370z.com

GReddy releases 370Z Tuner Turbo Kit!

Mike Kojima — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:46:00 GMT

GReddy releases 370Z Tuner Turbo Kit!

MotoIQ Staff Report

Greddy's 370Z Twin-Turbo system boasts an impressive 175 horsepower increase at a mere 6.4psi of boost. Tuner Turbo Kits come standard with high quality components: twin TD06SH-20G turbocharger, heavy duty cast turbo manifolds, Type T external wastegates, Airinx intake system, x-large Type-29 R-Spec intercooler, smooth flowing aluminum piping, and a large capacity cast aluminum oil pan.

Jim Wolf Technology Oil Pan Spacer for 370Z-VQ37VHR

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:14:00 GMT

Jim Wolf Technology Releases Oil Pan Spacer for 370Z-VQ37VHR

370Z.com staff report

Jim Wolf Technology has released in oil pan spacer for the Nissan 370Z and Infiniti G37 with the VQ37VHR engine. The spacer fits in-between the upper and lower oil pan assembly's giving the sump an additional quart of oil capacity. The oil pump pickup is also lowered

Stillen's Gen 3 Nissan 370Z Air Intake, Tested!

Mike Kojima — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:49:00 GMT

Stillen's Gen 3 Nissan 370Z Air Intake, Tested!

By Mike Kojima

Our test 370Z is a six-speed manual transmission sports package model equipped with a Stillen cat back exhaust, Stillen high flow cats and a Technosquare ECU reflash. For this test we used the Superflow AutoDyn 30 chassis dyno at Technosquare Inc. As we have explained in previous tests, the AutoDyn 30 is a dyno that uses both inertial and static loading with weighted wheel rollers and an eddy current power absorber. This is a very different method of measuring power from the common Dynojet dyno which is purely an inertial dyno.

From our sister site www.motoiq,com

Nissan 370Z 6-Speed Manual Transmission Performance parts Dyno Test

Mike Kojima — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:17:00 GMT

Nissan 370Z 6-Speed Manual Transmission Parts Dyno Test, We Test Stillen's Exhaust System and High Flow Cats With Technosquare's ECU Reflash

by Mike Kojima

For our test mule, we used the Killer Bee, the yellow 370Z that was our May feature car. The Killer Bee is a sports package 6-speed manual transmission 370 that was returned to stock for our evaluation. We will be evaluating more parts on the Killer Bee in the near future so stay tuned! In stock trim the Killer Bee slung out 262 whp at 7000 rpm and 210 lb/ft of torque at 4600 rpm. The VQ37VHR engine exhibited the typical wide flat torque curve and nice linear power curve that the VQ37VHR is becoming renowned for.

Nissan’s 370Z VQ37VHR Cylinder Head and VVEL Continually Variable Cam Timing Technology, Technological Terror or Performance Breakthrough?

Mike Kojima — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:19:00 GMT

Nissan’s 370Z VQ37VHR Cylinder Head and VVEL Continually Variable Cam Timing Technology(NEW VIDEO) by Mike Kojima

The unique VVEL system completely controls the intake valves opening and closing events. The VVEL system is exceedingly complicated using two separate rotating shafts driving links that operate eccentrics activating a valve activating reciprocating rocker arm that takes the place of the traditional cam lobe.

Nissan 370Z Oil Temps, engine rattles, $300 oil, Diff temps and other issues, The Truth!

Mike Kojima — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:31:00 GMT

If you are reading this, you might have read about these things on a forum, you might have heard the rumors or you might have experienced some of these things yourself on your car. There is a lot of misinformation floating around on the net and hopefully this will help answer some of the questions about these incidents.

The Technosquare oil cooler kit is a good part for the 370Z, Stillen, Nissan Motorsports and ARC also make quality kits for the 370Z

One of the main issues is that the Nissan 370Z and Infiniti G37 with the VQ37VHR engine experiences high oil temperatures. The high engine oil temps can cause the engines ECU to put it into a limp home mode where the engine rpm is limited, first to around 6000 rpm and if you don’t start to behave, a lower limit of about 3500 rpm is engaged until the oil temperatures drop below around 280 degrees and the key is cycled. The VQ37VHR is very prone to suffer from high engine oil temps during any sort of extended high speed driving such as motorsports events, and even non competition events such as track days and Autocrosses. The engine can also suffer from high oil temps even with short burst of full throttle use such as on an engine dyno, drag racing and even bumper to bumper traffic.

This 370Z long lead press car has a hidden oil cooler in the drivers side front wheel well, probably to help keep the engine from going into limp mode during abusive driving

To understand limp mode we must understand what it’s protecting in the engine. The most oil temperature susceptible parts are the engines crank and rod bearings. The engines bearings are made of soft metals, such as aluminum, tin and zinc with other trace alloying agents such as indium which refines the metals grain for better mechanical properties. The reason why soft metals are used is that they offer good embedability. If hard contaminates are present in the engines oil such as casting sand, metallic particles, hard carbon bits and dirt, a soft bearing surface will allow the particles to become embedded into the surface of the bearing where the damage to the bearing and crankshaft can be limited. The contaminating particle will be soaked up by the soft bearing instead of being ground into the hard steel journal surface of the crank with damaging effect.

Soft metals can be used as engine bearings because under normal conditions, the crankshafts journals never touch the bearings surface. Since the liquid oil layer is not compressible, the crank rides on a pressurized hydrodynamic film of oil a few thousands of an inch thick that is maintained on the bearings surface by the engines oil pump. The oil pump must maintain pressure (this varies for as low as 5 psi at hot idle to more than 60 psi at higher rpm) and continually replenish the oil because the oil leaks out at the edges of the bearing and is flung out by the centrifugal pumping action of the rotating rod journals. This circulation is necessary because the shearing action of the oil in the boundary layer between the rotating crank journal and the static bearing surface creates heat and this heat must be dissipated. Most of the heat is removed by the oil as it passes though the interface between the bearing and crank.

The bearings, although soft still have to bear a heavy load because the incompressible liquid oil film transfers the forces acting upon the engines reciprocating parts to the bearings, thus the bearings have to withstand thousands of pounds of force even though direct contact does not happen. The best engine bearing have high embedability with a high load bearing capacity.

Usually everything works fine until a couple of things happen. In the case of modern late model engines, the green movement is to blame for part of the problem. In the last few years, Nissan has worked hard to make their cars green and more recyclable. In an engine traditionally one of the most toxic areas was the bearings. A few years ago, many Nissan bearings were made of trimetal construction using layers of lead, zinc and tin alloys of different percentages. This tri metal construction has been a mainstay of heavy duty bearing construction and composition for decades. The old Nissan bearings were very strong, heat resistant and durable. It’s a little known secret that old L-Series Nissan bearings are so strong and durable that many race engine builders use them, adapting them to other engines. The Infiniti IRL engine used in Indy cars used off the shelf L-Series bearings for this reason.

Discuss on our forum here:

Oil temp overheating and limp mode

http://www.370z.com/Forums/tabid/88/aff/7/aft/246/afv/topic/Default.aspx

The $300 oil change

http://www.370z.com/Forums/tabid/88/aff/7/aft/279/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Oil temp Issues

http://www.370z.com/Forums/tabid/88/aff/7/aft/205/afv/topic/Default.aspx

oil cooler and diff cooler questions

http://www.370z.com/Forums/tabid/88/aff/7/aft/332/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Technosquare oil cooler

http://www.370z.com/Forums/tabid/88/aff/7/aft/233/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Nissan 370Z Automatic Transmission performance parts Dyno Thrash!

Mike Kojima — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:40:00 GMT

Nissan 370Z Auto Tranny Performance Part Dyno Thrash-a-thon! We Test Stillen's cold air intake, exhaust, Berk high flow cats, Technosquare ECU reflash by Mike Kojima

We strove for accuracy and repeatability in our testing. We did all of our testing during one day. We used standard SAE correction. We thoroughly warmed up the VQ37VHR engine and the drivetrain by driving the car on the dyno at speed for about 10 minutes to warm the engine, transmission and differential oil (this car is equipped with Technosquare’s oil cooler kit) as well.

Technosquare's Nissan 370Z oil cooler kit solves oil temp issues!

Mike Kojima — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:14:00 GMT

by Mike Kojima

The issue of Nissan 370Z’s running excessively high oil temperatures has been speculated upon since before the cars launch when photos of pre production vehicles fitted with racing style oil coolers started to appear on the internet. These oil coolers with bar and plate heat exchangers, race car AN fittings and braided steel lines were clearly not parts made with production intent. Why did the cars have these coolers, was the question echoed across the web.

We figured that the coolers were just a precaution, installed on press fleet vehicles as cheap insurance against journalistic abuse or for durability in special arrive and drive promotional event use which can be more brutal than racing.

Just a heat machine... The VQ37VHR engine found on the 370Z and the Infiniti G37 runs high oil temperatures. Lots of oil churning caused by its variable cam timing system is the main suspect

Since we have actually started to work on and modify the 370Z we have come to realize that high oil temperatures have the potential to become a problem on these cars. We have recorded oil temperatures of 260 degrees plus on 370Z’s on the dyno, in brisk driving and simply in heavy traffic. Several times we had to stop dyno testing or slow down while driving to allow oil temperatures to drop. This is not race track flogging, a dyno run is a very short burst at wide open throttle through one gear, brisk driving is not an illegal balls out cannonball run, its driving a sports car how it was supposed to be driven and heavy traffic is something any car should be able to deal with easily.

260 degrees is the beginning of the danger zone or about as hot as can be tolerated by an engine without risk. At 260 degrees, oil breaks down rapidly losing its ability to lubricate and forming sludge. At this temperature the engines bearings which are made of soft malleable metal start to soften and lose there load bearing capacity. This is the point where damage can start if the car is driven to the limit.

Technosquare's Nissan 370Z/ Infiniti G37 performance ECU Reflash Released!

Mike Kojima — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:19:00 GMT

Technosquare's Nissan 370Z/Infiniti G37 Performance ECU Reflash Released (NEW VIDEO)! by Mike Kojima

Technosquare changes the factory fuel, timing, rev limit and VVEL/VTC cam control maps to get a respectable gain of 11 whp and 10 lb/ft of torque. The gains are pretty much across the board, starting at 2700 rpm and continuing until the rev limiter stops the fun. The gains are large and consistent through the entire rev range, greatly increasing the area under the power curve.

We Test Jim Wolf Technologies Nissan 370Z Dual POP Charger!

Mike Kojima — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:56:00 GMT

We Test Jim Wolf Technologies Nissan 370Z Dual Pop Charger (NEW VIDEO)! by Mike Kojima

We used a new six speed sports model Nissan 370Z with a few hundred miles on the odometer as our test subject. Before the installation of the JWT Dual POP, we baselined the car on Technosquare’s AutoDyn 30 Superflow chassis dyno. The Superflow dyno is unique in that it uses both an inertial weighted roller and an eddy current load cell to provide the working load against the engine.

We Dyno The Nissan 370Z! (2 NEW VIDEOS!)

Mike Kojima — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:38:00 GMT

We Dyno the Nissan 370Z (2 NEW Videos)! by Mike Kojima

With Nissan claiming some awesome production power numbers for the 370Z, we decided to put the car through a dyno test to see if Nissan is able to back up their claims on actual production cars. Our test mules are both sport model 370Zs, bone stock from the dealer with just a few hundred break in miles.

Berk Technologies Nissan 370Z Downpipes

Mike Bonanni — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

BERK Technology Nissan 370Z Downpipes by Mike Bonanni

When evaluating the exhaust system on the Nissan 370Z we were amazed how restrictive it was. The tubing diameter is tiny for an engine with the output of the VHR37. To help address this issue we decided to start uncorking the exhaust system by evaluating a set of high flow Catalytic Converters and Downpipes from Berk Technology.

Nismo Releases Tuned 370Z Parts for Japanese Market

Sarah Forst — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:16:00 GMT

NISMO 370Z Parts by Sarah Forst

Nismo, Nissan's factory performance arm has released a group of factory tuned performance accessories for the 370Z to the motoring public in Japan. Nismo will be offering two performance packages to enhance the driving experience of the 370Z.

Technosquare Looking for Nissan 370Z Development Car

Mike Kojima — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:54:00 GMT

Technosquare Looking for a Nissan 370Z Development Car

As we stated in our engine technology section, we feel that a flash may make a huge performance difference with the Nissan370Z due to the assumed bias of the VVEL system toward FTP cycle optimization, particularly in regards to the VVEL control scheduling taking the role of engine throttle control. This means that the valve events have been compromised to fulfill compliance with parts of the FTP drive cycle instead of optimal power production and throttle response.

Nissan 370Z Review; Engine (VQ37VHR)

Mike Kojima — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:01:00 GMT

Nissan 370Z Review; Engine (VQ37VHR) by Mike Kojima

The VQ37VHR engine found in the new Nissan 370Z is a marvel of automotive engineering, powerful, clean and efficient, but from a tuner's perspective it is controversial. Although the VQ37VHR is a work of engine design art, we predict that it will be exceedingly hard to modify beyond basic bolt-ons. At a glance the VQ37VHR pulls some impressive numbers pumping out 332 hp @7000 rpm and 270 lb-ft of torque @5200 rpm out of 3.7 liters in the 370Z chassis.