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!

 

***Dear Customers and Friends we want to remind you that Z Car Garage will be closed from 12/24-26, 1/1/15 and 1/2/15***

We want to say thanks to our customers, friends and the crew at ZCG for making 2014 a wonderful and productive year!

 

 

Three for Thursday! Here are 3 owners that visited Z Car Garage for upgrades so they could Enjoy The Ride. Thomas C was experiencing brake fade/overheating with the Akebono caliper setup on his G37 Sedan. We installed a Stoptech Sport Kit with our favorite SS309 pads:

 

Slotted rotors also help shed heat, before/after shown below:

 

We also UPREV tuned the G now making 291hp/247tq to the wheels:

 

Rich M wanted firmer shifts from his automatic-equipped G37 Coupe. We installed a TransGo shift kit followed by UPREV tuning:

 

TransGO kit:

 

The dyno plot reveals the benefits of UPREV tuning and the TransGo kit. Firmer shifts are evident by the absence of the “loop” (blue curves) seen with OEM automatic-equipped Z/Gs.  Huge peak gains of 20hp/18tq to the wheels and increased area under the curve everywhere means this is power you can feel!

 

Garth J brought his 2003 350z to us for Stoptech lines, 5/16″ plenum spacer and MREV2 lower intake, and new Bridgestone PP S-04 tires:

 

With the intake mods and UPREV tuning Garth’s Z picked up 7hp/5tq to the wheels. More importantly are the mid-range and top-end gains:

How can we help you enjoy your Z or G?