“My first dream car was 350Z. I learned about Z cars in my college days and I recall a cool kid driving one while I was waiting at a bus stop in the cold rain. We had an opportunity to buy a new car and I was very fortunate that it could be a Z. After purchasing the 370Z, 6 months later went to ZCG and the journey began. No offense to stock Zs but these are meant to be modified 🙂 My wife and I both love our Z and I thank her for  supporting my hobby 🙂 “

Bolt-on Beginnings

With only a few months of owner-hip of his new 370s Sport Touring Henry visited us for upgrades. The latest Z34s had ECU changes and no software support at the time. Henry knew he wanted to go forced-induction so in the interim we started bolt-on upgrades. In April of 2019 the chassis was treated to full KWV3 coil-over suspension with SPC F/R control arms and Hotchkis sway bars:

A few installation pictures, followed by a full alignment:

A cat-back exhaust system from Armytrix with Valvetronic sound adjustment:

Henry requested a new steering wheel install:

Stock (with a cover) removed and new carbon fiber + alcantara-trimmed wheel installed:

Time For Boost

With 12k miles on the odometer Henry was ready for boost. We ordered the Stillen supercharger kit (black), CARB-legal for piece of mind. Supporting parts included a Concept Z 25-row oil cooler (thermostatically controlled), Stillen transmission cooler and fueling upgrades. Here a few pictures of the installation:

Fueling upgrades include a CJ Motorsports stage 1 fuel return system and billet fuel pump hat, 1300cc Injector Dynamics injectors, Hellcat Wallbro fuel pump, SpecialtyZ flex fuel kit:

 

The SpecialtyZ flex-fuel kit comes with a Zeitronix gauge that we mounted in pace of the OEM clock:

Cooling upgrades include Soho Motorsports air-to-air intercooler, Concept Z 25-row oil cooler (thermostatically controlled) and Stillen transmission cooler. Also shown is the Fast Intentions crash bar with tow-hook:

Oil and transmission coolers:

We installed a Fast Intentions billet flex-plate, much stronger than the OEM unit:

Finally, we changed the exhaust from Armytrix to an ARK Grip setup paired with ART Pipes from Motordyne:

Henry loves the current exhaust setup:

“I’ve gone through Nismo OEM, Armytrix, and eventually settled with Rob and a friend of mine’s suggestion for the forced induction route: Ark grip catback system + Motordyne art pipes = the deep growl without screaming. Sort of the centered idea of the goals of my Z project – subtle power without drawing attention.”

Dyno Tuning

We wanted the most efficent blower wheel to run ethanol so the V3 SI blower wheel was installed. Ecutek software  was used for tuning, MAP-based with omni sensor.

Shown below are dyno graphs from when Henry was NA to 91 octane and E75 tunes on the Vortech. NA, the Z made 316hp/252tq and a 91 octane tune supercharged yielded 501hp/370tq at the wheels:

Rob then tuned the Z on E75 for 573hp/426tq at the wheels:

 

Enjoy the dyno tuning video!

We are very happy with the results and even more stoked to hear Henry’s feedback on the supercharger and tuning performance:

“The supercharger is very daily usable and power whenever I want!  The sc mods put together and tuned by Rob for a 7at Z is able to reach 570+ whp and 430 wtrq and still feel smooth and dramatic at the same time is absolutely beyond my expectation (I followed every ZCG 370Z blog posts and it’s a honor to be one of the highest power 370Z from ZCG, hats off to Rob) And did I mention daily-driveable? Good surprise for me. In addition, Rob has been really patient and knowledgeable for all my questions and requests and late night text regarding my Z. It really felt like we built the car together but it’s all his magic touches! I really appreciate the journey! More to come”

Wheels Make the Car

We have said it before: wheels make or break a car.  After long discussions with Henry we decided on the Ray’s TE37 Ultra Track Edition II. Finished in Blast Black and sized 19×9.5/10.5 these wheels look perfect on the Z34.

We love the little details Ray’s applied:

Enjoy The Boost!

“I love my Z and ZCG! Long live the Z! ZCG has been the place to go if you love Z cars, new or classic. Rob and the shop/crew exude passion for Z cars and you immediately know they will take care of your Z and your Z will be among its family. Rob has been great through the journey and worked with “our” Z. I am sure there is more to come for my Z with ZCG!”

 

You can follow Henry here on Instagram. What’s next for his Z? He’s playing with idea of a body kit but trying to maintain that subtle-aesthetic approach in his build. Stay tuned! Thank you Henry for letting us build your Z. It’s very cool for us as a shop trying to make 50-old cars keep with cars like this. We enjoy playing with the new stuff just as much as the classics. LONG LIVE THE Z! More pictures in the gallery below:

…[read more]

At Z Car Garage we have been maintaining and modifying late model Nissan/Infiniti sports cars since 2004. From Z cars (Z32, 350z, 370z) and R35 GT-Rs to G35, G37, Q50/Q60 cars we look forward to working on your vehicle. Rikio’s 2017 Infiniti Q50S Red Sport came in for basic performance upgrades from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat Exchanger, AMS Coolant expansion tank and AMS Air intakes:

 

The new heat exchanger compared to the stock unit and installation:

 

AMS air intakes:

AMS expansion tank installed replacing two plastic OEM units:

OEM (Left) vs FI (Right):

Standard exhaust tips on the FI exhaust system:

Dyno Tuning

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor. The Hi-Output version is rated at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq, underrated as we have seen with dyno testing. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. Rob dyno tuned the Q using EcuTek. Baseline power was 348hp/331tq at the wheels. With the AMS parts, FI exhaust and tuning final numbers were 388hp/424tq, gains of +40hp/93tq:

In addition to the EcuTek flash Rikio also received the EcuTek Bluetooth adapter for map access for remote data logging, valet map switching etc. Here is the Q on the dyno:

Enjoy The Boost Rikio!

Are you ready for upgrades on your late model Nissan/Infiniti? Give us a call or e-mail!

At Z Car Garage we love working with the later model Z33 and Z34 cars, from full forced-induction builds to bolt-ons. Brian S brought his 2015 Nismo 370z in for a full Fast Intentions exhaust system installation:

  

We enjoy working with Fast Intentions and their products are high quality/proven. Brian purchased his exhaust from FI and we installed it.

OEM vs FI:

 

We think the latest Nismo Z34s are the best looking and performing editions of the model. For a no-frills sportscar that only a Z can deliver these are great value and the price of entry is coming down significantly.

 

Brian will be coming back for a dyno tune and intakes to let that VQ37 sing!

We are fortunate to work with fantastic clients and as a result they are the best form of advertising. Carlos H and Scott C met at the same gym. We supercharged Scott C’s G35 several years ago, and he was kind enough to refer ZCG to Carlos for work on his 2016 Nismo 370Z.  When we first met Carlos he came in for some bolt-ons: Stillen G3 intakes, Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust, and a UPREV flash:

We also installed FI long tube headers:

On the dyno immediate gains of +12hp/16tq to the wheels were seen with the intake and exhaust:

The best way to maximize gains from bolt-ons is perform an ECU tune. UPREV tuning yielded further gains for a total of 323hp/266tq to the wheels:

Carlos came back for suspension upgrades and we all know Rob loves the KW V3 coilovers:

Front/Rear:

  

Next, we installed our favorite sway bars from Hotchkis:

Front/Rear OEM vs Hotchkis:

 

Carlos is Enjoying The Ride…and we have to say the 2015+ Nismo Z34s look so good!

Dennis K comes from the East coast and moved to Bay Area for work. Once here he wanted to find a specialty shop to help him with his G37. He already had coil-overs and larger wheels/tires but no camber adjustment. His first visit to ZCG in October ’16 included installation of SPC F/R cambers arms and new Bridgestone S-04s tires.

Following a full alignment we also raised his coil-overs slightly to cope with the wonderfully smooth roads we have here in the Bay Area. Finally we added our favorite sway bars from Hotchkis, and performed some cleanup work.  As always, the performance and modifying bug kicked in. Dennis came back to us in March of this year after he had waited for his Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust to arrive:

A Stoptech Sport-kit rounded out the chassis upgrades. After the cat-back was installed, we change the oil, and installed several parts that Dennis had purchased online including a strut bar, grille and CF diffuser:

Stock vs new grille:

Stock vs CF diffuser:

Thank you for letting us work on your G, Dennis!