350z

350z
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