ZL-1 nitrous system?

[BlackWidow24]

Hello guys, brand new here so excuse if this has been discussed already! I have a 13 zl-1 with kooks 2" headers and catless down-pipe, new era intake, 2.5 upper pulley, btr stage iii cam with all necessary valvetrain upgrades, 160 thermostat currently putting down 590 rwhp through the auto. I want my hp to be in the 700 club and have been checking out the 2 different no2 systems (throttle body plate, and blower plat system) both by nitrous outlet. which do you guys prefer and which do you think will better suit my build/goals? thanks in advance!

[STUNNAH]

Are you open to any other options or is nitrous your decision???What are your specific build/goal's other than being in the 700 club, drag/track racing???What is your fueling system???In order for you to get a variety of input it is helpful that members know the answers to these simple questions...

[DerrickG]

I like the Nitrous Outlet blower plate setup. It performs better and it can be hidden underneath the engine cover if you care for that. But as stated above there is a lot of other factors that need to be considered. Especially when you start pushing the motor that hard on a stock bottom end. I for one cracked 2 pistons in two years in the 700hp club until I eventually went with E85 for its cooling properties. If all you want is cheap power then nitrous can get you there but you'll need a fuel pump as well and depending on if you go wet or dry the. You'll need injectors as well. To answer your question though I would go for the blower plate setup over the throttle body plate.

[kmkalkhoff]

If you are dead set on a nitrous system to reach your goals, don't cheap out. A quality nitrous system with all of the safety features (dedicated fuel supply and timing control) will run you right around $3,000. Check out the nitrous system options on the Vengeance Racing website - you can build a complete system in their online store to compare the prices of your different options. I am in no way affiliated with Vengeance Racing, but I just went through the research process on this subject a couple months ago when I was contemplating a nitrous setup for my 2013 ZL1. I found that they had the best options for a complete system when shopping from an online store.

On the spray bar system under the lid vs TB plate, I believe the plate will provide everything you are looking for in a nitrous setup. If you had a forged engine, or even future goals to go forged, and you wanted to get the absolute biggest gain out of the nitrous setup, then you would want to look at the spray bars. If you never plan on getting that extreme, the plate will work just fine.

If I were in your shoes, I would add a 9.1 lower and upgrade your fuel system. You can get to 700 rwhp pretty easily without nitrous.

[BlackWidow24]

Thank you for all the input guys. When i talked to my local tuner (Mike at New Era Performance) about my fueling upgrades he told me to stay away from e85 as it is not as consistent as regular 93 octane, is this true? If not, what are the benefits of running e85 over 93 octane? Also, I'm not dead set on a nitrous system was just seeing everyones input if that was a smart or dumb way to go. Sorry in advance if i sound like a newbie this is my first car ever building and i am by no means a mechanic or diehard gearhead.

[DerrickG]

Almost all high performance cars in my area have been going E85. It has cooling properties to help the internals as well as a 100-110 octane rating depending on the mixture. I'm not sure what he's referring to when he says not consistent, he may be talking about some gas stations E85 is around 70% ethanol where others are 80-85% ethanol. As long as you have a flex fuel sensor installed that's not a big issue. Regardless the octane rating is still much higher and benefits of being able to tune a little more aggressively is always a plus. I'm no expert but I've been running E85 for a while now and I love it. You can feel the difference but you do use about 30% more fuel. So if you were able to get 20mpg before then you'll be around 15 mpg on E85 like myself. I'm sure someone will chime in with a more technical answer but that's pretty much why I go with it. You have people on both sides

[kmkalkhoff]

I would guess your tuner was talking about consistency of e85 from the gas station. Meaning the percentage of ethanol will vary from station to station and different times of the year. Since you are in NY, the percentage of ethanal would be significantly less in the winter.

A flex fuel sensor will take some of this out of the equation.

Do a search on the pros and cons of e85 - there are a ton of good articles on various forums.

Nitrous is great if it's setup correctly with a quality kit. However, I believe that you could reach your 700 rwhp goal for about the same price by upgrading your fuel system and going to a more agressive pulley combo, with the benefit of having that power on tap at all times and not worring about filling a bottle.

Everyone is different, and it all depends on what you want out of the car. Example: I am at the 700 rwhp level now. I wanted more, so I started looking at the options. A nitrous system was one of the options I considered, which would have netted me highest potential for increase in power per $ spent. However, I decided to go with ported heads, blower and 102mm TB (which is a couple thousand $ more than a good nitrous system), because personally, I would rather have a 30-40 rwhp gain at all times, versus 50-150 rwhp potential at the mercy of a bottle. I don't daily drive this car, but I do a lot of cruising around on the street when I'm not racing.

[BlackWidow24]

Originally Posted by DerrickG

Almost all high performance cars in my area have been going E85. It has cooling properties to help the internals as well as a 100-110 octane rating depending on the mixture. I'm not sure what he's referring to when he says not consistent, he may be talking about some gas stations E85 is around 70% ethanol where others are 80-85% ethanol. As long as you have a flex fuel sensor installed that's not a big issue. Regardless the octane rating is still much higher and benefits of being able to tune a little more aggressively is always a plus. I'm no expert but I've been running E85 for a while now and I love it. You can feel the difference but you do use about 30% more fuel. So if you were able to get 20mpg before then you'll be around 15 mpg on E85 like myself. I'm sure someone will chime in with a more technical answer but that's pretty much why I go with it. You have people on both sides

I like the information you're giving me Derrick much appreciated. If you dont mind me asking what are all the necessary components i will need to fully convert to e-85 and are there any websites that offer just a fueling package that comes with everything i need to convert? Thank you in advance much appreciated!

[BlackWidow24]

Originally Posted by kmkalkhoff

I would guess your tuner was talking about consistency of e85 from the gas station. Meaning the percentage of ethanol will vary from station to station and different times of the year. Since you are in NY, the percentage of ethanal would be significantly less in the winter.

A flex fuel sensor will take some of this out of the equation.

Do a search on the pros and cons of e85 - there are a ton of good articles on various forums.

Nitrous is great if it's setup correctly with a quality kit. However, I believe that you could reach your 700 rwhp goal for about the same price by upgrading your fuel system and going to a more agressive pulley combo, with the benefit of having that power on tap at all times and not worring about filling a bottle.

Everyone is different, and it all depends on what you want out of the car. Example: I am at the 700 rwhp level now. I wanted more, so I started looking at the options. A nitrous system was one of the options I considered, which would have netted me highest potential for increase in power per $ spent. However, I decided to go with ported heads, blower and 102mm TB (which is a couple thousand $ more than a good nitrous system), because personally, I would rather have a 30-40 rwhp gain at all times, versus 50-150 rwhp potential at the mercy of a bottle. I don't daily drive this car, but I do a lot of cruising around on the street when I'm not racing.

Thanks for the input! yeah after doing some research today i think im going to steer away from the nitrous kit and go with fueling upgrades, pulley, afco hx, and new era supercharger coolant reservoir. this just seems like the safer way to go for the moment. Does anyone know what these LSA engines are supposed to handle?

[STUNNAH]

Originally Posted by BlackWidow24

I like the information you're giving me Derrick much appreciated. If you dont mind me asking what are all the necessary components i will need to fully convert to e-85 and are there any websites that offer just a fueling package that comes with everything i need to convert? Thank you in advance much appreciated!

You'll need larger injectors at least 850's (I would go with the 1000's as they are the same price) lots of members choose Injector Dynamics, a flex fuel sensor Dedicated Motorsports, and at least a Kenny Bell or similar boost a pump or a stand-a-lone fuel system dual pump which many use Dedicated Motorsports as well...Combine the E85 with a larger lower pulley and your in the ball park...Plus this gives you a great foundation to build up...http://www.dedicatedmotorsports.com/...I am not inferring that any other sponsor or business is less capable of meeting your need...

[BlackWidow24]

Sorry i haven't posted here in a while guys, i just found out i'll be bringing a future camaro owner into this world and have been pretty busy. Figure i'd give you guys an update on what route i went with! I bought weld 17x10 wheels with 305/45/17 M/T et street r's, afco hx with fans, new era coolant reservoir, and 10.5 under pulley which got me to my goal of the 700whp club without the use of nitrous!

[STUNNAH]

Originally Posted by BlackWidow24

Sorry i haven't posted here in a while guys, i just found out i'll be bringing a future camaro owner into this world and have been pretty busy. Figure i'd give you guys an update on what route i went with! I bought weld 17x10 wheels with 305/45/17 M/T et street r's, afco hx with fans, new era coolant reservoir, and 10.5 under pulley which got me to myon goal of the 700whp club without the use of nitrous!

What did you do for fuel???I didn't know they made a 10.5' lower pulley...Cooling mods sound good...Congratulations on the baby, is this your 1st child???

[STUNNAH]

Post us some pics of your car...

[BlackWidow24]

Originally Posted by STUNNAH

What did you do for fuel???I didn't know they made a 10.5' lower pulley...Cooling mods sound good...Congratulations on the baby, is this your 1st child???

Yes sir this will be my first, still a little young at 23 but i've never been more excited! As far as fueling went we found out that the only thing i needed extra to handle the extra power was a kenne bell BAP. I was told for my power level the injectors and BAP will be fine until i start reaching closer to the 800 whp mark then he said he would recommend the squash dual fuel pump. I will also get some pictures of the car as soon as she comes back from the shop!