Performance Advice

[xxvengxx]

I've owned my 1993 300ZX NA for about 2 years now and am now looking to do some performance upgrades. I'm just having trouble on what products to use and in what order. I've heard that stillen makes the best exhaust systems, both headers and cat-backs. I've heard that Jim Wolf Tech makes the best ECU and intake for the car. I only have 2 things done on the car, I put in the high performance cats and just the underdrive lightweight pulley. I'm not sure what my next step should be... please help also other brands people have liked, thanks

[freakonaleash1187]

Depends on how much money you want to spend. But I would not go with Stillen headers as I have seen pics of some crappy headers that people got from Stillen. Headers off of ebay are even better quality, but if I were to get headers, I would get the AMZ headers: https://www.amzperformance.com...0c6dd&

As for exhaust, you can go with about any name-brand company like HKS, Stillen, or Borla. There are many exhaust to choose from for the Z. Or if you have about $1200 to spend on exhaust, I personally believe that the Specialty Z exhaust is the best exhaust out there for the Z. http://specialtyz.com/catbacks.htm

As far as ECU and intake, JWT is the best ECU on the market. Our NICO sponsor, http://www.splparts.com has the best price for the JWT Popcharger.

But personally, I wouldn't really worry about power upgrades on an N/A. I would focus mainly on suspension with the N/A, as I am doing.

[phanatikz32]

I havent heard of stillen making good exhaust parts? i know their side mounts are good. but id have to recomend HKS, Borla, Greddy, etc. many of the main manufacturers make excellent products thats why they are the main manufacturers . jim wolf does make many high quality electrical products and i think they do good pop chargers and intakes aswell. as for performance unless you plan on tt swaping your car, i wouldnt concentrate on much performance, because the cars not going to get much faster without turbos or nitrous, or a serious engine overhaul. also this depends alot on what you want to do with the car...time attack, drifting, drag, or just show.... you should decide a direction you want to go in and then research mods from there. for example if you want to time attack or drift, then your first step should be suspension, brakes and tires. if your planning on drag then of course engine work would be neccessary. if your all show, then youd prob. be looking at bodykits, rims, candy paint t.v's and **** ! but you see what im saying

[xxvengxx]

ok, I should have specified more my plans.....I'm not looking for a drag race car, nothing to take to the track and run around, just a street car with some balls. These were the things I am planning on doing:

- headers- cat-back- intake- ECU- lightweight flywheel

and then later:

extrude honed plenumsmild cams

I want to avoid nitrous and turbos, although I'm more open to a TT swap than I am to nitrous.

I'm not looking to do a heck of a lot with the exterior. I want to keep it close to stock, But I may switch the front panel out when I get a new intake (thinking it will improve airflow into the engine) and I want to get the HID conversion (also any ideas on where to get these would be helpful)

I know these upgrades aren't going to make it a race car and I'm not looking to be able to beat out everything out there. I guess I'm looking to upgrade it as much as possible without messing with nitrous, turbo or heavy duty motor work.

Thanks

[phanatikz32]

oh, ok wasnt sure of your purpose...um...how much hp do you want to gain be4 you stop improving? because all the mods you listed will give you maybe 50 hp, at the most and thats if you do an full exhasut system not just headers and cat back, downpipe and testpipe could give you a little more hp cuz of better airflow of course. im assuming your talking about high air flow intake manifolds when you say "extrude honed plenums". and im sure that and cams will give you a good boost but with all mods there you might be able to get 80 hp. i would avoid nitrous all together because it destroys your engine if used improperly and if used properly is still not good for your engines longevity. turbos are completely safe with proper boost. and you should be safe with your stock front bumper but i wouldnt knock you if you changed it, i will eventually do a full bodykit when i feel im satisfied with my cars performance. but im sure your car will be a mean street machine though not a track monster when your done with these mods!

p.s. also consider electric fans, and light weight crank pulley. those are also small hp gains. because of weight reduction.

[xxvengxx]

I'm curious why you recommend the AMZ headers and the specialty Z exhaust, I'm open to it, just wanted to know facts or experiences you've noticed, thanks. also what anyone thinks the proper order to install upgrades as I have gotten mixed opionions on this, thanks

[nsrZ32]

We'll I've got a lot of Z32 experience, been doing this for years. Not sure that really matters but here's my recommendations.....

Headers - I'd take the AMZ headers over the Stillen ones, but stillen is a close 2nd.

Exhaust - its an absolute no brainer.....HKS Hiper. Great price, amazing flow, best performing exhaust on the market for the Z32 bar none.

Intake - JWT is pretty good for the money but also check into Apex-i and HKS.

ECU - JWT is the best out there. Simple as that. Z1 also sells a chip but I'd strongly recommend JWT.

Flywheel - Fidanza makes a great aluminum flywheel and the price is right.

As for HID's, I've got a set that'll fit the Z32, e-mail me and we'll talk

[freakonaleash1187]

These are actual pictures of Stillen headers for a Z that a guy posted up at 3ZC. I will never even think about getting Stillen headers after seeing these.

[nsrZ32]

^ Holy lack of quality control lol

[phanatikz32]

wow thats riddiculous, didnt someone say that stillen was a close second?

but hey NSRZ32 how much are the hks hiper, and do they have turbo and non turbo models? becuase i need to replace my exhaust and i might be running a little rich if i put 3" diameter piping on my NA.

[nsrZ32]

but hey NSRZ32 how much are the hks hiper, and do they have turbo and non turbo models? becuase i need to replace my exhaust and i might be running a little rich if i put 3" diameter piping on my NA.

HKS Hiper is pretty cheap last time I checked. Check out MVP Motorsports, they're a sponsor and a certified HKS dealer, they'll hook you up.

As for sizing, its 2.5" for both NA and TT as honestly, 3" is over kill for a TT as you're running true dual. Do you really need 6" of exhaust on anything? Nope.

[phanatikz32]

i checked out mvp, is 700 really the best price i can get for this exhaust? and also does it come with silencers? do you know of any site that has a sound clip so i can hear how loud it is? got any vids, of your car in action?

[nsrZ32]

^ here ya go

Its got a good tone around town...nice and deephttp://videos.streetfire.net/v...6.htm

[NSR_s30]

^ Holy lack of quality control lol

WTF...looks like Pacesetter crap to me.

[evildky]

thats pretty common with a lot of the lower end american v8 headers, just plan to spend some time grinding to get full use of them

[phanatikz32]

lol that was a long video of nothing , but the exhaust sound great! your car is badass man! no cats? that was a huge mass of exhaust fumes when you took off from that stop sign towards the end of that vid!

[xxvengxx]

ok, got another question....... my car is running rich and I can't find how or why. I think I have a vacuum leak right by the driver side rear ignition coil (right next to the cowl) but I can't find exactly where it is, each plug is getting spark ( I know this because when I disconnect the connecter, the idle drops). I just replaced my plugs with new Bosch plugs (that's what I had in it before).

Here's what I'm experiencing:

a slightly rough idle, it kinda puts, sorta backfires, I guess (low poping noises)

when I try and idle the car at 2 grand is the worst, rough idle, car vibrates.

The last time a car of mine did this was when I had my 82 camaro, turned out it needed a timing adjustment and new plugs, but I don't know if there's a way to adjust the fuel air mixture in the Z.

I'm open to getting another set of plugs if that's the problem, I just dont' want to spend the time and money if that not going to fix it.

Any advice would be helpful

thanks again

[freakonaleash1187]

Do a diagnostic check on your ECU to see if you come up with any codes:

http://www.ttzd.com/tech/diagnostictech.html

[xxvengxx]

I did the test yesterday, when I first did it, it came up with code 33 (O2 Sensor, left side), then I progressed to starting the car and the LED turned off (running to rich, DUH). After cycling through, I guess I erased the error code because a few hours later when I ran the same test it gave me code 55 (no faults in above circuits), but still showed it was running rich. Could the O2 Sensor cause the car to run rich even if it's part of the exhaust? Or Am I way off on the purpose of an O2 sensor?

[xxvengxx]

Ok, I have conflicting info now....... the papers I have on my ECU and tests and whatknot say when the LED is off, that means it's running to rich, but the site that was just given to me says the mixture is too lean, which should I trust? for the record the LED is off!

Also, maybe notworthy.

When I was running the test on the left side holding it at 2 grand with the idle rough, at about minute 2 the engine smoothed out and the check engine light turned on, after continuing, the light would come on, then turn off, but like 5 times in a minute, not 10 seconds like the instructions say....right now the check engine light remains off....

[freakonaleash1187]

If you have a bad O2 sensor, it will cause the car to no run right. The purpose of the O2 sensor is to let the ECU know what is in the exhaust, and so the ECU changes the fuel/air mixture accordingly, and if you have a bad O2 sensor, your ECU will get the wrong signals.

What made your believe your car is running rich in the first place?

[xxvengxx]

the smell of gas under the hood makes me think it's running rich....... but which info should I go by??? is it running rich or lean? if it's running lean, I shoul adjust what I'm looking for.....

[xxvengxx]

ok, the daily update.......

tested the car again today, still getting 55 ( no codes ), but today it was running properly, no poping, rough idle at 2 grand, smooth as ice.

Also just found out the Bosch plugs I put in aren't platiums, which is what I was told. I want to get NGK but I'm not sure what to get, I want the best plug (performance and length), I don't want the iridiums because I heard they don't last that long, but what's the difference between the platium and double platium. I also want to replace the plugs in my 99 I30.thanks

[freakonaleash1187]

Only NGK plugs should be used in Z's. Look through NICO's sponsors and they should be able to hook you up.

[Srowlands]

Ok heres how to check the O2 sensors. Turn on your ignition to on, do not start the motor. Turn your ecu screw just like you did for the diagnostics. Now start the car and warm it up. Run it at about 2000 rpm. The check engine light should start blinking. Count the blinks. If you get 5 blinks with in 10 seconds your driver side O2 sensor is working. Now turn the screw all the way clockwise and then back counter clockwise. This changes it to the passenger side O2 sensor. Do the same test again and see what results you come up with.

[xxvengxx]

I did that!!

It didn't flash like described......

Can I switch from left to right even if the one side isn't testing right?

I'm most likely going to replace both O2 sensors when I replace the headers anyway.

I'm just curious if I can switch from side to side even if the left side isn't testing good.......

I'm ordering those plugs today. I'm still noticing a little bit of a mis when idling. I'm going to go with saying it's the plugs that's causing that until I replace it and it's still doing that, then I'll go with the O2 sensors.....