| Message |
And first, you need to look at the car and find out what kind of condition it's REALLY in. This is pretty critical to do before you start adding power. Member AshsZ made a nice post called the 6 P's of of Maintenance to prevent Piss-poor Performance, or something to that effect. Search for that using the member directory (then view personal posts) or check the auto-FAQ. If anything comes up during that inspection, address that first. From there, you can go to higher power levels. According to Stillen, a stage III Z produces about 400 engine horsepower (at the wheels, around 18% less). The stage III mods include intake, ECU, and a cat-back exhaust, as you mentioned. But with those you are about to start to run into the stock Z's achilles heel: 370cc fuel injectors. You can't really push any farther until you get larger ones. Once you DO get upgraded injectors, then you can install downpipes (an awesome upgrade) and testpipes if you want to toe the legal line (they replace the cats...most people don't bother with it), as well as a nice electronic boost controller. Oh yes, and upgraded intercoolers. With those, you can push it quite a bit farther, to around 400 rwhp (about 500 engine horsepower). You're next obstacle would be the stock turbos. There are new things being developed, such as a water injection kit, that could boost power even more. That about covers the reasonable mods a new Z'er might want to do. As you'll soon notice, there are several high-profile vendors on this site, and several "name-brands" that they all sell. In general, you're good if you stick with those vendors and products. There isn't much of a difference between Apexi intake and a POP charger, for instance. Same between the types of exhausts the people above mentioned. And it's my opinion that the same is true for ECU's (regarding Ash vs. JWT, specifically those are the two main contendors), though some people have strongly different opinions- my advice on that one is to search this site thouroghly (this isn't cheap stuff you're buying here after all, and doing it the wrong way could destroy your engine) and call each of the respective vendors and go with whichever one leaves you a better impression. My point being, there usually isn't one objectively "best" option...for anything. It's going to come down to personal preference. That's why it's best to wait a good while and do some extensive research...and in the meantime, enjoy your stock Z! (stock Z's perform wonderfully, by the way). One more thing- don't forget suspension mods. Z's are old now and usually have old springs/shocks, and worn bushings. Quite a few people here will tell you that replacing THOSE items will be more rewarding than doing power mods. I tend to agree. Hope this helps some. Congratulations on your new Z, and welcome to the darkside. -Rob
|
 |
00:20:51 03/25/04
