A&Q about 350Z
Q:
I have had the pleasure of following this site for a while, and now wish to extract everyone's knowledge and expertise regarding performance upgrades to help me make the best decision as to which route to go.
I own a '04 Track, and wish to make it perform better than the other Z's on the road here.
Originally, I had decided to install the NISMO cat-back exhaust, headers, and the intake. However, when pricing the installation of these parts, I was stunned to find out that shop hours set for the installation of the headers was set at 19 hrs. This would bring the grand total for labor to install all the above parts to approximately $2K. Dropping the headers will save me a ton of $.
Will the cost of the headers provide me with such improvement in performance that it justifies spending this $.
Your thougths, advise, and experience will be greatly appreciated and respected.
A:
I have had that exact same setup. In my "seat of the pants" opinion I would not go with the header. For the money and labor I didnt feel a real gain. I also had the lightened flywheel, which although no more hp, the feel of the car was improved when accelerating from a stop and the engine reved more smoothly.
Anyone have any DYNO numbers?
A:
Don't waste your money. For the price Nismo is charging for their parts the hp return isn't worth it. A local muffler shop should be able to make you an exhuast system just as good for a lot less money. Thats the problem with modding new cars, you have to worry about voiding the warrenty. Another thing to consider is the fact that the 350z has almost no tunability. With basic bolts ons you aren't going to see a major increase in power so why would you spend all that money on the mods. If power is what you want the best thing would probably be a turbo kit but you would have to get one like the APS system that has the better fuel system in it. Thats the other downside to the 350z. The stock fuel system limits power to 300hp. Anything past that the fuel system can't compensate and begins to run lean hurting the internals. Nissan did a damn fine job tuning this engine to gives us the most out of it but as a result it's going to be hard getting any more power from it with aftermarket mods. Personaly spending 1k for an exhuast system plus what ever Nissan charges for install is rediculous for the amount of hp you get. I guess if you can rationalize it to yourself go for it.
1977 280z: Intake, exhaust, high flow cat, header, euro damper, cam, MSD, adj. FPR, 3.7 lsd, F+R sway+strut bars, 2580lbs
1984 300zx: intake, exhuast, high flow cat, headers, JWT ECU, F+R sway bars, F strut bar
06 WRX TR
A:
I thought I got a pretty good deal on my Nismo Cat-back.
The dealer sold it to me at cost ($880) and installed it for $70. Total cost $950 before tax. With tax, it came up to just over $1000.
JT
2003 CS Touring
6-spd
All options except Nav & Side Airbags
NISMO Cat-Back
NISMO LMGT4 Silver rims
NISMO Intake
Motordyne Plenum Spacer
www.350zclubofflorida.com
2005 Mustang GT
A:
I hate to tell you, but dealer cost for the Nismo was like $770. All things considered though, $880 wasn't too bad a price. At one time, you could get it from Performance Nissan for $835; not sure what the going rate is today.
2004.5 Daytona Blue Performance
A:
When i first got my car I considered nismo exhaust, i liked the tone and stuff, but it doesnt put out good hp gains. I had it between borla, stillen, and injen. The all had similar hp gains and all are td. I went with injen because of the sound, performance, and price. Stillen is way overpriced. Borla is good but I wanted a little louder sounding exhaust. So Injen gave me what I wanted.
2003 DB Base
www.cardomain.com/id/thunder0880
A:
I want a new exhaust guys, but nismo it ****in pricey. Is borla lower priced?
04.5 silver Touring, JWT-filter, Maya Gr-5's, Fusion/audio, StrosekAeroKit.
A:
DavesZ#3 wrote:
>I hate to tell you, but dealer cost for the Nismo was like $770. All things considered though, $880 wasn't too bad a price. At one time, you could get it from Performance Nissan for $835; not sure what the going rate is today.
I remember the price at Performance Nissan going for $835 about six months to a year ago, but now its up to $908. Thats the same price I saw last month and that's why I bought it through the dealer. Last year, I wanted to get it, but had no $$$ so I had to wait and save up. Oh well!
I'm not kicking myself since I got a pretty good deal on it.
JT
2003 CS Touring
6-spd
All options except Nav & Side Airbags
NISMO Cat-Back
NISMO LMGT4 Silver rims
NISMO Intake
Motordyne Plenum Spacer
www.350zclubofflorida.com
2005 Mustang GT
A:
Ya' gotta look around a little bit - the first places I looked:
https://www.1stnissanparts.com/index.php/cPath/115_116_195
$838
http://www.nissanpartsdistributor.com/
$849
http://www.nissan-parts-dealer.com/
$845
2004.5 Daytona Blue Performance
A:
I don't have this mod since I'm going FI soon, but from everybody I have heard that has done it, the 3.9 rear-end gear swap is supposed to be the best performance gain for the dollar mod out there. Parts are somewhere around $800 and install is just a few hours. Significant increase in acceleration without too much increase in RPMs at any speed. Search the other site for more info from actual owners that have done this mod.