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Hey. How difficult would it be to put a turbo in a '04 350Z?
jWESTFOO
This is the second thread you've made about doing an aftermarket turbo on a
car.....why....do you think boosted engines are somehow better than n/a or
you just want the cool sound?
It may not be too hard but it wont be cheap.
newyorker
I'm just throwing ideas around, seeing what possibilities there are. Turbo
just seems to provide easy power for some like me who does not have the
knowledge needed to simply tune a car to peak performance. I'm learning,
but I'm not on that level yet, and was just wondering. If it pisses you
off, just dont post.
jWESTFOO
Haha. Y'know to put a turbo into something which didn't originally have one
will require definate tuning. You may get a little more power by just
throwing a turbo on it, but to get the full potential out of your add-on
will require a change in timing and air/fuel mixture which your stock
computer probrably wont be able to handle on it's own.
DBain
Yea, if you think turbo is "easy power" don't even go there, you will end
up spending more money on a new motor in the end.
newyorker
As far as air/fuel ratio, couldnt you just get an upgraded ECU? I guess I
really didnt think about the tuning of the turbo.
jWESTFOO
Tuning will depend on the turbo, fuel system, and pretty much everything
else. I don't think you can even tune 2 identical setups on the same tune
because every engine is a bit different, so you will need a standalone
system and some tuning time if you want to do it properly. I don't know
what systems are available for a 350Z, but even then to pay a tuner to
program it for you is usually around 200-500 dollars in my area, and that
depends on if you want a dyno tune, or a street tune, or how difficult the
tune is, etc. Some tuners charge by the hour, others charge a flat rate,
some tune and test on the road, others tune and test on the dyno....its not
going to be cheap either way.
newyorker
Huh. Theres alot that I hadnt considered. I suppose its better for me to
stick to the basics at this point. Thanks for the advice.
jWESTFOO
Think of it this way...a 350Z with an intake, good exhaust, and good
headers will run close to low 13 second quarter miles if you know how to
launch half-decently...low 13s is pretty quick IMO.
newyorker
You wont see much at all from bolt ons on a 350Z. The stock stuff is
actually pretty darn good.
This is the reason so many people go boosted on these cars. To make good
power N/A you have to go deep into the motor, cams, and heads.
I think cosworth does some nice heads for these but they are pretty
expensive, you could mkae more power boosted for cheaper most of the time.
Enthusiast
Ehh, I duno..my buddy has a white 04? and said he felt a good difference
with a short ram intake
newyorker
Its called the placebo effect. he want it to work so he thinks it works.
he doesnt want to admit, that he paid for it and it didnt do shit.
All it probably did was make it louder.
Last I heard was about the only intake that gained hp for them (and a tiny
tiny amount) was the popcharger (i think thats what it called). Im sure now
there are a few that actually add hp but I seriously doubt any of them will
add anymore than maybe 5.
Enthusiast
The VQ35DE already has 280 hp. If you want to put in a turbo kit it would
cost you 4500 just for the kit (GReddy) But you would also need to tear
down the whole engine to replace the rods that you would also have to buy
because they are only made to withstand 400 hp before breaking. So I
wouldn't call it easy or cheap to do what youre wanting.
EPerkins
The best thing I can think of for you if you don't want to rebuild your
engine is a cold air intake. 350z-tech has a lot of good information about
what you can do for your car and they have AEM intake for 350 so I think
that would be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make gains IMO. Its
definately cheaper than turbo but you wont see as much of a gain or get the
"cool" noise.
EPerkins
I wasn't interested in the "cool" noise. Those words were kinda put in my
mouth. I was just wondering on a purely performanced base what a turbo
would entail. Thanks for the info, but it seems to be a little beyond my
reach at the moment, and from what you guys have said, it sounds like a
poor option as far as cost.
jWESTFOO
For the record. I dont even have a 350Z. I was just wondering, cause I was
looking to upgrade soon.
jWESTFOO
For the price of a turbo upgrade, I would have put a decent bodykit and
nice wheels to match. The money leftover would be used for fuel and tyres.
fudge
What do you have now?
newyorker
I'm driving an 01 Civic. It's an automatic, not producing alot of power,
and apperently not easy to find mods for.
jWESTFOO
See: Definition of "rice"
EPerkins
R.I.C.E.
Race
Inspired
Cosmetic
Enhancements
Very commonly misused.
Satty101
Yeah I mean I have nothing against body kits and rims without enhancing
performance because I mean its your personal choice. Some people just want
their car to look nice and don't care if it's fast or not. But I didn't see
how fudge's post would help considering he has stated that he wants more hp
and is unhappy with his lack of power in his honda... meaning he wants
something to be performance oriented.
EPerkins
Oh I remember now, I was the one that told you not to mod it :laughing: .
Lots of people on this site come and go so I forget who is actually a
returning member or not.
Don't get involved with anything too serious, coming from that civic to a
350z stock will be a huge leap in every way, you don't want to throw boost
at it not knowing what you are doing as a tuner.
newyorker
Hmmm.... In case you didn't know the 350Z has nearly 3 times as much
horsepower and torque as his old Civic stock. But being on these forums
long enough, I seriously doubt he'll be able to afford one let alone be
able to modify one if he does get one. Wanting to turbocharge a 350Z
without having a clue about how turbochargers work is asking for
trouble.
Judging from your posts, you're just like most other DSM fanboys who come
on here with the "anti-ricer" attitude. Thing is most people here have
gotten over the rice and Honda bashing and are just being realistic.
fudge
I don't know if I have to requote myself or not but Im pretty sure that I
already said that I understand that some people go for looks and not
performance. I wasn't "ricebashing" I was simply stating that this guy
seems like he is more performance oriented when it comes to a future
vehicle. And yes I am aware of the 350z's specs compared to his honda.
However, if he was happy with the 350z's stock hp, then why would he post
this thread??
EPerkins
Cause he wanted a price quote for a turbo whistle...duh
newyorker
Ahhhh! It has nothing to do with the whistle. And for the record, this is
well within my price range with my new job. Money is not the issue. Neither
is the noise that the turbo produces. I was simply interested in a price
quote, like newyorker said. I've had my Civic for a few years now and have
wanted to mod it for a while but havnt had the money. Since I learned that
it is not easily moded, I was looking for an alternative. I realize Ive got
some stuff to learn as a tuner, but being a mechanical engineer, I'm not
completely ignorant when it comes to cars.
jWESTFOO
I was just kidding about the whistle :laughing: . Trust me, I have a turbo
car and if anything it just gets annoying really quickly, I'm running a
recirculated system and its still loud as hell for my taste.
newyorker
I personally love the sound of my turbo and it'll be even louder with the
aluminum piping from the front mount intercooler I ordered.
Spanky2324
A mechanical engineer should know that adding power to a system, no matter
how it's added (cams,heads, etc for N/A, turbo/supercharger, nitrous, etc)
is never a simple task if you want to keep reliability. A ME should know
that things like engines and transmissions are rarely over-engineered
enough to the point where you can add 25%+ more power without having to
upgrade everything else to be able to handle that extra power.
In all the classes you would have had to take that deal with turbines, and
then all of the fluid dynamics classes that deal with increasing pressures,
to all of the design/marketing classes where you would have learned that
unless you're working for Rolls Royce you would have no need to
over-engineer the pistons, sleeves, rods, etc to be able to handle
excessively more power than the engine puts out from the factory. It
raises the price and the weight. Further, in the real world things are
designed to fail.
giant016
Supercharger whine > Turbo/BOV whistle...
Just my :2cents: Since I have 2 (soon to be 3) SC'd cars and my wife's
turbos, I highly prefer SC. I know this has nothing to offer, but...I'm up
late at night thanks to my son crying...grrrr.....:cussing:
Satty101
I suppose I used the term "how easy" a little loosely. I knew that it
wouldn't be as easy as just slapping a turbo on, but i wasnt sure if the
already sport tuned engine of a 350 Z would be able to hold up to some
extra stress with out gutting the engine. Since I'm unfamiliar with the
350Z, thats what I was trying to figure out. I knew I would have to at
least add a new ECU, but wasnt sure about the pistons, rods, head, etc.
Starting to regret ever posting this, but thanks for those of you who are
actually providing constructive feedback. I appreciate it.
jWESTFOO
You really shouldn't be required (depending on amount of boost you're
running that is) to upgrade the pistons, rods, etc...You WILL have to
upgrade the fuel system. With a turbo you're pushing more air into the
cylinder which could throw off your air/fuel mixture. The best way to do
this is with some megasquirt injectors, tuning, high pressure fuel pump,
etc. If you run high boost, you should just get a completely upgraded
engine.
Satty101
If you plan on running even close to 400 hp you WILL have to gut the
engine. The 350z has 287hp to begin with so if youre going to be running
any kind of boost it would be safe to replace the rods and pistons (which
are said to hold up until 400hp, but running anywhere near that is risky
with those stock parts)
EPerkins
Ok being serious now, I'd suggest you look into turbocharged kits for the
350Z that have already been developed by companies like HKS or
Turbotechnics and have a look at what is included in the whole kit. These
companies have put the research into what levels of boost the stock engine
can manage with ease. Not sure if Greddy does one as I remember them being
bankrupt or something like that... Some engineering company in the UK
sells a kit which claims to output somewhere like 350hp at around 9psi of
boost. Its better to contact them directly and discuss on what your
requirements are and how you would want the power delivery.
I've seen 800hp 350Z's taking on the Tsukuba time attack so the engine has
allot of potential when rebuilt with stronger parts and a lower compression
ratio.
fudge
