Happy Monday! Carlos H came to Z Car Garage for exhaust/intake upgrades on his 2016 Nismo 370z. He was a referral from Scott C and we feel the best kind of business comes from making people happy! We installed long tube headers from Fast Intentions (FI):

From the headers back a complete FI cat-back system with 18″ resonators:

  

Stillen Gen 3 intakes:

  

With the intake and exhaust we saw nice gains of 12hp/16tq for a total of 310hp/260tq to the wheels:

 

UPREV tuning yielded  another 13hp/6tq to the wheels:

 

Final numbers were 323hp/266tq to the wheels, a significant gain of 25hp/22tq from the 298hp/244tq baseline:

 

Long Live The Z!

 

Dear Zcarblog readers, this is my 2016 Solvang Datsun Roadster Show report. Although long overdue, it serves as a reminder that the 30th Annual 2017 Solvang Datsun Roadster Show is just around the corner. So mark those calendars for April 22!  Enjoy.

-Alvin

 

The 2016 Solvang Datsun Roadster show took place on April 23. Now in its 29th year, this gathering continues a tradition of uniting owners from all parts of the world in a little town just outside of Santa Barbara. There is something for everyone here: shopping, food, wine-tasting, outdoor activities, and the last weekend of every April a huge gathering of Datsuns. I did not drive my roadster this year but I still enjoyed the show with my family!

 

On to the cars! Here are some highlights from the day…there were only a handful of 1967 2000 roadsters this year. Some of these cars are considered the “cream of the crop” with full restorations or OEM levels of detail like Mike Young’s SRL #266 and Rodney N’s SRL #485:

  

Winning best of show was SRL #233 completely frame-off restored by Kevin of KRD:

   

Speaking of attention to detail…fully restored factory gauges artfully assembled by Jon Frampton could be seen on multiple cars. The gauges are truly little jewels that give owners a range of options with lighting, lettering and even inner workings all without going to aftermarket gauges.

Left: Factory mechanical gauges behind Corey’s R20 stroker powered SPL

Right: Factory gauges converted to electronic behind Harlan’s SR20DE-powered SPL

 

While were on interiors, check out this cool Datsun Competion (by Kaemeri) steering wheel looking great in Corey’s SPL:

  

At the other end of the spectrum and far from stock is Shannon’s ’69 SRL. Modern gauges and A/C vents adorn the dash with a touch screen in the center console:
…[read more]

 

Gustavo L has been bringing his 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe for bolt-ons the last few years. His first visit was for a Motordyne plenum spacer and UPREV tune. Last May, Gustavo came back to ZCG with a plan for more new parts including a full exhaust system, ART pipes, 60k service and a TransGO shift kit.

Motordyne exhaust:

   

Firmer shifts on this automatic with the shift kit:

  

Quicker acceleration with shorter gearing courtesy of Z1 rear diff. Gustavo purchase an entire assembly from Z1 and we installed it with Whiteline diff bushings”

 

We performed a re-tune with UPREV and saw gains of 19hp/10tq for a total of 247hp/233tq to the wheels.  Power is increased throughout the entire rev band:

 

Gustavo brings his car from Watsonville which is a bit of a hike but totally worth it for the power of ZCG! He is stoked and Enjoying The Ride!