Hey guys/girls I want to upgrade the performance of my zed to go faster without having to do any internal mods. I have done some google searches and forum searches on upgrades and the main points i picked up were to install dumps and aftermarket side mount inter-coolers and chip the ecu with nistune gives 230-240 rkwh. Is that correct? Now i haven't had my car on a dyno so i have no idea what its pulling but at the moment its maxed out at 15psi with stock ecu and stock injectors. I am thinking of rebuilding my turbos into hi-flow turbos and getting 550cc injectors and a ecu chip. If i go with this method would i still need to get dumps and upgrade inter-coolers? Or should i just go straight for t28 turbo upgrade? what do you guys reckon i need for an upgrade on stock tt and the price range i will be looking at?
The long and short of it is that dumps, intercoolers and turbos all compliment eachother. You can upgrade any of them to make more power, however upgrading more than just one of them will be significantly more effective than just one. As far as injectors go, they should be upgraded if you upgrade turbos. An engine runs on a delicate balance of fuel and air, and there is no point being able to push more air into if you cant also deliver the fuel it needs to maintain that balance.
Start with dumps and intercoolers. Then hiflows. Though you'll still max out around 14-16psi. Then injectors / ecu.
Yes, first question is correct. Second one - pretty much. You'd be dumb not to do the intercoolers. When it comes to dumps it depends what ones yku get, the generic China ones are shit house, I'd run stock over those any day. So if it's a choice between stock and cheap dumps, no, don't "upgrade".
before doing any of these things, have you got the basics in place. ie, pod filter, decent exhaust and all maintenance up to date? if yes, then look at the next steps. dumps and high flow cats complete the exhaust system. upgraded intercoolers cool the intake charge and allow you to run additional boost more safely. so to get the most out of a stock turbo'd zed, youll want complete turbo back exhaust, upgraded intercoolers, about15-16psi of boost, and a pod filter. When combined with a decent clutch (or healthy auto trans), this should see somewehre in the area of 220rwkw up to as high as 250rwkw if your engine is in top condition. be aware, there are people who get better or worse results depending on different factors, at a z32's age, no two cars are the same performance wise. so, once youve done all the stock turbo basics, if your still feeling the urge for more power, then you look at fuel systems, upgraded turbos and so on.
Okay thanks for the reply, so what dumps and intercoolers should I be looking at (brand and price wise)? Obviously ebay is out of the question and should I get a tune and a chip or just get the nistune ecu?
230 to 240 kW is achievable without any modifications, apart from a Nistune ECU & a good electronic boost controller such as an eboost 2 at around 15psi. You don't even need to downgrade your air filtration to a crappy pod filter! How much power produced for dollar$ invested will be dependant on how good the engine is before you start to make changes. Not much point putting exotic parts on a clunker!
Yeah all the basics are done. I'll look into dumps and hi flow cats and intercoolers. Is it relatively easy to install dumps or is it engine out operation?
Doable with the engine in, but it's massively ****ing hard. I've done it twice. Do you prefer FMIC or SMIC's? Get some Specialty Z divorced dumps. Good stuff.
I prefer SMIC. I don't think theres a article on fitting dumps in the tech section, since you've done it twice is there any tricks to installing it with engine in and what do i have to remove?
Yeah there definitely are some tricks. Passenger side isn't too bad - battery out and you'll get it done. Driver's side is a ****. You need to (extremely awkwardly, doing 1/4 turns) remove the brake line heat shield from the chassis rail, then slip a cut in half (so it can be sat on the bolt horizontally, any longer and it'll hit the frame rail) 13mm spanner onto the top outer dump bolt. Once it's in place, line up an extension or something from underneath with the end of the cut off spanner and smack it with a hammer. It'll make more sense when you're down there. Worked for me both times I did it. Get some decent HKS, Ash Spec or Stillen SMIC's - Ash's Massives are best. If you want to do things right that is...
Ive got Z1 coolers... Ive got the Z1 coolers on my Zed. Not the super dooper big ones (The BA I think??), just their standard ones. I got them because they are the same height as the standard zed cooler, but considerably thicker. They bolt on to the normal bolt holes, with no modification and no problems with clearing the indicators. The only thing that needs to be modified is the plastic intercooler duct, but thats fairly simple, it just requires trimming away some of the plastic to accommodate the bigger cooler. They seem well built and they claim on their website that they have used these in high power applications without problem.
I realise you've already got a bunch of replies but FWIW for bolt on upgrades I would simply go *manual boost controller *upgraded intercoolers (but nothing silly, just something well made that actually fits behind the front bar) *apexi pod filter *cat back exhaust drive it and enjoy it And I'd only do that AFTER doing a 100k service and plenum pull. I personally wouldn't touch the dumps as there isn't much on the market that is readily available and offers any improvement over stock.
