HP Upgrades For Non Turbo Z32

Nissan 300ZX technical discussion forum: Maintenance, performance, installations, modifications, how-to's and troubleshooting.
JGug1
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2015 6:28 am
Car: Z31,

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I have just recently been blessed with new to me Z32 non turbo. I also have a Z31. "She" isn't going to like reading this but I absolutely love the Z32. I bought it from near Chicago with under 50K miles on it and drove it back to Kansas City. Weather has been bad and I have hardly driven it. Today I took it down to my restoration shop to show it to my guys and had one of them drive it. He liked it a lot but wondered if there might be bolt on or mods that could get more hp out of it. I don't intend to drive it a lot because it is close to being collectible, albeit not ever going to have the value of a twin turbo. So, I don't want to do any extensive mods. I'll ask uncle Google but you will likely have better suggestions.
Thanks.
JG


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NolimitZ32
Posts: 7112
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:07 am
Car: 91 AG2 2+0 TTMT swap/E39 BMW 540i6/E53 4.6is Dinan S3
Location: Houston, TX

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The only thing worth the money is a TT or V8 Swap. You can do all of the bolt-ons and dyno tuning and under-driving and so on and so forth and you will get maybe 40 extra HP at the rear wheels. The NAs don't respond well to powergainer mods. Most NA owners go for suspension and aesthetic mods.

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DCaff300ZX
Posts: 4229
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:18 am
Car: .
1993 CRP TT- Modified
Location: Tacoma, Washington

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Welcome!
Realize also that modifying the car from OEM destroys any collectible value the car may have, and that NA's value really doesn't increase so much compared to TT's and the slicktop (non-T-Top) versions. Top value for a sub-50K mile, completely unmolested NA is probably around $12-13K in reality, although some may decide to pay more for a car they really like/want...not much compared to a same condition TT that may fetch nearer to $20K if the right condition and leather interior.
Best bet for an NA is what NoLimit suggests, or swapping in something strange and awesome for a unique ride if you have those skills...but all will not result in increased value, just increased grins, waves and "awesome car" comments, and getting shoved back in the seat harder.

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Woodnutz78
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:51 am
Car: 1991 Nissan 300ZX TT MT
Location: Franklin County, PA

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Ditto on what the guys are saying above regarding NA power contraints... Typical bolt-ons are easy. A single POP charger intake is cheap enough for whatever gain you would get. Exhaust is also easy, but gets expensive pretty fast. To potentially save some money on exhaust if you decide to go for it, you can check the classifieds here or on twinturbo.net - IMO, the latter has more activity. As an example, while it's a much less significant piece, I had three options for a replacement PS cowl within a few days of posting a "wanted" ad. Yes, it's used and not perfect, but MUCH less expensive than a new one.

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Woodnutz78
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:51 am
Car: 1991 Nissan 300ZX TT MT
Location: Franklin County, PA

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...I'm also getting a spoiler from one of the awesome dudes on this site. From what I have experienced in my brief time of ownership (just bought my TT in June), we seem to have a strong sense of community among Z32 owners. Generally speaking, if people can help out, they will.

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DCaff300ZX
Posts: 4229
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:18 am
Car: .
1993 CRP TT- Modified
Location: Tacoma, Washington

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Woodnutz78 wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:51 am
Ditto on what the guys are saying above regarding NA power contraints... Typical bolt-ons are easy. A single POP charger intake is cheap enough for whatever gain you would get. Exhaust is also easy, but gets expensive pretty fast. To potentially save some money on exhaust if you decide to go for it, you can check the classifieds here or on twinturbo.net - IMO, the latter has more activity. As an example, while it's a much less significant piece, I had three options for a replacement PS cowl within a few days of posting a "wanted" ad. Yes, it's used and not perfect, but MUCH less expensive than a new one.
In reality the POP charger has been shown to not really increase HP, it's more about freer flow and the ability to clean it and keep going rather than replace more restrictive filters constantly, and the exhaust scenario is pretty similar in that a freer flow and better sound are the two main benefits from an exhaust change in addition to replacing rusted metal.
Nissan took the VG30DE to it's limit basically with their tech (intake manifold design/runner length, variable valve timing, and other small things) at the time, with turbocharging the general best path for more power and performance.
Yes, some have spent the time and $$$$$$$ to build some pretty wild NA motors, NoLimit has informed me of some of them and we had a member years ago (Artic Dragon, his posts could be searched) who went VERY far with his but the gains for the $$$ spent do not match turbocharging gains, and there was a LOT of research and some ballsy things done in his case to net what he got.
Bottom line is it works best to make an NA as best it can be as it is more or less, and if wanting a power gain look at swaps to TT or other platform to get that.


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