The VQ35HR engine in the ’07-’08 350z just continues to impress us here at Z Car Garage.  This last generation of the VQ35 responds so well to bolt on modifications that the sky is the limit when it comes to producing normally aspirated horsepower.  Yesterday we bolted on another Injen intake system and an Unorthodox Racing pulley to accompany the Nismo exhaust that was already installed on this customer’s car.

The Injen intake now grabs air from in front of the radiator almost directly in the high pressure air stream.  The quality and appearance of the intake is top notch and fit and finish is up to the standards of a company that has been around as long as Injen.  The pulley from Unorthodox Racing is a high quality piece machined out of aluminum and is supposed to weigh around seven pounds less than the stock piece (8.25 vs 1.32lbs.)  We actually weighed both pieces and found the stock pulley on this HR to weigh only 4.8lbs, go figure.  Maybe they had two on the scale?  Anyways, the pulley is the stock diameter so all benefits come from reduced rotational mass rather than an under-drive system.

They dyno results were right were we expected them to be, but that doesn’t make them any less amazing!  While the main horsepower gain comes on the top-end, there are notable gains throughout the mid-rage on the torque side of the equation.  From looking at the graph you will also notice that the modifications cause the torque curve to not drop off as quickly past 5,500 rpm.  The car now makes twelve more foot-pounds of tourqe at peak horsepower, you will certainly feel that in your butt dyno!

Since the two modifications were carried out at the same time I can’t say for sure how much of a difference the crank pulley alone made, but if you look back at the first Injen intake we did on an HR you will see what the intakes did by themselves on that car.  I know, different day, different car,  but can be used as some sort of a comparison.

We are patiently waiting to see more aftermarket suppoort for the HR engines to see what sort of power we can extract.  I want to see cams, intakes, new headers, and more ideas that I’m going to save for our shop to make.  Hopefully more is on the horizon.

A very good customer of ours was involved in an unfortunate accident which ended with his pristine 300zxtt getting totaled.  As you can see from the pictures the car was rear ended at a high rate of speed.  The good news to come out of this is that he is uninjured for the most part and that there are A TON of good 300zx parts that are now up for sale.

This car is being fully disassembled right now and as you can see we are just about ready to pull the engine and transmission.  The interior has already been removed for the most part and has been carefully put away until it finds a new home.  You can get a complete list of the parts that are for sale by emailing us at rob@zcargarage.com.

There are a few more pictures of available parts after the the “read more.”

…[read more]

Happy Monday to everyone!

Today we are putting the finishing touches on the 3.8L 350z with the GReddy twin turbo kit and I am getting very anxious to take that beast out on the road.  All that is really left is some fine tuning on the Haltech EMS.  On the initial rundown and test drive the fuel map turned out to be quite rich and needed a touch up in the mid-range.  Even with the rich condition, the car is very powerful and has immense amounts of low-end torque.  I don’t have any dyno figures yet because we are updating our Dynojet hardware to make sure that everything is as new as it can be to give our customers the best and most reliable results.  We’ll have to settle for street tuning until the new dyno tower arrives.

Also on the war path for today is the red 280ZX restoration car.  I’ll be picking up the newly dyed interior pieces a little later today and the car should really start flying together.  This project has been with us for a very long time and it’s going to be a little strange once it all comes together.  I washed it this morning and ended up standing there admiring all the work and time that we’ve put into it.  It’s really a special car and we can’t wait to deliver it to the owners.

I have a few more things to fill you in on so check back a bit later in the day!

As you may know I have a few sources closely related to Nissan.  So when I was given the chance to take a look at the new 370z New Model Training Program, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  Lucky for all loyal zcarblog readers I happened to have a camera with me.

The first few photos here are from the all new SynchroRev section in the manual.  It gets into light detail about the changes to the new transmission.  There is a break down of the new gear ratios as well an entire section devoted to the SynchroRev system.  It shows where all the new sensors are located to interpret what gear you will be shifting into next.  Pretty cool stuff.

Now these photos were in the very front of the manual and give a very brief history and highlight the changes that the Z has gone through since the very beginning and all the way to the new 370z.  There are some good facts here to stump your other Z friends at your next car meet or get together.  Enjoy and spread the zcarblog.com love.

The 350z with the built 3.8L VQ, Cosworth cylinder heads, and GReddy twin turbos fired up on the very first try today.  This combination has a super meaty exhaust note that leads me to believe that it will make killer power once we get in on the dyno.  Next are going to modify the exhaust system before we do anything else to take full advantage of the quick spooling GReddy kit.  Currently the car is only running a custom set of 3″ down pipes and 3″ catalytic converters out of a Dodge Viper.  I should have more information on the exhaust sometime tomorrow.

The rest of the car was finished some time ago, so it is really nice for the power-plant portion to come to a close as well.  As far as the interior, the car already boasts the latest in audio technology with an awesome double-din head unit form Alpine with a removable hand held GPS unit that is self contained in the head unit when not on foot.  This 350Z also boasts a host of Defi gauges to keep tabs on the vital engine stats as well as a Tein EDFC unit to control the shock valving in the Type Flex coil-overs.

I will have more pictures and some dyno info in the next few days.  I will also have my first drive in the car with the new twin setup in the next day or two so I will report back with my impressions then.  Good talk.