Sand Addiction - August 2007 - (Page 56) Sand Blast TECH Extreme Sand Buggy Reaps the Benefits of ZEX Nitrous Oxide Injection ower is the key. It’s what everyone wants but not all can achieve. For George Theoridis, his quest for performance would have seemed complete. Who wouldn’t feel happy with a 600 HP, 588cid big block Chevy engine that’s more than capable of taking this sophisticated dune killer to impressive over-the-sand performance in the 140 MPH plus range? But for some, it’s never enough. P Such was the case for this amazing machine, whose owner felt that the limits of its performance could be pushed just a bit further. Enter our ZEX Perimeter Plate Dominator Nitrous System test. Designed to deliver a 100 to 300 HP increase, the ZEX system is a simple installation for veteran or novice builders utilizing the innovative ZEX Perimeter Plate. In this application, the nitrous system adds another benefit: super cooling the engine components and intake charge. When you note that sand buggies of this type experience 120 degree summer days, cooling the intake can have major performance benefits. The ZEX Perimeter Plate, for those not familiar with the system, involves an aluminum base plate which fits on the Dominator carb-style intake manifold beneath the carburetor (throttle body in our case). The nitrous and fuel are injected into the plate which incorporates a series of nozzles stationed around the perimeter of the plenum opening. Labeled Cryo-Sync Technology by ZEX, not only does this provide an even mixture of nitrous and fuel, it creates an ultra cold, low pressure point within the plenum literally forcing the air into the engine. The ZEX nitrous system can be tuned for the appropriate horsepower range through appropriately sized jets, which are installed at the point where the braided steel fuel and nitrous lines (supplied with the kit) attach to the plate. For our test, we decided to test up to 250 HP on the chassis dyno in steps of 50 HP shots each time, starting at 100 HP. The ZEX Perimeter Plate Dominator Nitrous System installed in this application was programmed to only activate at 95 percent throttle opening and above, the optimum RPM window for most nitrous installations. Using the FAST XFI throttle position sensor (TPS), the computer recognizes the throttle position and averts any part-throttle operation of the nitrous, which could cause backfiring and damage the system. In our case, the engine utilized the FAST XFI fuel-injection system featuring the C-Com software. Except for the mechanical changes made in the selection of the jets fitted to the fuel and nitrous lines attaching to the perimeter plate, all of the other adjustments, including the TPS 95 percent throttle activation point, were made via the laptop computer connected to the system. It should be noted that the system is designed for a carbureted application. For our fuelinjected application, we “T-ed” into the electronic fuel injection pump that 56 www.sandaddiction.com http://www.sandaddiction.com
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