Just saying hello again after a long absence

[BP-Revo]

Ooo! Plenum Spacer. I've been looking into those. How did that work out for you? Isn't that a mod which requires a tune/ecu flash?

I've been wanting to get an exhaust as well, but the extra loudness and cost is what keeps me held back. I want the Stillen one since it has the most stock-like look and sound (it sounds exactly like stock except at high RPM full throttle). Too bad its 1200 bucks.

I have this thing about keeping a stock look - I don't want to break it as the cops hassle you a lot less if they think your car has 0 mods.

And as for Stillen, their headquarters is about 15 minutes from where I live. So I just take it there for stuff like brake service (and soon, clutch service). They cost 1/2 as much as OEM and I get better products in return. Their work is very exceptional and I've always been pleased. My rear swaybar broke at one point and when I brought the car in for new front pads they replaced it free of charge.

PS. You'll want too look into the Stillen Engine Damper Mount and the lightweight Pulleys. I felt no perceived loss in driveability but the engine spooled up so much quicker. Engine vibrations are slightly reduced at high throttle inputs too.

[ClodMaxx]

i'm installing the plenum spacer and CAI this weekend. the spacer doesn't need an ecu flash, but i plan to have that eventually done anyhow after all my performance mods. i'll send my ecu in to technosquare, as that'll be less expensive than getting a tuning unit...and i'm not putting twin turbos in after all, lol. the rev limit mod alone that technosquare does should warrant the cost.

i should be over 300 horse with what i currently have.... at the crank. dyno's supposedly make grown men cry... i'll have to get there eventually. not too shabby for a 6 cylinder!

wow - i can't even imagine the damage i'd do ($$) if i had stillen 15 minutes from me! lucky you! heck, what am i saying. you've got an m5 in your driveway. heh!

check out my350z.com - almost all mods, esp. our years, work in both vehicles. or, G35driver.com is a sister site. good info on those sites... tons of z and g mod/upgrade/maintenance info.

i won't have to worry about flywheel/clutch upgrades.... the only downside to my car is that it's an 5 speed AT. if i had my choice, it would've been a MT.

[BP-Revo]

Well, one thing I have to say about Nissan/Infiniti tiptronic is that they don't upshift for you. I ABSOLUTELY HATE "manual modes" on tiptronic cars that upshift for you like 500RPM before redline. The loaner 328i we got when the M was in for service did that and I just about went ballistic lol. It drives me nuts!

From what I heard the plenum space helps to move the power band on our cars, is this true? Keep me posted on how your car runs after the mods. (However, from what I hear, it takes about a week for our ECU's to fully adapt to mods.)

I'm on G35driver, I think. I posted a thread once with no replies, so I gave up.

And yeah...having Stillen that close is a double edged sword for sure...

[ClodMaxx]

i heard audi tiptronics will upshift from first to second automatically from a stop...but then let you control from then on. that would be irritating. what's the point, then? i will say it's probably the smoothest AT i've ever driven, and the manual mode is better than others (volvo's, for example).

i'll keep you posted on how the z reacts to the spacer. the negative on the battery needs to be disconnected for at least a half hour to restart the ecu, and from there it adjusts to the increased air. same thing with the CAI, which is why i'm installing both at the same time. i'm not sure about how the powerband moves, or where though. i know i'll lose torque but gain top end speed with the test/race pipes, not to mention the increase in noise. she's already pretty loud!

[BP-Revo]

I've never heard anything about disconnecting the battery...Maybe I should do this...hmm.

[ClodMaxx]

Originally Posted by BP-Revo

From what I heard the plenum space helps to move the power band on our cars, is this true? Keep me posted on how your car runs after the mods. (However, from what I hear, it takes about a week for our ECU's to fully adapt to mods.)

update:
this past weekend, i attended a local z club 'mod party' where we all brought what we needed to install, and all the guys (most have a lot of experience modding z's and g's... a couple guys have over 500whp) chipped in to help out. i already had my cold air intake installed (which did add a noticeable amount of low end power), and i added my plenum spacer and race pipes. the spacer only took about 20 minutes.... the race pipes took about 3.5 hours, as just about the entire exhaust system had to be dropped to remove the cats and add the pipes.

the result? it's been less than a week, but i notice a big gain in the mid-high end power band. i had the top down and up to 125-130mph on a major highway in no time. of course, with no cats, it's pretty loud now. but the spacer is supposed to add 8-12 horse (dyno proven), and the race pipes add at least that much.

just one thing: most guys in my club got the motordyne iso thermal spacer. get that one, if you're going to do it. i got the z1 spacer, and had a number of problems. z1 is a top-notch z/g tuning company in GA, but pay a little more and go with a company like motordyne that has years of tuning/racing experience.





here's mine (and my leg sticking out from under, lol)


and a coveted 370z even made an appearance!

[BP-Revo]

Very nice!

I think the plenum spacer is next on my list. But right now I have to worry about my clutch and brakes. I'm nearly at 60K miles so I think its time for a brake flush and new fluid. When I have this done I'm having stainless steel lines installed.

Also, as I said, my clutch is going so I need to be ready to take care of that.

Anyway, I did the ECU reset by removing the battery connections for a bit over a half hour and the car started running a bit better. Not sure if its faster, it might very well be. I have yet to really do anything more than a few second and third gear pulls. However, it does this weird thing at start-up. When cold, it starts fine. It does its standard computer-initiated rev to 1500RPM and then drops to 1300 or so and slowly falls as the motor warms.

However, when I start it when the car is already warm, it revs up, but then the RPMs drop all the way down to the lowest line of my tach (which signifies 500RPM) and then you can hear and feel the engine struggle to stay running. Then the engine will recover and proceed to idle as normal (at 600 to 700RPM usually) or it will die. After many tests it seems to stall out once every 15 or 20 times. Any insight?

Another update regarding vehicle's on our end (again). We ended up buying a new truck to replace our 2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT (which has a 4.7L V8).

We got a 2009 Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT with the 5.7L Hemi with the MDS and VVT. Its nuts. It gets better mileage than our old 4.7 but puts out 390hp and over 400 ft-lbs of torque (compared to 250hp/300ft-lbs). The truck is very very nice. Ride is incredibly smooth (rides like a luxury car) and it is very quiet. We opted for the 509 watt Alpine sound system as well (one of my favorite parts of the truck). I think my dad was more satisfied with this buy than the M5, interestingly enough.

I'll get some pictures up this weekend.

Any more future mods for your Z?

[Unsullied_Spy]

What did you do to your clutch for it to go out after 60k miles I consider 200k miles good life for a clutch, there better have been some track time involved...

Your stalling problem is most-likely electrical, see if a code scanner can pick up anything wrong once you get it to stall (the computer should store error codes for ~50 starts) and see what it says.

[ClodMaxx]

wow... that's strange with your idle dilemma. i honestly have no idea... could be any of a handful of things. my guess is that it's somehow sensor related...since it only does it when the motor is warm. do you get a check engine light at all? if so, you can take it to someplace like pep boys and they can check the light for you, and see what it means. otherwise, once every 15 or 20 times probably doesn't warrant a very expensive trip to the dealer to have them diagnose it for you....

heh - unsullied beat me to it.

your truck sounds niiiice! for the first time in my life, i'm considering a truck. a beater 4x4, for my winter car... so i can store the z. my dad has always had trucks...and his latest GMC sierra rides like a cadillac. they've come a long way in terms of power and luxury!

the next thing i plan to get is an exhaust system...but that won't be until later in the summer at the earliest. things are pretty shaky here in detroit in terms of the job market...for everything. i'd better sock more money away in case a very rainy day comes....

report back if/when you figure out the stalling problem. i'm curious now.

[squeeforever]

Sounds like the idle issue is MAF related. Try unplugging it and see what happens. Normally (at least on GM) it will simply go into speed density. That should tell you if its the MAF at least. Some times when more air is introduced, such as from a CAI it takes the computer a while to "learn," in a manner of speaking, where the extra air is coming from basically.

[BP-Revo]

It was fine before the ECU reset. I think it is a matter of relearning. The ECU everything engine related except this small thing.

The clutch has taken quite a beating. My brother drove the car really hard when he did drive it. I learned to drive stick on that car and I drove it somewhat aggressively for 10k miles or so and my dad drives it pretty hard everytime he drives it. It has never been tracked officially but we have subjected it to a fair share of power shifts and drag launches.

[squeeforever]

I think 60k miles is VERY good for the life of a clutch. I'd be happy if the clutch in my car last 20k...

[BrianG]

Wow, you guys are hard on your clutches. Mine is going strong on almost 60k. Of course it's on a 4-cyl

Actually, during normal driving (non-aggressive), I don't even use the clutch beyond 1st gear.

[squeeforever]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Wow, you guys are hard on your clutches. Mine is going strong on almost 60k. Of course it's on a 4-cyl

Actually, during normal driving (non-aggressive), I don't even use the clutch beyond 1st gear.

Well my car is make in excess of 500hp, so I don't expect the clutch to last to long, especially with my driving.

[BrianG]

Since all a clutch does is absorb the difference in wheel vs engine speed, just time everything so the syncros are lined up and it won't be so bad on the clutch. It's those starts where you rev to ~3k and then dumping the clutch, or riding it so the launch isn't so abrupt that's bad for them.

500HP eh? I bet you pass anything on the road... except the gas station!