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.
