The cars my dd in the spring through summer and I work 58 hours a week. When I bought I never planned in doing anything crazy to it either, until I got it tuned. Then I got an edge to go faster and faster. It happens to all of us eventually.

I haven't had the chance to get to the track yet but the car runs super good and strong. I love the feel of it though.

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS

 

[QUOTE=Wert842;7055921]The cars my dd in the spring through summer and I work 58 hours a week. When I bought I never planned in doing anything crazy to it either, until I got it tuned. Then I got an edge to go faster and faster. It happens to all of us eventually.

I haven't had the chance to get to the track yet but the car runs super good and strong. I love the feel of it though.

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS[/QUOTE

 

So I've heard that getting the ecm tuned is a night and day difference. Is that the case when it comes to upgrading the turbo too? I'm sure an upgrade will greatly improve the performance but when I think about it, 300 (200 refunded when u send in OBDII port back to Trifecta) for a tune to get a night and day difference sounds really attractive to me. However, 3k's for a turbo upgrade sounds too expensive. The fastest stock turbo ran 11.62 @ 119 mph and an upgraded turbo (for 3k's more) ran 10.99 @ 133 mph (according to zzp). That's only about a little more than half a second difference for 3k's more. That doesn't sound very attractive anymore. LOL I know it's much more that just a simply turbo upgrade that got that improvement but that's exactly my point. I just want something cheap and effective. However, if I think about it, I really only wanted about 300hp out of my dd because I would like to get about 150,000 miles back in return before upgrading to a lexus or something for a luxury car. LOL I don't want to push it too hard. Also, since I've already decided on this 300 hp build, it will cost me even more to upgrade the turbo and shoot for 400hp. LOL So sure, it would be nice and super cool to be beast but I don't want it push it too hard and risk reliability in the long run. Also, I think 300 hp should be enough to own most ricers out there anyways. LOL It is nice to be able to smoke the ricer's project car's with my dd car.

 

Any comments guy's?

 

Only time I ever nls was from 3-4. My 1-2 is tough to get get into as well. I don't think I could ever bring myself to do a nls from 1-2 case there'd be so much torque. Some people do it and get away with it though.

Just my .02.

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS

 

Hmmm, I see. Well, my tranny only sucks when shifting from 1st to 2nd. Every gear after that it's usually ok. I usually NLS from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th. But I was just curious if anyone will say that if u NLS from 1st to 2nd then u will get better times for 1/4 mile. Most people so far said it's not worth it to NLS from 1st to 2nd because u will reburn the same exhaust again or something like that, I forgot. LOL So yea, I was just curious if people agreed or not.

 

Hey wert842, so how much did it cost u for your turbo upgrade? Did u ever got a chance to dyno it yet and compared it to before? I'm sure it must be faster now but does it feel like it's worth it? Just wondering. If it wasn't so expensive then I would consider it but 3k's is too much. And that is without labor. LOL

 

Remember, "only" a half second at over a hundred miles an hour is pure, absolute rape on the track.

My suggestion - if you haven't gotten anything major done, start tuning. Build up on things - you will likely find a spot where you're happy, and you don't want to go further. For a lot of 'balt owners, its before the stock turbo needs to come out!

 

You can save yourself a but of money on labor by doing it yourself. There's a pretty self explain story how to on here is spot on basically. I did it in my buddy's garage. I spent a day and a half laying on his floor basically fiddling with it between my work schedule and his classes and work. I haven't dyno'd it yet though. I'm hitting the track Tuesday on street tires and my dd tune and still. Hopefully gonna shoot for 12s. If it happens on streets and this tune, I won't regret it one bit. Haha. Definitely feels worth it. Nothing better than feeling that power band jerking you back.

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS

 

I understand your point and you are absolutely correct. However, dropping 3k's for a turbo upgrade doesn't sound very attractive to me. But that's just my opinion. If only it were cheaper. I'll drop 1k at the most but anymore is overkill. LOL I am thinking of bigger fuel injectors though. Any comments there?

 

Nice, how much did your turbo cost u though? Because zzp sells it for 3k's. That's like buying another car(used civic or so). LOL damn, I would love to sit in that car and feel the difference though. LOL

 

someone correct me if I am wrong, but bigger injectors aren't necessary/ aren't readily available for our cars due to direct injection correct?

 

OP I skimmed through this so Im not sure if these have been answered

1. Youre not crazy, your car is making more power throughout the curve. It's that your peak is being regulated at 260 tq. without a tune.

2. 22-24 psi is fine

3. I've seen 13.3-13.5's on tune only. But you gotta keep your 60's down.

4. Personally i wouldn't nls with a tune. Only 1-2 shift If It HAD to be done ftw.

5. Even with a mild tune- your car will be a whole new animal. Only downside is tough to launch

 

A couple people are running that 5th injector. You need to be running serious power to even worry about it.

 

Zzp's kit is $1900.

You are correct. Only injector set up you could use or need is the 5th injector set up and that is if you are running out of fuel with using E.

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS

 

I see. So that takes injectors out of the pic. Also, wow, u seriously got ur turbo upgrade for 1900 only? Well, it's still expensive but that is better than 3k's. LOL r u sure zzp offer's that? The only one I saw was about 3k's. LOL

 

1. I'm not sure about the torque but when I floored it in second(in my opinion, has the most torque) I saw the hp go up to 290ish almost 300. LOL I'll do it again and look at the torque numbers instead tomorrow. But ok, cool. Thank's for clarifying that i'm not crazy. LOL Because I definitely felt a difference after I got my exhaust in with the downpipe. I thought maybe I was crazy because everyone said that you wouldn't get any benefits until u tune. I disagree because when I was running stock(only k&n drop in filter) I raced a turbo civic from the roll(40mph in 2nd gear) and I lost by almost 3 cars. However, after I got my exhaust system in, we tried it again and I got him by half a car because he gave me a car head start, which means I would've lost only by half a car now after my exhaust. Also, it does feel faster now after getting my exhaust in.

2. Thanks for clarifying. I think I'm going to go with 22psi tune then. How many psi tuned are u?

3. Was that with street tires and stock clutch? I'm not sure about 13.3 but I've seen 13.5 all stock with tune only. Also, I've never been to the track so what do u mean when u said keep your 60's down? Is it your 0-60mph speed time? That would be all about getting a perfect launch then right? Which is already tough being stock, but tuned.... well, that's where I'm going to have difficulties. LOL any tips there?

4. Do you know if it is actually still safe to NLS after getting tuned though? Does the tune mess with the ECM enough to disable that feature? Also, the only time I NLS is from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th. So that brings up my next question (I'm full of them. Thanks for all the help and patience LOL) Is it true that if u NLS from 1st to 2nd then you won't get much out of it because you're only burning the same exhaust again? Someone told me that so I wasn't sure. Also, my tranny is messed up so I can't really shift from 1st to 2nd very well or fast so NLS from 1st to 2nd is out of the picture. Maybe I'll try it when I get a new tranny. LOL


Thank you so much in advance. I know I'm asking a ton of questions but please try your best to answer as many as you can. Thank you so much!

 

So besides my bolt-ons and the tune I'm going to be getting after, what else do u guys recommend? Turbo upgrade is too pricey for me. LOL Also, upgraded IC is pretty much useless because the stock one is fine up until 350 hp. I am aiming for a little below that so I won't have to spend anymore money to upgrade stuff like that. LOL I want mid 310ish hp to high 330ish hp. There is this 350Z that is just killing everyone and is getting very cocky. I lost to him about 4 car lengths (stock). LOL I just want to beat him so he will stop being so cocky. However, I don't want to spend a fortune doing it either. LOL The dude is on welfare and can barely afford to pump enough gas so once I beat him, he won't be able to afford anymore mods so I'm hoping that will shut him up.

 

Zzp's kit is only $1900 + shipping. It's the zzp zfr turbo. It's the first turbo listed in their turbo page you can't miss it. I didn't pay that price though. I got mine for quite a bit cheaper than that. I couldn't resist pass on the price.

An IC is definitely worth the money if you are constantly doing pulls one after enough. It keeps the IATs down a ton compared to stock. A simple DP and tune can easily put lengths on the Z though. Spend about $700-$800 and get a k&n Sri, trifecta tune/hptune, and get a DP and call it quits for a while. It'll be a torque monster and pretty damn impressive from a roll. Trust me on that...

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS

 

Alright, now that sounds like an attractive package to me. LOL I already have the 3 inch exhaust system with the downpipe (catted unfortunately), CAI, and upper hot side charge pipe. The only thing I need now is a tune. I'm still saving up for it cuz I just dropped $885 for my insurance for 6 months. LOL still trying to recover from that. It'll be a good month or so before I can have 500 to blow on the tune. But is there anything small I can do to improve performance without going big like engine build or turbo upgrade? Also, I can't mess with the gas grade because we only have 91 here in Fresno, CA. No meth or ethanol or even 93. Also, if I do get an IC it will soley be for the purpose of making it look nicer. LOL If I do get it though, just to make sure, I won't need to retune for it correct? And I was wrong, just read it again and the stock IC will be good up to 380 hp! I'm only shooting for low 300's. LOL Any other bolt-ons that will improve performance or should I be able to reach my goal with my already bolted-on parts and my soon to come tune from Trifecta(22psi tuned)?

 

Simply put - if you aren't tuned, don't go nuts on anything else until you GET tuned. With your existing mods, the only thing keeping you from the numbers you want is a decent tune. You're looking at crazy stuff to try to get numbers, when its all waiting for you at the end of a laptop cable!

 

Wait! So r u trying to say that I will be able to achieve 310ish hp to 330ish with my current set-up if I simply get a tune? If so then alright! That will be nice. LOL

 

More than likely. You'd be looking at least 300whp/350tq from a tune. More depending on what you go with. Trifecta is only $350 with the cable if you get it on sale from someone. Check out bad news racing.

Sent from my iPhone using CobaltSS

 

Alright! That sounds good to me. However, if I wanted to add on more bolt-ons, what else should I do? Excluding the FMIC. LOL Also, I think I'll stick with Trifecta because of their stealth feature. I just bought a carbon fiber high rise spoiler for 450 shipped too so now I'll have to put the tune on hold for a bit. LOL Can't have a fast car with the low wing. High wing just looks so much more faster and sportier.

 

Hey guys, so I did some more runs and as I floored it in second the hp jumped up to almost 300 and the torque went up to around 290. Or at least that's what the digital thing displayed. If it is accurate, I think I should be able to achieve my goal with a tune. LOL YAY! However, I thought that the ecm would cut off all the excessive hp and torque immediatly after it passes 260 without a tune? Unless the digital thing is not accurate? Oh well, either way, I"m still going to get a tune. LOL Thanks for everything and all the help guys!