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When you hear the name “ZEX [2]” you probably think of nitrous oxide kits designed with simplicity, safety, and ease of installation as their #1 priority. That might have been a reasonable reaction when their systems first hit the market, but today’s ZEX is focused on innovation as well. Case in point: Their perimeter plate system for LS engines, as seen here.
Available in configurations for cable-operated [3] or drive-by-wire [4] 4-bolt throttle body setups, ZEX’s perimeter plate system has a lot of advantages over an old-school spraybar plate or a “wet” nozzle system. The obvious plus is that with the perimeter plate, there’s no obstruction to the airflow into the intake manifold when the system isn’t activated, but there’s another trick up its sleeve as well.
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All properly-laid-out plate or nozzle systems will help pull extra ambient air into the engine to a greater or lesser extent, but using the same principle as those crazy-expensive “bladeless” fans from Dyson [6], the ZEX perimeter plate is far more effective at drawing air due to the layout of the 12 nozzle orifices around the circumference of the plate. That same layout also makes the whole plate itself intensely cold – instead of just having a frosty brass tube across the inlet to the intake manifold, the ZEX perimeter plate transmits that cold to the throttle body which in turn helps cool the incoming air – an effect ZEX calls “Cryo-Sync.”
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In place of the one-piece Nitrous Management Unit that will be familiar to anyone who's had ZEX before, the system comes with conventional nitrous and fuel solenoids, as well as a standalone electronic TPS switch.
[9]The perimeter plate system comes with an adaptor ring to allow use with both 92 and 102mm intake manifolds and throttle bodies without creating an obstruction to airflow. A small protrusion on the adaptor keys it into place with the plate to keep the orifices precisely aligned.
[10]The kit comes standard with a "Blackout" bottle and coated braided stainless hoses. Not only do the hoses look great, but the black jacket material solves braided stainless' drawback of being ruthlessly abrasive to anything it should happen to rub against.
[11]The complete system, shown here with the highly recommended bottle heater accessory, is easy to install, doesn't require any cutting of fuel lines, and comes with 100-250 horsepower jetting.