Nissan 370Z Forum - How do you tune a Z-car?

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- - How do you tune a Z-car? (http://www.the370z.com/tuning/319-how-do-you-tune-z-car.html)

How do you tune a Z-car?

I own a 2006 Mustang GT. I simply buy a tuner with tune included, plug it in, push a few buttons, and voila... I have 25 hp. I then put the tuner away and download anymore customized tunes if the need arises.

How do you tune a Z? Do you have to take the ECU out and send it away to be reprogrammed, or can you do it on the fly like I do with my current Mustang?

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidZ (Post 2174)

A fellow mustang owner... (I own a '00 V6).... We can do the simple OBD2 hand held units.

The Z is definitely a little more tricky. Depending on the EMS you choose they have to be installed and tuned by a dealer. Most units will give you full control over fuel, timing, boost, etc. Some units are piggybacks that use the OEM ECU to control all the basic function, and the piggyback unit modifies the signal before it reaches the engine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slidefox (Post 2180)

Hey man!

That kind of sucks regarding the tuning.

kind of a rookie question here but, these aftermarket tuners, does using them void your factory warranty?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dutty370Z (Post 2455)

kind of a rookie question here but, these aftermarket tuners, does using them void your factory warranty?

Knowing Nissan, anything you do will VOID your warranty!!

If you do a piggyback (Like a UTEC) you probably won't have any issues, but if you do a full standalone (HKS F-Con V-Pro, ProEFI, Haltech) you will probably run into some issues.

Though, if your at the point where you are looking into an aftermarket EMS, I don't think you should be worried about the warranty.... :eekdance:

Cobb makes a hand held tuner for the G37. I would guess they will make one for the Z's also. I THINK they were getting 16 HP to the ground and 11 more pound feet with the Z33's. $600.00 gets you their hand held tuner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Endgame (Post 2738)

another rookie question, does 16 more HP make a huge difference in day to day maneuvering, or is this something that "the track guys" do?

it may.... how's that for a non commital answer?!??

it depends how if you wanna stay n/a or FI, intake, plemum, headers, hfc, exhuast, reflash in the 370z should get you around the 320-330 whp range, but why waste the money on a bunch bolts on save your money and go twin turbo... the twin turbo g37s are gettin 450+ whp on low boost and you can always tune and build the block and get insane hp numbers

Quote:

Originally Posted by dutty370Z (Post 2753)

another rookie question, does 16 more HP make a huge difference in day to day maneuvering, or is this something that "the track guys" do?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FABG37 (Post 3016)

I agree with these number estimates. 320-330whp sounds about right without any major major work.

The thing is that some people aren't looking for huge numbers. I'm not saying you are or arent, my next comment isnt directed at you at all so dont get offended in any way please.

A lot of people like to slap TT's on their car so they can say they have X00rwhp and then make driveby videos on the highway to make sure everyone knows just how much power they have haha. After that they putt back to the city and park it at their favorite hang out. Every now and then they go to the quarter mile track and run 13's still because they cant get any power down. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a really fun car that can light them up in 4th though :).

Other people, like me, are more concerned on whether the car can handle a full track day without melting and whether the torque curve makes you go faster everywhere and not just the straightaways. Don't get me wrong, if I could have a 500whp TT setup that doesnt overheat and has the response of an N/A car, I'd be all over it.

So all in all, while a TT setup would be cool, it may not be advisable for everyone. That would be why someone might be more interested in spending a little more money on other stuff instead of going FI. If youre looking for big power, response and reliability, then you will be spending a whole lot more money (normally) than otherwise. Not to mention that if you crack a ring or a rod with the extra stress from the turbos, then youre going to be looking at lots of $ just to fix the issue. It all depends on what you want the car to do and what your budget is.

Im pretty sure you already knew all that because of the other mods you suggested, so this isnt for you, its for the guys who are new at this. TT's aren't the fix all solve all solutions people sometimes make them out to be.

Also remember that balance can be more important that outright power; where in the RPM band is your power applied. If you track your car, high HP may not get you around the track as quickly as a lower HP, but finely tuned engine.

RCZ stated some of the turbo guys overheat (TRUE) and mainly use their power for bragging rights = TRUE. But you can tune a turbo car to be great at the track also. It just comes down to what you want. I prefer NA and lightly mods with a great tune.

In a tracking scenario, depending where that 16 whp is applied may make a nice difference.

Thanks for all the great responses.

Since I posted this thread, I have come across the Cobb AP reflash tool. Seeing that its a handheld, PnP tuner similar to what my Mustang uses, I'm pretty excited.

I'm not all that enthused about having to send my entire ECU in to be retuned, putting my car out of commision.

Any other thoughts?

nobody is putting his dirty hands on my futur 370Z apart from NOVIDEM... :bowrofl:

he is THE specialist tuner for 350Z in Europe (supercharger kit, free exhaust,...)

NOVIDEM – Hightech-Kompressor-Systeme

If you want THE BEST results from a tune, nothing can beat a dyno tune. These hand held products are a great idea but they have been pre-tuned with estimated changes according to your mods.

UpRev Osiris is an amazing software that should be released for the VQ37VHR very shortly.

dang it skaterbasist lol you beat me to saying about uprev. lol but honestly uprev will give you the best bang for the buck at 700$. Just recently they got up the vqhr support and a stock 07 nismo made 15hp (not sure it whp). Which is amazing ill say. so i wonder how much i can make with test pipes and just a cat back :)

wow RCZ,

i really am a noob at the whole mod thing. excellent post.

^^^ It just takes experience. The more time you take to research this stuff, the more you will learn.

Anyway, I am not a fan of N/A. If you guys want real power, go F/I. There's nothing like feeling the onset of full boost. You go from :driving: to :eek: after mashing the pedal.

BUT... Not everybody can void a warranty and not worry. :tup:

If you decide to tune a car on a chassis dyno make it one that will load the engine. Otherwise you are tuning in a very narrow load range.

Technosquare will hopefully have the 370z tune done before summer :)

we have a couple of tenative volunteers for ECU development..

Cobb should have an Access port out for it soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skaterbasist (Post 20224)

The Cobb AP has this feature also. Sure it comes with preprogrammed tunes but you can also take it to any dyno shop that has AP software and get a custome tune for your car. What most Suby guys do is run the stage 2 tune from cobb and then later take it to a dyno shop to get a custom stage 2 tune done. So the this particular hand held has the best of both worlds. For those who don't want to fuss you can just run the predone tune from Cobb and for those with other mods or looking for more power you can use your Cobb AP to get a custom tune. Also people forget that the cobb AP is more than just a tune, it has many different features that most car guys would like to have.

What's available for the person that wants to tune everything on their own? Is there some software and a diagnostics port cable of some sort?

You are right, but it will cost mucho grande.:icon14:

Quote:

Originally Posted by FABG37 (Post 3016)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidZ (Post 10191)

I can vouch for Cobb. I used to drive a 2005 WRX (which I had to sell unfortuntately) and I bought the AccessPORT to accomodate my modifications, commonly known as Stage 2 (turboback exhaust + AP) in WRX.

It is of good quality and functionality, especially, with the new 2nd version of AP (it used to be a size of a huge brick). You can bring in your car to a professional tuner authorized by Cobb (simply means they tune using the Cobb AP). They upload the custom map in to the ECU via AP.

Another feature I love about AP is you can store multiple maps; load and switch in to your ECU, whenever you need to.

It's quite a useful, very convinient device. Cobb offers "off-the-shelf" maps which is very conservative. But, at least, once you install the modifications to your car (within the parameters of the description of Cobb setup), you can take it for a spin safely, for the glimpse of what is to come after the custom tune.

I know UniChip is coming out with a piggy back that has two settings one for everyday driving and then a setting for track days. You can also DL updates if you install aftermarket exhaust and what not.. Looks pretty good to me not sure what you all think tho. If anyone has used this let me know how it worked out please..

Technosquare INC just finished the initial tune of a 370z prototype.

results are pretty good. i want to wait a few more days and have them run some more tests until the program has finalized before i post dyno sheet... the only modifications this car has is a set of JWT pop chargers. peak gain of just around 10 rwhp. with nearly 15-17+ in the midrange for both torque and hp.

initial release of the program is very soon.. Technosquare also has high flow cats, a stillen exhaust, and other modifications that they are using for dyno testing and tuning variability..

:) stay tuned.. heh..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Endgame (Post 5354)

I am now on your level. I had the fully blown rx7. Flyin down the strip n tail comin out like a bat outta hell. This time with my Z, I want to pull the most power while staying n/a.
Back home, I had my cousin who was my mechanic. I think it n he'd make it possible if he though it be doable for my car..
Now I'm at this myself, do u have any recommendations for 370z exhausts.
I had a stillen in my G35 but honestly, expected jus a tad bit more from my exhaust set up.
I was missing hfc's tho so that might be y?
Which is the lightest good performing exhaust under $2,500
Weight is very important to me. I'm trying to shed 100-150lbs from my Z wen it gets here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCZ (Post 3077)

For you rookie guys, be careful when a manufacturer advertises 16hp versus 16 wheel hp (whp) They are far from the same thing. Unless you are talking to someone who is really in the know (to whom HP means WHP) then simply "hp" means break horsepower, or the actual horsepower that the ENGINE is producing. Remember that to get this "engine" horsepower down to the ground and move the car you have to transfer it through a series of gears (transmission) and then whatever manages not to get lost in the transmission has to make the wheels spin in order to thrust you forward. The more inertia the engine has to overcome, the less power will actually make it through, thats why 19" wheels will rob you of more power than the same exact wheel in its 18" variety. Now, because this is a rear wheel drive car instead of say, an all wheel drive car, the loss in the transmission may be as low as 8-15%. The transmission is much simpler than it would be on an AWD car which in the case of say, a Subaru WRX STI, can be as much as 20-23% of the engine HP. In fact Subaru advertises 300HP from the factory, while in reality, if measured on a dyno, the car only actually makes 220-235WHP stock. I have no idea how much WHP a stock 370Z will make, but most likely, following the 8-15% rule, it will make somewhere around 285-300 rear wheel HP. Most likely a lot closer to that 285rwhp number. I have no idea how much the G37's are making stock at the wheels, but I assume they will loose a bit more power than the 370Z will through their transmission as the Z has lighter, more focused materials such as that carbon fiber driveshaft. Another thing to take into account is that non-turbo (naturally aspirated or N/A) cars don't generally make that much power from these basic modifications. Mods such as intakes, will NOT, in reality get you much more than maybe a 5WHP gain. Exhausts will maybe free up another 10WHP, maybe 15-20WHP with good headers. You get the idea. The only real way to tell what your car is making is to actually test it, you cant just add up what the aftermarket manufacturers say you will get and then claim thats what you have. You cant just add up what other people are getting for WHP from these parts either. 5whp+10whp isnt going to be 15whp, may be less, may be more. (usually less on NA cars)

I do believe COBB, their accessport can do great things so I wouldnt be all that surprised to see a 16whp gain from their software. Stage 1 for them is just the software. Stage 2 is intake, exhaust and software. As expected, COBB stage 2 makes about 295-300WHP. Right on the money. SO can you feel 16WHP, probably just a little bit yeah if you are used to your car and know exactly what it feels like. Can you feel 30whp? definitely.

Dont get thrown off by those loud intakes which make it SOUND like you're going faster, while you may have even lost HP from a poorly designed intake.

Can anyone confirm how much WHP the G37 is making stock?

I agree with these number estimates. 320-330whp sounds about right without any major major work.

The thing is that some people aren't looking for huge numbers. I'm not saying you are or arent, my next comment isnt directed at you at all so dont get offended in any way please.

A lot of people like to slap TT's on their car so they can say they have X00rwhp and then make driveby videos on the highway to make sure everyone knows just how much power they have haha. After that they putt back to the city and park it at their favorite hang out. Every now and then they go to the quarter mile track and run 13's still because they cant get any power down. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a really fun car that can light them up in 4th though :).

Other people, like me, are more concerned on whether the car can handle a full track day without melting and whether the torque curve makes you go faster everywhere and not just the straightaways. Don't get me wrong, if I could have a 500whp TT setup that doesnt overheat and has the response of an N/A car, I'd be all over it.

So all in all, while a TT setup would be cool, it may not be advisable for everyone. That would be why someone might be more interested in spending a little more money on other stuff instead of going FI. If youre looking for big power, response and reliability, then you will be spending a whole lot more money (normally) than otherwise. Not to mention that if you crack a ring or a rod with the extra stress from the turbos, then youre going to be looking at lots of $ just to fix the issue. It all depends on what you want the car to do and what your budget is.

Im pretty sure you already knew all that because of the other mods you suggested, so this isnt for you, its for the guys who are new at this. TT's aren't the fix all solve all solutions people sometimes make them out to be.

I'd just like to say thanks for all the knowledge you share with us. From my short time on this forum, you have consistently put out balanced and accurate information for the true race types to the every day fun in the sun driver of the 370Z. I've learned much from reading your posts and hope to learn even more in the following days. A huge BZ to you! Thanks.