Upgrade questions
- Thread starter Huntsober
- Start date
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
I've done both. It all depends what your goals are. If you have no other modifications done to your car, I would say don't bother with the grounding kit. Unless you go to meets or just enjoy cosmetic projects like that, it won't give you any benefit you can feel.
The plenum spacer on the other hand is absolutely worth it along with a Cold Air Intake. Those two things along with a free flowing exhaust and a professional tune is all you can do to get more power out of the FX.
Intake, plenum spacer, exhaust & tune. This should be the Newb's mantra for getting more power in the FX.
The plenum spacer on the other hand is absolutely worth it along with a Cold Air Intake. Those two things along with a free flowing exhaust and a professional tune is all you can do to get more power out of the FX.
Intake, plenum spacer, exhaust & tune. This should be the Newb's mantra for getting more power in the FX.
That is the direction I was headed. When you say tune. Do you mean the +2 timing?
---------- Post added at 11:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:35 AM ----------
Also, as for the grounding I was looking for better lights and better Bose power. Not interested in the colored wires, just black.
---------- Post added at 11:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:35 AM ----------
Also, as for the grounding I was looking for better lights and better Bose power. Not interested in the colored wires, just black.
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
No, not the +2 timing. Talking about a professional ECU tune, using UpRev Osiris and an interface laptop and a dynomometer. Should cost around the neighborhood of $500 but is the best bang for the buck after you finish your bolt on mods.
Grounding is not going to help you out on the lights. Going to higher color temperature (6000K - 8000K) is a common light upgrade here on IS. For the sub, it is already grounded through the factory harness. You can try adding another ground but even if you reduce the electrical resistance in the ground path, you will not notice stronger sounding bass. Plenty of subwoofer threads here - check out the different ways you can get more power from adding an aftermarket amp to completely replacing the sub/amp and adding a bass processor. Just depends on what your budget is and what kind of improvement you are looking for.
Well the inatke and the plenium give the engine an awesome sound when at high rpm's 
... Once you install a modd, the ECU will take some time to get "used to" the new parts .... if you just unplug the negative terminal of the battery, and leave it for 5 mins, it should speed up the process ... personally i wouldnt do that .... btw it seems that you are looking for a considerable amoun of power gains ... teh plenuim and intake will not give you that much .... actually, bolt ons in general will not give you THAT MUCH power ..... the most effective modd you can do right now is the Tune ....
... Once you install a modd, the ECU will take some time to get "used to" the new parts .... if you just unplug the negative terminal of the battery, and leave it for 5 mins, it should speed up the process ... personally i wouldnt do that .... btw it seems that you are looking for a considerable amoun of power gains ... teh plenuim and intake will not give you that much .... actually, bolt ons in general will not give you THAT MUCH power ..... the most effective modd you can do right now is the Tune ....I'm not mechanically inclined and I installed the plenum spacer myself. There are elaborate DIY on the internet. The hardest part about the install was to properly torque the screws using inch/lb torque wrench instead of ft/lb torque wrench. If you over torque, the screws will snap. Again, very detailed installation instructions on the web somewhere.... DIY it! ^_^
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
You are right an average shop should not do the ECU tune. Should be a shop that does performance builds and works with Z's and G's regularly since they have the same engine, drivetrain and ECU. Experience is the key.
I'm going to give you the newb Mantra for FX power. Learn it, Live it.
Intake. Plenum Spacer. Exhaust. Tune.
I noticed a difference in feel after my CAI and again after my plenum spacer. I had been driving the FX for 5 years before either of these mods so it was obvious to me. I have heard other people claim it is no more than sound but they have no evidence to prove there was or was not an improvement. I have evidence in the form of a dynomometer pull after all my bolt-on mods. Without a tune, there was about a 15whp increase with Intake, plenum spacer and exhaust. With the tune, that increased to 36whp increase.
Any time you change how the engine breathes (takes in air or pushes out exhaust) you should reset the ECU. Inside the computer are "learning cells" that match fuel to the amount of air going into the motor. Since you change how the motor gets this air, you should reset the ECU to allow it to learn again, but this time with the new gear in place. Resetting the ECU is as easy as unplugging the battery for about five minutes and pushing on the brake pedal. If you lost all your radio stations, then the ECU has been reset. If you still have your preset radio stations, you did not reset the ECU.
Say that mantra with me!
Intake, Plenum Spacer, Exhaust, Tune!
I'm going to give you the newb Mantra for FX power. Learn it, Live it.
Intake. Plenum Spacer. Exhaust. Tune.
I noticed a difference in feel after my CAI and again after my plenum spacer. I had been driving the FX for 5 years before either of these mods so it was obvious to me. I have heard other people claim it is no more than sound but they have no evidence to prove there was or was not an improvement. I have evidence in the form of a dynomometer pull after all my bolt-on mods. Without a tune, there was about a 15whp increase with Intake, plenum spacer and exhaust. With the tune, that increased to 36whp increase.
Any time you change how the engine breathes (takes in air or pushes out exhaust) you should reset the ECU. Inside the computer are "learning cells" that match fuel to the amount of air going into the motor. Since you change how the motor gets this air, you should reset the ECU to allow it to learn again, but this time with the new gear in place. Resetting the ECU is as easy as unplugging the battery for about five minutes and pushing on the brake pedal. If you lost all your radio stations, then the ECU has been reset. If you still have your preset radio stations, you did not reset the ECU.
Say that mantra with me!
Intake, Plenum Spacer, Exhaust, Tune!
So, if I disconnect the neg post on the battery while I am installing my CAI, the ecu will be reset....right? I read in the DIY section the ecu reseting instructions. Will this also have to be done?
I put a CAI on my QX56, while the batt was disconnected. Stations had to be reset, so its my understanding the ecu was rest on it too?
You realize I have a thousand questions.....These are the first imports I have ever owned. All my other stuff is carbed USA muscle so I am clueless to these things.
I put a CAI on my QX56, while the batt was disconnected. Stations had to be reset, so its my understanding the ecu was rest on it too?
You realize I have a thousand questions.....These are the first imports I have ever owned. All my other stuff is carbed USA muscle so I am clueless to these things.
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
S'all good - we all start somewhere with our FX!
Yes, your ECU was reset on your QX56 and that same method should also work for the FX. No, you don't have to do the ECU reset procedure unless you want to.
Both methods (unplug or procedure) accomplish the same thing but the "procedure" does it by commanding the ECU to reset while unplugging the battery causes it to reset by default. Doesn't matter which way you do it.
Yes, your ECU was reset on your QX56 and that same method should also work for the FX. No, you don't have to do the ECU reset procedure unless you want to.
Both methods (unplug or procedure) accomplish the same thing but the "procedure" does it by commanding the ECU to reset while unplugging the battery causes it to reset by default. Doesn't matter which way you do it.
Seriously? you gained 15whp from those specific bolt ons:eek.:?? I didnt feel a difference at all after my Headers, Intake, Plenium, exhaust, and standard light weight pulleys ... well i did feel the pulleys made that car rev up more smoothly ... but other than that it was just changes in sound (Not complaining about that part:tongue (2)
.... My god i really wanna get my car tuned soon !!!!Hey...if you are going to do the plenum spacer and CAI, do them together as you will
have to remove the factory intake to put in the the plenum spacer, so might as well do them at the same time. That's what I did...removed the intake, installed the plenum spacer and then just installed the CAI after. ECU will be reset once you hook battery back after this. Then get an exhaust...I recommend the Invidia...
Personally...i don't think the grounding kit is really needed...up to you.
Then like jumbo said...time to tune.
There yall (im from the south) go with the tuning stuff again. We have 4x4 monster trucks on every corner down here not pocket rocket street burners. lol
I have done more reading on this "turning" stuff. It is my understanding the shop must have the computer solfware to do the turning first. And that this software is good for one tuning each time?? Also how does he (the shop) know what I need turned, hell for that fact how do am I suppose to know.
As for the plenum spacer....does the manifold gasket under the plenum need to be changed as well. I see some sold with this part and some without this part.
I have done more reading on this "turning" stuff. It is my understanding the shop must have the computer solfware to do the turning first. And that this software is good for one tuning each time?? Also how does he (the shop) know what I need turned, hell for that fact how do am I suppose to know.
As for the plenum spacer....does the manifold gasket under the plenum need to be changed as well. I see some sold with this part and some without this part.
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
I promise you all the 4x4s have been tuned. T U N E. Tuned. Tuning. They use a chip or a box or other methods to adjust fuel, spark timing or both as needed. Some of these are done through the OBDII port, others are piggy back modules or plug in harnesses made just for the application. Same for the FX.
UpRev is a tuning company that figured out how to "talk" to the stock ECU. Using their interface, the computer can adjust fuel (signal to fuel injector), spark and cam timing and adjusts them to work better together. The changes give you both more power and better MPG.
Yes, the shop needs to already have the UpRev Osiris software, or they will need to buy it along with a shop license. I bought my own copy so I can use any shop that has experience with our VQ35DE motor and the UpRev platform. It was about $650 for the software and interface cable. Whoever does the tune will need a computer to run the software.
As for the grounding kit, I really don't think you will feel any difference at all, but it can't hurt you from an electrical standpoint. A lot of people put grounding wires on all kind of random points. My opinion is that you want to tie grounding points on the chassis directly to the negative battery terminal. Check out this thread for a kit I helped to develop.
///7780
Yes, the dyno showed 15whp maximum gain from Intake, Plenum Spacer & Exhaust. I did NOT do headers because no brand of headers has ever been shown to increase whp on a dyno chart for our VQ35DE. If you speak with Stillen, they specifically recommend against their own header if you plan to do their cat-back exhaust. The stock exhaust manifolds flow quite well. I'm still using the stock manifolds for my turbo application. Headers are not part of the FX power mantra!
Who's with me?
Intake, Plenum Spacer, Exhaust & Tune!
UpRev is a tuning company that figured out how to "talk" to the stock ECU. Using their interface, the computer can adjust fuel (signal to fuel injector), spark and cam timing and adjusts them to work better together. The changes give you both more power and better MPG.
Yes, the shop needs to already have the UpRev Osiris software, or they will need to buy it along with a shop license. I bought my own copy so I can use any shop that has experience with our VQ35DE motor and the UpRev platform. It was about $650 for the software and interface cable. Whoever does the tune will need a computer to run the software.
As for the grounding kit, I really don't think you will feel any difference at all, but it can't hurt you from an electrical standpoint. A lot of people put grounding wires on all kind of random points. My opinion is that you want to tie grounding points on the chassis directly to the negative battery terminal. Check out this thread for a kit I helped to develop.
///7780
I also did the lightweight pulleys but I also used a crank damper pulley which is heavier than stock. I noticed a change in feel after doing the pulleys but not one that would convince anybody there was more power because of it.Seriously? you gained 15whp from those specific bolt ons:eek.:?? I didnt feel a difference at all after my Headers, Intake, Plenium, exhaust, and standard light weight pulleys ... well i did feel the pulleys made that car rev up more smoothly ... but other than that it was just changes in sound (Not complaining about that part:tongue (2)
Yes, the dyno showed 15whp maximum gain from Intake, Plenum Spacer & Exhaust. I did NOT do headers because no brand of headers has ever been shown to increase whp on a dyno chart for our VQ35DE. If you speak with Stillen, they specifically recommend against their own header if you plan to do their cat-back exhaust. The stock exhaust manifolds flow quite well. I'm still using the stock manifolds for my turbo application. Headers are not part of the FX power mantra!
Who's with me?
Intake, Plenum Spacer, Exhaust & Tune!
Last edited: