Ok guys and ladies,
I have a 16 z06 A8 with catless downpipes, AWE xpipe and Borla atak exhaust, afe cold air intake I recently picked up a 2.31 pulley and hub. I have about 2.3k in funds left but I was Quoted 1500 for the pulley swap and intercooler purge and dyno time. so that leaves me with around 800 left for other goodies. My question is should I go expansion tank, ported throttle body or any other ideas? like I said I only have 800 left so keep that in mind dont say save and get a maggie or anything dumb. This is my daily driver so it wont be hitting the track just looking on a little more power

Thanks guys,
here are some pics



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Expansion tank. These cars heatsoak very easily IMO.

 

Thanks that what I was figuring

 

I would get a larger heat exchanger before the expansion tank if you can only do one.

 

Flex fuel and tune. Forget expansion tank. Don't believe me then just search this section and read up on the ECS "less is more" mod list on his personal Z06. He provides you with a blueprint on how to spend your money wisely. Doesn't get much easier than following those instructions. I think you would have just about everything he has done once you add the flex fuel and tune. His is a 19 so he is able to run a little more ethanol than you (low side fuel pump flows more volume) so you may be shy a few horsepower but that is still going to be the best bang for your buck.

 

Was just about to say this. Forget the pully and go with flex fuel.

 

I agree

 

Asked my tuner about this and he said not a good idea. Told me my fuel system would need to be upgraded since I have 16z and he told me it's a pain in that's filling up to try to keep the ratio right. I don't know much of ethanol just what I read and only believe in half of that. I don't want to be that guy " I saw this online and says I can do it " lol

Thanks again keep the ideas coming

 

Your tuner doesn't know what he is talking about. As long as you run no more than E55, the stock fuel system can handle the ethanol. Most of the flexfuel systems come with (or are compatible with) concentration gauges that either show up through dash gauges or through your phone. Blending is as simple as understanding the approximate blend between 91/93 pump and ethanol and replicating that every time you fill up. For me, it's around a 50/50 split between pump and ethanol and that gets me between E47 and E50 regularly. Do whatever you want but you're wasting your time with the pully setup.

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Ryne tuned my car and by simply running flex fuel, a BMS drop in-filter, AWE x-pipe, and a TM ported throttle body I put down 675 WHP in 90 degree heat after 3-4 baseline runs.

 

Thanks guys for the info. I am going to talk to the tuner and ask him again about this. Just add a flex fuel sensor and I'll do the pulley as well and have it tuned with the mods I have already done.

Thanks again guys for the feedback I am new to this

 

Would you happen to have a link to the ECS less is more post? I was unsuccessful in my search.

 

I'd do the flexfuel instead of the pulley. Mixing to E50ish is much easier than mixing to E30ish which is where you'll end up if you pulley and flexfuel and you won't get all the cooling benefits of the ethanol at E30. The C7 Z fuel system can only support about 700 rwhp, realistically a bit less on a 16 since you don't have the ZR1 fuel pump like the 19s do. You can pair any combo of mods you want together but you'll max fuel at 675-685 on a 16Z. That's what your tuner is talking about - you can't run full E85. Your mods with a pulley will be 650-660 rwhp. You can spend the money on a flexfuel sensor (which is less than the $800 you have left) but you'll only be able to run E30ish and will max out your low-side most likely around 675-685 rwhp so not much gain over just the pulley. If you skip the pulley, put the $750 you save in your pocket to put towards the tires you'll need in the rear to handle the new power, and you'll also end up at 675-685 on E50ish. You won't have the heat soak issues from swapping the pulley and you'll actually get some cooling benefits from the ethanol at E50 which allows for more timing = more power. Also, at E50 you've got 90% of the power benefits of E85 (E70ish at the pump typically) so you're not missing much over running full pump E85. The only downside to flexfuel is you'll be at the same power level you are at now if you need to fill up with straight pump gas if you take the car on a trip or something.

I wish someone would have given me the above advice before I did the headers, CAI, pulley, and flexfuel on mine (with CPR expansion tank). I ended up at 650/685 rwhp/rwtq on pump 93 and 685/711 on E32. At E40, my hpfp started losing pressure and couldn't keep up. I have a 19Z so the low-side from the ZR1 was good at that power level. I think just a decent CAI and flexfuel is the way to go on these cars, takes you pretty much up to the fuel limits for under $2k installed/tuned and it's super easy to go back to stock if you need to trade the car in later.

 

Thanks man for the info I really do appreciate it if I get 650 to wheels that's all I want and need. I will be doing cooling mods in a few months. And tires are due soon so I'll be getting them as well. I just wanted a little bit more power and get it tuned for optimum performance for the mods I have. Not trying to break any land speed records since it's my daily driver.

once again thanks for the info