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John’s Infiniti Q50S Red Sport

Filed under: Performance,Q50,Q60
by Alvin G @ 8:50 pm on November 6, 2023

 

John E came to Z Car Garage through a dealership connection at Dublin Infiniti. He purchased this Q50S Red Sport in 2019 with 46k miles on the odometer and it was time for bolt-on performance upgrades with dyno tuning.

 

We installed several parts from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat ExchangerAMS Coolant expansion tank. Helping the VR30DDT engine breathe are AMS downpipes and a full Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust system. Photos of each are shown below.

 

The new AMS heat exchanger compared to the stock unit and installation:


AMS expansion tank installed replacing two plastic OEM units:

 

AMS downpipes:

 

The Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust replaces the restrictive OEM system:

 

Standard exhaust tips on the FI exhaust system, we love the quality, fitment and sound of these parts:

 

We also installed new Hotchkis sway bars front/rear. Stock vs new below:

 

Dyno Tuning

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor rate at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq stock. It is actually underrated as we have seen with dyno testing. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. Rob tuned John’s Q50 using EcuTek, making 404hp/435tq at the wheels. A significant improvement over the 336hp/338tq baseline:

 
 

Enjoy the dyno video below:

 

Enjoy The Boost John!

Are you ready for upgrades on your late model Nissan/Infiniti? Give us a call or e-mail!

 




More Power: Derek’s R35 GT-R

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance,R35
by Alvin G @ 8:45 pm on October 21, 2022

 

At Z Car Garage we are fortunate to be a part of our client’s sports car journeys. We first met Derek Y in 2014 when we worked on his 2005 Infiniti G35 back. A few years passed by and he visited us with his latest Nissan, this 2015 GT-R:

 

The R35 had only 11k miles and ZCG installed a host of power upgrades from AMS, EcuTek, SpecialtyZ, Turbosmart and more. You can read about this work from 2019, including the E85 flex-fuel and exhaust upgrades all in this previous blog post.

 

More Power and a New Look

 

Derek latest visit was earlier this year for dyno tuning, interior items and AirLift installation. When it arrived at the shop this R35 sported a complete Varis Kamikaze-R Ver. 2 widebody “Super Sonic” kit and Varis Kamikaze-R Ver. 2 Vented Carbon hood. The Air Lift 3H air suspension strut kit was installed with polished 5 gallon tank.

 

We ran all of the air lines, checked ride height and clearances for the slick Advan R6 Candy Red wheels (20×11 +15 front – 20×12+20 rear) with Toyo R888R tires (305/35/20 Front – 325/30/20 Rear), more installation photos in the gallery below:

 

We also installed a new, Overtake 100-V Saikou Exhaust:

 

A few minor items like a new battery, TPMS sensors in the new wheels and a final health check for Derek’s VR30DETT…but first we performed a re-tune with Ecutek for even more power.  Our last dyno session yielded 612hp/604tq to the wheels and it left with 640hp/622tq. What’s impressive is that this remains a supercar that’s easy to to drive:

 

Enjoy these dyno runs:

 

Interior

 

Derek had several interior items for us to install including: Mines Steering Wheel, Nismo Cluster, Nismo cluster shroud and shiftter paddles:

 

Derek is happy with the latest upgrades to the R35:

“I have been going to Rob for a while now, he worked on my car october 2019 (bolt on and e85 work done) and again recently with a new tune and air suspension and some interior mods. The work is always great its making more power now and more responsive linear power.”

 

 

Here are the SpecialtyZ 3″ intakes and AMS front-mount intercooler being installed:

 

More engine bay work including the AMS crankcase breather setup, ID 1300cc injectors (plus DW fuel pump upgrade), Turbosmart BOVs and a SpecialtyZ Flex-Fuel kit:

 

AMS crankcase breather being plumbed:

 

Stock vs Turbosmart BOV:

 

On the lift, AMS cat-less downpipes are installed:

 

At first glance it is difficult to catch all of the power upgrades in the engine bay, Stock (L) vs Modified (R)

 

Derek also needed new tires so we mounted fresh Michelin Pilot Sport4S sized 245/40/20 and 285/35/ 20.

Dyno Tuning

Back in 2019 , Rob dyno tuned the GT-R using an EcuTek flash and Derek also received a USB dongle for datalogging. Baseline power was 495hp/446tq with final numbers of 612hp/604tq to the wheels on E85:

 

A few plots showing the tuning session: Baseline to 91 octane tune with gains of 65hp/93tq (Left), and the final E85 tune for even more gains of 52hp/51tq (Right):

 

Video of the R35 on the ZCG dyno:

 

Thanks for letting us work on your GT-R Derek and enjoy the boost!

…[read more]




Efrain’s Q60S

Filed under: 370z,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance,Q50
by Alvin G @ 4:22 pm on May 5, 2020

 

At Z Car Garage we have been maintaining and modifying late model Nissan/Infiniti sports cars since 2004. From Z cars (Z32, 350z, 370z) and R35 GT-Rs to G35, G37, Q50/Q60 cars we look forward to working on your vehicle. Efrain S visited us from Sacramento with his 2019 Infiniti Q60S Silver Sport for basic performance upgrades from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat Exchanger and AMS Air intakes and a Z1 Motorsports Blow-off Valve kit:

 

The new heat exchanger compared to the stock unit and installation:

 

AMS air intakes:

 
 

Z1 BOV Kit with red couplers:

  
 

Dyno Tuning

 

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor. The Hi-Output version is rated at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq, underrated as we have seen with dyno testing. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. Rob dyno tuned the Q using EcuTek. Baseline power was 333hp/314tq at the wheels. With the AMS parts and tuning final numbers were 412hp/452tq, gains of +79hp/138tq:

 

The VR30-series responds so well to bolt-ons and gets us excited. It’s almost like Nissan has comeback full-circle as the VR reminds us of modifying Z32TT’s in the 90’s:  big gains with just few upgrades. The Q-series cars are really well-suited to the upgrades too with a very comfortable ride and massive hp/tq when you want it.

Here is the Q on the dyno:

 

Efrain was very pleased with the power gains:

 “Honestly man my experience with Rob from start to finish was amazing. I could tell he loves his job, loves what he does and energy was on 100%, 7 days a week. Once I got the results back from the tune I was blown away I thought I was maybe going to see about 400 horsepower to the wheels at the most and he got it over to 412 with 450 torque, I couldn’t believe it. My bolt-ons are flawless, could not be anymore happy with the work from you guys and the whole experience I love the car thank you guys.”

Enjoy The Boost Efrain!

Are you ready for upgrades on your late model Nissan/Infiniti? Give us a call or e-mail!

 

 




Rikio’s Infiniti Q50S

Filed under: 370z,Performance,Q50
by Alvin G @ 11:09 pm on September 8, 2019

 

At Z Car Garage we have been maintaining and modifying late model Nissan/Infiniti sports cars since 2004. From Z cars (Z32, 350z, 370z) and R35 GT-Rs to G35, G37, Q50/Q60 cars we look forward to working on your vehicle. Rikio’s 2017 Infiniti Q50S Red Sport came in for basic performance upgrades from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat Exchanger, AMS Coolant expansion tank and AMS Air intakes:

 
 

The new heat exchanger compared to the stock unit and installation:

 
 

AMS air intakes:

 
 

AMS expansion tank installed replacing two plastic OEM units:

 
A Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust (non-resonated) replaces the restrictive OEM system:

 

OEM (Left) vs FI (Right):

 

Standard exhaust tips on the FI exhaust system:

 

Dyno Tuning

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor. The Hi-Output version is rated at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq, underrated as we have seen with dyno testing. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. Rob dyno tuned the Q using EcuTek. Baseline power was 348hp/331tq at the wheels. With the AMS parts, FI exhaust and tuning final numbers were 388hp/424tq, gains of +40hp/93tq:

 

In addition to the EcuTek flash Rikio also received the EcuTek Bluetooth adapter for map access for remote data logging, valet map switching etc. Here is the Q on the dyno:

 

Enjoy The Boost Rikio!

Are you ready for upgrades on your late model Nissan/Infiniti? Give us a call or e-mail!

 

 





 

We met Kenin in 2012 when he visited ZCG with his Infiniti G37 IPL. After working on the G,  years passed by and Kenin reached out to us having purchased a 2018 Infiniti Q50S sedan. He saw that we were working with other customer’s Q50s and asked if we would be down to tune his. We happily obliged, especially since Kenin’s Q50 was rear-wheel-drive.

 

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor. The Hi-Output version is rated at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq, underrated as we have seen with dyno testing. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. Kenin’ Q received several parts from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat Exchanger, AMS Coolant expansion tank and AMS Air intakes. We also intalled his strut tower brace:

 

The new heat exchanger compared to the stock unit and installation:

 
 
 

AMS air intakes compared to OEM:

 
 

AMS expansion tanks compared to OEM:

 

Intakes and expansion tank installed:

 

Rob was eager to tune the Q using Ecutek. Baseline power was 359hp/374tq at the wheels. With the AMS parts and tuning final numbers were 400hp/449tq, gains of +41hp/75tq:

 

Enjoy the Boost Kenin!

Special thanks to Seb at SpecialtyZ for helping us!

 




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