Filed under: Performance
by Forbes @ 11:27 pm on November 5, 2009
The 300zx is a classic. It possesses timeless lines that will probably never go out of style. These cars are capable of awesome power numbers with a few of the right parts put on them. Unfortunately the braking performance is becoming a classic also as this design nears twenty years old. This is where our good friends at StopTech Brakes come in.
The 332mm front brake kit is the perfect system for any sort of high performance street driving and it even suits the occasional track day enthusiast. The factory brakes wouldn’t stand a chance here. We also paired the new brakes with a pair of braided brake lines up front just to ensure that we were getting every bit of brake performance that a 300zx deserves. The downside of a big brake kit is that it won’t clear most stock wheels. What ever should we do!? Oh yeah, get new wheels!! In this case we have a nice set of silver split five spokes in an 18″ size to clear the new stoppers. The brakes really fill out the wheels now.
Another weak part of the 300zx is the front suspension. The tension (T/C) rods can fail at anytime due to mileage or age (and possibly looking at them wrong), and when replacing the T/C rods why not add adjustable upper control arms to complete the equation. In this case the high quality parts from Powertrix were called into duty and fit the bill quite nicely. Now the front suspension is far more adjustable than it ever was in stock form as well as being more reliable.
If you have been keeping up on our 370z exploits, good for you. If you haven’t then HERE is some mandatory reading.
We were planning on taking the car to the Motorsport Auto Show (MSA) from the beginning and if you know us then you are aware that there was NO WAY that we were going to take a stock car. We made a few phone calls to the people that can make things happen and the ZCG 370z turned into a monster overnight.
We decided that the first change to the car needed to be in the suspension department. Eibach springs was a first choice because of their pedigree in the industry and we shortly had a couple of boxes at our door. They are advertised to lower the car 0.9″ in the front and 0.8″ in the rear. The springs are a progressive rate set-up front and rear to help with ride quality and in the handling department. The looks are vastly improved as the photos show and I’m happy to report that there is a noticeable decrease in body roll and mid corner stability seems to be improved; it’s a nice improvement considering that the ride quality is not any more harsh than before.
The next call we made was to our friends down at StopTech Brakes, and we went for the big boy of brake kits. You can remember that we ran into problems with the stock brake system after a few sessions on the track so we felt the need to step up here. It was the week of the MSA show so we needed to request overnight delivery if we were to finish everything that week and when we unwrapped the boxes we were overjoyed.
Before our eyes lay the latest and largest kit that StopTech has to offer for the 370z. It includes 6 piston front calipers with 380mm rotors in the front and 4 piston calipers and 355mm rotors in the rear. The rotors are a slotted two piece design to aid in performance and replacement. I don’t even know where to begin to describe the feeling these brakes give when you slam on the “stop” pedal, it’s not worth testing the limits on the street so we will be heading back to the track with haste very soon. Bummer, I know, more track days for work. Where will it end. Haha
Now comes the time for improved power. We ordered the Stillen cat-back exhaust and the new Gen-3 intake system to help our car breathe better on both sides of the engine. Before I even get to any sort of dyno results I need to say that everyone here at Z Car Garage was let down by the fit and finish on these two products. The exhaust rubs and hits in at least two or three places, its painfully annoying. The intake system comes with no brackets of any sort and the front part is left to bounce around to rub on and destroy anything it pleases (see video below.) We have made our own brackets and changes to the intake to prevent any sort of serious damage, we were even forced to wrap the air conditioning lines on the driver’s side to prevent the intake from inevitably rubbing through. Stillen is a huge company with tons of R&D time in these products, I don’t understand how they could ship a part like this and expect owners to be satisfied.
As far as power numbers are concerned, it is an improvement. On the graphs the blue line is the car returned to its totally stock form for a baseline. The red line is after the intake only. The final green line is with the intake and exhaust. Each change gains around ten wheel horsepower and a moderate torque increase as well. Too bad horsepower poor fit and finish. I have heard from our sources that they have made improvements to the exhaust fitment, and not to defend Stillen, but these were some of the first parts on the market for the 370z. We here at Z Car Garage just want our customer base to get the the best product they can, and the product that you deserve.
As far as future upgrades to the ZCG 370z are concerned, I will be posting the solution to our other track event failure sometime next week with test data to follow as soon as we get back to the track.
Here is the video of the intake that is supplied without any brackets. We ended up making our own. Enjoy the random music in the background.
