New to the Z32 and have some tuning questions.

[Jessed518]

Hello 300zx people. I am soon going to be buying a 1990 300zx twin turbo. I have been reading about all of the mods we can do with this car and I am excited about the capabilities. I currently have a 2007 mazdaspeed 3 I have been tuning so I wanted to make some connections to see how different the tuning will be. One thing I have noticed looking in the Z1 store is that even with a 500 hp pack, there is still no provision for actually tuning the AFRs and such. I realize that I can buy a separate tuning computer such as the AEM stand alone, and even tune with an SAFC. But my question for that would be can this car safely run those mods by simply using what they sell you? If I am correct the car should make fuel adjustments by reading the amount of air passing through the MAF sensor but this is a crude way of increasing boost and will result in rich rich conditions. I see they have that stock ECU upgrade where you can change the chip you put on and such, but the only thing it asks you is what injectors you are running and what intake. This does not really seem like enough information to give you a reliable "tune" especially with upgraded turbos. Does anyone use just these chips for basic tunes? or do most people find it better to use a stand alone from the get go? any info would be appreciated, thanks!

[BigTDogg (MA)]

any info would be appreciated, thanks!

Basic tunes are a good starting point, and tend to err on the side of richness for safety. JWT, SpecialtyZ, and Ztuner have the best ECU upgrades for our cars. Once you get the ECU socketed, you can switch the EPROM (chip) whenever you like. From there you can add a SAFC and do your own AFR fine tuning.

A custom tune from a tuner, SpecialtyZ (cali) or Ztuner (florida) is your best bet without getting too heavy into the tuning of things.

To DIY with maximum flexibility without going to a standalone, get the product known as NISTune. It allows you to change all the parameters in your ECU with a laptop.

You're right about the closed-loop air/fuel system the Z32 uses. Air is measured through the MAF, fuel is added accordingly, O2s are read, fuel is adjusted etc etc. But like I said, basic tunes, even from JWT and SZ and the like are meant for general applications, and not tuned to your specific car.

[Jessed518]

Ok thank you for the info. I think I will do the stock ecu upgrade at first and then switch to the AEM computer when I go with new turbos. (I know a guy locally who went to school for the AEM computers).
It sounds like this car is going to be a hell of a lot easier to tune than my mazda. Thank god, I need to get away from these high tech modern ECUs.

[evildky]

they Z1 kit includes a rempapped ecu chip, it's not how you get the most out of the tune it's just how you get it better, the beuaty of a mas air flow managment system is you can swap to larger turbo's and it will compensate, the Z1 or similar chip will lean things otu a bit but leaves a lot on the table in order to offer a plug and play solution, a full stand alone or romulator is a far better way to get the most out of your particular setup

one a side note, you mention your mazdaspeed 3, how do you like it? for a FWD station wagon they are pretty sweet but I heard that their ecu's were a tricky one to rune and that the cobb and other units had very limited range within whihc to work?

[txQ45]

Just thought I'd throw in Nistune and that there is a long time Tuner that was one of the first on Nico to program the EcU for the Q45.....www.aaa-hiperformanceauto.com just another choice that's been around longer than the others except for Jim Wolf..
Back before Dr. Berkmire owned Nico and the Q45 guys where on Yahoo. wow .