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Previous Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,534
Drives: A Pony
Rep Power: 213
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Accessories/Supporting Mods:
Accessories and supporting mods are usually pretty important depending on the application. You can get carried away with accessories when comes to a forced inducted vehicle. These items include
- Gauges
- Trans/Oil Coolers
- Fuel Accessories
- Drivetrain Accessories
- Turbo Timers
- Boost Controllers
- Methanol/Water Injection
Most of these items are not needed, but aid in the longevity of your vehicle.
Gauges: Probably the most basic of accessories when it comes to a forced induction vehicle. Wideband Gauges, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Water Temp, Water Pressure, EGT, Fuel Pressure are just a few of the things you can motor with gauges. The “basic” gauges, IMO, are Wideband (Air/Fuel Ratio) gauge, Oil Pressure, Water Temp. Monitoring you vehicles temperatures is vital to the longevity of the motor. Oil pressure is key to keeping your motor running properly. A/F is probably the most important. By monitoring your Air/Fuel ratio you can make sure your car is running at the optimum level. High engine temps can lead to costly repairs and serious damage… just read the forced induction section! 
Coolers: Coolers covers a few different things, and they all deal with heat. Radiators, Thermostats, Fans, Shrouds, Oil Coolers, Transmission Coolers, Differential coolers all aid in fighting the never ending battle of heat. Keeping your engine temperatures down is vital to a strong and long lasting motor. For those of you who autocross and time-attack, keeping temperatures down is probably one of the most important things you can do. Radiators, Thermostats, and Radiator Caps are the most common accessories for cooling. Brands like Koyo, Fluidyne, AMS, and GTM all make radiators that provide superior cooling then the stock one. When adding a radiator; upgrading your hoses is a good idea as well. A good set of Samco Hoses never hurt anyone! Thermostats and Radiator caps are used to control when the coolant starts working. Aftermarket thermostats are design to “open” at a lower operating temperature then stock, allowing your motor to run cooler.
Oil Coolers, Power Steering Coolers, Transmission Coolers, and Differential Coolers are designed to cool the fluids that keep everything running. These are usually geared more towards those who race there cars frequently, but can be used in everyday applications. Again, heat causes these fluids to “burn” in harsh applications, and these coolers help keep everything cool. Companies like Greddy, ARC, and Stillen make these products for the 350Z, but a lot of universal application from Summit Racing work well to!
Fuel Accessories: Fuel Accessories cover injectors, Fuel Rail’s, Fuel Pump’s, Multi-Pump Assemblies, and Fuel Pressure Regulators. Upgrading your fuel injectors will depend on how much power you want to make. Fuel injectors will vary in size; 380cc, 440cc, 600cc, 880cc, 1000cc injectors are available for the VQ35DE motor. Injector size will depend on application. Larger fuel rails are sometimes needed when trying to push that extra fuel to larger injectors. They will usually have larger fittings on the end to run larger fuel lines. Fuel Pump’s and Multi-Pump assemblies are a must when pushing “Big” horsepower. I simple Walbro 255lph in-tank fuel pump upgrade will help get the fuel to the engine when trying to make up to 450whp, but when you depend MORE POWER a multi-pump assembly as a good investment. Companies like CJM make an in-take fuel-pump assembly that will hold (2) fuel pumps and are usually good to over 1000+whp. Fuel pressure regulators are another tool to dial in your fuel setup. Most regulators will have a psi gauge on it telling you how much fuel pressure you have.
Sometimes you will here the term “Return Style Fuel System”. Return style fuel systems will send the fuel that goes to the fuel rail back to the fuel tank. This will allow you to run more fuel to the motor without flooding it. Return style fuel setups are a must for big HP!
Drivetrain Accessories: Drivetrain accessories include Clutch, Flywheel, Valve body Upgrade’s, Clutch packs, and differentials. Putting power to the ground is just as important as being able to make the power. I mean if you’re making 550whp and you can put it to the pavement; then what’s the point! When it comes to manual transmissions, an upgraded clutch is usually in your near future after going F/I. The stock clutch is good to roughly 350-400hp, and how you drive will depend on that! Full-Face clutch disks, puck clutches, twin-disk, triple disk; there are various products you can order depending on your application. A lightened flywheel is another accessory to add when upgrading your clutch. A lighten flywheel usually gives you better acceleration, and allows you to put more power to the wheels. Less rotational mass = more power to the ground! For you automatic guys, upgrading your valve body and clutch packs to hold more power is important when you’re adding power. Companies like SGP and GTM offer great alternatives to hold 600+whp.
Upgrading your differential is also a good thing to do when trying to put power to the ground. Some models of the 350Z come with an LSD (Limited Slip Differential) from the factory. Companies like Kaaz, Tomei, Carbonetics, Cusco all make either 1.5 way or 2.0 way LSD’s for the 350Z/G35. A 1.5 way diff means it’s fully locked during acceleration but not locked during deceleration. A 2 way LSD is fully locked all the time. No LSD = One Wheel Tire Fire! 
Electronics: Electronic accessories included Boost Controllers, Turbo Timers, and Data Loggers. Boost Controllers are probably the first electronic accessory people invest in. Boost controllers allow you to change the amount of boost your motor will run from inside your vehicle. Usually with the turn of a knob or the push of a button a you instantly have more power. Now…
***IF YOU ARE TRULY NEW TO FORCED INDUCTION DO NOT BUY A BOOST CONTROLLER!!!***
I say this as a friend. Boost is addicting. It’s like crack; you can’t get enough! When you drive a boosted vehicle for the first time, you will want more power, and you WILL turn up the boost. If not done properly this can leave to blown motors and extreme carnage!
Turbo Timers are also a good investment. A turbo timer allows you to run the vehicle for a set length of time (usually 30sec to a minute depending on how long the car was on for) after you have turned the key off and exited the vehicle allowing it a few additional moments to cool the motor, and allow the fluids to flow through the motor to keep everything nicely lubricated.
Data loggers are a neat feature to have if you are into any kind of racing. They will keep track of certain parameters of the vehicle for a period of time. When you’re done you can go back and analyze the data to see what your car is doing at certain point in time. RPM, A/F Ratio, Oil Temp, Fuel Pressure, Shift Points, Knock, etc can all be logged by time or rpm.
Methanol/Water Injection: Methanol injection is a great investment when going F/I. Methanol itself is NOT a power adder, but by doing methanol injection you can increase horsepower and keep your engine temps down. Methanol, when mixed with fuel, increases the octane level of the fuel from your tank. Kind of like running an octane booster. When you try to burn a higher octane you can make more power safer and more reliably, and you get a more complete burn too. Methanol also cools the air running into the engine; lowering the engine temps, and helping to alleviate detonation. Basically, when you run methanol, you can turn the boost up more to make more power safer. Injection systems can be controlled by a number of aftermarket EMS systems or have there own independent controllers. So you can set it to come on when you see certain boost level to help make more power safer.
Manufacturer Links:
Jim Wolf Technology Twin Turbo Kit
Turbonetics Single Turbo Kit
Greddy Twin Trubo Kit
Powerlan GT35R Turbo Kit
APS Turbo Kits
Power Enterprise Twin Turbo Kit
Vortech Supercharger
Stillen Supercharger
HKS Supercharger
ATI Procharger
CJM Fuel Systems
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