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.

It’s only of January yet and the car clubs are already going full force to set up meets and drives, not that I’m complaining!  This one comes to us through our friends at the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC.)  For this event they have teamed up with the Bay Area and Sacramento NSXCA chapters which will make for an awesome car gathering headed to one of the most beautiful parts of California.

All of the information is available on the ZONC website but I’ll lay out the main points here:

Dates:  Februray 14th – 16th (Sat, Sun, Mon)

Package for 2 includes:

Hotel occupancy of 2 per room
2 tickets for Hearst Castle (Tour 1, 2, or 3)
2 dinner coupons ($20ea) at one of two choice restaurants

Price for package:  $284.50 (includes tax)

THE HOTEL MUST BE CONTACTED DIRECTLY AND YOU MUST MENTION THAT YOU WANT TO RESERVE A ROOM HELD BY ZONC/ATKINSON FOR THIS PACKAGE.  Call (805) 927-3998.

We will be meeting at Z Car Garage and be leaving at 10:30AM sharp.

The full event information can be found at the top of the ZONC website.  Check it out and I hope to see you there.

Link: ZONC website

Now that our GT-R is making almost 650 whp, with more coming everyday, the drivetrain parts are certainly being over-stressed in their stock form.  SSP have decided to upgrade the axle shafts on the car in an effort to strengthen the system before any catastophic failures happen.   This is only one of many parts that SSP plans on releasing for the R35 drivetrain.  With this addition we are one step closer to having the world’s most powerful GT-R that won’t grenade it’s internals as soon as we put the power to the ground.

The new axles have an advanced design that increases the CV bearing cage strength and a couple other improvements.  SSP have been building high power AWD cars for some time now and it is nice to see their experience prove useful in the modified GT-R world.  The axles are made in house at SSP and they plan to keep them in stock and ready to ship at a moments notice.  Although they aren’t cheap, $2,399.00 isn’t too bad if you are trying to find the limit of what your GT-R can take.  Happy hunting.

The entire press release can be found after the “read more.”

…[read more]