Ask Sarah turbo 350Z

Got a Tech Question?  Email Sarah at asksarah@motoiq.com

We have a stock 350Z N/A engine.  Can we add a turbo without messing with the ECU if we want to run 8 psi boost?  A 1 or 2 bar MAP?   -Michael

Only if "you like the cars, the cars that go boom!"  More air requires more fuel, generally less timing and or lower compression.  At 8 psi, the stock fuel system and ECU tune can’t provide enough fuel without possibly running lean.  Since the Nissan engine management system uses a Mass Air Flow meter, not a MAP sensor since it's not speed density like an older Honda, changing the MAP sensor would only cause the check engine light to come on and a DTC code to be thrown.  If you were running an aftermarket stand alone ECU using speed density to calculate the fuel, which sensor you used would depend on your anticipated boost level. Less than one bar of boost, use the one bar sensor, more than a bar, use the two bar sensor.  Which sensor you use makes no impact on the tuning.

Keep the air/fuel ratio to about 10.5-11:1 at wide open throttle on pump gas and invest in a good aftermarket kit such as the ones from Jim Wolf Technology or GT Motorsports to provide boost in a box, or use an aftermarket plug and play from Turbo XS or Haltech and upgrade your fuel system if you want to do it yourself. From the scope of the question, I think you might need to do a little more research and learn the basics of engine management and how modern fuel injection systems work.

Trying to turbo a late model engine is not for beginners.  We suggest a complete engineered turbo kit like this Jim Wolf Technology Twin turbo system for the VQ35DE engine.