Filed under: Performance
by Forbes @ 6:43 am on August 14, 2009
We make Zs better. It’s what we do. In this case the customer brought us a fairly low mileage Z32 300ZX Twin Turbo that was in need of some more power. At first we were headed down the normal road of simple exhaust mods consisting of new downpipes and mid pipes with high-flow cats when things got a little hairy.
We also had plans to place all four shocks, switch to braided steel brake lines for improved pedal feel, and install a set of Stillen sway bars for more stability in the corners.
As you can see from the baseline dyno (bottom of post) this car had serious issues when it came in. The owner had reported hesitation and overall poor driveability and it was up to us to figure it out. After the suspension and brakes were handled we dove head first into the quest for power.
The computer was shipped out to Jim Wolf Technologies for a reflash to accept the bigger NISMO 550cc injectors and added boost, we also picked up a new clutch from JWT to handle the new power. After all the modifications we completed the car was reassembled and test driven to make sure everything was copacetic. Unfortunately it wasn’t. All we could get out of it was seven pounds of boost. Not good.
We suspected a turbo issue so the car was taken back apart for inspection. The turbo had failed and was grinding the compressor wheel into the housing. (see above photo, and for comparison see the other good stock turbo above) There were metal shavings everywhere, really not good. Now we had to get new turbos as well, and we were going to go bigger.
Jim Wolf once again came to the rescue with a set of their Sport 500 turbos. They are the perfect combination for the power levels that we were looking for. Now with no further complications everything was re-assembled and we proceeded to cycle countless quarts of oil through the engine to make sure we had all of the debris cleaned out. Then it was back to the streets to do some test driving. After another oil change we loaded the car onto the dyno to see what it could do.
You see from the graph above that the car has made a complete u-turn in both driveability and performance. I’m happy to report that the customer was overjoyed when he drove the car for the first time after the upgrades. That’s just the way we like it.
We love adding goodies to the ZCG 370z but it is tough to keep up with it because business is as busy as ever!! This last week though we were finally able to install the Hotchkis swaybars that have been waiting in the wings.
The new bars are of a tubular design (hollow, to save weight) in 35mm and 27mm front and rear receptively. They came with all the bushings and parts to make the install as easy as can be. As you can see from the comparison photos below they are certainly beefier that the outgoing stock units and they now have a durable anthracite powder coat finish.
The car feels a bit more planted with noticeably less body roll which is always nice, but we really need to get the car out on track or at least to a local autocross to give some serious feedback.
If you are interested in ordering any suspension parts for your Z or G send Rob an email at Rob@zcargarage.com
G35 engine swaps galore with happy GT-R ending!! (read the entire story)
Z Car Garage is a special place for a lot of us because that is where we get to fulfill our automotive fantasies. In some cases we get to knock our two birds with one stone, I’ll explain…
When the customer who owns the Athens Blue G35 you see here came to us a few years ago in a quest for more power we were happy to help. The first phase included an APS twin turbo kit along with a host of other suspension and cosmetic changes. It made good power and he was happy for awhile. Then he wanted more.
Filed under: 350z,Performance
by Forbes @ 3:32 pm on July 6, 2009
On the 23rd of last month I put up a the most recent track video featuring our good friend Scott and his 350z. The car had received the new MotorDyne Shockwave single exhaust the day before the track event so here are the dyno results, videos, and my impressions.
I normally shy away from favoring any sort of single exhaust on the 350z but this may be the system that has changes my mind. From the moment it was unwrapped it was easy to notice that the quality was there, and then we came to the exhaust tip. MEGAPHONE!! Here at Z Car Garage we have a special place in our hearts for the megaphone tip, as they are currently installed on Rob’s 240z and 510 as well as Alvin’s Roadster. The MotorDyne system comes with one from the factory, sweet.
The exhaust was installed without hassle thanks to the simplicity of the included V-band clamps. As soon as the car fired up we were all impressed. Rasp was virtually non-existent (this car still runs stock cats) and the sound was extremely crisp. While it’s not overly-loud, and passed the decibel meter at Thunderhill, there may be a sound limit issue at some of the super-strict tracks like Laguna Seca.
On to the dyno!!
We made a few baseline runs just prior to the install and came out with a hair under 252 rear-wheel horsepower (rwhp.) After the exhaust switch we made two more runs while carefully monitoring all critical temps as well as the air/fuel ration with an Innovate wide-band 02 sensor. The number we came out with was sort of a let down: 251rwhp, a one hp loss. Before simply marking it up as a loss we pulled out the laptop to check the timing in the U-tech piggyback computer. After pulling a couple degrees of timing we were happy to see the number climb to 259rwhp, a very nice gain for a normally aspirated car.
Unfortunately this isn’t a true comparison because we can’t be sure of how the NISMO system would have performed with the reduced timing, on the sound alone I would recommend this exhaust. Make sure you check out all the videos and photos after the ‘read more.’
A few weeks ago you may remember that we stripped the interior out of Kurtzee, the blue RB project, and mid last week it returned. OUR FABRICATION PEOPLE ROCK!! The chassis has be stiffened in all the right places to handle the power of the new RB25DET. All parts of the new cage structure have been tucked away and as tightly to the factory bodywork as possible so that it will not interfere with the driver in anyway, these cars need to have the functionality of a daily driver to be a success in our eyes.
The next step for this project is a trip off to the paint shop to have the cage covered and for the engine bay to be smoothed over and finished. This should be completed in the next few weeks and then the car will begin final assembly at the shop. Ill have some more photos when it’s at paint.
I hope you all had a great fourth of July weekend, MotoGP at Laguna Seca was amazing. Thanks to all who came. ZCG
