We are working are a few updates this week for all of you Z-car fans:

Behemoth RB28 240z: I went to William’s Autobody on Monday and saw the progress on this car and i was amazed.  The entire interior of the car has been painted gloss black to match the under hood and exterior.  As of yesterday the exterior paintwork has begun and I will be headed up there to check out the progress.  I will have photos up by tomorrow evening.

Cosworth Plenums: I’m still gathering more information for this post to make it as accurate as possible.  We will be installing one on another customer’s car today and I should have some dyno numbers and graphs by tomorrow.

240z Upgrades: We are doing work on a 240z here that is currently equipped with an odd dual down-draft Weber carburetor setup and will be swapped over to triple 44mm Mikuni carbs.  We are also installing a Motorsport Auto 6-into-1 ceramic coated header.  These modifications will remove all of the performance robbing SMOG equipment and will also enhance the engine appearance greatly.  The baseline dyno showed that this car has a really strong torque curve and we will be hoping to keep that intact while bringing the horsepower up to match it.  I should have the final numbers and photos by the end of the week.

Hot Import Nights in San Mateo: There is an import and tuner show in the bay area this Saturday night from 5pm-11pm at the San Mateo County Event Center.  We were going to be showing off a couple of our cars but the show has sold out and we couldn’t pull any strings to get us in the event this time.  Come meet us at the show and check out what the aftermarket scene has to offer.

HIN San Mateo website

There are a few other things on our plate this week so check back soon.  Happy April FoolZZZZZZ.

We all knew it was bound to happen and I’m happy to announce that as of last Thursday Z Car Garage has an official ZCG 370z.  The car is going to be used as a platform to show everything we offer for the latest Nissan Z.  We will be bringing the car to all upcoming Z events and as many other shows as we can get to, and don’t think for a minute that we aren’t going to put the hammer down on the track!!

We decided on “Solid Red” to make the car stand out in the sea of bland colored vehicles and to let everyone know as soon as they see it that THIS IS THE ZCG 370z.  As you can see from the photos we can’t ever leave a car alone.  Our crew immediately added a set of stock R35 GT-R wheels to our car to set it apart from all the others while we wait on building a custom set of wheels.  We have so many amazing plans for this car and we can’t wait to share it with all of you!  Can you tell that I’m excited!?

ZCG took control of the car with 150 miles on the odometer and it is close to 350mi already, and yes we have already had the car on our dyno.  The car will be dyno’d every few hundred miles so that we can monitor how the engine is loosening up.  You can see the attached dyno sheet for the for the power curves but we are happy with the base numbers of 272 rwhp and and 233 rwtq.  I realize that the car isn’t broken in yet but it was good to get some super early baseline numbers to see what we are working with from the factory.

We have plans to offer the 370z community ZCG exclusive modifications and performance parts in the near future and are really excited to begin work on this new project.  More updates will be here at ZCarBlog as they happen!

There are more photos after the ‘read more.’  Enjoy!

…[read more]

Something big has happened at Z Car Garage over the past few days and I just need a little more time to prepare the AWESOME post that it deserves.  IT WILL BE UP BEFORE MONDAY.  I promise.  You may break into song when you see what has happened.

The Cosworth plenum post is still coming.  We are working with Cosworth and a few other outside sources who have used the product to verify that our findings are correct.  Hang in there.

There is also a Behemoth RB28 update coming in the next few days.  We are making a ton of headway on the paint and bodywork.  We are trying to get the car back to the shop as soon as possible but we will never rush the project to decrease quality.  This car will be simply amazing.

Have a great weekend!!  Hugs from ZCG

I wanted to get this post up again because reserved spots in the Z-car Corral are filling up quickly!  Getting the weekend pass for $65 is a deal by itself, and then you throw in great parking at the Z-car Corral and a parade lap around the full Laguna Seca circuit and you would be a fool not to attend!!

Z Car Garage will be bringing AT LEAST four cars from the shop and we have verified that other customers and friends have already signed up.  This is going to be an amazing race weekend with all your Z friends and we hope to see you there.  Visit the Z.O.N.C. Website to sign up TODAY!!!

I love seeing new concept cars.  This one especially peaked my interest because it is a Nissan product.  I’ve been sitting on these photos for some time as this car was released at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show.   Nissan is going to be taking the Infiniti brand name to Europe for the first time and was looking to make a splash with the “Essence” concept.

The drivetrain of the Essence concept is what intrigues me the most so far.  Power comes from a twin turbo’d, direct fuel injection, 3.7L V6 that has been paired with a newly designed electric motor called the ‘3D Motor.’

Infiniti press release excerpt:

Essence previews a new type of electric motor, called 3D Motor, that was designed to meet tough requirements on size and power output. The result is a particularly slim, disk-shaped motor that has twice the torque of a conventional unit. Its design was achieved by 3D magnetic field analysis to optimize the layout of the electromagnetic coils and permanent magnets.

In Essence, the motor is positioned between the engine and transmission and provides 160PS (158bhp), drawing power from a compact lithium-ion battery pack in the boot area. Because the 3D Motor operates in both propulsion and power regeneration modes, the battery pack is kept charged up.

With the 3D Motor putting out 158hp, and the 3.7L V6 putting out 434hp, the Essence nears the 600hp mark at the crankshaft.  I’ll take two please.

The exterior design is that of a very liquid and flowing 2 door coupe/hatch.  I can’t help but think that there is some sort of homage paid to the early Z Car with the sloping hatch and C-pillar design, call me crazy.  In the end I really like the design and execution of the Essence and I wouldn’t be surprised if we started to see some of this technology and a few of these design cues in forth-coming Infiniti models.  Traditionalists may not approve, Rob, but that’s why it’s a concept.

I would like to thank Autoblog.com for the photos and some of the info on the Essence concept.  If you would like to read the entire press release make sure that you click the link below to the Autoblog post.

Autoblog.com Infiniti Essence Concept post