Troy M owns this beautiful airbagged G35 coupe with custom paint. He came to us for an UPREV tune and the gains for this automatic-equipped VQ were impressive:

 

The dyno reveals  +17hp/15tq to the wheels but more importantly power and torque is up throughout the entire rev range!

 

Eric M came to Z Car Garage to sort out some running issues on his VQ35-swapped 240sx drift car. What’s that you say? A 350z engine in a 240sx?! This engine swap has actually been quite popular and offers a few advantages over the more common SR/RB/2JZ/LSx drivetrains.

 

When Eric first came in his car was NA. Rob made a few quick fixes and UPREV tuned with considerable improvements. The VQ made 263hp/247tq at the wheels:

Eric needed more power so he installed a Vortech supercharger and came back to us for tuning. With 395hp/344tq to the wheels keeping those rear tires spinning would be easy!

 

Here is Eric in action at a recent drifting event. Turn up the volume and listen to that VQ scream!

 

Eric had an epic race weekend finishing 7th place out of 75 total drivers and only 16 qualifiers! He had no problem matching this 780hp 2JZ-powered Lexus…look how close they are!

 

Great driving Eric, and thanks for letting us work on your drift machine!

 

Alfredo D is a new customer that met us on the ZONC Canepa Design fun run in 2013. After visiting Z Car Garage he wanted to improve the fun factor on his Z33 roadster with bolt-ons. We gave him the ZCG essentials: Bassani exhaust, JWT POP charger, Eibach springs and control arms.

We know the OEM exhaust system on a 350z is mellifluous…few can mistake that undeniable VQ-burble. Why not accentuate that sound and gain a few hp in the process? The Bassani cat-back exhaust system is one of the best no-compromise setups available!

  

The JWT intake helps with breathing and gives a nice growl under throttle:

 

Firming up the Z’s handling are Eibach springs and SPC adjustable control arms. Full alignment follows.

 

 

Enjoy the new sound as you carve through the twisties Alfredo!

 

Z Car Garage wants to thank all of our customers and friends for making the 10th Anniversary celebration a spectacular day! We had a great turnout of cars and people from all over the Bay Area with free swag, raffles, and food. The shop was open for all to peruse some of our latest project cars and we also dyno’d a few Nissan Skylines.

 

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we first opened our doors! This was our future dyno room, circa 2004 (left):

 

In case you missed the celebration here is a brief glimpse of the facility. Front office and the main work area with a few project cars on display:

We had a nice showing of cars including all generations of Z-cars:

 

Some neat engine swaps:

 

Lots of Skylines including Peter and Gary’s GC10s, DR30, R32, R33 and R35 models:

 

The highlight for most people (besides the free food and prizes :)) was the dyno running of three Nissan Skylines. Starting off with Gary’s C10

 

Next up was David’s R32 GT-R:

 

Finally, Jermaine’s R35 which we will feature soon on the blog. It was cool to see folks so amped on the results. Here is a short video of all three Skylines on the dyno, enjoy!

 

 

So let’s toast to many more years of service, passion and performance and thank you for supporting ZCG as we celebrate our 10 year milestone! Don’t forget to visit the gallery for more photos below…

…[read more]

 

In 2012 Erik  M. came to Z Car Garage with his bonestock G35 Coupe. With 100k miles on the odometer Erik was confronted with every enthusiast’s  dilemma: sell it off or keep it? Z’s and G’s are hard to let go and Erik chose to modify his car so we gave him the ZCG essentials: JWT POP charger intake, Motordyne plenum spacer, Bassani cat-back exhaust system, JWT clutch/flywheel, Koni shocks, and Hotchkis sway bars:

 

Here is the stock exhaust vs the sweet sounding Bassani system:

 

JWT intake, JWT heavy duty clutch and flywheel (a prudent upgrade for future power mods!)

 

Stock vs Koni dampers plus Hotchkis sways:

 

We also performed full 90k services and Erik was off enjoying his G…until he came back for a Stoptech Sport Kit to improve braking. Early last year he stopped by ZCG to consult with Rob on Forced Induction…Erik wanted boost and it would be in the form of a Vortech V-3 supercharger kit!

 

The build started in Fall ’13, with upgrades like an oil cooler, 900cc Bosch injectors, Aeromotive 340 fuel pump and everything powdercoated satin black-Erik wanted things low profile. This Vortech build was far from ordinary as we planned to run E85 (ethanol) to make more power. What’s the deal with E85?  Tuners have been using this “alternative” fuel for years  to extract power from forced induction setups. Specifically, E85 has an octane rating approaching 105; a significant jump from your typical 91-octane premium pump gas, but for about the same price. This higher octane rating allows wider tuning capabilities,  increasing power and reducing the chance of detonation with high compression or boosted applications.

 

Here are few key benefits of E85:

1. The higher autoignition temperature of Ethanol (689 degrees F, compared to gasoline’s 475 degrees F) enables E85 to be more knock-resistant and handle more boost or higher compression.
2. E85 initiates a cooler intake charge, allowing for higher boost pressure.
3. E85’s higher resistance to detonation (autoignition) allows tuners to implement more aggressive ignition timing, for improved combustion efficiency.
4. E85 can actually be cheaper to run than gasoline, especially compared to high-octane race gas. As I write this, 100 octane is $7.65 and 91 octane is 4.09 compared to E85 which is 3.72.

 

 

Running E85 is straightforward but critical components are needed as well as tuning. First, E85 requires larger injectors to compensate for 40-50% increase in fuel demand. Second, an aftermarket ECU allows tuning of fuel/timing maps. We used 900c injectors, a Haltech ECU and Flex Fuel Sensor from Zeitronix:

 

 

Playing with ethanol-to-gasoline mixtures or periodically switching from gasoline to E85 requires changes in fuel pressures. Switching over isn’t a simple run-to-the-pump-and-fill scenario and that’s the beauty of the Haltech…Erik can run 91 octane, E85, E70, E30 etc. without worrying about manually adjusting timing and A/F!

Erik keeps tabs on engine and air/fuel vitals with a gauge display from Zeitronix. We mounted it stealthily in place of the OEM retractable unit:

 

So does E85 really make a difference? The answer is a resounding YES! The G35 baseline dyno’d at 249hp/226tq and the Vortech helped increase power to 422hp/342tq to the wheels on 91 octane:

 

 

With the Haltech and E85, were able to extract 30hp/26tq at the same boost level! Final numbers are 462hp/368tq:

 

We think Erik loves the newfound power…he already took his G35 to the Wednesday Night Fun Drags at Sears Point recently with great results.  Before and after the Vortech/E85.  Erik ran a 14.6@97mph vs 13.6@111mph:

 

With some drag radials and urethane differential bushings Erik is hoping to cure wheel hop issues and dip into the 12’s! Maybe even lower as he plans to do a high compression built engine…of course using E85!

Enjoy the Ride Erik!