The VQ35DE is very advanced V6 engine. The VQ does not react the same to engine mods as some of the more basic engines available. It has great potential for high power gaines, but is also a great engine as it comes stock. Th engine in the 350z is fairly new to the aftermarket world, leaving alot of research and development still to be done. Then engine can be built to handle at least double that of the stock 287hp. There are several paths that can be chosen when modding the 350z's engine, each of which depends on your personal goals for power, reliability, and cost. We have put together a guide based on 350z owners' experiences and proven mods. We have broken the guide up into stages which may help some people plan out their modding experience. This is a work in progress.
1:Stillen Grounding Kit
kit consists of several heavy gauge wires used to assist in electical conduction between engine components and the car's computers. Whether it's a five wire or seven wire this mod should be a consideration. Better grounding has been shown to improve horsepower, torque, fuel mileage, and throttle response. The degree of improvements will vary between cars. The improved grounding can also smooth a rough idle caused by electro-magnetic interference (EMI) as well as reduce light dimming when operating a high powered stereo system.
The Stillen 350Z Ground Kit is used because there is too much electromagnetic interference for the ECM to operate at peak efficiency. Thus you will produce about 2-4HP Gaines.
Increased Horse Power & Torque
Awesome Looks
Faster Shifts on Automatics
Improved Mileage
Reduced Emissions
Stronger & Faster Starts
Smoother Idle
More Responsive Acceleration
Reduced Audio Noise
Improved Electrical Accessory Performance (brighter lights, windows/sunroofs operate faster, better radio reception, etc.)
K&N’s Typhoon Cold-Air Intake System
Powered by Nissan’s award-winning 3.5-liter V-6, the 350Z’s powerplant produces 287 horsepower at the crankshaft. With the Typhoon® system installed, testing on K&N’s Dynojet 248 dynamometer showed a 10-12 average horsepower increase at the 350Z’s rear wheels.
Unique intake tracting, unlike any existing K&N Typhoon® kit, makes the impressive power gains possible. Cool air is drawn into the system through a roto-molded plastic intake scoop that mounts behind the 350Z’s front fascia. Incoming air travels through this scoop into a 2.5" OD, 6061 aluminum delivery tube en route to a 5-way airbox. K&N’s 350Z Typhoon kit includes a carbon-fiber lid, created in K&N’s advanced-composites shop, for the ultimate high tech performance look.
Inside the airbox is K&N’s famous FilterCharger®. The filtration surface is constructed of four layers of pleated, oil-impregnated cotton sandwiched between epoxy-coated aluminum wire mesh. As with all K&N air filters, this FilterCharger® can be cleaned and re-oiled with a K&N ReCharger® Kit (sold separately).
Filtered air then travels to the engine through a mandrel-bent, 3" aluminum induction tube. This one-piece, straight-through tube has a billet aluminum adapter for the engine’s mass-airflow sensor. The adapter is located in the optimal position to maximize airflow and is TIG-welded to the intake tube.
Nismo S-tune 350Z Cat-Back Exhaust System
Weight plays a factor here, as well as how deep you want to dig into your wallet. A high flow exhaust system will remove exhaust restrictions and allow all future mods to achieve their maximum power potential. The 350z comes standard with 2 catalytic converters merged with a y-pipe into a single pipe with dual exit tips. A cat-back exhaust will replace all of the exhaust after the cats.
Replace your stock system w/ the best sounding exhaust system on the market for the 350Z.
Kinetix Test pipes
These pipes completely remove your factory catalytic converters and relplaces them with a straight through design. This provides the absolute most flow possible which has shown gains on NA 350zs between 4-8HP making it one of the best "bang for the buck" mods. These pipes are an abosulte must on FI cars which need all the flow possible.
These pipes will definately make your exhaust note more aggressive. They have also tended to add a "raspy" exhaust note through the 3-4k range. This note has been loved by some, and hated by others, so it is not for the conservative.
Kinetix Racing V+ Plenum
This plenum increases the volume to the middle and more importantly the front cylinders. The factory plenum utilizes a very aggressive angle as it caps off the front cylinders. This new plenum equalizes the flow to all cylinders, while also increasing the total plenum volume. This plenum also uses a very versatile plastic to achieve a smooth interior for superior flow properties. The plastic also allows a lighter overall weight, by about 3 lbs. The overall temperatures of the plenum have also decreased by about 50 degrees farenheit. This helps with heat soak problems and to help lower air intake temperatures.
Our plenum has shown a solid peak gain of 14 rwhp and a consistent gain throughout the RPM range. When matched up with our high flow cats, they together have shown peak gains of 20 rwhp.
Radiator Guide
Makes a dramatic improvement on the look of your engine bay as well as guiding air directly into the radiator for slightly better cooling efficiency.
Unorthodox Racing Pulley Set
UR pulleys add close to 12-20HP on all Models. Horsepower increases are very noticeable due to the fact that UR pulleys primarily gain low-end torque. The main purpose of the underdrive pulley is to lose as much weight off the crank pulley, and turn that extra lost weight into HP Gains.
Megan Racing Stainless Steel Headers
Four words: Long Tube, Equal Length = WOW Replacing the restrictive stock manifold with the equal length/long tube design of headers will allow better and more efficient exhaust scavenging which improves horsepower and torque in the mid to upper rpm range.
Each individual exhaust port is treated to its own separate primary tube instead of merely dumping into the shared main pipe of a stock manifold. The equal length primary pipes converge at a single, larger diameter point or collector. The collector then leads to the main exhaust pipe. Gains have averaged anywhere from 10 to 20 rwhp from most aftermarket headers.
Stillen Engine Dampener Brace
No HP gain from this mod, but it does remove vibration from the motor, which may cause you to spend some serious $'s to fix in the future. Engine torque dampers are designed to stabilize engine movement under excessive driving conditions by connecting the chassis and engine. Restricting engine movement with a preloaded engine damper, you will feel the engine response much more clearly. Engine torque will not be lost in vibrations and engine movement under throttle.
When an engine moves excessively in its mounts, energy is wasted. Stillen's engine stabilizer converts this wasted motion into forward momentum. An isolastic mount acts as a shock absorber and dampens unwanted motion. With no hydraulic parts to wear or fade in use, this is a long term solution.
In theory an engine damper directs more HP to the wheels by coupling the engine's wasted motion directly to the vehicle's chassis.
Viewed from the front, your engine's crankshaft rotates in a clockwise* direction. Due to the various laws of physics, this causes the engine block itself to rotate in the opposite counterclockwise direction.
As the author Robert Heinlein once said "There's no such thing as a free lunch". Meaning that it takes energy to rotate the engine block (and transmission) on it's mounts. This is considered to be "wasted motion", since you are expending horsepower to rotate the engine instead of rotating your tires.
By coupling the upper engine assembly directly to the chassis (with a dampening device), we are slowing the rate at which this wasted motion can be applied. Thus, directing more power to the wheels.
So is this part a good idea? Sure, on a 500+ HP car where damage to motor mounts may occur without using some form of damper.
Benefits:
Improved off-the-line acceleration
Improved vehicle stability
Reduced shock loads on driveline components
Smoother shifting
Reduced wear on exhaust system joints
Less vibration transmission to the driver compared to polyurethane motor mounts.
Less shock load, compared to torque straps and chains.
Drifting helps reduce shock loads when wheels gain traction.
Reduces motor movement; decreases the chance of motor parts rubbing against the hood and frame.