Please, no name-calling, kids.

 

Sorry, but I constantly have to tell that guy to not make any posts regarding me yet he does it anyways. Back to the topic, I can't wait t see what DaveB says, in some ways I hope he can prove me wrong, making a cheap mod (with no real negative side-effects) worthy for our car, but at the same time I'm still a skeptic.

 

I have what is listed in my Sig and have had the UR pulley set for over a year. No problems whatsoever and the oil analyses have been superb. So I dispute that a PROPERLY INSTALLED pulley is a motor killer. If you tweak it or overtighten, that is another matter. But with the mods I have, I can tell you without a doubt that my car is amazingly quick compared to the loaners I get during services. The loaners are so slow that it feels like they are detuned by the dealer or something. Who knows, maybe they are. But for about $1500 installed for what I have, it has made a huge difference on my car and dont regret any of it.

 

The Stillen catback make some very impressive power, majority of the difference felt is probably from that. I'm not saying the pulley doesn't provide ample power, but the Stillen catback does make SIGNIFICANT power.

 

No duh - whats the point of that post. If someone wants to drone to death and have no visitors over 30 in thier car that's great. On a hp/$ basis I bet the pulley is actually pretty comprable. Really ~ what's your point here. Some mods make more power than others...duh anyone can do a catback. Some want a more refined and less noticable change in the driveablity of thier car. TT is also a lot of bang - if you need to feel like you are riding the Saturn V then the new Z06 with a strapped on TT setup is what you need. Jeez not all mods need to make you quake. Some of like the minor refined little improvements over stock that are easy and relatively inexpensive...and not a screaming muffler.

 

Don't get so defensive, I was just letting the guy know that his Stillen catback is making significant gains which is probably the most evident reason why his car feels so much faster then the loaners. I also happen to agree that the Stillen exhaust is WAY TOO loud for the car, but that wasn't what he was commenting. I had the Stillen exhaust, I liked the gains, but there's no way I'm driving my $35k luxury car around at that obscene level, it's not worth the ~15whp for that sacrifice. There are a handful of people who somehow think the noise levels is acceptable, it looks like you and I do not however.

Again, I was just letting the guy know that he does have mods that have proven, significant gains and I could see why he feels his car is faster than the loaners. If he told me he just had grounding gear and that he could notice such a HUGE difference in speed and power, then I'd have a hard time believing him.

 

cant we all just get along?? whats up with everyone getting all up in other's faces?? we all have a right to our own opinions dont need to bash one another!!

chill out ppl!!

 

I couldn't agree more with the original intent of this thread. Most naturally aspirated modifications are a waste of money. They can be fun to do, but that's about it. I have been modifying my 2000 Mustang GT over the past five years now. Some mods. worked, and some were a complete waste of money. If I was more patient and spent more time on the mustang discussion forums to begin with, I may have been avoided purchasing some of the worthless mods. Unfortately, like many of us, we are too eager to start modifying and end up trying to convince ourselves that our cars gained power when deep down, we simply don't want to admit that the power gain, if any, was hardly worth the cash outlay.

The two best mods. I did to my mustang were Nitto Drag Radial tires and moving to a 4.10 rear-end gear. The gear alone "felt" like I add 50 hp. to my car, but then I traction issues so I bought drag radials. The tire upgrade made my car jump off the line like a rocket because of the traction upgrade. It's no fun to have power if you can't put it to the ground. Spinning tires gets old. The drag radials are fantastic. My 60 ft. times dropped from 2.1's to 1.9's with just the tire upgrade. That's a measurable difference that equated to lower quarter mile times overall. My best ET went from 13.89 to 13.51 with just changing the gears and tires - zero horsepower gains!!!!

To the people on this thread that are getting pissed off at DaveB and BrianV, you are probably the same people that sunk tons of money into modifications that simply don't produce results. Don't get mad. Instead admit what doesn't work so others can learn from you mistakes. I wish I had read a thread like this before I starting dropping money into my mustang.

As for dyno testing, it can be very consistent if you correct and make comparisons based on SAE corrected numbers. Read about SAE dyno numbers on the internet if you don't know what this means. Commenting and analyzing dyno numbers that are not corrected for SAE is worthless.

 

Well said!

 

[QUOTE=SixFive]No duh - whats the point of that post. If someone wants to drone to death and have no visitors over 30 in thier car that's great. QUOTE]

I have never really thought that the Stillen was that loud. And no, I'm not deaf and am 37 years old. I value my hearing since I enjoy my dedicated theater and listening room. But I digress, the tone is deep and mellow without any rasp at all. I got probably one of the first few made, so maybe there has been a bit of drift on the jig/template and things are not as precise anymore and leading to more vibe/resonance etc. I dont know, but I have never had anyone say that the car was intolerable or uncomfortable in any way inside. I have had some startled stares by hitch-hikers as I blast by WOT on an onramp. To hear the Stillen/Z-Tube/K/N combo at 6500 WOT right before the shift is real sweet.

 

Hey that was an a bit overstated mate. My mid pipe and z tube scream and I love it. I guess the PRO 1 was what I thought a stillen sounded like based on what I think I had read and not what I have heard.

The stillen should be a good gainer but I would venture to say that a combo of cheaper or equally expensive mods or the plenum upgrade alone would equal or outdo those gains. Don't mufflers other than the variable backpressure inducing stock muffler cause torque loss and good HP gains. While that sounds like a knock it seems that the current trend in the VQ updates are to drop TQ and raise HP so that may really bring your top end relatively more alive even at the expense of low end grunt. I would be lying if I told you I'd not prefer a 15 HP gain and a 5-6 TQ loss, however.

Brian no harm intended but your original comments were consistent with someone's statement that gains had not been proven out of plenum and pulley mods. I believe the two combined would equate or best to the Stillen catback gains which I respect as the best catback there is, max HP-wise. I'll be at Raceway Park in June - aka Englishtown in NJ for the Nissan Infiniti race day. If someone with a Stillen exhaust is there I'll be looking for a run down the 1/4 track. My baby may have a TS ecy by then and breaking the 5at sedan and coupe's (from 04 or prior) nemisis - the sub 14 quarter time (well if it's 40 degrees in June I have a chance). Only BOSSHO has done it and he had drag radials and some sweet 16 inch race wheels on the back. Anyone else that has done it please step up and share the joy. In fact there are few sedan or coupe's recorded in six speed form that have broken the 14 barrier. TT - SC excluded of course. Not sure I can be happier with my combo just because I can dream of my car breaking 13's. What's the mag time 14.7 or 8? I've spent 1000 bucks and find these pretty good gains that I can really notice. That was the topic.

 

Does anyone think the 2005's will be able to break 14 seconds?

I’d like to see a dyno graph comparison between the ’04 Sedan and the ’05 Sedan. We all now Infiniti is claiming a 38 hp gain on paper, but don’t forget that’s at the peak. I’m more interested in the dyno curve from 3000 rpms to redline. I’d like to see if the ’05 picked up gains along the entire curve at not just at like 6500 rpms. If the gains are only at end of the rpm range, then I don’t think the ’05 is going be much faster than the ’04 model. My suspicion is that the gains for ’05 are only at the peak because that what car manufactures focus on. They like to promote peak horsepower numbers and consumers therefore focus on those numbers too. It’s a numbers game and lately, the trend for cars is more horsepower. Just look at how just about every performance car has bumped up hp. numbers year after year.

 

I don't know the stillen exhaust puts out some awesome gains, way better than other exhaust systems. I'd tend to favor the statement that the stillen exhaust single-handedly makes more power than ztube, intake, and plenum combined. It also makes kick-a$$ torque and pretty much improves power across the entire band. If your ears can live with it and your passengers don't mind then it's a definite must for a mod. My g/f was threatening break-up, my dad said it was an immature thing to do to my car, and my boss told me I ruined my Infiniti with that exhaust, so I removed it. Yeah I lost some power, but now that it's off I apprecaite the tone the stock engine makes, and the quietness I can cruise under. Too each their own though.

I have no doubt that at least 15-20 WHP was made with that piece across almost the entire band.

 

I think you would notice more of a difference in the x model since the 04 was 260/260 and the 05 is 280/270. A friend of mine that drove both noticed a bit of a difference.

It is true that all auto makers seem to be pushing towards the 300hp mark for their V6s. Hp does sell cars on paper... I typically pay more attention to the torque numbers and performance curves since it reflects more of everyday use for me. I have not found myself at the strip for a number of years. I can say that in 4 years I might have seen red line twice in 84000 miles of driving.

I saw 4000 plenty of times...

I did add headers to my CLS, but you really had to be above 5000 to notice the difference. In some cases the dyno showed a 1-2 HP loss in the lower end...

 

That's how a lot of these mods. are - power is gained in the upper end of the rpm range. Most breathing mods. (i.e. intake and exhaust) see their gains at very high rpms because that's when the engine is moving the most air. These mods. are rarely noticeable on the street where normal driving takes place.