Nissan 370Z Forum - 800hp Z madness complete (pretty much)

Intro

Well, my Z is finally done. Pretty much at least :rofl2: . My aim for this thread is to provide my experiences with products and companies throughout my little adventure. Hopefully it will be a good source for anyone needing answers in the future. Its going to be a long thread but it should contain some good info.

Its been a long road since I started but heres a small recap:

1) I had the Boosted Performance kit and my engine blew up in Aug. 2015.
2) I built the motor and switched to the AAM twin turbo kit.
3) After a lot of time and A LOT of money got the car running again in Dec 2016.
4) Got the car tuned at Z1 but had to stop due to excessive crankcase pressure blowing the dipstick out.

Here are the threads if you want the long version of the story. There are lots of pics.

http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...0-blew-up.html

http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...o-project.html

I spent more money and time fixing small issues that came up and trying to troubleshoot minor problems that I was having. Finally, I was tuned at Dynosty and ended up making 681whp/550wtq on 93 and 801whp/664wtq on e85!

https://i.imgur.com/TS0ye8S.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Aa0WZ7w.jpg

AAM vs Boosted Performance forced induction kits

I was offered a really cool opportunity from AAM for a partial sponsorship on their twin turbo kit under certain conditions. One of those conditions was to post a review and comparison to the Boosted Performance kit. Now keep in mind these are MY opinions based off my MY experiences with these products. With that being said, lets go...

The Boosted Performance kit is an excellent choice if you're looking for forced induction. I really have nothing bad to say about it. If my motor didnt blow I would be still rocking that kit. Since it did and I decided to build my motor for a few more HP, I decided to switch systems to AAM because in my situation it made more sense. I had the v1 kit and it would have needed some modifications to meet my goals.

My personal experience with AAM has been pleasant. There were a few communication mishaps in the beginning with Mike, but that has since been resolved. Patrick at AAM has always been helpful and quick to respond to any questions or messages that I have sent his way. The best way that I found to communicate with AAM was by calling them, although Patrick does respond to emails fairly quickly as well. I never had any issues getting someone on the phone.

My turbo kit was shipped in a timely manner and the packaging was well thought out and labeled. All of the components of the kit were of good quality. Everything that the kit was supposed to come with was shipped with the kit, which was kind of surprising really seeing as how there were so many parts to ship.

As far as an actual comparison lets talk:

I like the BP kit for a big reason. Simplicity. One turbo that is easy to get to for maintenance. Less intercooler piping. It also sounds AMAZING in boost. Response wasn't bad either since the turbo was a twin scroll design. It usually takes a bigger single turbo longer to spool up, but the design helped out a lot in that area. The installation was pretty straightforward. The motor stays inside of the vehicle for installation, which is a good thing for most people doing the install in their garage. For the v1 kit, it took some modification and buying a bigger slower spooling turbo to get more than 600ish whp.

The AAM kit is obviously more involved for installation since you have to remove the motor for the install. The system is also more complex since you have two turbos that are water and oil cooled. The cons of the kit (compared to the single turbo life) are outweighed by the performance of it. Out of the box the stage 1 turbos are capable of 800whp, therefore you can maintain a very quick spool response and also lay down some respectable power on a built motor. Twin turbos are known for their quick spool, especially these EFR turbos. It really counts on and off of the throttle. With a bigger single turbo, it takes more time to get your boost back if you let off of the throttle than with these turbos. The transient response on this kit is pretty awesome, and when boost comes on, it comes on QUICK. I don't really have an apples to apples comparison of the spool because when I had the BP kit I was on stock compression (11:1) vs 10:1 compression now, but I can say the spool on the AAM kit is pretty damn crazy :driving: The AAM kit is more expensive by roughly $2000 though.

I am still working on a minor smoking issue that I'm unsure if is related to the turbo kit or the motor. I think that its turbo related rather than motor related, but AAM has been very helpful thus far and I am confident we will figure it out. I keep getting a little puff of smoke when I push the clutch in and slow for a stop. I also keep getting oil in the charge pipes on the drivers side turbo. I havent checked to see if there is oil in the pipes again recently after I changed some things but Ill keep you guys updated.

Overall, I would say the performance of the AAM kit would drive me to purchase it again if I had to do it all over. Again, I am not saying that the BP kit is a lesser turbo system. Different strokes for different folks. The characteristics of the turbo systems are different and there are pros and cons to both of them. This is like trying to figure out which one of your children you're going to tell the world you love more :roflpuke2: I will say that I did pay for this kit. Im not trying to butter things up so they won't charge me or take it back lol. The partial sponsorship offered it to me at a discounted price though.

Tuning

I have already received questions on why I went to Dynosty after I initially got tuned by Z1. When I originally got tuned by Jon at Z1 earlier in the year we had to cut tuning somewhat short due to my dipstick blowing out and shooting oil everywhere lol. That issue was later fixed by removing the gold check valves from the PCV lines to the valve cover vent that AAM provided me. Some people didnt have the same issues but I did, and thats what fixed it for me. Anyways, I wanted to switch to ECUtek from Uprev for features that Uprev didnt have. I also had my own issues with Uprev. In doing that I decided to have Hal from Dynosty tune my car. The tune that I was able to get from Jon was spot on, but I did have some drivability issues at the lower RPMS and when on/off of the throttle that I later discovered was due to my VVEL not being properly setup (my fault from VVEL installation while building the motor).

After being tuned with ECUtek and a properly setup VVEL, my Z drives pretty amazing now. Drivability outside of boost is done by MAF tuning, and boost tuning is done by the MAP sensor. Look anywhere and you will see that tuning on a MAP sensor for boost is the way to go. On e85 I lose grip in 4th pretty bad. 5th pulls sooo hard. Overall the car drives so smoothly and I'm more than happy after dealing with months of crappy low RPM driving.

I also bough ECUtek connect and let me tell you, that $hit is cool. Something about being able to monitor selected ECU parameters and being able to datalog via bluetooth is awesome. No cords or laptops to have to worry about and I can go into it anytime I want to since the app is through my phone. It also reads trouble codes and you can setup a "dashboard" to view chosen gauges. Really cool stuff. I did have some trouble once connecting to it though. I havent had much time to play around with it yet, but hopefully thats not a big issue.

Dynosty

I feel like Dynosty isn't talked about much. You always hear about the usual guys like Z1 and Specialty Z when it comes to tuning. Admin Tuning is really big on Facebook. But for some reason you don't hear about Dynosty much, which is a SHAME people! Let me explain...

I have followed Dynosty for quite a while but have never really looked too much into them since Z1 was taking care of my needs. When I was toying around with switching over to ECUtek I talked with Donnie Clem who had nothing but good things to say. I figured I would give it a shot because I remember from my 350z days the guys on the forums would praise Hal and his "Halibrations". I called them up and scheduled an appointment.

I cannot say how pleased I am with Dynosty. Going in with no real knowledge of the guys that run the place or what to expect with Dynosty in general, I was blown away. Their level of professionalism exceeded any expectations that I had. Everyone there didnt seem too busy to talk to you and seemed passionate about what they are doing. Im an annoying dude, but I felt welcome with these guys. Any questions that I had were answered thoroughly and everyone there seemed eager to share their knowledge and experience. Sometimes you get the guys in a shop that almost seem stuck up and arrogant, or treats you like you don't know anything, and these dudes were the complete opposite. Another thing that I'm impressed with is the fact that the business was so well run by a bunch of younger guys. No offense to the younger guys here as I am still a young man myself, but thats usually something that comes with time and experience. The office area was clean and neat, and the shop area was almost spotless. There weren't a bunch of tools laying around or fluids spilled on the ground. I got regular calls from Hal to let me know the progress being made. At the end of the experience Hal explained the dyno chart to me in relation to his tuning, why the numbers were what they were, asked if I had any questions, and addressed any concerns that I had.

I have nothing at all but good things to say about Hal and the guys at Dynosty. A++ for them. I would highly recommend going there if you are looking around for a shop.

Build List

Ohhh the build list.... I wanted to use good components because I wanted to do it right the first time. I sourced these parts from numerous different places looking for the best prices and what not. Anyways, here we go.

Turbskies
-Standard stage 1 AAM twin turbo kit

Engine
-Carrillo A-beam rods
-10:1 JE Pistons
-ARP L19 head studs
-ARP main studs
-Calico coated OEM bearings
-JWT C1 cams
-ATI Super Damper
-Z1 34 row oil cooler
-EPS throttle bodies
-EPS oil galley gaskets
-Omni 4 bar map sensor
-Boundry Pumps billet oil pump gear
-AAM 4 inch single exhaust
-OS Giken twin disc clutch
-RJM clutch master cylinder
-Z Speed HD CSC

Fuel
-CJM road race pump
-CJM S2.SE fuel system
-CJM billet fuel pump hat
-ID 1300cc injectors
-Walbro 450 added to the RRP
-Walbro 255 in place of factory pump to feed RRP

Conclusion

Its been a long, hard, expensive journey, and I'm not quite done yet, but I can at least drive it like I stole it now :driving: Ive never driven a car that is more fun to drive. Its so responsive and powerful. Im pretty sure that if I floor it in second, I stop the spin of the earth for a split second. No joke. Nothing but smiles and Tech N9ne coming from my car. I get the advantage of having a quick responsive car while still having monster power! :icon14: I credit that to top notch parts working in conjunction with each other, and having a well "Halibrated" tune. :tup:

There are a lot of companies and people who have contributed parts (not for free lol) and information to me to make this happen. First off I would like to thank AAM for the sponsorship opportunity. I was surprised when it was offered to me and I hope that I can help anyone interested in the AAM kit, since thats what I'm supposed to do anyway lol. My homie Jon at Z1 hooked me up on a lot of parts and answered many of my dumb questions. Not to mention the hook up on my break in tune, so thanks to Jon and the guys at Z1. Charles at CJM was invaluable when it came to working out my fuel system. We talked on the phone for around 30 mins about adding a pump to the RRP and how to do it since no one at the time had added a pump to the RRP yet. Charles is the man when it comes to fuel. Seriously, just buy your fuel stuff from him. He knows his stuff and is a major pioneer for our platform. Support guys like him people! Obviously thanks to the guys at Dynosty. Y'all are awesome! Last but not least, thanks to you guys on the forums. I have done countless hours of research on this forum and have gotten much needed advice from you guys and your builds! Thanks guys!

Anyways, I know this was long but I wanted to share. If anyone has any questions or comments let me know.