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370z at Thunderhill!

Filed under: 370z,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 2:15 am on January 5, 2017

 

Rasheed B has been testing his 2015 NISMO 370z at the track since the addition of a twin-turbo kit (full report soon) and sent us a few pics from Thunderhill Raceway. We’ve been battling high engine bay temps and the vented hood dramatically lowered them. A summer testing session is next.

 

 

Several Sacramento Z/GT-R guys also attended the track day and it is really awesome to see a bunch of cars we worked on (Eric T and Ruben G) with their owners enjoying them!

Thanks Rasheed, Z You At The Track!

 





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Ron B. Jr met Rob Fuller in the early 2000s. At the time Ron had a 300zx Twin-Turbo that ZCG serviced. Sadly, one day Ron decided he was done with the Z32 and sold it. One of our customers actually bought it and we think it is still out there being enjoyed. Ron wasn’t entirely done with Z’s as he picked up a 350z Track model (shown at Thunderhill in 2006):

300ZX 350Z
 

Some 15 years later after meeting Rob, Ron had got another Z. Why? Once you have a Z it is in your blood and hard to get it out of your life! This latest Z obsession came in the form of a 2012 Nismo 370:

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Ron loved this car but he was missing something. We all long for it: BOOST! So he gave ZCG call, reconnected with Rob and reminisced about the old days with the 300. It was decided, we would make Ron’s car one of the first jobs of 2016 using a Stillen supercharger kit.

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The Stillen kit comes with a polished V-3 blower, 25-row oil cooler and we add GT-R plugs. Due to higher inlet temperatures observed on these builds we are starting to upgrade the stock water-to-air cooler. Frozen Boost makes a larger cooler shown below:

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A few shots of the kit installation:

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Before and after:

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We love the PLX Devices DM100 gauge that neatly replaces the clock with…

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… a multi-function display for vitals like boost, air intake temp and wideband:

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Another addition to the interior was a new NISMO shift knob:

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Got the Z on the dyno and out of the box the Stillen supercharger added 82hp/42tq to the wheels:

 

Ron B Z34 Baseline and Stillen Supercharger
 

With UPREV tuning we saw significant gains of 120hp/85tq above stock for a grand total of 410hp/326tq to the wheels:

Ron B Z34 Stillen Baseline to Final
 

With 410hp to the wheels one would think Ron’s Z car obsession is satisfied…he is really feeling the need for another 300zx Twin Turbo in his life so we are on the hunt for a pearl white 90-92 Z32TT with black/tan interior. From Z32 to Z33 to Z34, if the Z is in your blood we can help you live with it!

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Keep Boosting Ron and Long Live The Z!




Scott’s Stillen Supercharged Nismo 370z

Filed under: 370z,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 1:28 am on February 20, 2016

ZCG #3 21615 027a
 

Scott B was the first Nismo 370z to be supercharged down at Stillen. After a few years and 25k miles he came to Z Car Garage because the car was acting up. Rich A/F ratios from the (early) Stillen tunes had fouled the catalytic converters.

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We installed ART pipes which are test pipes without the traditional raspy sound:

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OEM cats vs ART pipes:

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After the install we re-tuned Scott’s Z picking up 17hp/14tq for a total of 416hp/313tq to the wheels:

Scott B Z34 Stillen Retune (1)

Enjoy The Ride Scott!

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Proper Nismo: Rasheed’s 2015 Vortech Z

Filed under: 370z,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 7:31 am on October 19, 2015

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We love the latest version of the Nismo 370z. In fact this is the aesthetic that should have been released from the start! Although the Nismo Z has improved cosmetically the drivetrain still summons the same 350 horses and 276 lb-ft of torque it has offered since the package first appeared in 2009(!).

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Power junkies need not fear, Z Car Garage is here to help. With only 22k miles on the odometer, Rasheed B came to us with his stunning 2015 Nismo Z finished in Pearl White for a full Vortech supercharger kit.

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Here are a few pictures of the Stillen Black Series supercharger kit installed:

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Stillen 25-row oil cooler:

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How does it perform?

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Bone stock from the factory, the Z put down 295hp/242tq. The Stillen supercharger added 84hp/58tq to the wheels with the kit-supplied CAN tune:

Rasheed B Z34 Nismo Baseline and Stillen Can tune

Rob’s tuning yielded even more power with final numbers of 420hp/320tq, improvements of 125hp/78tq over baseline.

Rasheed B Z34 Nismo Start to Finish
 

This Nismo 370z now has more power to back up those aggressive looks! Enjoy The Ride, Rasheed!

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Ron’s Stillen Supercharged Nismo 370z

Filed under: 370z,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 9:03 pm on July 21, 2015

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Ron L came to Z Car Garage from a dealership referral and we installed a full Stillen supercharger kit on his 2013 Nismo 370z.

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Stillen’s kit offers VQ37 owners 400whp and full CARB compliance—it’s extremely popular with ZCG customers and we have performed numerous installs over the years. Here is Ron’s polished setup:

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The install went smoothly and we added a Stillen 25-row oil cooler and GT-R spark plugs:

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Yes, we miss that OEM Nismo red intake cover but the Stillen intake is equally pretty and still fits under the NISMO strut tower brace!

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On the dyno a CAN tune with ZCG touches nets a satisfying +132hp/70tq gain for a total of 436hp/323tq at the wheels:

Ron L Z34 Nismo Stillen Supercharger
 

Icing on the cake is that next time Ron pulls beside a police officer he will be cool as a cucumber knowing his 500hp Nismo Z is 50-state emissions legal 🙂 Enjoy The Boosted Ride, Ron!

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