best way to add 50hp?
 

hi my Z is completely stock for now and im pretty ignorant when it comes to tuning and mechanics in general but i want to add anther 40-50hp to my car. i know it is 332 stock but is that even the correct number? i see people on here talking about whp and that seems to be usually lower in the 300 range. can anyone steer me in the right direction? also i am very concerned with damaging the car by tuning. ie transmission damage or something. help please thanks

With full boltons and a good tune, 50 whp is about where you would end up. Just look at my parts list and it will give you a good idea of what your looking at when we say "full boltons". Read this link so that you may better understand how this game works. Horsepower - Wikicars

For clarification in this article; Effective Horsepower is also known as WHP, or wheel horsepower.

332 is rated at the crank. When you factor in driveline loss which on average is 12-18% is where you get whp. And of course not every motor is identical though assembled the exact same in the exact same way...its not just calculations as moving parts will differ. Reducing rotating mass such as a lighter flywheel or lighter wheels will even change whp due to less rotating mass = easier to spin and less drivetrain loss. There is no "best" way. There are easy ways, and there are common ways. Easiest way is nitrous with a 50 shot. Instant 50 whp depending on the kit. Common way as stated earlier is intake, high flow cats, cat back exhaust, and a tune. You'll get 50 whp with all the best parts but it does set you up for future upgrades like a tt or sc in the future.

Once you max out the bolt-ons, you need to dump weight all over the car to pick up more effective power (and better handling): the obvious priority targets are tire/wheel weights, battery relocation/downsize, and gutting all the audio gear from the car and all the junk in the trunk area in general. If you want to keep all of that stock and you don't think the full bolt-on arrangement will make enough power to keep you happy, you might want to look at a low-end SC kit (by low-end I mean conservative pulley and tune, not cheap knock-off brands :) ). Better to go that route right off the bat if you're ever going to, since many of the best bolt-on NA stuff isn't really SC-compatible (e.g. big headers and long-tube intakes).

So if I lose 30 pounds, how much H.P. will my car gain? :icon17: Only tire/wheel weight make sense.

As stated, Intake, Exhaust and tune will get you to 300 WHP, Stock cars are around 265-270. 50 WHP is hard. Maybe intake mani( Mixed results) and or HFC's.

you will not get + 50 from bolts and tune.
You should look into light weight parts along with stage 2, imo.
Weight reduction is key in tuning a car.

I disagree. My parts are listed and my baseline was 270. I'm still untuned until uprev sends me back my ROM files. I'm sitting at 316 right now.

50whp? The easy way is a turbo kit, but the chances of hurting the engine can be high depending on the setup and how you drive the car. The safe way is bolt ons, but you're going to have a hard time getting 50whp from bolt ons.

You have the Long Tube Headers working in your favor, even with the new tune you're pretty much maxed out.

It is not easy getting 50whp but it can be done. You will have to go with long tube headers, HFC or TP's will not be enough. If you go that route you will be LOUD! Also, since you seem like a noob, the install for all these parts and the subsequent tune will not be cheap, that is if you want it done properly.

I think he meant @ the crank, but it's still a close call with bolt-on's alone. He could also go with the Stillen supercharger...that's good for about 50whp isn't it? :rolleyes::stirthepot:

Every car is going to react a bit different with respect to variances and environmental changes. 50whp is a difficult, but achievable goal with just boltons. I agree that it may only be achievable with LTH's, I'm right there and I installed a HFC. If I replaced it with a resonator of test pipe, I would most likely be at 50whp.
I can almost guarantee you will spend $4,000 on parts alone on the low end. For any boost application, your looking at a minimum $6,000 to start... Not including install or tuning. Just to get where I'm at I spent about $5,000 (shop install) and I still need to pay for the tuning session!

Just like buying a house, there are a lot of hidden costs in this, and it exponentially increases with boost. So have your wallet ready.

Hey Vivid. Quick question for you...In terms of slapping on a GTM Turbo Kit for example, can you please elaborate on how for instance that kit would be somewhat "detrimental" or possibly hurt the engine...i'm just curious as my first mod for my 370, would be to throw on a GTM Twin Turbo kit.

Thanks!

I hope cost isn't a factor in this build?

I wouldn't get so hung up on adding 50hp. Chasing a dyno number is never good when it comes to modifying a car.

I would just go for the bang for the buck mods rather than going all out NA bolt-on's. This isn't an LS2 or 2011+ Mustang 5.0L. The HP per $ ratio isn't very good when you start adding intake/exhaust mods on the 370Z.

:kickingdeadhorse:

How about reducing the weight of the driver? Lets say 50lbs? Would that bring in more whP?
Damn Michelin tires on my belly just wont wanna wear out!:tup:

Given the car is in the very rough ballpark of 1:10 hp:weight like most reasonable street sport cars, you'd have to drop 500lbs to make up 50hp :)

Damn!!! 500Lbs??? I have to cut my NUT Cracker in achieving that HP.
Ok back to topic.
Can uprev give you the 50hp plus bolt ONs with lightweight pulley? Fair enough?

Where did the 50hp number come from anyways? :P

Again intake ,Exhaust tune= 300 WHP Stock is about 260ish, 40 WHP is a lot plus the tuine makes the car a lot more fun to drive, Throttle respones is greatly improved, All that can be had for less tha $1500 just look around. :)

$1500 is a bit on the low side, to achieve maximum gains he will need more than just a catback but HFC (which cost more), test pipes or long tube headers (most expensive most gains most noise). You're looking closer to $2000 plus install. I recommend getting a quality installer or it will cost you more in the long run.

If you simply want a little more life in your car best bang for the buck mod is either more aggressive gearing or a set of HFC's/test pipes.

Weight loss is usually overlooked but makes a huge difference, I'd be wary about gutting everything from the trunk though, it will make the car more tail happy.

Turbos can be high maintance. The turbos push more air when they are scrolled up and making boost. The more you have to have a safe Air/Fuel ration (stoichiometric prefection is 14.7) They usually tune it a little lean on the low end were you cruise with low load for better fuel miliage and rich (more fuel) in the higher revs to be safe. Lean tuning makes more power but produces more heat. Heat can melt pistons and heads, it can spontaniously ignite the fuel and jar the piston on its way up. This is known as spark knock or detonation. It can damage piston ring lands. So you have to be careful and get a good tune.

Since most turbos are lubricated with the engines oils if the seals leak you can burn loose oil in the engine and make the bearings run dry(catostrophic failure).Most turbos inherently burn some oil. I have heard stories of Suburu's burning a quart of oil every oil change right off the lot when brand new. It is easy to forget that the turbo maybe spinning at 100K rpm. If you get a turbo a turbo times is a good investment. It lets you take your keys out of the car and lock it up and the engine will idle for a predetermined amount of time (usually a minute or two). This keeps the oil flowing to the turbo while it is slowing down. Because if you gun it coming into a parking lot, the turbo is spinning fast. You park it and jump out of the car like normal with engine off the turbo is spinning with no new oil. It cooks the oil off and is very hard on the bearing. If the bearings go out in the turbo the prop will hit the housing and chew the prop and send metal into the engine. this was a rebuilt turbo that didn't make it 1500miles in my 89 240sx (CA18DET).http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/p...3/100_0008.jpg

Was only saying 1500 cause I did all of mine for that, 255 WHP ended with 298 WHP ( 43 WHP) An NO HFC's ,TP's or headers.

Intake Gen 3's Catback (SIG) and Tune. Also on a atuo he would see a little more if he's a manual.

has anybody installed a chip in there Z or know if they work

There aren't any "Chips" for our cars..

Its a "tune".. Cable goes into ECU, tuner modifies ECU settings, Tuner dyno's the car, sets up maps, unplugs cable and .....WAHLA! A tune :)

plus i think we've debunked the theory that you cant get 50whp more out of this engine from bolt ons just recently

be an optimist... full exhaust, intake, tune on a civic is like 8whp so it could be way worse for spending the money haha

realistically though 40-50whp on bolt ons for an NA car is not bad either way. Anything further is gonna require forcing the air in which if i recall the compression being 11:1 dispite the beefier build of the VQ37 you're gonna be limited on boost with the stock motor... so then you're looking into a motor build, downtime, Dollazzz, not a good combination for a DD. Not saying turbo is bad because turbo is the ultimate replacement for displacement but these cars seemd like they were designed to stay NA.

More importantly has anyone ran E85 through these motors with unretarted timing? :D