Best bang for your buck mod combo
 

Sold my 04 STI and got back into a Z today. I'm trying to gain as much midrange torque as possible. From reading on here the last few years, Im thinking a Motordyne intake manifold paired with some HFCs would be a good setup on the cheap. Would be nice and quiet when I want it to be but would still put a smile on my face going WOT.

I'd appreciate any input. Especially from those who can speak from experience. Thanks.

Think you'd go way cheaper and be better off with post MAF tubes, new filters and test pipes. Pretty sure the post MAF tubes and new filters were shown to give better low to mid end power compared to the stillen intake which gave gains in the high RPM's.

You can get ........ ones for 200 some odd bucks or find some good used HFC's or test pipes here on the sale forum, so that'd be less than 500 bucks total coupled with tubes and filters from Z1.

test pipes are the best bang for the buck imo

Test pipes but you will have to get a tune. If you don't it will be throwing codes all the time.

+1 for test pipes, definitely best bang for buck mod. Other than that, fast intentions catback seem to have very good gains as well!

Manifold, HFC, Catback, and tune you're already near $3000 if not more.

Spend a few more and get this.
http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...l-release.html
http://www.the370z.com/group-buys/68...group-buy.html

This is what i call a "real" best bang for buck.

testpipes
post maf tubes
lightweight flywheel
4.08 gears

High performance driving school :p

K&N Drop ins, tubes, motordyne (or DEpointfive0) intake manifold, used Nismo cat back (from a Nismo Z). Block off all the resonators on the intake tract...


You'll have a big fat torque curve (relatively speaking) and plenty of intake howl at high throttle input to make lots of noise for you without being any louder than stock in normal driving. Peak HP will be in the neighborhood of 290-295 WHP with area under the curve being hugely improved.

Then you can do some HFC's later.

Best bang for the buck.

1. K&N panel filters (~$100)
2. Cobb (or similar) smooth intake tubes (~$200)
3. ebay test pipes (warning -- raspy!) (~$75-$150)
4. Nismo (pass on the S-tune, get the OEM "take off", picked up used -- ~$300-$550)

Total cost: Under a grand

Results:

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...k-n-tp-cbe.jpg

Note 1: That is actually a bit lower -- add another 3-5 whp/wtq for the tubes. That dyno is before the tubes were added.

Note 2: If you are worried about rasp, pick up a set of used resonated test pipes for a bit more $$.

Note 3: Most of those gains were from the K&N and TP's mods, so if your budget is really tight, just go with those.

Oh, and some lighter weight rear rotors... Those will add WHP as well.

Budget's around a grand. If given the choice, would you guys go with a cheaper intake setup or the Motordyne manifold? From what I understand, the manifold on a stock car gives big midrange gains.

Definitely going with HFCs to stay legal and open up the exhaust a bit.

I wouldn't recommend changing the IM without tuning. You will almost definitely gain mid range but lose top end without tuning.

HFC's will net gains similar to TP's. Again, if you are leery of rasp, get resonated HFC's.

Thanks. Didn't realize you needed tuning with the manifold.

You don't....

Tuning is great for everything, you will always get more performance out of a tune.

There isn't a single N/A mod (within certain limits and with certain notable exceptions) that REQUIRES a tune.

Certainly nothing discussed in the this thread requires a tune.

I believe the member edub370z got up to 321whp/268tq by adding

the ebay CNT Catback for $500-600
&
Test Pipes= $150-250

Intakes (He has injen but K&n plus MaF will do the same)- $100-180

326Whp Actually :tup:

Nice. Appreciate the input.

will tuning void ECU warranty or any that will be affected by doing it? do you need tuning when you install post-maf tube and cbe? thanks!

Depends on the dealer. The risk is the dealer can say that the ECU is void, and if they choose, also anything else downstream from it (which is tons of stuff). YMMV. It's just a risk and you weigh for your situation.

Do you need a tune with CAI and CBE only? The general answer is that it's not required but wouldn't hurt performance, so it's up to you (a few say you most def don't need it and are better off resetting the ecu).

Add TPs or LTH to that and most say you're now required to get a tune to be safe and keep the engine happy, i.e., fix afr etc.


Tapatalk2 ...

thanks! what if TP and CBE only?

Hey edub370z

Did you get a tune with this setup? Also do you have any sound clips or drone/rasp issues with the CNT Catback system?

This sounds like the perfect setup for my Z as long as the exhaust sounds good and there's no rasp/drone issues. :tup:

You added almost 50whp with a full exhaust and intake?

id get garageline X/mid pip, nismo muffler, and post maf tubes....if you want to add test pipes too.........all under a 700....id skip the drop ins

Replacing the OEM cats with anything is the big one, making a tune either highly advisable or necessary -- the OEM cats are both the biggest bottleneck in the exhaust system (dramatic change in flow, head temps, etc) as well as monitored constantly by the ECU.

For a CBE, it's not really necessary, nor is it for panel filters and smooth tubes, although you will get better results for both if you do.

If you swap out the factory airboxes entirely (i.e., replace them with after market intakes) its a good idea to get a tune to ensure airflow is being metered properly.

gtm, really? :rofl2:

and tp's ... i pretty much have the same setup and im at 324whp

Well, his post was over 2 years old, which I assume was before all the crap went down.

good point lol... i missed that part :roflpuke2:

:owned:

i want to hear more about this 50whp gain with intake and exhaust...

intakes, cbe, and test pipes + tune will give you about 30-40whp.

the Z loses about 15-16% hp. so if you have 332hp to the crank, to the wheels the z gets about 280whp.

the guy they were mentioning states he has a cbe, intakes, and tp's but people can't read.

so test pipes, cat back exhaust, intakes and a tune should yield 50 more hp??? wow.. i'm new to the VHR... so this makes me pretty :happydance:

it can... also depends on the dyno that's used.

Best way to add power, a high reading dyno. ;)
IMO that's where we get our NA WHP leaders from.
A more accurate measure would be % change but few people do all their mods at once or say on the same dyno. Two different dynos on two different days and I can gain (or lose) 10 whp or 3% variance.

:iagree:

Yes, and IMO the tune added a bunch. also the day i dyno'd was a cooler day. (50's IIRC). remember, measuring HP has soooo many variables (hell i have lighter wheels, maybe that helped?). It has made a seat of the pants difference over a stock z tho.

this is the vid of my car with test pipes and a cent cat back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK9x16xDtlg

side note/ramble session:

i never really do this, but this cat back has been awesome. i just looked at the date of this vid and it was 4 years ago. and this exhaust still looks brand new (literally). sound is great. i got to drive my dd behind my Z the other day and i was so happy to just be able to stay behind it and listen to it. I have to give credit where credit is due. and on a $600 exhaust, i didn't expect it to be as good as it was