As some of you know I purchased a Brilliant Silver G35 Coupe about a month ago to be my new daily driver. I got it in 5AT because I am in traffic all the time and so I wouldn't fall into the same trap I did with my 350Z and turn it into a 2nd track car . Anyways, I have this sickness that makes me mod whatever I am driving so a quick trip down to VRT in San Diego gave me my fix. They installed a Stillen Stage 2 Supercharger on my otherwise stock G35! They did an awesome job with the install, as usual, and two days ago, I was on my way back to Vegas with another forced induction VQ35DE. The drive home was great, 5 hours of open highway and a new supercharged toy to play with. I had some fun with a new Mustang GT for a good 15 minutes and loved every minute of it. All of the temp gauges were just fine and I had not one issue the whole way home. Driving around town yesterday and today I have grown to really enjoy the daily driveabliity of the kit. It is mild mannered and almost un-noticeable until you give the car some gas and then the ear piercing scream of the twin screw blower startles all who are within a 500' radius. I love coming up to people with thier windows or convertable tops down and just dropping a gear and punching the trottle. The "what the f**k was that" look on their faces are priceless. The best part came to me this morning. A modded STI pulled up next to me at a stop light and clearly wanted to race. Since there was nothing but open road with no drives for a car to come out of I said, what the hell, I will give it a shot. I figured that with my 5AT, heavy 19" wheels, and everything stock but the SC, that I would get walked. The STI had all wheel drive, aftermarket exhaust, aftermarket blow off valve, and probably some other stuff. The light turned green and we were off. To my suprise, I was ahead and pulling away farther. I looked in my rearview mirror just in time to see the kid mouth the words "holy s**t" with this suprised look on his face. He seemed to be a good driver too, making a good launch and really fast shifts. Needless to say I was more than happy. The kid was really cool and quite impressed by the car.

I have just as much fun driving this thing around town as I do my 554whp TT 350Z. In my opinion, this is the perfect combination for a daily driven G35. Thanks VRT for hooking it up on the SC and giving me yet another amazing car.

 

thats a good review from someone who has a turbo car and a stillen car,i hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of the stillen owners do.

 

Oh, I love it.

Side note: I went to Stillen last saturday on the way to pick up my car and I must say, they are some really cool guys. I got a whole tour of the facility, saw Steve Millen's IMSA GT Z32, and some new stuff they are developing for Mustangs, Frontiers, Titans and such. Steve Millen even came up and introduced himself having just gotten back from filling up the Stillen 350Z with gas. He and the rest of the staff were incredibly nice and hospitable. All that, and I was just there to pick up some extra belts lol.

 

I want to take my car to VRT!!!

 

Its worth it. Mark, their head mechanic, is a genious when it comes to these cars. He can have an engine pulled in the time it takes to go to lunch.

 

I'm glad that a turbo guy gave good comment about Stillen kit...I do enjoy every minutes of my Stillen...I also had my VB upgrade, it works quite nice with the SC setup..congrats on your new toy

 

sounds like a nice write-up...... i agree... it's nice to hear a tt guy praising and sc.... how do the cars compare since you have both?

 

Well, in my case, the two cars are pretty extreme. The 350Z is a built motor JWT TT setup pushing 554whp and 690wtq, while the G35 is a 5AT that is bone stock except for the Stillen Stage 2 and 19" wheels. The 350Z is obviously way faster and more fun on a track, but for driving around town it is way too much power. The Stillen on the other hand is just enough power for city driving and not enough power to be hard to control. The sound of the blower at WOT is the best part in my opinion. I also love how it is un-noticeable under light throttle, especially with the windows up. Thats good for me because in my line of work I often have "buisness" type older clients in my car. In my opinion, the 350Z & G35 should have come with this level of power from the factory. It is very manageable, very predictable, and available on demand throughout the rpm range. It is also cheaper and more reliable than most turbo aplications. If you are looking for the most whp then Stillen is not the way to go, but if you want a streetable, fun, head turning car, then its the perfect thing. That being said, it can be a lot of maintenance if you want to track with a Stillen SC. According to VRT, who used the Stillen on their cars for a while before discovering the JWT TT, every track day or high speed highway run they would have to replace a belt. Under the extreme heat of a track day, the belt would expand, then when they got home and let the car sit overnight, the belt cooled back down. This made it weak and every time they would fire up the car the next day, they wouldn't get 5 miles before the belt broke. This is the reason I went with the Stage 1 pulley instead of the Stage 3 or 4. Bigger pulley = less rotations, lower rpms. It also means lower boost which means less heat. I don't plan on tracking my G35, but I make a lot of trips back and forth from Vegas to SoCal and most of the time its late at night so to keep myself awake, I may do a few 140+mph runs . Add those to 4-6 hours of driving and you get a lot of heat. I took every precaution that I could with the intercooler and bigger pulley and my belt is looking fine. I have already made one of those trips from San Diego to Vegas as well.

Cliffs notes:

JWT TT Built Motor 350Z = Great for the track, too much for the street.
Stillen Stage 2 G35 = Not ideal for track use, but perfect for daily driving.

 

excellent review, thank you! any clue as to the numbers on your Stage 2 Stillen?..

 

Not a clue. I am guessing ~280 - 290whp. I will dyno pretty soon, and I am taking it to the 1/4 mile Wednesday night. I am only expecting 13.8 - 14.0 in the 1/4 mile here because we are 2200 ft. above sea level.

 

Pictures? Are you going to get one of the VRT STBs? Performance Nissan sells the Gates belts cheaper is you ever need them.

 

Good to know. Thanks rookie. I have a VRT STB getting powdercoated right now . As far as pics, I am waiting until I put the springs in, wash/wax, and get some center caps for the wheels. Then I will detail it and take it out for a photo shoot.

 

350 what made you go with Stillen instead of Vortech or HKS? BTW glad your lovin you daily driver... and how do you think the 5AT tranny is holdin up and how does it shift with the extra power?

 

I chose Stillen because I have always been a fan of roots type blowers. No lag and that awesome whine. Plus, Stillen is the most reliable F/I system for the VQ out of the box and the only one that keeps the factory warranty. The tranny is holding up just fine and shifts the same as before. The Stillen Stage 2 doesn't add enough horsepower to really worry about the 5AT. My buddy Ty (roneski) has had the JWT TT on his stock 5AT for a while putting down a lot more power than the Stillen is. He is now getting a VB upgrade and turning up the boost though .

 

ya i talked to roneski about his set up... did he ever get the VB done ?