Well, I’ve been promising it for a while now, and after some problems and delays I have the story.

For those that don’t know, I now have a custom front mount air to air intercooler, custom exhaust, 3.25 pulley, Apexi super afc, plugs, 8:1 fmu stuff like that is all now in. O yeah it's a 2000.

Anyway, after a few problems and delays it is all-together now, everything looks great, the exhaust is one of the best I’ve heard. Very factory sports car like, cars like the vette, m3, Porsche’s; cars like that that’s what I sounds like.

However I regret to say that the intercooler is dropping 3 psi of boost…very sad indeed…Yes I know it’s a lot, the reason has not yet been found, so please no comments on it’s drop,we all know it sucks, but if you have suggestions on things to check feel free to post that. If the reason can’t be found, it may be time to go with the 2.87 pulley, or maybe just time to get the 2.87 anyway.

The car was tested for boost, by bypassing the intercooler and the car made just a little shy of 9 psi of boost on the 3.25 pulley and made 292 hp…Hence the attention grabbing title, But again sadly on the intercooler with boost drop down to 6psi it only made about 260ish(auto). And the afc neeeded to be of course cranked way down. The funny thing is the car rips into other cars, I had a few sports cars run ins, things like the s2000, Camero, old school pumped up mustangs, and a rough mustang, I whipped up on all but the roush, that one was fun.

And for those that doubt the stuff I did to the tranny, don’t, that thing is sick. No lag, no wheel spin. Screw a five speed.

Also the boost, volt, and a/f gauge are all digital, and custom mounted in where the clock( really rebuilt) was inside tinted plexi, it looks really kewl, much more clean than a pillar style, I got some shots of it, look for that soon.

I also know some guys where looking for my impressions on the Stillen big brake 2 piece roter kit, 4 piston calipers, and lines, etc. Here is my review, it’s great….really great…stops on a dime from every speed, only problem is that if you tap the brakes a little to much you stop a little to soon unexpectedly at first. They take a while to adapt to, but once you do, it’s a lot of fun…Is it worth the cash? Well you have to decide, they are priced at about what all kits like that are, but they are great.

I took pics of everything this weekend, I gotta wait for um to come back, then my friend, and teammate is going to make the site up, when it’s done I’ll come back and update everything, and you everyone know.

Any comments or questions feel free to post

I also figure I'll take this chance to up date the mod listFor those that want the list of updated mods here it is…Or for those that don't here it is any way

.....Engine-

Vortech V2-SQ Supercharger

3.25 pulley

Custom Intercooler and Powder coated Pipes

Greddy Type- S Compressor Bypass Valve

Custom Exhaust w/ high flow cat & Resonator

Apex-I Super AFC

NGK spark Plugs- 2 steps Colder

Vortech 8:1 FMU

Aluminum Idler & Tensioner pulleys

.....Wheels & Tires

19”X 8.5” Volk Racing AV3

Yokohama AVS Sport 245-35-19

..........Brakes...Front
........4 piston calipers
......13” Drilled and slotted Rotors
......Stainless Steel Brake lines
.......Pads
.............Rear
.........Drilled Rotors
..........S.S. Brake lines
...........Pads

......Suspension

Cattman Coilovers – Generation 2

Stillen Front Strut tower Bar

Stillen Rear Sway Bar

.........Transmission-

Upgraded and blueprinted transaxle for extreme duty application, which includes durability upgrades, balancing of internal components, and valve body modification.

Custom axle

Custom Transaxle housing

Heavy-duty differential

Torrington bearing set

Teflon Bushing kit

Kolene direct steel

Ceramic direct clutchs

Kevlar Bands

Billet clutch drum (high Drum)

Race sleeves

Tapered roller bearings

Ring and Pinion Gear set

Case harden torque converter input hub and fluid balanced the converter

Hardened input shaft

A Custom form of Posi- traction

New gear ratio

Grade A bolts

Custom Fluid

Pressure Switch

...........Audio

Amps- (3) Zapco C2k 2.0

Processors- (3) Zapco Eq 30 – Sl- Equalizers
.............Zapco Slx-4- Crossover
.............Zapco Da2-sl - D/A converter
.............Zapco Vfm-Sl –Balanced line transmitter
.............Zapco Psi- Power supply

Head unit- Nakamichi Mb100- 6 disk in dash changer

Speakers/Subs- Mb Quart QSD 6.5 components
...............Mb Quart 10“ Premium

Power- SVR Battery
.......Alumapro’s “The Cap” 15 Farad capacitor

........Miscellaneous-
Viper alarm
Zapco Symbilink Cables
Dakota Digital Gauges
Front and rear Clear side markers

Can't wait to see pics man. Have you been to the track yet?

NO I havn't I plan to go after the audio is done being redun (oct) and the engine is doing what it's supposed to.

How much torque are you making and @ what RPM's? Torque is essential, especially for an auto.

with the 292 without the intercooler a meare pooy 232...With the intercooler with the 260ish it was around 245.

just throw some NOS in...your torque #'s will go up

You did some serious work to your tranny!!!

Congrats on completing your project.

Also your using a stillen supercharger kit correct?

Thanks, but it's not complete

But yes, it started life as a stillen kit.

sorry to not listen to ur plaese dont make any comments on the lost boost because of the i/c but i think i know what could be causing it to lose boost. the only logical explination i could think of is that the boost has to travel through more pipes, and the i/c. this gives the boost more room to spread out and that why the psi is dropping. the only thing i think u could do is like u said get the 2.87 pulley. and please dont flame on me im just tryin to point out what i think it could be and tryin to somewhat help out. goodluck on finishing ur ride, and much props not too many people can get the max to the level urs is at. Peace.

I want to see pics of the custom mounted gauges... I was thinking of something like that for the 4g project car...

- matt

Any intercooler will drop boost, via longer pipe runs, and the heat drop from being cooled, but usally they only drop 1psi maybe 2psi if it's real bad, so your right, but my case is extreme, hense why I tried to stop it, b4 it got bad, but hey this isn't a flame that wasn't bad, but thats the explanation. Possilbe casues are things like to many bends, but all the bends a smooth mandrel bends, all strong conecters...Right now I'm just at a loss, as it most people. and thank you for the complements.

Sounds nice, I am interested in the pics for the gauges. Please show, webpages can take a while

How come the supercharger barely makes any torque?? Even though it's not a roots type those tq numbers make me

I'm sure your car is fast as sin, but I just wonder why Vortech doesn't design their blowers to give more torque like Nigels turbo. He claims 350 HP and 350 TQ @ 9psi

The reason the Stillen SC kit doesn't add a lot of peak torque is because the torque it adds is mainly to higher rpms where torque on the stock motor has started to severely drop off. The Stillen SC adds on the order of 75 ftlbs at 6000 rpm but not nearly as much at the stock motor's torque peak rpm (~4500).

That having been said, the Stillen SC adds torque exactly where you need it on the Maxima. It's better to maintain a constantly high torque level that to make mad peak torque. Because we're FWD, we have severe traction limitations. Too much torque, and you'll waste it through traction loss (burning rubber). Sure, 350+ ftlbs sounds good, but it's useless in 1st gear, not effective in 2nd, and isn't completely useable until 3rd. Maintaining 250 or so across a wider powerband will ensure kickazz acceleration at all rpms while maintaining at least decent traction.

You want as much HP as possible on our cars, while maintaining reasonable torque numbers. Too much torque and you'll waste the HP spinning the tires fruitlessly.

An air to water aftercooler would work better for SC application.

Thanks for educating me, that was a really good post, Kevin!

Then I'd have to do it twice, I don't even want to do it once, hense why Im having someone else do it.

more auto love woohoo

just a suggestion on the boost leakage problem...

you can buy large "plugs" for about $5-10 at most hardware stores.. duno what size your pressure piping is on the intake, but they make up to 4". (I hope you're not running anything more than 3", or that's a good chunk of your problem!)

Anyway, pull the fittings off the SC and the TB at the other end. stuff the plugs in the ends, and pressurize the system to about 15psi. shut off the pressure and see if it drops. if it drops, then you've obviously got a leak. get a bottle of dishsoap and water and start hosing down every seam and fitting from one end to the other.

if you're losing 3psi, you've either got a big restriction somewhere, or you've got a leak. hope it's the leak, as the restriction is much more $ and difficult to fix. leaks are easy.

thats all i can say
gotta love that auto!

Hey J,
What size pipes are you running from the blower to the intercooler? Also what size intercooler are you using?? If you went to big that could be the prob, also check for leaks. Do you have a CAI with the SC? I heard that could up your boost a bit. You might also want to change the pulley to make up for lost boost, I would say a 2.87 should be good in your case. If not a small nitrous shot wont hurt. Im currently using a 35 shot wet and no problems. Hope you can fiqure it out..but in any case you get mad props on your set up you've put in some serious time and money into that car. Keep it up and I defenitly want to see that gauge mount you spoke about sounds very interesting...I agree, I want to get rid of the pillar. Thanks!

And about that 5 speed comment...

Grade 8 bolts Nice stats on the car. Everyone I know of who uses a front mount IC on a SCed max dropped boost. Why, I don't know. I know a few guys who are eliminateing the IC and just running a the piping where the cooler was to get it away from the exhaust. It seems to yeild better results.

Thats an some interesting ideas, though it's a s/c I can't just hit a button and pressurerize it to 15 psi , but yeah some good ideas I might have to try it. There are no apperarnt restrictions. All the bends are madral (sp?) bends welded together pieces here and there where they need be. I question if it's not a bad connecter at this point. They all seem solid from what i can see and are very tightly locked down with the hose clamps but who knows.

The pressure pipes are about 2.5 inches or what ever factory was, it matches right up to that same size. The intercooler core is 24" long by about 8" or 9" tall I forget exactly, plus the endtanks, in other words it fills the fender. The intake from the stillen kit was unitlized and slightly moded. I thought about doing the fender mount thing, but that still is just to get more, it should still get to where it should be even with that. Yeah at this point the 2.87 is seeming more and more on the way one way or the other, even If i get more boost as it is now just imagin 12 intercooled psi

Small bottle of nitrious never gonna happen that stuff makes me to nervous. Thanks and i will get some pics going soon as I can, it's a busy month for a bunch of us.

Bout time sombody caught it Thanks, all intercoolers drop boost, but 3psi is just a whole crap load. Even with droping boost though there are many advantages to havning the intercooler out there. I will never get rid of it the car runs better now and I can do many more high speed runs without wondering whats gonna happen to the engine, it's all much much cooler now, no chance of pining or knocking.

you have a boost leak.

welcome the to the fun world of forced induction
=o)

have you also thought of your intercooler being way to damn big for 9 psi???

that's why I said to disconnect the piping from the SC and TB (in other words, pull both ends of the piping loose and seal them off, so the entire plumbing system can be pressure tested).

Now pressurize the system (i.e. air pump, air compressor, etc), and watch to see if the pressure leaks down.

I guess another easy way to do this would be to have someone play with the throttle and keep the boost up while you walk around the front of the car hosing every connection down with soapy water..

y aknow, something i have seen people do, some people pick the wrong intercooler

yes intercoolers are good. too big of an intercooler leads to too much pressure drop. pressure drop leads to loss of boost so to speak.

whats the demensions of your intercooler???

Alright I got ya.

C above.

now that just simplifies things doesnt it.

With that big of an intercooler for the boost you have, 3 psi isn't that bad. My friend's 300ZX lost 3 lbs of boost when he upgraded to just the Stillen side mount intercoolers.

this guy has too much money!

Whats a normal size though, there are so many...I figure most are like 18 by 10, so mine by that standard is only 2 inches total bigger. i also figure one psi may again may (for those that jump on things ) come back when I get the 2.87 netting say 11 psi, so I hope with the more boost to only lose 2 psi.

Also I think it worth noting while I don't have a temp gauge I will say the intercooler does keep it massively cooler, you can put your hand on the pressure pipe by the engine after 3 hours of running and it's cool to the touch, much better than the factory when you'd hurt your hand.