Kyle - a release date seems overdue here. What's the real story...by end of March?

370z owners are going other directions every month this lags...come on, help us sell some of these for you. :)

We are right on target with our release date of the end of February to the beginning of March. I actually went on vacation on the 10th and just returned yesterday so I got the full download of where we stand on everything and I'd like to pass all of that information along to you guys.

For starter's a little recap on what has happened over the past few weeks. As you all know we had a delay from our intercooler supplier. They lagged on getting us our prototype but this actually turned out to be a good thing. Our initial design included a cast aluminum end tank which mounts to the front of the intake manifold. Because of the delays our intercooler supplier caused we had them simply send us the core and we had our in house machine shop prototype a couple of end tanks for us. Then we sent it all to our in house fabrication shop to be welded. Well, they turned out amazing!!! Nothing is sexier than machined billet aluminum and these things are gorgeous!!! So, we have actually decided to incorporate the machined billet aluminum end tank into the final design.

After the intercooler was installed the next thing to find out is if the intercooler would cause a boost drop across the face of the cooler. We are proud to report that we did not lose any boost pressure at all. We are running identical boost pressure before and after the intercooler.

Next we needed to find out how efficient the intercooler is at cooling and OH MY GOD!!! It is actually working better than we imagined. We have a temperature sensor right at the exit of the supercharger where the air is hottest and we have drilled the manifold to mount an additional sensor at the bottom of the manifold to measure air temperature directly before the air is taken into the engine. The difference in air temperature is truely impressive but most impressive is the consistency. Run after run after run the air temperature stayed nice and low.

One thing that all of us (including the forum members) have all been concerned about are oil temperatures. I am extremely proud to say that our test car (G37 coupe with auto trans.) is currently equipped with the intercooler, race oil cooler, and transmission cooler. And, there is still plenty of air flow to the radiator.

As Josh mentioned the tune has not been finished as of yet and we are laying down well over 400 horsepower at the wheels on a very safe amount of boost on an automatic gearbox car with large, heavy show wheels. You might say, who cares what kind of wheels are on the car? Well, we performed a test a few years ago and we actually found that our Nissan Titan truck lost 30 horsepower when we removed the O.E. 18's and installed the big, heavy, 22 inch chromed show wheels. The additional weight of the wheels require that much extra power to turn.

We have begun ordering parts and started the machining so that we are ready to ship as soon as possible. We do plan on offering an early bird special for those early adopter's who want to pre-order their kits and we hope to have that information ready for you all very soon however we do not want to release any information on price with out having the supporting dyno's and video's to give everyone all of the information.

We have finalized the two primary kits, street and tuner, and those prices are set. Obviously we're not going to release the pricing without supporting dyno's and video's. and we are discussing the best way to handle the race kit.

Nice, good update and I'm on the boat for the early bird race kit :)

What kind of dyno are you using for testing and what did the stock g37 pull on it?

Stillen: 1

GTM: 0

:happydance:

Great info, Kyle. Have you decided to go with a new engine cover like you mentioned a while back?

Absolutely!

We might have a couple of different options for this so it will probably be an item that people can purchase seperately. We'll probably partner with a CF manufacturer and for the less expensive route we make something out of urethane. Right now the priority is performance and funtionality. We will worry about the engine cover a little later on but yes there absolutely is a plan on covering up those ugly valve covers and what not.

Nice update!

Hoping for a good early bird special.. As then I'll just take the plunge... :tup:

I decided to run out to the dyno really quickly to take a quick picture of the temperature sensors I was telling you about. The yellow wires are coming off of the temp. sensors. They will not be included in the kit because they are just a datalogging device for our testing. So don't worry about them being strewn across the engine bay! That's just for testing!

Also, the intake pipe looks like crap...We know this...It's a prototype...We actually tried to clean it up a few months ago to make it look more presentable and it ended up looking like crap LOL. The production piece will be polished and will look great.

You can also see the intercooler reservoir bottle has been mounted. It does a good job of covering up some of the valve cover but we will have a nicer piece developed when everything is completed.

Thanks for the pics, Kyle. Any ETA for the dyno results?

This news has me butt cised.

Ummm... Yea?

Picture looks great!

Is there a specific reason that there is a straight connection into the resevoir and not an elbow piece?

Probably just because it's still in prototype phase. As you can see there is enough room to cut down the hose so you could tighten that up if you wanted to.

Yeah, I should just wait until it's done. :)
I was just wondering if it was for a reason I didn't yet know.

Thanks for the updates, one thing is for sure, this thread gives extra trust in that you guys know what you are doing and not taking any changes with our engines.

I believe that's the benefit of an air-water intercooler? An air-air would have a pressure drop across it since the compressor is what forces the air through it. Yes I've been doing some reading :happydance:

My question is though, does that intercooler use the same coolant from the radiator? Or does it have its own supply? And what pumps the coolant through that intercooler? Sorry for all the questions Kyle

I have so many questions about that picture haha.

Thanks for the update guys this is great news :tup:

No, the intercooler has it's own coolant system, with a reservoir you can now see, and an electric water pump to keep things flowing.

Here's a diagram:

http://blog.stillen.com/wp-content/g...iagram_450.jpg

:)

True, however you have to keep in mind that we are putting a radiator/intercooler directly in the air path so there was the potential that it could cause a bit of a blockage and reduce the boost pressure. Fortunately though the intercooler is extremely efficient and working perfectly.

As Josh showed the intercooler does have its own isolated coolant path.

Thanks for the updates Kyle & Josh..

See what happens when you throw updates:
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So keep them coming haha

:bump:

great up date with great gains can't wait to see the dyno, im assuming its STD.

Oh and why anyone would want to cover something this sexy with a new engine cover is beyond me, but I guess it wont hurt to offer it.
http://www.the370z.com/attachments/f...mp-sensors.jpg

At first I thought it was going to look like crap, but I'm sure with the production piping it's going to look pretty good!

Yeah once the piping is done this will look great. I only wish the water reservoir would have fit in the fluid compartment under the hood. Its a silly complaint considering how incredible this looks but it would still be a nice touch. I'm sure there is just no room for one with out making a custom fluid reservoir.

great work guys, can't wait for the dyno's!

Is there any concern for leakage from the intercooler in the manifold? Also If there is any defect with it and it ends up pouring coolant down into the combustion chamber is there any warranty for that?

The piping and manifold are fine, but the area right next to the manifold is a bit messy looking. But of course, function takes priority over form.

I'm shocked that GTM is still struggling to make 100bhp over stock while this kit is already making over 100whp, Stillen gets mucho props on this one.

Hold up now, before we start bashing all over again remember, GTM has only run a boost at 5psi and stillen has not even said what boost their 400WHP boost pressure was achieved at besides 'moderate boost'. That could mean 6psi or it could mean 10psi, we just don't know yet. Also, we don't know what correction method they are using for the dyno STD or SAE. I'm guessing its going to be STD because everything they have come out with so far is STD

I'm not saying when the results come in we can't all start talking smack but its still a little presumptuous.

+1

Thanks for the update, guys...looking forward to this being released.

Agreed. GTM's numbers thus far are also with the base level Rotrex on stock cats and exhaust.

There is absolutely no concern about leakage of the intercooler. On the Nissan Titan kit we were using a tube and fin intercooler which was also being used by numerous other supercharger manufacturer's including Magnusson. We had many trouble free years until all of a sudden something changed. The manufacturer was having some serious issues and every single company that we know of has since pulled their intercoolers from them and taken their business elsewhere. We also went one step further on that kit and decided to switch to a bar and plate intercooler for added durability.

Tube and fin intercoolers are good intercoolers, they're basically the same as a radiator. However a bar and plate is much stronger and much more durable. It is a bit more expensive but the benefits outweigh the cost.

To answer your second question regarding what would happen if the intercooler leaked...As I mentioned that did happen on the Titan and on those trucks every customer who had a leaky intercooler received a new bar and plate at no charge and received some additional money for labor. Additionally if anyone lost a motor due to the leaky intercooler (which I think only happened once) then we paid for a new motor.

do pushups. http://www.baseops.net/basictraining/pushup1.jpg

I think you mean bar and plate?

Sorry, you are correct

Thank you very much for your timely response.

I don't understand
 

Now I understand why you kept the type of supercharger a secret for so long. It has been a while since I have been able to check up on this topic and I am a bit disappointed to find that a centrifugal was chosen. Why?

The TVS is nothing short of an evolution in supercharger design yet it was not used. Did Vortec release some ground breaking new design that is on par with the TVS advancments? Or was a centrifugal chosen for ease of mounting, maintaining the stock hood or just because Stillen is more comfortable with them? Was the TVS even tested? How did it compare to the Vortec unit you are using? What made Stillen choose something other than the best?

I am asking because I respect Stillen and I know that you guys did research a lot of different options before picking the Vortec... what made the difference? Please help me to understand.

~Throttle

Just pm me with the $ so I can prepare the funds!!!

I know most parts are prototypes but that intake manifold looks plastic...is it plastic or am i just seeing things. Reason why im asking is on some cars its plastic and it doesnt last long. I doubt it is but im just curious