Testing AAM Midpipes with Short Tails and Z1 Intakes.
 

So I went on a Black Friday splurge and picked up the AAM S Line mid-pipes to go with the short tails I bought. I requested dyno pulls after each mod was completed. Not only that, I had dyno pulls done with each mod separately. In total, I have 4 sets of dyno results. I'm choosing the lowest correction factors, then highest power of each. Correction factors tend to be a tad optimistic.. I'll show uncorrected and SAE values with 0 smoothing. The dyno is set to 4500 ft. I'm not sure if the elevation setting increases power or lowers it, but I'm just throwing it out there.

I don't see more than a 5whp difference with uncorrected values, I see an even smaller difference under SAE. AFR's are on the rich side and have no doubts I'll see more power in a tune, but currently, it's not showing on the dyno. Am I bummed after spending a couple grand in parts and labor? A bit. The car does sound pretty damn good now. It has a nice growl and the tone smoothened out a bit compared with just short tails. I didn't really hear much of a volume increase over the stock midpipes mated with the short tails. The Z1 intake install is probably the easiest of all intakes to install, with the exception being short rams. I'm going to say a good tune should put me around 315-320whp. I think the ECU just really dialed into the older setup and was putting down good power. It hasn't had much time to relearn with the new mods. Those are just my educated guesses. Anyways, I'm anxious to hear some feedback.

First up is a stock baseline with AAM Short Tails.
Uncorrected: 302.67 whp 245.99 lbft tq
SAE values: 307.76 whp 250.13lbft tq
1.02 CF

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...psv2aewpeo.png

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pszdgwcrzo.png

AAM Short Tails with Z1 Intakes
Uncorrected: 307.76 whp 250.00 lbft tq
SAE Values: 305.86 whp 248.45 lbft tq
.99 CF

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pshctcequz.png

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pskyf1uizy.png

AAM Short Tails with AAM Mid Pipes
Uncorrected: 302.25 whp 246.05 lbft tq
SAE Values: 306 whp 249.09 lbft tq
1.01 CF

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pstyj3gojw.png

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pszgangbhu.png

AAM Short Tails, AAM Mid Pipes, and Z1 Intakes
Uncorrected: 307.16 whp 249.62 lbft tq
SAE Values: 307.12 whp 249.59 lbft tq
1.00 CF

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...psuiryhn1i.png

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pspc32lygr.png

Lastly, These are all the dyno charts plotted on the same graph, Uncorrected, and SAE

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...psrgjat6en.png

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...psgzzgikde.png

something just isn't adding up here......literally lol

should be gains somewhere with adding intakes and exhaust. was there any tuning done throughout the process or just parts being added?

Pretty sure there was no tuning done. Also I agree there should of been at least a few HP gained.

yea even with zero tuning there still should have been some jump.

I know nothing about the AAM mid-pipe. Is it just a section to go from the factory y-pipe to the tails?

Are you planning on a tune anytime soon ? def should have picked up a bit of power...

its cat back to the tails,the name is a bit misleading. it has two sections, an h pipe and then the mid pipe

after seeing the numbers and whatnot its not bad but for being a nismo tune should be a bit higher. stock cats im assuming so that's holding up some power right there.

Definitely agree with everyone, I was expecting something... lol. I'm still on stock cats right now and no tuning was done. When looking at the uncorrected numbers, on the chart with all the runs, you can see the intakes are adding power up top. On both dyno plots on the uncorrected graph that has Z1 intakes, it's making more power up top. When we start looking at SAE results, everything gets masked in calculations.

Edit: Those cats are definitely bottlenecking the exhaust. I guarantee opening that up would gain at least 10whp no tune on RTP's or TP's. It's almost like confirmation that to get more power over a Nismo exhaust with an aftermarket exhaust, you need to replace your cats.

subbed. I want to see this tuned on ECUtek.

Also a little strange there seems to be little to no gains with any of these mods.

I went full bolt-on prior to FI and I can say without a doubt that swapping the stock cats for HFCs was the single biggest NA mod.

Wow that's shocking

I wouldn't be to butt hurt as those numbers are pretty darn good without a tune. Not many see 300 plus whp until after a tune.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Yea 307 isn't bad for numbers.

I believe mine with intakes and exhaust no tune baselined at 309whp then the tune unleashed a good bit more.

I'll drive it around for a few weeks and let it learn. It's only $50 for a few pulls

Isn't it true that with each new breather mod, the gains are not as significant?

Also, anybody have a relative idea of what kind of gains the OP can expect with a tune?

This was the case with my Z. I swapped out the stock cats for HFCs, after replacing the CBE, and I noticed an immediate improvement in how the engine performed. Night and day.

:iagree:
The car wont breathe better without long tubes or test pipes that is why there are no gains the flow is restricted by stock cats, my :twocents:

With test pipes you should at 10 to 15whp or better. I saw 312 will Z1 smooth tubes K&N drop in filters, Art pipes and m370.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

This was my exact plan as I have the Z1 intake and short tails already. Hoping to pick up the AAM mid pipe relatively soon. This news makes me sad :shakes head:

But as you guys said, 307 hp isn't bad without a tune. I guess I was being unrealistic thinking I would get in the 310 315 range without tune.

Great update, excited to see what a tune does! :tup:

It won't breath better without unchoking the OEM cats. Mine saw dramatic improvement with HFCs so you don't have to completely dump them to see gains. You just have to get rid of the OEM cats which are the biggest restriction in the system.

^^^^I agree, hfc or tp are the key to maximizing whp when it comes to the exhaust system.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Looks like Art Pipes are my next mod as test pipes will be a little to raspy with the short tails :rolleyes:

has anyone else here with the Z1 intake tuned their vehicle? I'm debating on whether to go AAM vs Z1. Currently, I have the Injen setup.

Honestly, the AAM's were my first choice. I bought these because the black Friday deal wasn't going to make me butt hurt over a couple HP after a tune. I do like the filter design and there is no cutting required.

I should be getting my set in today.

There were three pulls done each time. I have all the DRF's if you want to take a closer look.

The baselines were taken on a Saturday, everything else was Monday around noon to afternoon.

I plan on running a few more pulls when I'm back in town. I can see the intakes making more power up top where the common flat spot is.

Pretty sure I saw that they were done in 4th gear but I could be wrong.

Sent :) Also TerribleONE is correct. They were all in 4th.

Honestly after I had my LTH cbe and stillen Gen 3 intakes installed and tune I only made 309whp.. Granted I made more torque I still feel 3300 for parts and labor is alot for such small gains.

So I finally added AAM resonated test pipes to the car. I had the car dyno tested after install to determine any power gains. It was a little warmer and more humid today than the last time I had a dyno done, so it may not reflect as well as it could. I asked for a before and after, but yeah... I don't have the DRF's available for this run yet. I'm going back to the shop tomorrow morning because some *** hat didn't tighten the bolts on my H-pipe and now I have a gasket hanging where it connects to my midpipe. The car doesn't sound all that great atm. I'll wait till it's fixed and broken in over the next week or two before I pass judgement. Currently, it sounds like ****. It's like the car developed a sore throat. Anyhow... As far as improvements go. The only dyno plot I have is in STD. I cross referenced it with the best run I had with my last pulls. The results are:

315.68WHP 258.12lbft TQ in STD with 0 smoothing.

My last pull in December was:
314.17WHP 255.34lbft TQ in STD with 0 smoothing.

This is still untuned. AFR's start out a bit lean and then settle into about 12 after 6krpm. The dyno plot looks remarkably smooth for 0 smoothing and being untuned.

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...psgkzwauga.jpg

So again, minimal gains are showing. I'll know for sure once I can dig a little deeper and get a better idea of what the CF was and the conditions. In SAE, I'm guesstimating about 308-309WHP and 256lbft TQ. I have no clue why I'm not getting the power improvements some other guys get with the same type of mods. I'm not saying my power is bad, it's not that at all, but I was expecting more than a 4-5WHP improvement from just short tails to mid pipes, test pipes, and intakes. Have at it, I'm at a bit of a loss lol.

Different dynos read different i guess

Same dyno, different days.

I wouldn't worry about it much, dynos are not precision instruments. They can easily vary +-3% day to day. And since were talking mods that only add about 3% at best it's very hard to actually get a consistent measurement. Dynos are in a garage exposed to the elements, they are not kept indoors in a climate controlled environment with a strict maintenance and cleaning regiment.

Seems fine to me. Once you're tuned all of gains you're expecting will show.

Decided to just Eff it and get a tune. See below for results. This is definitely a big improvement. I converted the numbers into SAE to cross reference the other graphs better. Car is still loud AF, I need to fix that. It really only sounds good balls out or just a small bit of throttle. I'll see how it sounds later on though.

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pswm65eyie.png

So, I wanted to come back and revisit my observations. I didn't have much time last night.

1. The short tails made power. I don't know how much, but enough to make a notable difference and affect the gains of the corresponding mods.

2. The Nismo exhaust is very efficient. I did not see it as a restriction point after replacing it with the larger 2.5" AAM exhaust of the same design. There were no gains without tuning.

3. The Z1 intakes did not initially show a power increase, but the curve of the dyno adjust slightly at the top of the power band, indicating the car was breathing better. Again I saw that the stock intakes were not the restriction point to magically increase power

4. The AAM resonated test pipes increased torque by 2-3lbft and 1hp. This is within a margin of error. Again, I did not see a notable increase without tuning.

5. The AFR changes with an intake and exhaust were minimal. The AFR changes with the test pipes were notable until about 3500 rpm. The ECU did a fair job compensating for the changes. The ECU did not see to adjust magically to make power. It richened up the AFR. There is no flat spot above 6500 rpm, noting that that restriction no longer exists. Tuning on average made 9whp and 9lbft across the entire power band.

6. Tuning unlocked 12whp and 12lbft of tq. It wasn't until after tuning that power from the mods were showing. The AFR's were adjusted to around 13, fine for NA.

For reference, I added another dyno graph of a later pull on the same day as the tuning with identical conditions. The results are in STD.

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...pshyallkmj.png

If I'm ever in the Tampa area again visiting Z Fever would love to see the car!