeping it clean from bird doo doo and chunks of asphalt is difficult haha. __________________