Kevin B has been a long-time customer of Z Car Garage and we have had the pleasure of maintaining and modifying his gorgeous Cherry Red Pearl 300zx Twin Turbo and supercharged Fox-Body Mustang GT.

 

Kevin recently picked up this sweet 2013 Mustang GT (Track-Pack) and immediately began taking it to open track days throughout Northern California. We are fans of the 5.0 Coyote drivetrain with big power from the factory and a capable chassis.

Here is an initial baseline dyno followed by a run after a K&N air filter. The air filter alone gave us solid gains of 9hp/10tq for a total of 379hp/367tq to the wheels. Very impressive numbers!

 

After tracking the car with much success Kevin noticed excessive front tire wear. The front suspension has no provision for camber adjustment so we installed Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates to dial in more negative camber.  Further suspension upgrades included Koni yellows followed by a full alignment. We also installed some Forgestar wheels for track days:

 

Kevin came back for more track-related items like brake ducts, a front splitter, tow hooks and differential breather. During hard racing the fluid in the rear end heats up and expands. Combine that with extreme cornering and the fluid can spit out of the factory breather vent and all over the track. With this expansion take, the fluid flows up into the tank and then back down when it cools.

 

Front brakes can also benefit from extra cooling so we installed a brake ducting kit from Ford Racing.  This helps to reduce front brake temperatures by ducting air to the brake rotors and even uses the factory fog light openings! Fresh rotors were also installed and brake fluid flushed/replaced with Castrol SRF. OEM Brembos squeeze Stoptech 309 pads:

 

The installation is seamless!

 

A Boss-302 style front splitter was installed:

 

It was great to see Kevin at a SpeedSF track day at Laguna Seca. We hear the Z Car Garage license plate frame is good for another 10hp! Thanks for letting us make your track days more enjoyable!

 

Scott C has been with Z Car Garage since our opening in 2004.  Over the years we have worked with Scott to build his G35 coupe into a formidable sportscar while maintaing its stock-ish looks. With 49k miles on his G35 he visited us in 2010 to discuss Forced Induction options.  We did a full Vortech supercharger installation with supporting mods including a Bassani cat-back exhaust system, JWT cams, headers, ZCG oil cooler and DEFI gauges.

 

Scott throughly enjoyed his boosted G for a year and in 2011 came back to us for a KarumaZ front fascia to allow more airflow to the intercooler. In 2014 Scott wanted more power so we built a low-compression VQ with forged internals and a host of speed parts. Here is the engine coming out and a few shots of the new internals:

 

We added 1000cc injectors, GT MAF, Aeromotive 340 fuel pump and a SI blower wheel upgrade:

 

An even larger front mount intercooler:

Berk Hi-Flow cats:

 

With the built engine and supporting mods in place we UPREV tuned the G35 making 429hp/361tq to the wheels. Significant improvements over the stock-block based setup at 375hp/311tq for this automatic-equipped VQ:

 

With the added power upgrading the stock braking system naturally was a prudent idea.   Scott’s G was treated to a full Stoptech Big-Brake Kit up front using their 332mm rotors and ST-40 calipers in red. Rear brakes were upgraded with a Stoptech Sport Kit and OEM calipers were color matched. We love the 309 pads as they are a sweet compound for aggressive driving. 

 

OEM vs Stoptech up front:

 

Thick, vented rotors and huge calipers help shed heat for repeated fade-free braking:

 

Rear calipers were color-matched and grab Stoptech rotors:

 

The new calipers look great behind the OEM wheels:

 

Finally, GT-spec braces add some rigidity to the chassis:

We are happy to see Scott’s G35 evolve into a well-rounded 400hp+ street sleeper, Enjoy The Ride!

 

Kevin M visited Z Car Garage last year for a new clutch/flywheel, JWT POP charger air filter, routine maintenance items and new WORK wheels on his beautiful Slicktop 300zx. Although the XD9 wheels were a definite upgrade aesthetically, a slight drop in ride height would do wonders for its stock suspension “off-road” stance.  We were happy to see Kevin return in October to upgrade the suspension and install a bunch of other goodies!

 

To dial in a lower ride-height and firm up the ride we installed Stance coil-overs. While coil-overs were being installed we also replaced several suspension parts that were either worn or could be upgraded like Z1 front control arms and SPL T/C rods:

 

New steering rack bushings:

 

Shown below is the modest ride-height drop that looks great but remains functional especially for those treacherous San Francisco roads.

Before/After:

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Stillen sway bars round out the suspension upgrades:

 

Peeking behind the lovely spokes of those WORK wheels is a Stoptech 332mm Big-Brake Kit with black calipers.

 

The rear calipers were color-matched, and treated to Stoptech rotors with our favorite 309 pads:

 

Here’s a few details that we admire Kevin for addressing: Window moldings and front cowl pieces! These are items often overlooked or neglected. With age/weathering window trim can eventually peel back and reveal bare metal underneath. The cowl can fade and crack. Fortunately ConceptZ makes a full replacement kit. We also replaced the A/C compressor and drier with new Nissan units:

 

Here are before/after shots of the molding and cowl:

Kevin’s slicktop Z is well-preserved with just the right amount of personal touches to make driving and owning one fun!

 

Here at Z Car Garage we LOVE to drive our cars on the racetrack. Open “Track Day” or High Performance Driving Events (HPDEs) are excellent venues to familiarize yourself with a car and its limits while having fun in a safe, controlled environment.  Two of our customers recently shared their first track-day experiences with us and they had a blast!

 

We supercharged Robert C’s G35 last year and he decided it was time to do his first track event at Laguna Seca Raceway. He’s added these gorgeous RAYS Gram Lights 57Xtreme wheels since his last visit:

 

“Rob!
Just want to tell you I had a incredible day at Laguna. David Ray is a great guy and awesome teacher. We spent the first three session working on line, smoothness and consistency with both until I had all 11 corners worked out. The 4th session we put it all together as he pushed me and it was phenomenal! When I IR’d the front rotors after the session I was over 500 degrees and they were smoking. Happy to report brakes are still great and no warpage on the rotors. Ironically David mentioned doing an ST40 upgrade which we already quoted earlier so know that is still on the radar for my next track day. Nice to have someone just back up a buying decision without asking. I did graduate to Solo and was told to register for Group B next time so pretty pleased about that. On the upside I have marked “Drive my car at Leguna and hit the corkscrew” off my bucket list. On the even bigger upside I’ve added “1) Go drive Laguna more. 2) Drive Infineon. 3) Drive Thunderhill and 4)Drive Buttonwillow.” to the list.

David had praise for the current work done on the car and I have to agree. The work you and team have done since October last year has made this car even more enjoyable and something to proudly run on a track. The car had zero issues and feels no worse from the day.”

Robert C.

 

In October we added some bolt-ons and tuned Garth J’s 350z preparing him for a day at Thunderhill Raceway:

“Hi Rob,

Thunderhill track day was awesome a few weeks back. Car felt great. The Bridgestone S04’s were a major upgrade. Thanks for preparing the car for a great experience. I’m thinking about auto-crossing next season.Will be needing some routine maintenance in the new year. Can we schedule something mid January? Happy Holidays.”

Garth J.

 

 
Ready to experience your Nissan/Infiniti on the track? We can help!

 

Start 2015 on the right foot! Our friends at SpeedSF are running another great track day at Laguna Seca January 3 and 4. We love running our cars with these folks and they go above and beyond to make sure you get tons of track time! In addition to the road course they are also hosting an all-day Auto-X in the paddock for only $50!

Auto-X :
We are keeping our same awesome Auto-x deal for $50/day unlimited runs. This time we will be designing a longer course with more technical turns. Limited to 50 Drivers only. Registration for both Auto-x and Full track driver at: Registration

Full Track :
We are offering a 50% off for the second day if you register for the full weekend. Also, this event will be our season opener of 2015 Speed SF Challenge. We have partner with many of sponsors with many great prizes for the 2015. Stay tuned.
$175 / Day, $260 / weekend

More details at SpeedSF.com!