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Vehicle-Specific Nitrous System - The Total PackageNitrous Outlet’s vehicle-specific total nitrous system—everything you need to make big power and look good doing it From the December, 2011 issue of GM High-Tech Performance By Justin Cesler Photography by The Author
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In the beginning, nitrous oxide systems consisted of little more than two repurposed solenoids, a couple feet of hose and boxes upon boxes of spark plugs. It was a fun time as enthusiasts learned the hard way what a lean mixture of nitrous would do to a piston or a stuck fuel solenoid would do to an intake manifold, but it was also an expensive and dangerous time. As technology progressed and racers became smarter, so did nitrous systems. Crude controllers were built, basic safety systems installed and the community added higher quality parts. First it was all about the nozzle and then people jumped onto the rings, now the debate rages between direct-port dry kits and dual stage plates. Not too long ago, it looked like nitrous systems evolved to their peak, with mail-order parts that you could easily obtain combined with a little ingenuity and a couple of good friends, you could build a slick nitrous system for your car with all the bells and whistles and have a blast doing it. Of course, those people who really made it all work and look good were few and far between. For the masses, a homebuilt nitrous system usually ended up looking like a mechanical bowl of spaghetti spilled atop a plethora of shoddily fused wires in an engine bay that's one short away from a massive fiery disaster. It's not easy to lay out a nice system and it certainly wasn't simple to learn how to bend small nitrous hard-lines to make a complete kit. Well, that was the case until a madman named Nitro Dave sat down and began designing what he thought was the ultimate plug-and-play nitrous kit for LSX and LTX F-bodies. No stranger to the field, Dave has been building and selling nitrous kits for years as the owner of Nitrous Outlet in Waco, Texas, and the ultimate GM EFI Total Nitrous System represents everything that Dave could affordably fit in a box, ship to your house and have you install without breaking the bank or burning your car to the ground. After installing a system on Editor Parker's LT1-powered Formula and loving the results, we had to see what the new FAST 102mm specific system would do on an LS1-powered F-body, so we called up Dave and ordered a kit. With the parts en route, we teamed up with Fran Schatz and his crew of builders and tuners at Race Proven Motorsports in Delaware to see what they thought of the system and the installation. Within hours of getting started, the parts were already flying out of the boxes and on to Rob Day's '00 SS Camaro and we were again impressed by the fit and finish of each piece and the massive power that the system delivered. Want to see more? Check out the tech on the following pages and make sure you take a look at the massive torque and power we picked up without any loss in daily drivability or street manners.  1 Not only does Nitrous Outlet...  1 Not only does Nitrous Outlet offer some of the most complete kits in the industry but they also build each system specifically for a car, so the end user only has to do minimal wiring and installation. This ’98-’02 F-Body total system package (PN 00-Group15) comes complete with a hard-lined nitrous plate kit, an ashtray switch panel, a digital window switch, a drop in bottle bracket/heater solution and all of the safety and installation items you could ever want.  2 The heart of the Nitrous...  2 The heart of the Nitrous Outlet system is this 102mm single stage plate, which is machined and built specifically for LSX racers. Capable of flowing and safely distributing upwards of 400-hp at a time, the plate bolts right in between the throttle body and the intake manifold, using a factory style O-ring gasket for a clean and simple installation.  3 To install the Nitrous...  3 To install the Nitrous Outlet kit, we turned to our friends at Race Proven Motorsports in tax-free Delaware and brought a mildly modified ’00 SS Camaro in to test the giggle-gas. With a Vengeance Racing camshaft, a FAST LSXR 102mm manifold and the usual bolt-on parts, Rob Day’s SS was already making 388-rwhp, which was a great start.  4 Steve Hamilton of Race...  4 Steve Hamilton of Race Proven Motorsports wasted no time getting down to business. Before we could even get the cameras set up and ready to go, Steve had removed the SLP lid, factory MAF sensor and the FAST 102 Big Mouth throttle body. If you’ve ever installed an LSXR 102, you know how close the bottom of the throttle body is to the waterpump, so it is nice to see that the Nitrous Outlet plate is already machined flat for an easy install.  5 As you would expect from...  5 As you would expect from such a well thought out kit, the plate slips right in place behind the throttle body (without hitting the waterpump) and bolts in place with a set of longer throttle body to intake manifold bolts. Due to build tolerances (thanks GM!) you may run into a clearance issue with the water pump, but a quick hit with the Dremel should fix it right up.  6 The single stage plate...  6 The single stage plate comes with pre-bent hard-lines, which route nitrous and fuel from the solenoids to the plate without looking tacky or messy like some soft-line systems tend to do. These hard-lines used to be for custom installations only, so it is great to be able to get them shipped to your house for a custom look without the price.  7 Obviously, a “wet” nitrous...  7 Obviously, a “wet” nitrous system needs both nitrous oxide and fuel, so the next step for Steve was to install the Nitrous Outlet fuel rail adapter. With the stock plastic cap and Schrader valve removed, the adapter tightens in place using the supplied fitting and has an OEM appearance.  8 With the plate and hard-line...  8 With the plate and hard-line parts in place, Steve test fit the Nitrous Outlet fuel solenoid and the supplied bracket. As you can see, the hard-lines attach to the solenoids with flare fittings and are built to a specific length which makes installing the solenoids and brackets a breeze.  9 After seeing which intake...  9 After seeing which intake manifold bolts needed to be removed for the install, Steve went ahead and pulled them out of the way and dropped the Nitrous Outlet brackets in place. The FAST intake bolts can be reused for the bracket installation, so it is as simple as pulling them up, sliding the brackets in place and tightening everything back down to spec.  10 Here you can see the nitrous...  10 Here you can see the nitrous solenoid bolted in place with the hard-line attached. The 90-degree fitting is for the main nitrous feed line, which runs from the back of the Camaro (attached to the bottle) to the solenoid. The bottom port exits to the plate and the other port (not shown) will attach to the nitrous purge solenoid, which Steve installed later.  11a With both ’noids in place...  11a With both ’noids in place and hooked up to the plate, Steve marked the fuel feed line and prepared to shorten it for the install...  11b ...This is the only piece...  11b ...This is the only piece of the system that doesn’t come pre-cut and bent because different fuel rails and intake manifolds place the fuel rail end at different points. No worries, a quick minute with a pipe cutting tool and you will be good to go.  12 You didn’t think the entire...  12 You didn’t think the entire install would be as easy as the first half, did you? Unfortunately, every nitrous kit comes with the headache of wiring and this system is no different. While time consuming, the wiring is literally the most important part of the system, so make sure you do it right or find a qualified shop to do it for you. Race Proven Motorsports does this often, so they have it down to a science but if you’re a first timer, check and double check every wire before you fire up the system.  13 Besides getting power...  13 Besides getting power and grounds to the solenoids, we also had to wire in a Nitrous Outlet digital window switch, which not only controls the RPM band at which the system is activated and deactivated but also determines when wide-open throttle is reached, preventing a user from spraying accidentally or during a shift.  14 The digital window switch...  14 The digital window switch also features an LED read out for ease of programming and features a multi-gear lockout for those of us racing on traction-limited tires. The digital window switch can even activate triggers for timing retards or warning lights, as long as you wire them in and tell it what to do. Steve installed it under the hood near the factory wiring harness on the passenger side shock tower.  15 With most of the wiring...  15 With most of the wiring complete and the engine bay portion of the system in place, the Race Proven Motorsports crew turned to the rear of the Camaro to install the slick nitrous bottle mount and heater. In a normal F-body, the spare tire would go in here, although we’re fairly certain an engineer at GM actually designed this specifically to hold a nitrous bottle.  16 Installing the bottle...  16 Installing the bottle mount is as easy as dropping the spare tire bracket in place (bottom), marking and drilling two holes in the factory trunk/framerail floor and tightening everything down. Above the bracket, Steve mounted the Nitrous Outlet billet bottle heater, which holds the bottle in place and automatically heats it to the correct bottle pressure using a bottle mounted pressure sensor and a built-in heating element.  17 Here you can see the pressure...  17 Here you can see the pressure sensor, which installs into one of the nitrous bottle’s pressure ports. If you want to run a pressure gauge, you can install it into the other port or in-line with the sensor, depending on your preference. Having automated control over the heater is a great thing, we’ve seen far too many people forget to turn a heater off before the blow-down safety disc ruptures.  18 With the stock speaker...  18 With the stock speaker cover in place, the entire mount and nitrous bottle will be completely hidden from view and, since you can rely on the heater to run only when armed and necessary, you don’t have to take the cover off very often. Of course, it may look too cool to stay hidden, so feel free to show it off every once in a while!  19 The bottle heater needs...  19 The bottle heater needs to be armed from inside the cabin, as well as the actual nitrous system and the purge solenoid, which means you need a control switch panel somewhere inside the car. When wiring these up, Steve likes to leave a small length of wire after the switches, attached to quick disconnects, in case anyone ever has to service or troubleshoot the system in the future.  20 Wired up and stuffed inside...  20 Wired up and stuffed inside the stock ashtray, the Nitrous Outlet switch panel looks like a factory piece and fits perfectly. Not only does it function and look awesome, but you can even close the factory ashtray lid, hiding the entire system from on-lookers, police and even unsuspecting racers.  21 Back in the engine bay...  21 Back in the engine bay for the last time, Steve double-checked all of the wiring and physical hard-line connections. After verifying that everything was working properly, with no leaks or issues, Steve tidied up with wiring, loomed everything properly and tested the system with a quick nitrous purge. Only one thing left to do…  22 Roshan Patel loaded Rob’s...  22 Roshan Patel loaded Rob’s SS up on the dyno and began testing the Nitrous System while tweaking the tune. Jetted with pills to make 125 additional rear wheel horsepower, Roshan took a couple degrees of timing out of the tune-up and made sure to monitor knock and the air/fuel ratio very carefully. When he was happy with the tune, it was time to hammer down and see what the system could do.  23 With the run recorded,...  23 With the run recorded, we were all impressed by the Nitrous Outlet F-Body specific hard-line system. With 510-rwhp and 564 lb-ft of torque on tap, this Camaro went from a street bruiser to a certified street animal. From our base 388-rwhp, that is a gain of 122.07-rwhp and 208 lb-ft of torque, which is perfectly in line with the nitrous and fuel jetting and more than enough power to get the blood flowing. On track this equated to a 7-mph (from 113 to 120 mph) and a full second e.t. improvement, though with a better launch and some practice, this Camaro should now be well into the 11-second range. For a two-day installation that looks custom and fits like a glove, these are great results!
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