Rick B lives over the hill in Soquel, CA. He’s pined for a 350z and finally got a 2003 model waiting to be modified. Rick visited us to discuss taking the car to the next level and ZCG obliged. We set him up with the tried/true combo:  JWT pop charger, Motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer, Bassani cat-back exhaust and UPREV flash. He also opted for the ARC license, allowing Rick to have adjustable launch control, flat-foot shifting and left foot braking, if needed.

Motordyne plenum spacer:

We also installed our favorite Hotchkis sway bars front and rear:

 

Bassani exhaust:

OEM vs Bassaani:

 

Exhaust tip detail and JWT Pop Charger:

 

On the dyno the mods alone produced gains of 11hp/2tq to the wheels over baseline:

With UPREV tuning, further gains of 9hp/13tq were achieved:

From a baseline of 245hp/237tq to 267hp/252tq at the wheels there is a significant improvement in power throughout the entire rev range!

We also handled some maintenance items including: changing the transmission/diff fluids, and replacing A/C and fan belts. Rick was so stoked he sent us a wonderful e-mail.

—–Original Message—–
From: —– [mailto:——]
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 11:01 PM
To: rob@zcargarage.com
Subject: Thanks again!

Hey Rob, I just wanted to thank you and your team once again for all the work you did on my 350z over the last month or so. The experience I’ve had as a new customer of yours has been extremely fun!  I’m absolutely amazed at how much better the car feels and sounds. I feel exactly the same way I felt after I first bought the car, I’m in love all over again. As far as I’m concerned you’ve gained a new customer for life. I don’t ever plan on selling this car, if anything, I just plan on making it better and better and your the guy I’m gonna take it to you from now on. Anyway I know your a very busy dude so I’ll let you go but expect to see me again soon and thanks again!
-Rick 

It was a pleasure working  on your Z and we look forward to your next mods Rick!

 

Keep on driving Dmitriy and Long Live the Z!

Mo M comes out of Capitola, CA and he is a car enthusiast with a show-winning Toyota MR2 that he built last year. His next project is this NA 300zx with a planned V8 engine swap (LS3). Before the Z receives the new drivetrain, Mo wanted to make sure it could handle the power.

 

We went through the entire car with Mo and installed his suspension parts including full Powertrix coil-over suspension, f/r camber arms, new T/C rods and sway bars:

 

Stock suspension vs new coil-overs

 

 

Fender rolling:

 

One of the things plaguing Mo was that he had several general repair shops work on the car. They replaced the clutch and flywheel assembly but he was getting a persistent grinding upon startup. We replaced the starter, installed a JWT aluminum flywheel and clutch.  We also fixed brake master cylinder.

Jimmy V came to Z Car Garage with his 2012 Infiniti G37 Sedan, aptly named the “GNTLMN Z”. Jimmy and Rob discussed options for the best exhaust system, tuning and suspension. We got him dialed in with a Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust system using 18″ resonators and 2.5″ piping, Motordyne ART pipes, and Hotchkis sway bars:

  

Stock vs Fast Intentions exhaust system:

 

ART Pipes:

Jimmy wanted to see dyno results before/after with no tuning at this time. With Stillen Gen3 intakes already installed we baselined at 301hp/250tq and 315hp/256tq to the wheels with the new exhaust components:

You can watch a video of the dyno run (and see more pictures) of Jimmy’s G on his Instagram account linked below:

Putting the hurt on the @dyno.jet over at @zcargarage. 1st run – @stillen Gen3 intakes: 301whp/250wtq 2nd run – @stillen Gen3 intakes, @motordyneusa ART pipes, @fastintentions 2.5" CBE: 315whp/256wtq

A video posted by @gntlmn_z on Jul 11, 2016 at 5:08pm PDT

Here are the Hotchkis bars installed, front stock(Left):

 

We also installed a new battery in his key fob and GNTLMN Z was off to Enjoy The Ride. Thanks for coming to ZCG Jimmy, and we like how your G has progressed!

We love the HR engine found in the latest Z33s because they respond extremely well to simple bolt-ons and UPREV tuning. We started with a with Bassani cat-back exhaust followed by JWT dual POP charger intakes :

On the dyno, Marc’s 350z baselined at 271hp/245tq to the wheels.  The Bassani exhaust netted a peak gain of 7hp and significant midrange gains in torque:

This graph illustrates the benefit of UPREV tuning when adding bolt-ons. More power everywhere, all the way up to 7500rpm for peak gains of 19hp/8tq for a total of 290hp/253tq to the wheels:

Marc wanted to improve handling and braking so we installed Eibach springs, Hotchkis sway bars, and Whiteline T/C rod bushings followed by a full alignment. Factory Brembo brakes were upgraded with Stoptech Sport Kits all around:

Sway bars:

Marc was very pleased with the results and has been enjoying his Z.  He told us he would be coming back to ZCG and we will happily oblige!