Feeling the Pressure

If you've never driven a car equipped with the giggle juice, drop whatever you're doing, bookmark that T&A Web site, pull up your pants (they shouldn't be down anyway, it's a freakin' tech page), and pick up a nitrous system for your car. Why? Because the feeling of pressure on your chest while bystanders, trees, and buildings zoom by, blurring into a great mass of colorful horizontal lines, is a feeling worth noting down in your diary.

We know firsthand because during our visit to Edelbrock in Torrance, California, we were allowed to testdrive its nitrous-complete '03 Nissan 350Z. With this system, created by Edelbrock's best engineers, the Z's horsepower at the wheels jumped higher than a b-ball player on 'roids, increasing from 232 @ 6,246 rpm to 295 @ 6,069 rpm, while the torque went up from 223 lb-ft @ 4,787 rpm to 275 lb-ft @ 5,068 rpm using 91 octane pump gas and Edelbrock's size 36 stainless jets. But this setup has more potential. Before our visit, Edelbrock filled the 350Z with 100 octane 76 Cool Blue unleaded race fuel, bumping up the pony power to 354 @ 5,463 rpm with 344 lb-ft of torque @ 5,275 rpm. These are amazing numbers, considering that this nitrous kit, which uses the dry setup, is fairly new to Edelbrock's already strong nitrous lineup.

The entire system comes with a 10-pound bottle with a gauge that can be beautifully positioned anywhere in the cockpit or the trunk, giving you less room for your victims and other weird stuff like that. The people at Edelbrock opted for the two-prong approach, using two bottles in the Z to add more intimidation to cocky competitors.

The nitrous setup is also compatible with Edelbrock's full line of nitrous accessories, like the covered toggle switch, as well as Russell stainless steel nitrous lines. And while the Edelbrock crew was accessorizing, they gave the job of handling the robust increase in horsepower to the choice Volk Racing TE37s. Man, they're sweet. But before we digress into a Shakespearian soliloquy about wheels, sex, and sex accessories, let's discuss the beauty of the Edelbrock nitrous kit, which is a success in and of itself, considering the 350Z's complex electronic system was a great obstacle in creating it. So a big owe to the people at Edelbrock for making this Nissan faster than ever, and one hell of a ride too. Now check out how product engineer Nestor Cabrera hooked it up on the Z.

Plenty of room for groceries, golf clubs, and random body parts.

1. Before you mishandle anything inside the engine bay, make sure you remove the ground cable from the battery to prevent any accidental shorts. This helps you stay alive, which is sometimes a good thing.

2. First, take the time to think of where you want to mount the nitrous bottle. A good word of advice is to not install the bottle on the dashboard. Although it may look cool, you'll be asking for a load of trouble.

3. Make sure you place the rubber insulator on the bracket before installing the bottle because the hoop is made to compensate for the insulator's thickness and protect the bottle's finish.

4. Now it's time to figure out the path of the nitrous feed line. Make sure the route doesn't interfere with the exhaust and suspension movement.

5. Nestor decided to run the nitrous line through a factory plug opening in the trunk floor, routing it to the underside of the Z and toward the engine. When running the line, leave it loose until you figure out where you'll be installing the solenoid.	6. Before you affix the solenoid onto a place in the engine bay, you need to install the nitrous filter fittings to it. Enter the bench vise to help you alleviate your fitting woes. Use liquid Teflon paste on pipe threads for proper fitting.
7. Edelbrock's filters help get rid of debris that may congest the nitrous and cause solenoids to leak as well as keep your nitrous system troublefree in the years to come.	8. Using an open-ended wrench, install the filter fitting on the inlet side of the solenoid. Be careful because you don't want to harm the solenoids in any way. Always apply a dab of liquid Teflon paste on any pipe threads.
9. When you're done placing all the fittings, plugs, and T connectors to the solenoids, the next step is to attach the solenoid bracket to the solenoid.	10. This is what the solenoid component should look like. Edelbrock used Russell's 90-degree adapter fitting to simplify routing of the braided hoses.
11. Finding a mounting location for the solenoid assembly may be difficult. The basic rule is to avoid placing them near any exhaust parts. Also, make sure the distance from the solenoid assembly to the main jet isn't too far away.	12. After finding a mounting location, join the main nitrous feed line to the inlet fitting from the first solenoid using a wrench. At this point, you can take a break by sampling the sweet smell of nitrous--or to conserve what precious few brain cells you still have, maybe you should just eat lunch.
13. Because the nitrous spray nozzle is placed in the intake boot for a high-quality path to the throttle body, you'll need to remove it for drilling. Try to place the hole between the MAF sensor and throttle body.	14. You need to drill a 7/16-inch hole into the intake boot.
15. You need to drill a 7/16-inch hole into the intake boot.
16. Now you can connect the line between the solenoid assembly to the dry nozzle. The fun officially starts after this point.
17. The entire electrical install is relatively easy. Following the wiring diagram and pin chart that comes with the set is about as easy as wiring a CD changer to a stereo system. Here, Nestor is showing us two boxes: one houses the brain of the nitrous system, which includes the WOT (wide-open throttle) nitrous trigger that interprets how far the accelerator is pressed down through the factory TPS (throttle position sensor), while the other one is the enrichment module, which works with the factory ECU to help inject additional fuel through the fuel injectors.	18. The entire electrical install is relatively easy. Following the wiring diagram and pin chart that comes with the set is about as easy as wiring a CD changer to a stereo system. Here, Nestor is showing us two boxes: one houses the brain of the nitrous system, which includes the WOT (wide-open throttle) nitrous trigger that interprets how far the accelerator is pressed down through the factory TPS (throttle position sensor), while the other one is the enrichment module, which works with the factory ECU to help inject additional fuel through the fuel injectors.
19. When installing the electrical system, figure out where you want to put the boxes, which is usually placed next to the fuse panel. As far as the wiring schematics, it's best to refer to Edelbrock's wiring diagram and pin chart.	20. Hook up the main nitrous line with the bottle's high-flow nitrous exit. Open up the valve, turn on the toggle switch, and ride off into the sunset with lightning fast speed--only on the track, of course.
Going Nowhere FastAfter running several dynamometer cycles, the Edelbrock Nitrous System proved to add 123 horses at the wheels using 76 Cool Blue unleaded race fuel. With 123 horses, you can make enough glue to attach Jonny's hands to his humongous cabbage. Impressive!