Our test procedure required a specific jet, but ZEX decided to play anyway. As you can see, the ZEX plate with a 63 nitrous jet performed very well compared to the more typical spray-bar systems. Comparing the three back-to-back runs, peak torque values varied by only 20 lb-ft while the peak horsepower moved around by 25. This was typical of most of the systems in our test.
By The NumbersPlate: PN 82043Price: $194.39Jet Combo: 63 nitrous, 53 fuelPeak HP: 602 @ 5,400Peak HP Gain: 202Avg. HP: 559.8$/HP Gain: 0.96Source: ZEX; Memphis, TN; 888/817-1008; zex.com
Nitrous WorksThe Barry Grant nitrous company supplied the Billet Atomizer, a traditional system with a 11/42-inch billet-aluminum plate. Billet Atomizer spray bars have 32 straight-drilled 0.035-inch nitrous holes and eliminate an overlap area common in other designs that could cause pressure drops. One advantage is reduced cost; it's the least-expensive plate in this test. Nitrous Works is the only company that uses brand-specific nitrous and fuel jets with larger 0.188-inch shanks. This means that competitor's jets will not work in a Nitrous Works plate.
The Billet Atomizer's 52 jet size is the leanest of all the competitors, with the other kits hovering around 62 to 63. We watched the air/fuel ratio carefully, but the plate is obviously well engineered and was safe throughout the entire test.
The Nitrous Works plate cranked out an impressive 695 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm and made 598 hp at 6,100 rpm. As was typically the case, when we pulled the second test on the plate using the same bottle, we saw a larger pressure drop than we did on the first, which reduced the power slightly.
By The NumbersPlate: PN 17000Price: $102.99 at jegs.comJet Combo: 63 nitrous, 52 fuelPeak HP: 598 @ 6,100Peak HP Gain: 198Avg. HP: 560.9$/HP: 0.52Source: Nitrous Works; Dahlonega, GA; 706/864-8544; barrygrant.com
By The NumbersPlate: PN 300030Price: $260.46 at summitracing.comJet Combo: 63 nitrous, 63 fuelPeak HP: 619 @ 4,400Peak HP Gain: 219 hp (400 hp baseline)Avg. HP: 577.1$/HP: 1.19Source: Nitrous Pro-Flow; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; 954/771-6216; wilsonmanifolds.com
Nitrous Pro-FlowThis company has come on strong in the nitrous business as an outgrowth of the Wilson Manifolds company owned by Keith Wilson. Best known for the purple nitrous plates that incorporate burst panels, Nitrous Pro-Flow sent a thinner 31/44-inch-thick plate without the burst panels to be more similar to the rest of the test subjects. Considerable effort went into this design, beginning with larger stainless steel tubes encased in a billet-aluminum plate. The holes in the bar are drilled at angles to create a radial spray pattern to improve nitrous mixture distribution, offering more even cylinder-to-cylinder balance. This technology comes at a cost, however. The basic Nitrous Pro-Flow non-burst-panel plate costs as much as $150 more than its least-expensive competitor. The higher price drives up its cost-per-horsepower rating as well.
We saw the impact of this technology in the test results, with the Nitrous Pro-Flow plate creating phenomenal power numbers. What the 577 average horsepower result doesn't tell you is that this plate cranked out a killer 758 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm and then followed that up with 619 hp at 4,400. Power dropped off after that, but it still made 577 hp at 6,000 rpm. The air/fuel ratio was also conservative with an average of 11.9:1. On one pull, the Pro-Flow plate made 616 hp at 5,600, which shows that the power can move around a bit in terms of where it occurs in the rpm band. These were back-to-back tests with no changes, yet peak power moved 1,200 rpm.