forcedfedz32

Was wondering how many psi can the stock turbos handle i just bought the car and it was set at 15psi. Just want to no if i should leave it at that or can i up the boost a little more, and is it safe?

napoleonzheking

15 is about the max...

emo236

not the max, but 15 is what you want for daily driving. we've discussed this before, 15psi is definitely not the max boost to be produced on stock turbos.

ZLover4Life

I boost 17psi daily on my stock turbo's, but I have a very healthy Z, so I wouldn't recommend that for everyone. 20psi is the absolute max from what I've seen, and the wastegates can't handle over 22/23psi from what I've seen.

emo236

22 from what I've seen on automatic turbos.

90NA300ZX

leave it at 15psi, and hopefully you have some aftermarket ecu work done too...otherwise all that boost is pretty much useless...


i think i've seen 20 or 22 psi on stock turbos before...but i think 18psi is the highest you can go on stock injectors...

emo236

2nd on the ecu, you'll blow up your motor if you dont have an upgraded ecu. 22 psi with stock auto turbos, stock injectors, and stock intercoolers.

napoleonzheking

You can definatly run higher than 15... but for safety (well not safety, but maybe longivity (SP?)) of turbo's and other things i wouldn't go past 15.. 15 is alot when you look at it really anyways. But you can go past 15. i'm just saying, i wouldn't.

forcedfedz32

Well the car came with MicroTech LT-12 engine mangement with lab top innerface. He gave me the software but im scared to change anything myself. He said its very easy to use showed me how to hook to lab top but he didnt have one that day to show me he left it at work. Im planning next spring to upgrade the turbos with GT675RS Turbo kit from Z1 motor sports. I have 555 injectors in the car now will i need to upgrade to the 750cc injectors? And does anyone here have those turbos in there car now? I got a ride in a tt z that was for sale and the guy had JWT 700bb turbos said he is pushing 525whp but when i got a ride boost was set at 14psi and let me tell you i wasnt impressed at all, there so laggy for the money. Im so new to this scene but gettin sucked in very fast. I got a good deal on the car i think, that i couldnt pass it up. Im very happy with the car i just want more power, but also dont want to ruin its realiabilty. Iv been driving it everyday since i got it like 3 days ago but gonna sit in the garage for the winter, and i plan on only driving it on the weekends.

ZLover4Life

lmao... good luck with that. You mod a sportscar that's a decade old, you're going to break things... a lot of things.

If you want to keep it reliable, keep it stock. If you want more power, get a beater to drive for when the car does break. If you want more power and reliability, rebuild it from the ground up because that's the only way to ensure that you don't wear everything out.

Believe me, I know...

91zxtt

Anything over 19psi on stock turbos is basically useless. The turbos are extremely inefficient at that point. You're basically just pushing hot air.

90NA300ZX

are you kidding me? that's probably the most wanted turbo setup on here and in many other places...if you think they're laggy, go ahead and get your Z1 turbos with the non ball bearing design...and then come back and tell us what you think. and if you're not at all impressed with 525whp then you are a very very greedy man...those turbos are good for up to and maybe over 700whp...


by the way, i dont know how new you are to all this, but you do realize that there is a big difference between lag...and top end...lol

forcedfedz32

Well guy im aware that things break. I didnt buy the car as a daily driver i bought as a weekened car ONLY i drive my acura tl as a daily driver. And by you saying modding a decade old car is not worth it thats a bunch of bs. Dont matter how old the car is modding is for personal enjoyment. I feel dumping tons of money in car then selling it and losing it all is pointless to me unless you have the money to burn. I would rather buy a modded car thats in mint condation from a old man that i know had been taken car of let him lose the money not me. But with any car you buy common sense is that cars lose value. Im very picky and i waited almost 8months before I found one. I will post pics of her with the mod list tommarow. I know where your coming from though but im sure everyone knows you got to pay to play. I will be upgrading to z1turbos next spring been doing alot of research and for the money they look like the best deal. Im taking my tommarow to get the vacum leaks pluged and have my guy pass my emmismissoins. And next is going to be dyno and tune to make sure the car is running in tip top shape. I have HKS sidemount intercoolers, im gonna upgrade to the apollo fmic with the z1 turbos. After just my tune i should be at a liitle over 400whp,and 415-425wtrq. Hoping after next spring i should be at the 515-530whp thats my goal andwill be done after that.

emo236

do some more searching, you might wanna think twice before "upgrading" your hks SMICs to an FMIC

ZLover4Life

let alone an Apollo Front Mount.... which is typically agreed to be the WORST POSSIBLE "aftermarket" intercooler for the Z32. LOL. It has less surface area than his HKS SideMounts, and an increased pressure drop.... sounds like a great idea.

READING COMPREHENSION OWNS YOU. Nowhere did I say it was not worth it... I said things will break. I had a fully built GT2530 powered TT, and I currently have that fully built GT2530 powered VG30DETT (.020overbore and all new machining) sitting in the garage waiting to go into my current TT... I very much think it's worth it. But I'm not the nieve one who thinks it'll still be as reliable as it was when it was stock when it has 500+ horsepower.

91zxtt

I don't think that the 700bb is the most wanted turbo on here. The 700bb is known for being a laggy turbo. It's all top end. A lot of people don't want to wait for the turbos to spool up. The 675 is basically an altered 700bb but with less lag and slightly less top end. The 675 also utilizes a ball bearing design. Read and learn.....
http://www.z1motorsports.com/product...products_id=94

As far as the IC's go, stick with what you got. The HKS sidemounts are probably the best IC's on the market.

90NA300ZX

my fault...i admit i was wrong....last time i really read into Z1's products they didnt use any BB design on their turbos...and i haven't really been interested in reading anything of theirs since they totally screwed me over on my JDM clip

Riz Z Speed

And which ones did you buy?? LOL

I absolutely love this.

emo236

hey 91, you really think the HKSs are better thatn the stillens?

forcedfedz32

Z lover i no u right stock is always better as far as reliabilty. Iv always wanted to own a fast car as a weekened car and i finally got one. I couldnt be anymore happier. The car came almost fully modded except a few things the car has 85k miles so i figured hey what the hell replace the turbos. I just dont no why the car only dynoed 363whp with all the mods on it?

91zxtt

The difference is pretty insignificant. I recall seeing a dyno chart that had the HKS a little over the Stillen IC's. Who knows. I went with the Stillens because of price.

ZLover4Life

Intercoolers are difficult to test on a dyno. The time it takes to swap out the intercoolers and the differences in ambient temperature, engine termperature, and lots of other factors make it an inaccurate way of testing the efficiency of an intercooler. However, the info can't be dismissed (but know that I dynoed a 5rwhp and 19rwtq drop between two dyno runs 4 minutes apart with no changes in the setup of the car, just running it twice)

As for intercooler differences, here's the stuff that really matters (just know, I'm an HKS advocate and I think they make some of the best products, so I'd go HKS over Stillen, but here's the hard data anyway)

Sizes:

Arc is 8"H x 9"L x 4"D = 288ci
Stillen is 9.4"H x 8.4"L x 3.5"D = 276ci
Greddy is 6"H x 8"W x 4.5"D = 216ci
HKS is 10.2"H x 7.8"W x 2.5"D = 200ci

HKS is the smallest of the aftermarket side mount options that i have info on (obviously, Z1 also has sidemounts, but I don't have data on them), Arc is the largest.

In terms of outlet temperatures:

ambient temp 70-72 degrees, 1 hour difference between intercooler swaps

Stock IC 0-120 mph
1. 175 F
2. 215 F
3. 235 F

Greddy SMIC 0-120 mph - stock air guides
1. 130 F
2. 140 F
3. 145 F

Stillen SMIC 0-120 mph - air guides used
1. 140 F
2. 145 F
3. 145 F

GReddy's sidemounts cooled the best in this test, and HKS and Arc weren't represented.


Here's my analysis of the data, take it as you will

HKS is the tallest intercooler design, but is also very thin. This means that, on a Z32 with a stock fascia, air is likely not flowing well over the entire intercooler. On an aftermarket fascia where there is more airflow to the intercoolers, you'd likely see the most benefit from the HKS side mounts. Also, being the smallest cid of the group, they'll have less pressure drop than the others, meaning increased turbo response when compared to the other SMIC's on the market.

GReddy's did the best on the outlet temperature tests because the car used during these tests had a stock fascia. The gills in the stock fascia don't allow air to get very "high up" on the intercoolers surface. So a shorter intercooler with a deeper core will get the greatest airflow over its entire surface. So while the top of the Stillen is probably being heatsoaked from a lack of airflow (even with the airguide), the entire surface of the GReddy side mount is getting air.

Arc has the best of all worlds, and that's why it's actually considered to be the best aftermarket intercooler setup for the Z32. Being angled, the extra length of the intercooler is efficiently being used, and it's not too tall or too shallow. However, at $2209 (SPLParts.com), they're the worst for the cost.

Stillens has the second best of both worlds, and therefore the best value for the price ($950-$1000). They're tall, but not too tall to the point where the airguide won't help flow to the top of the IC. They're also not shallow.

However, "the best of both worlds" doesn't mean the "best for a certain setup." In my honest opinion, if you have a stock USDM fascia, GReddy's are the best value. If you have a JSpec fascia or another fascia with slightly larger openings, Stillen would probably yield the best results for the dollar. If you have a fascia with huge openings for the side mount intercoolers, that will allow airflow over the entire frontal surface of the intercoolers, then HKS will probably perform the best for the dollar. But no matter the fascia setup, I think Arc is probably going to outperform it no matter what (despite probably producing the most lag, which is still minimal considering the small differences between size and the fact that it's still a sidemount).

There's the real data on sidemounts.

emo236

Good write up! Very well done!

91zxtt

That was what I saw, not a dyno chart, sorry. I mixed up the Greddy and HKS. I retract my previous statement.

rxKaffee

Anyone have measurements of the stock sidemounts?