Lou S is a long-time friend and customer of Z Car Garage. He is also an avid sports car fan with a interesting collection including a 3.2L FairladyZ, FD RX-7, Mazda RX-4, and Dodge Viper GTS.   Adding to this stable is his 2nd RHD vehicle, a 1992 Nissan Skyline GT-R. For most fans of Japanese sports cars this “R32” supercar is highly regarded and quite popular. Not familiar with this model? Find out what makes it special over at JNC.

Lou acquired this Skyline from previous owner David C who had extensive suspension and engine work performed at ZCG. Lou wanted to make it his own so he visited us for some upgrades and tuning! Wheel aficionados will immediately notice the VOLK TE37SL wheels, sized 18×9.5 and finished in high-metal bronze. We think the TE’s are easily one of the best looking wheels for the R32, good taste Lou!

 

Perfectly framed by the TE’s spokes are Stoptech calipers/rotors at all four corners. The Ray’s valve stems color-matched to the “TE37SL” sticker is also a nice detail:

 

Adding to the list of choice parts is a full titanium exhaust system from Tomei. This includes downpipes, test pipe and the Expreme Ti muffler:

 

The quality and detail of this exhaust system is impressive, please click on the pics for larger views. We think it adds a little sportiness to the car’s rather understated (by today’s standards) aesthetic. It also sounds sublime.

 

  

The R32 was much louder than I anticipated. At idle it has a loveley burble and part throttle acceleration produces a semi-truck like turbo hiss…very audible from outside but never obnoxious. Under full throttle however, there is an absolute orchestra of sounds from the exhaust and turbo…it screams and reminds us how unmistakable the RB is!

 

With the new exhaust we re-tuned the Haltech to a healthy 412hp/311tq to the wheels:

 

I personally love this car.  A few more pictures…

 

Lou is having a blast driving his R32 and recently attended Cars and Coffee at Canepa. We love how he chose to take Skyline/HWY 9 as opposed to the freeway. Enjoy the Ride Lou!

 

More pictures in the gallery to enjoy below:

Tetsuya is a long time customer and visited ZCG years ago for an UPREV tune and Bassani exhaust system on his pretty 2005 350z. He recently came back for some suspension upgrades and we happily obliged. We installed TEIN StreetFlex coilovers combined with their latest EDFCactive dampening controller:

The StreetFlex dampeners are trick parts with pillowball mounts and 16-way adjustability. The
“active” EDFC offers two new features in addition to the totally redesigned interface. With the on-board accelerometer, dampening can be automatically adjusted based on g-loads and a GPS unit enables speed-sensitive adjustment!

 

The EDFC unit was mounted neatly in the Z’s NAV/cubby:

 

To handle braking duties we installed a Stoptech Big Brake Kit (332mm) finished in red up front and color matched the stock rear calipers on new Stoptech rotors. Everything is framed nicely behind the new Volk 57xtreme 19″ wheels:

  

OEM vs Stoptech brakes:

 

Tetsuya’s Z is now a well-rounded sports car that will surely bring more smiles on spirited drives!

It’s sedan week! Brandon M’s G35 visited us early 2013 for suspension upgrades and he came back for a few more mods. We installed a Stoptech Sport Kit which is a very smart and affordable way to increase braking capacity:

OEM vs Stoptech rotors:

 

Brandon is now running G35 coupe 19″ wheels and they look fantastic coupled with the lowered ride height!

 

Rob UPREV re-tuned the G with the addition of a Trans-Go shift kit. Note the increased hp/tq throughout entire rev range with peak gains of 10hp/8tq to the wheels:

 

Thanks for coming back to ZCG Brandon!

 

Eric L has been with Z Car Garage since our opening almost 9 years ago. He bought his Z32TT while in college and took great care of his Z for many years. He decided it was time for more traction and braking so we installed a Stoptech big-brake kit up front and new wheels/tires.

Before/after shot of the F/R brakes:

 

The stock rear calipers were matched to the front and treated to new Stoptech rotors with 309 brake pads:

 

We also took care of a few others items like replacing the hood insulation and some general maintenance.

 

Staggered Work Emotion CR-Kai wheels contrast nicely with the with the pearl white paint and allow for some wider tires to be fitted!

Enjoy The Ride Eric!

Daren S. wanted to make his Infiniti G35 Journey Sedan more exciting to drive on the commute. Better breathing can improve power so we bolted on  JWT dual POP chargers and a Stillen exhaust system followed by UPREV tuning.

The POP chargers also add a very throaty intake sound 🙂

The Stillen exhaust system replaces the restrictive OEM parts and makes getting on the throttle a bit more satisfying:

On the dyno, the intake alone made a noticeable improvement in power from 260hp/235tq to 264hp/243tq at the wheels:

UPREV tuning makes efficient use of these breathing mods for a final output of 276hp/246tq! Gotta love that huge gain under both hp/tq curves:

Whoa is just as important as go and there are many options out there for improving braking performance. Instead of a full-blown big-brake kit Daren opted for a Stoptech Sport Kit:

This is a great alternative to OEM parts. When coupled with our favorite 309 pad and Stoptech 600 fluid this kit is perfect for spirited driving whether it be on your favorite mountain road or commute!