There was a great Nissan and Datsun presence at the autox held at DeAnza College last weekend. Here is Scott S, driver of the GreenMachine with a quick report from the event:

227 drivers showed up for the 42nd Annual DeAnza Autox held in Cupertino, CA, and hosted by DeAnza Auto Tech and NorCal UFO. The weather was spotty for most of the day, with dry runs in the morning for those that showed up really early, and scattered storms throughout most of the rest of the day. Participation was down slightly from last year’s 243 driver’s, likely because of threat of rain all day.

Representing Z Car Garage were Josh C in the ZCG 370Z, Scott S in the GoGreen ZCG 350Z, Allen B in his Vortech supercharged 350Z, and Tom D in his TT G35. Everyone except for Tom had relatively dry weather, but poor Tom fought his power, street tires, and the wetness to manage an impressive 59.5s time given the standing water.

Josh and Scott competed in the OSP class, with Scott taking first place with a 50.2s run and 18th overall. Josh took 3rd in the class with a 55.5s run, and 82nd overall. Allen was incorrectly placed into the huge Evo-filled SM class, and Evos on race tires are hard to trump. Allen piloted the supercharger to a fantastic 52.6s run, earning him a trophy for 4th in class and 43rd overall. If he was properly placed in the SM2 class, he would have taken first handily.

Spectators were treated to witness a blazingly fast, 2002 Porsche GT2, which was co-driven by local SCCA champions Rob B, who owns the beautiful Porsche, and Scott F. Scott nipped Rob in his own car, as they ran 46.1 and 46.3, respectively, for the top two times of the day. Although the course is about the same from year-to-year, overall times were down by 1.5-2s from last year (dry-to-dry comparison).

Hope to Z ya out there next year!
Scott
Here are 2 videos of Scott’s run in the Green Machine. The exhaust note at full throttle is amazing…way to go Scott and congratulations to all that participated and placed high!
In-Car:

From Outside:

More pictures in the gallery!
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This G35 sports a built engine with a complete Vortech Supercharger kit and SI-trim upgrade.  A full supporting cast of components were installed by ZCarGarage including:

• Stillen headers
• Stillen exhaust
• Berk Hi-flow cats
• 600CC injectors

Rob and the ZCG crew extracted significant power gains using the UPREV software and PMAS MAF. A solid 20rwhp and 18rwtq were gained bringing total output to 456rwhp and 364tq!!!  Gotta love how the Vortech blower delivers a smooth ramp-up of power as rpm rise.

Jim’s G35 is a powerhouse but braking and traction were two items that needed attention.

We spent a lot of time making a decision about the look and size of the wheels. No offense to Jim but the chromed out Foose wheels were destined for a slammed Chevy Silverado! Take a look:

It is amazing how a wheel/tire combo can transform a car’s aesthetic. 19″ SSR Professor SP3 wheels look absolutely brilliant on the G and allowed us to install much needed larger tires. Icing on the cake was the Stoptech 14″ ST60 front brakes with ST22 13″ brakes in the rear:

Front:

Rear:

The combo is incredible!
Rob

More pictures in the gallery, enjoy!
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Z car fans and vintage Datsun owners here is a great way to kickoff June! ZONC and David Swig of Motoring J Style are hosting the the 2nd Annual Turn Z event at Infineon Raceway June 4.

Last year’s event was a success with an impressive turnout of cool cars, you can see pictures HERE
The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) and Motoring J Style are thrilled to announce “Turn Z,” a celebration of Datsun/Nissan Z Cars and Japanese motoring culture at large, which will take place at Infineon Raceway during the 2nd annual Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival on Saturday, June 4.

Race fans are encouraged to visit the ZONC/Motoring J Style display at Turn 7. Race fans can expect more than 50 Zs on display, as well as more than 100 Japanese classics in the area designated as “Turn Z.” There will be several categories for judging, with prizes going to owners of selected cars just before the parade lap.

Among those in attendance at the event will be sports car racing legend John Morton, competing with several cars during the weekend.

At the end of the day you can drive on the track for $15!!!
Tickets can be purchased by clicking on the “tickets” link below:
TICKETS

It’s red. It’s fast. It’s a Datsun 510 wagon! Troy T is the owner of this unique vintage race car, I mean racing wagon:) Rob at ZCG helped dyno tune this beast on the dyno last year with great results. Catch the wagon’s full build-up on Troy’s site, RacingOnTheCheap. Here is Tim A with a full race report from the VARA High Desert Challenge last month:

I was invited to co drive in an Enduro race with friend Troy Tinsley’s Datsun 510 Wagon race car. Yep wagon, wood roof rack and all. It is actually a full cage race car that looks like a Nascar under the skin, but it makes for a great conversation piece when it is not on track. The car was built by Paul Moore’s Race shop in Seaside CA, Moore Speed, from a rolling shell. Troy helped over the last two years or so to build the car. The car was finished up a few months ago and Troy has run the car at a few track events and a couple of races so he is getting comfortable with the car and was ready to go back to Willow springs as he had not been there in years, and the VARA event originally had three flag races he could enter, so he could not pass the opportunity for so much track time.

Unfortunately after about revision four to the schedule, two races, the VARA annual evening two hour enduro, and the Classic Motorsports Magazine small bore challenge race were combined into one run group that was one hour long. So the requirement for a co-driver was removed as the race was shortened to one hour. Since two changes to the schedule were made that eliminated separate run groups and then cut the time on the enduro eliminating the second driver, I was not needed to participate in the Enduro. However I had scheduled the weekend and figured Troy would probably like the company and some crew help even if he had to suffer my incessant chattering in the car on the trip. Fortunately all worked out with my home schedule and I was able to go along …[read more]

April was a very exciting month! The 300ZXClub and NICOforums put together the annual Bay Area “In-N’-Out and Drive” 4/30/11. Here is Corey S with a report from the very successful meet:

The weather was perfect for this South San Jose meet, on this sunny, blue sky day. The turn out for the event was impressive, with over 25 beautiful Z32s, 5+ Z33’s, even 2 240SX’s, 2 G35’s and even a sweet z31!
Z Enthusiasts came from as far as San Luis Obispo to make this event, driving hours to meet up with the community. The event began with a relaxed gathering outside of In-N’-Out. You could feel the excitement in the air as more and more groups of Z cars drove up to the lot.

After meeting up with the Z enthusiasts and taking a few organized pictures, it was time to move forward to the next stage of the event, a drive through the hills by Uvas Reservoir. A line of 30 cars commanded the roads, T-Tops removed and hands in the air. The energy was great!
With the Twin Turbo Z’s pulling up the rear, we flew together through the twisty hills in a rush of power and handling to our next destination. …[read more]