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Subject Ultimate Downpipes Observations:
     
Posted by The Devils Z on March 26, 2007 at 1:30 PM
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Message Now that I have a few miles on these guys I can speak too what my honest thoughts are. I planned to dyno at Z1 but didn't due to a boost leak that prevented me from boosting higher than 18psi ... ( Russell, better bring a little more in that 350Z of yours the next time we meet on the HWY :)

Devils Z 1 , ASH 0 - ZCON 06
Devils Z 1 , Russell ( 350Z ) 0 - ZNationals 07

~ AND NO NOT THE VERT !

And my plan was to hit the local dyno today or tomorrow .. recent events ( check ZNationals day 3 thread below ) will prevent that from happening ..


Maglito originally was going to be at Z nationals and we were going to do some dyno pulls and overlay the charts together ...but he didn't make it. Our cars are very similiar in build ( he has JWT 400 plus cams and major head work, MS manifolds , I have JWT 500 cams, some head work, and SZ inconels ~~~ other than these differences, I think we have identical mods ). So if there were any big differences ( outside of tune ), we can loosely attribute them to the downpipes ( he has SZ and I got the Labree ).

****
Short story, without any real analysis or data, take my comments at face value and nothing more.
****

It took me almost 1k miles to get comfortable with the new power band with my 3 inch ultimate downpipes. I am not sure if there is a significant horsepower increase yet, but I can tell you that there are MAJOR gains in torque in the midrange.

Keep in mind that I am running at 18psi and I am already familure with how the power feels up to 600 plus rwhp.

Only after a few street pulls with ATL300zxtt and Zeroflake did I start to get a "feel" for how hard she pulls on a roll. By gradually learning the power band in a roll on, I gradually start to experiment with various combinations of downshifting at different RPM. This usually will allow me to learn how radical the car is going to react when I punch it at different speeds and different RPM bands. Also, If I ever downshift, I know exactly what to expect.

I have done similar "learning" steps with all my upgrades and I get pretty good feel for the "butt" gains with each power mod which I usually find are not too off when I get the dyno results ( also helps when / if I get caught in the rain, I know where I need to upshift and how much power to apply to avoid hydro planning a 600 plus rwhp ).


With my old DP setup, I could downshift from 5th to 4rth or 4rth to 3rd and punch it and totally understand what "should" happen. I learned the power band like the back of my hand.

I couldn't do similar driving tactics with the ultimate downpipes when first installed because the torque increase "felt like is was too much". I had to gradually "learn" the car / power band all over again.

I liken the gain in power to my first real turbo upgrades ( sport 500 to the sport 600 ). I had to gradually drive the car with more and more boost so that I can learn the car and how to drive it without the car driving me.

I think a few guys at the Znationals saw The Devils Z accelerate and this was mostly with roll ons or 5th to 4rth quick shifts back to 5th (from a a low RPM in the higher gear ).

I now know more about the power band and can get more aggressive with the application of the throttle.

I gave ATL300ZXTT a ride at Z Nationals and I rolled it on (in 2nd gear maybe 3rd ) and fought the car back and forth for what seemed like a 1/8 mile.

I can not speak to if these are better, the same, or worse in terms of power delivery as compared to the SZ product and nor will I try.

I can say that the ultimate downpipe concept is nothing new

Ulltimate Downpipe

and other cars are using them also, so the theory or priniciples are not just "home brew" by Labree

I can say that I have a significant power increase in the midrange enough that made me want to be ginger with the car until I got a comfort level with how much power would be applied at full throttle or in downshift scenarios.

It reminds me when I made the switch from Sport 500 to Sport 600 which was about a 60rwhp peak gain on pump ( maybe more I can't remember). The rwhp increase is not what I like about the Ultimate downpipes, I like the increase in torque / area under the curve. Because of the torque I don't need to rev it out to get speed. Crusing on the way back from Z nationals at 80-90 mph in 5th gear has the revs at abt 3-4k range. Rolling on the power in 5th gear was more than ample speed / acceleration to clear over 80-90 mph traffic.

FYI:
I can say that if the gains are similiar between SZ and Ultimate downpipe, it might make sense for the average guy to get the SZ since it's easier to install.

The passenger side ultimate downpipe will come off very easy with the starter removed. The driver side might require a tranny drop unless you have small hands to reach the ultimate downpipe bolts.


Anyway,I have been asked a lot of questions about these and wanted to make a general unscientific "obeservation post". Nothing more.

Now -- making arrangements to drop the Z off at the body shop so that I can make the EZCA meet 4/21/07 !!

=============Sig begins here================

The Devils Z.com


"Even a broken clock is right twice a day" ...AzHeat on February 21, 2007 at 1:59 PM

"I would have had to have balls the size of China to think I could get away with overcharging someone 5 times the going rate for that install." ...Kyle(Houston) on February 21, 2007 at 12:22 AM

"....Thanks captain obvious, would you recommend air to resolve a low tire pressure situation? coolant to keep temps down? perhaps a battery for electrical devices? " ... LJZTT on June 10, 2006 at 6:36 PM

"How the hell would you have gotten on the track had you not *somehow* purchased a ticket? He's so overzealous about making other people look bad, that he sticks both feet down his throat. It's fun to watch though :) " ....ZEngineer on June 07, 2006 at 6:22 PM

"as useless as an EGT Gauge..." *shakes head* Its comments
like this that hold the Z32 community back. " ....Z-Jay (Edmonton, AB) on April 21, 2006 at 11:46 AM

"Somebody give this man a medal. Arguing with kenny is like being in the special olympics" ....ENVYMYZ on November 01, 2005 at 11:59 PM

" .. going back and forth with you on a stupid point is like watching a retarded kid double dribble in basketball, you get tired of calling foul all day" ... Slowninja(GT28RS Inconel Z) on October 03, 2005 at 8:43 AM

"the only chips you know about are Doritos. =)" ...ZEngineer on June 11, 2005 at 4:23 PM

"....These posts only serve to make you look even worse, its gotten so bad it even makes me look bad to reply to you...." maglito on January 22, 2005 at 3:11 AM

"What, are you afraid that only a couple of good ones have rolled off the production lines and the rest are crap?? ... Its mechanics not the stockmarket." ... ZisLuv on May 03, 2004 at 6:12 PM


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