Z-Car Blog » Performance

More Power!

Alvin G — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:48:16 +0000

If 91 Octane just doesn’t cut it…100 Octane will make you happy! Rob continued tuning Juan F’s G35 making even more power with 100 octane fuel: 462hp/380tq at the rear wheels!

Juan’s Vortech’d G35

Alvin G — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:56:33 +0000

Juan F. hails from South S.F. and met Rob back in July ’11. They discussed building a supercharger setup for his G35 coupe that would allow room to grow when more was desired. The Vortech tuner kit provides a solid foundation with flexible power levels; Juan was impressed with the midrange gains from the SI wheel upgrade seen on previous ZCG Vortech builds and decided he wanted one for himself!

The V2 Vortech supercharger is fully polished with supporting mods including Stillen headers, 725cc injectors, GT MAF, upgraded fuel pump, JWT cams, JWT clutch/flywheel, ARK GRIP exhaust with Fast Intentions HFCs, and a ZCG oil cooler.

Suspension upgrades consist of TEIN Flex coilovers with EDFC and F/R camber arms:

Juan supplied the trick, STI-ish gauge pod with DEFI instruments. It blends seamlessly in with the OEM information display. The glovebox also houses a custom gauge panel for the EDFC display, oil pressure and A/F meter:

Juan wanted the G to look very unassuming so we blacked out the FMIC and piping. Aside from the aftermarket wheels this G remains under the radar.
With Uprev tuning by Rob, this is the most powerful supercharged G35 to come out of ZCG. With the SI wheel on the V2 the car was detuned to 431hp/363tq at the wheels!

Wet and Wild: Thunderhill Track Day Pictures!

Alvin G — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:22:00 +0000

We had a great time driving at Thunderhill Raceway yesterday with CityTech. Rob drove the ZCG 370z, Allen with his Vortech’d Z33, Ken in his ’11 WRX, Glynn in his sweet ’96 911 Carrera, Scott drove his newly acquired Z33 race car, and I had my Z33.

The weather was very wet with light to heavy rain and varying surface conditions. Some of you might be thinking that it is miserable to drive on a race track in the rain…not the case! It is just as exhilarating as a dry track day and it gives you the opportunity to really improve car control and explore limits of adhesion.

Everyone was having a fantastic time and there were close to 12 Nissans on track! You know you are hardcore when you run your DATSUN at a rainy track day…Dean and Dave S were mixing it up old-school style and…Datsuns are Driven!

We will definitely be running more track days with CityTech. Patrick puts on a great event with LOTS of track time and something you won’t find with other groups: free on track photos! Dito from gotbluemilk.com took some sensational shots of all the Nissans together, enjoy!

Four Turbos, No Waiting…Bugatti EB110 at ZCarGarage!

Alvin G — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:26:09 +0000

What is this Italian supercar doing at ZCG? The talented folks at Canepa Design wanted to dyno test a customer’s Bugatti so they enlisted Rob’s help. This EB110 is the “SS” model that is a lightened version of the “GT” spec car and no longer retains its complex all-wheel-drive system: this modified, quad-turbocharged, 12-cylinder, 60-valve beast is rear-wheel drive! It is also the most crowded engine bay I have ever seen.

I realize everyone wants to know what the Bugatti pulled on the dyno…unfortunately it had some cooling issues that needed to be resolved, so stay tuned!

Catch This Sunset…Steve’s Vortech’d Z33

Alvin G — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:33:59 +0000

This gorgeous LeMans Sunset 350z has been with ZCarGarage for a few years now. Owner Steve B. came to ZCG in 2010 for a full Vortech Supercharger kit install with 43k miles on the odometer. Since then he enjoyed the boost in power and participated in numerous track days. This Z gets driven hard! Forced induction is addictive and like many others Steve desired more power, ZCG to the rescue…

…The Vortech V3 kit was treated to a new 3.12 pulley and the engine got a host of go-fast goodies including a set of JWT S1 cams, UpRev MAF GT Sensor, RC Engineering 550cc Injectors, 3.5″ custom cold-air intake, Motordyne MREV2 Lower Plenum + Spacer, Unorthodox Racing Pulleys, DC Sports Ceramic Headers and a Bassani cat-back exhaust.

With all of the parts installed it was time to dyno tune. Rob’s UpRev tuning yielded impressive gains of 72hp and 40tq at the wheels for a final output of 436hp/359tq! Power delivery is also improved with hp/tq climbing steadily throughout the rev range:

Steve’s drivetrain and suspension also got some love to keep up with all those track days:
Drivetrain:
Quaife LSD
NISMO Differential Cover
Injected Performance Differential Brace
Energy Suspension differential bushings
IPP Chromoly Clutch Pivot Ball
Suspension:
Tokico D-Spec Shocks/Struts
Tokico 375lbs Springs
Stoptech Stage 2 Rotors, Pads, and Lines
Hotchkis Front and Rear Swaybars
Kinetix front camber arms
SPL rear camber arms
SPL Eccentric Lockout kit
Energy Suspension bushings

That killer stance is accentuated by some beefy Enkei 18×9.5 and 18×10.5 (+15) wheels with 275/295 tires. Subtle bodywork mods include a Top Secret Carbon Fiber Splitter and rear spoiler; I love how uncluttered and simple this Z looks! Steve gets all the credit for doing his own interior mods like the MOMO Millenium Evo steering wheel and full stereo/speaker upgrades.
Look for Steve out on the track, but you might have trouble catching this 436whp LeMans Sunset Zed!