John E came to Z Car Garage through a dealership connection at Dublin Infiniti. He purchased this Q50S Red Sport in 2019 with 46k miles on the odometer and it was time for bolt-on performance upgrades with dyno tuning.

 

We installed several parts from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat Exchanger, AMS Coolant expansion tank. Helping the VR30DDT engine breathe are AMS downpipes and a full Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust system. Photos of each are shown below.

 

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

AMS expansion tank installed replacing two plastic OEM units:

 

AMS downpipes:

 

The Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust replaces the restrictive OEM system:

 

Standard exhaust tips on the FI exhaust system, we love the quality, fitment and sound of these parts:

 

We also installed new Hotchkis sway bars front/rear. Stock vs new below:

 

Dyno Tuning

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor rate at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq stock. It is actually 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 tuned John’s Q50 using EcuTek, making 404hp/435tq at the wheels. A significant improvement over the 336hp/338tq baseline:

  

Enjoy the dyno video below:

 

Enjoy The Boost John!

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

 

 

Aaron’s 2018 Infiniti Q50 3.0t Red Sport came to Z Car Garage for bolt-on performance upgrades and dyno tuning. We no longer install customer-supplied parts but made an exception for Aaron as a new client.

 

He had us install his AMS intakes and exhaust system from GTHaus. AMS air intakes compared to OEM:

  

AMS Air intakes installed:

 

The GTHaus exhaust system with GTC (electronic valve control), mid and Y-pipe installed. Down pipes are stock:

 

 

Aaron loves the aggressive sound from the new exhaust system and ability to quiet it down for cruising. Hear it in action in the video below.

 

Dyno Tuning

Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor, rated at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq in Red Sport trim. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. While were waiting for parts Aaron had the Heat Exchanger installed somewhere else. Unfortunately its very common to improperly bleed these system so it fought us a bit on the dyno. We bled the system correctly to ensure that the heat exchanger could function as we adjusted ignition/fueling curves and of course the boost.

 

Rob dyno tuned the Q using EcuTek. Baseline power was 325hp/340tq at the wheels. With the AMS parts, exhaust and tuning final numbers were 406hp/434tq, gains of +81hp/94tq! Dyno and exhaust video below:

 

Enjoying The Boost

 

With full bolt-ons we installed Aaron was very pleased with the results. This was all done in time for his birthday so we know that he spent the day enjoying the boost in that Majestic White Q50S:

“The car runs great after the tune and new bolt ons. I can tell a lot of care was spent doing the install correctly and testing the tune. It really is a fun car with the Ecutek boost that can double as a daily driver. I will be back soon for some more mods and more power!”

 

Thank you for your support Aaron! The VR30DDTT is a very cool engine and we are excited to see it with a 6-speed manual in the new Z. We love all things V6 and twin-turbo!

 

 

Check out our shop on this episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen:

 

 

  

 

 

 

Rob Fuller is the latest guest on the Bring a Trailer Podcast with BaT co-founder Randy Nonnenberg and Howard Swig. Listen to them chat about Z Car Garage, the burgeoning Z-car market and Rob’s passion for all things Datsun and racing.  You can listen to the podcast via this link HERE, and check out BaT’s other cool podcasts too!

We are fortunate to work closely with Bring a Trailer and you can see our work on their personal BaT 240z that gets driven on major rallyes/events.They even drove the Z across the country from their headquarters in San Francisco to Road Atlanta for the historic races at The Mitty

(Below) Randy Jaffe and Bat Co-founder Randy Nonnenberg at the Mitty with their Z cars!

 

 

  

 

We have several exciting projects at the shop that will get full reports on zcarblog.com. This is only a brief sample, please tune into our Instagram story for more sights and sounds.

Return of the #46 BRE Datsun 240Z!

 

The BRE #46 Z is back from paint by our man William and it is finally getting the hand-painted livery applied at the shop as I write this. You may recall that the Z was flipped on to its roof with John Morton at the wheel racing at the 2019 Classic 24hr race at Daytona International Speedway

 

The Z will be re-assembled, dyno tuned and tested in a few weeks at Sonoma with our hero John Morton and Rob Fuller! Super amped to see #46 back in fighting form and very happy for owner Randy Jaffe. Check our IG story to see the livery being applied by hand, this is a lost art and incredible to watch.

 

1970 Salt Flat Racer Datsun 240z

This historically significant 1970 Datsun 240z was built by a team of Nissan employees to compete at Bonneville in the F/GT class. In 1976 their efforts resulted in a new land speed record of 166.037 mph, which stood unbroken until 1985. This Z resided in the Nissan Museum and is now in the care of Randy Jaffe. Lots of neat details the Z 432R seats and G-nose. More to come! Big thanks to Randy and Nissan for letting us bring this Z back to life. We just finished the exhaust and dyno tuning,

 One of many Z32s we are working on, Steve’s will get a full report soon as well as the Stillen SMZ:

 

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z returned for a Rebello 3.2L with triple-Mikuni carbs on a Harada intake and CD009a 6-speed transmission:

     

Several S30 Z cars are getting our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) like these two 280zs:

Ed B’s 240z and a pretty 280Z

 

Khang’s Z getting a 3.2L with Jenvey ITB EFI and our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) plus our Z Car Garage CV Axles.

 

The OMS Pace Car

This is a 1972 Official OMS Pace Car Duplicate. It is at present one of only two known survivors. Fifty were originally produced by Nissan Motors to commemorate the DATSUN 240Z being selected by the Ontario Motor Speedway to Pace the 1972 “U.S.A.C. California 500 Championship”. This one belongs to our long time customer and friend Linda. More to come!

B-Sedan Datsun 510s!

 

Larry Oka’s B-sedan is getting built and prepped with our Z Car Garage CV Axles. The Corky Bell 510 is also scheduled for a full restoration:

 

R32 Skylines!

 

Mike’s R32 GT-R is back for turbo, fueling and exhaust upgrades, full report soon! #TETUESDAY

 

We just got this really clean R32 GTS-T in:

Dyno Tuning your 350z/370z/Q/G

We have been dyno tuning your late model Nissan/Infiniti sports car daily. Bolt-ons, UPREV tuning, “popcorn” maps. Our customers leave happy with more performance. Call us to schedule an appointment! Here are just a few cars:

 

LONG LIVE THE Z! Check out our Instagram story for more updates!