More Notes on NOS Mod

New 6/1/05

For anyone interested.

Have now had a Zex NOS kit installed on my 97 for about a year now. This was always meant to be a very occasional, just-for-fun mod; I have never raced it, mostly because the only nearby track is an 1/8 mile track and it just doesn't seem worth the hassle, plus I don't want to have to call the wife to ask her to come pick me up in Waynesboro (45 minutes away) after I break something. I don't street race at all.

Still have a 75-hp nozzle, still have the same SCT 4-setting chip (one for NOS, one aggressive, one mild performance, one "test"). Denso iridium plugs. Other mods are UDP, cat-back exhaust, SHO shop intake with added vent to fender (Porterized remnants), plus suspension and brake mods.

I hook up the bottle and play about once every two weeks, usually in the evenings when I have a rare chance to cruise around. I still have never fired the NOS for more than about six-seven seconds. Out in the country I have had it over 120 a couple times on NOS, from a rolling start and very briefly, and it is obvious that this will get it WAY past 120 very quickly. The extra power from a stop is hugely noticeable and impressive; still, most slightly modded (or the newer models) Mustang GTs will pull significantly away from me right off the line (tested with friends under controlled conditions, not randomly on the street) but I then catch them very quickly. (I have NOT been able to catch a buddy's new Cobra.) Definitely (on NOS) this SHO is faster than a lot of cars whose owners are shocked that you can keep up with them - so the shock value is awesome. It will definitely shred perfectly good tires from a stop on smooth pavement, I avoid that.

So all in all, IMHO this was well worth doing, I accepted the risks involved and am taking care not to use it too often or burn too long at a shot. I have never had any codes except occasional intake related codes that I always get when I clean the intake. The worst thing that happened to me so far is that one night my valve stuck open (with a full bottle); I went to crank it closed and couldn't budge it. That made me nervous, so I bled out the whole bottle and took it into the shop that installed my system, and they gave me a new valve to be safe.