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More Power: Jared’s Vortech Supercharged 350z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 11:56 pm on October 8, 2017

ZCG 5 10215 038
 

We have been working on Jared C’s 350z since he purchased it. He absolutely loves this Z car but does not get to drive it all the time. So when the occasion arrives and he gets behind the wheel, this Z is driven hard.

 
 

Last time when we checked in on Jared’s 350z it was making above average power/tq both NA and with the Vortech. Recently Jared let us know that he was at a point in his life where he wanted to make as much power as possible. We happily obliged. In June of this year after passing a smog check we began the power upgrades, starting with the Garett 900 hp FMIC assembly:

 
 

We installed our ZCG cold-air intake:

 
 

Jared’s Z had been tuned for 91 octane and for the power levels he wanted this would be a limiting factor due to conservative timing.

 

We proceeded with a 100 octane tune and made 443hp/360tq at the wheels:

 

With more power we also wanted to ensure that rest of the car was safe and in good shape. We changed the oil and replaced the Vortech fluid. The Stoptech BBK from his last visit was a very wise upgrade!

ZCG 5 10215 022 ZCG 5 10215 024
 

Enjoy The Boost Jared!

 

 




First Z, then GT: Ricky’s 2017 Mustang

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 3:13 am on September 29, 2017

 

Hello and good morning Dear Zcarblog readers! We have many customer car and event reports to bring you this week, so let’s get to it.

If you are a fan of Japanese classic cars there’s a good chance that you have visited Japanese Nostalgic Car. JNC’s senior minicar correspondent and all-around J-Tin guru is Ricky Silverio and he is also a Z-car owner! Here is his pristine, 10k-mile 2003 350z Track model that we will be performing services on soon:

 
 

Enough about Z cars let’s talk about the other steed in his stable…Ricky recently visited Z Car Garage with his 2017 Mustang GT:

“Although the public knows the shop specializes in Nissans, I am aware of the broad range in specialty that ZCG possesses. What really stands out in the cars no one knows about is the DSE equipped Camaro that was done a few years ago as well as the myriad race and special projects. That’s what makes me know that ZCG is a misnomer as everything can be accommodated at the shop.”

 

 

The Premium-package equipped Mustang came to us with only 226 miles on the odometer and we happily obliged Ricky’s request to begin modifying it. Ride height and handling were addressed with an Eibach Pro-kit:

 

We discussed Ricky’s driving preferences and intentions (neutral, good turn in, street-use) when choosing alignment settings following the new spring installation. He was stoked:

“Although I chose mild springs I was surprised that brake dive was eliminated, turn in was very crisp and the car became more tossable. Firmness was slightly higher but the difference is huge which surprised me. But I must add the alignment specs really made the difference and ZCG delivered as always!”

 

What’s next for the Mustang? Since Ricky is comfortable with ZCG, on his next visit we will perform a baseline dyno and intake/exhaust mods. Ricky will have joined the ranks of a rather peculiar correlation between Z car owners and Mustangs demonstrated by our customers Jeff V, Kevin B and Scott L. Z/Mustang associations aside, Ricky is a car enthusiast with a love that started with Japanese cars and encompassed all:

“I love all cars and although I have been versed in Japanese cars since the day I was born, I dig everything! I used to have old minis and European Ford escorts and my uncle was into restoring old 60s American cars (Mustangs too) so that’s where my love for muscle cars were born.”

Here is Ricky’s ridiculously clean, 30k-mile NA Miata sitting on Enkei RPF1s and tasteful interior upgrades:

 
 

Ricky and I had some lively discussions about his latest Ford purchase and the new S550 Mustang’s design.

“The S550 Mustang chassis when it came out gave me the best of both worlds. Iconic car and platform but now with IRS and finally true world car engineering and refined elegant and beautiful design. The Americanness of the car can be found in its size (I’m still getting used to its length and width) as well as its V8, typical ford panel fit, rattles and various hard plastic surfaces. Other than that the experience is vastly different as the car really is a now a “normal” globally accepted and designed car. From its IRS, Getrag 6 speed, it feels more European / Japanese in dynamics.”

 

We both agreed that the new Mustang is the spiritual successor of the S15 Silvia, an “S16” if you will or the car Nissan should have built!  Ricky then took it up a notch drawing a connection between an old school Toyota and the Ford:

“Totally agree Alvin that by subliminal design (even chassis code with an S and 5) that with the Ecoboost the Mustang truly channels the S15 Silvia! With the V8 it even channels the true first release of the original Celica Liftback (twin cam 2 liter) which the US never got, especially in white”:

 

“That’s what does it for me. It channels those Japanese cars but also caters to the heritage of the Mustang which is what inspired the Japanese cars in the first place! Imagine Japanese cars inspired by the original Mustang, and now the newest Mustang channeling the qualities and design of the cars that were inspired by it. Mind blown.”

 

Even though we are a Nissan specialty shop we never leave our customers hanging with their other rides. We love the new S550 and Ford is one of those companies that gets it. More to come as we work on Ricky’s Z33 and GT!

 




UPREV Tuning For Your Nissan/Infiniti

Filed under: 370z,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 12:38 am on July 14, 2017

 

Today we bring you three cars that received UPREV tuning to maximize performance gains from common bolt-on parts like intakes and exhaust systems. Enjoy!

Sean’s 370z

Sean visited us for an ART pipe install and to correct a few issues with previous intake/exhaust installation from another shop.

 

Rob UPREV tuned the Z with great results gaining 25hp/12tq for a total of 337hp/274tq to the wheels:

 


Sean also wanted to use a new feature from UPREV called the ARC(Advanced Racing Controls) license. This add-on service to the existing UPREV Flash allows you to have adjustable launch control, burnout mode, and flat-foot shifting for $150.  This is for cars with manual transmission, VDC/cruise control. Call Rob for more details!

Nick’s 370z

 

In 2014 we UPREV tuned Nick’s 2006 black 350z…and now he has a 2010 370z so it was time for an UPREV reunion!  Nick had Stillen Gen 3 Intakes and the Fast Intention CBE w/ 18″ resonators so it was prudent to get a proper tune and extract their full potential.  With tuning we saw peak gains of 7hp/8tq for a total of 318hp/262tq to the wheels. Note the great mid-range gains:

 

 

Karl’s 350z

Nick came in to ZCG to tune his 2005 350z with bolt-ons, and we happy obliged.

 

With UPREV tuning Rob extracted 6hp/11tq for a total of 268hp/251tq. The peak numbers may not seem impressive but look at the area under the curve after tuning. There are significant gains in hp/tq throughout the rev range:

Contact us if you are interested in UPREV or ECUTEK tuning for you Nissan or Infiniti!




The OS Giken DIFFerence: Eric’s 350z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 4:40 pm on July 8, 2017

 

Eric T hails from Benicia, CA and he is one of the key members of Inconceivable Racing along with our customers Matt M and Rasheed B. This is a group of enthusiasts that got into Z cars and are now obsessed with taking them to open track days and events like Shift Sector. What is really cool is that both Eric and his wife run their HR-powered 350z cars together at the track!

 

Here are the couple enjoy their Z cars at Laguna Seca. It is a small Z-car world and we have worked on Eric’s wife’s 350z Convertible because it was our man William’s!

 

Eric had been to several independent shops and wasn’t really happy.  Rasheed told him about ZCG and we met with Eric to help sort his Z.  After driving at Laguna Seca, he was frustrated with corner entry and exit speeds. This was a result of not putting power down effectively through the open differential on his Base-model Z. Our solution was to install the OS Giken limited-slip unit:

 

Here is the unit being installed with a 4.08 gear, all new bearings and seals.  We also added a NISMO Diff cover:

 

 
  
 

The diff all buttoned-up and installed on the car:

  
 

With the car up on the lift we noticed one of the bushings in rear subframe was leaking. The subframe was pulled and all bushings were replaced with with SPL solid bushings. The diff received Whiteline bushings:

    
 

The aftermarket exhaust system was rubbing on the rear chassis brace and had a rubber pad wedged in between as the solution from a previous shop. We fixed it:

 

The exhaust was also rubbing on the rear sway bar, where a heater hose complete with hose clamps was used as an isolator. We fixed this well:

 

Motordyne ART pipes were installed and the Z was retuned with UPREV:

 

On the dyno we found peak gains of 7hp/11tq for a final 303hp/265tq to the wheels. More importantly the gains can be seen throughout the rev range:

 

 

 

After we performed this work Eric attended a 2-day race event at ‘Seca for his birthday. He was super pumped with the Z and it performed well. He’s a ZCG believer. Enjoy the Ride, Eric!

 




Arvy’s 350z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 12:35 am on March 7, 2017

 

Arvy B had PPE long tube headers installed at another shop. From the pictures below you will see that these headers were installed with missing nuts and bolts and the pipes were touching the driver’s side underbody. It was unbearable to drive:

 
 
 

In the engine bay a factory fuel hose that went above passenger side had been replaced with a fuel vapor hose. This is dangerous as only a factory, high pressure fuel hose should be used:
…[read more]




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