Our friend Patrick Chio has been racing his Nissan 350z competitively for several years and we’ve had the pleasure of helping him tune/maintain the car for events. Last year he campaigned the Z in the USTCC (US Touring Car Championship series) with impressive results.
The final race of the season was a double header weekend at Thunderhill Raceway and Patrick won both! The last race on Sunday was won by just a bumper:
Congratulations Patrick we are proud of you!
For past updates on the Z and Patrick’s race results please follow the links below:
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!
More 370z reports on the way! Greg J is a new customer at ZCG and visited ZCG for Stillen Gen 3 intakes, Bassani exhaust and an UPREV tune on his Z34 Roadster.
Stock vs Bassani exhaust:
Stillen Gen 3 intakes:
The VQ responded well to the bolt-on mods with gains of 24hp/11tq to for a total of 307hp/248tq to the wheels:
Next up for Greg is suspension, wheels and brakes so stay tuned!
Michael C is a new Z Car Garage customer and he came in for track day prep on his 2005 Z33. To keep him planted in his seat and focused on driving we installed and a Graffiti Motorsports “K” Harness Bar and Corbeau Racing LG1 seats:
The harness bar installs cleanly and the design allows for full seat travel:
Stock vs Corbeau:
We also installed a Stoptech Sport Kit to handle track duty and a fresh set of sticky Bridgestone RE-71R tires.
Michael is stoked because the combination of harness bar, seats and 3″ 5-point harnesses all help keep a keep him in place instead of constantly fighting lateral forces. Let us know how we can help you with track prep on your car!
Remember when Nissan built cool cars in 90’s? They gave us the Skyline GT-R, 300zx Twin Turbo, Silvia/240sx and this rare little pocket-rocket: the Pulsar GTi-R. Based on a standard 3-door Pulsar, the GTi-R variant was built solely for Nissan to enter the World Rally Championship series. With all-wheel drive and SR20DET power, it followed in the footsteps of the Skyline GT-R and earned the nickname “Baby Godzilla”.
This particular example, shown above with Alex’s R32 GT-R in the background, belongs to Gary S. It has just over 22,000 miles on the odometer and it is mint. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting design features of this little beastie.
Up front: A huge hood bulge with intakes dominates the frontal view and feeds a factory top-mounted intercooler. In back: a large roof spoiler and tail lights almost reminiscent of VW Golf GTi (MK2) units:
The interior is Nissan-simple. Note the factory auxiliary gauge set in center stack:
The Pulsar caught the eye of Mike Garrett and Speedhunters earlier this year, find the article HERE
Here is a short video of some the neat details like the power folding mirrors, hidden umbrella holder and some driving:
A few years ago Gary discussed how cool it would be to have one of these stateside and eventually it made its way from Japan to ZCG. His plans: make it the perfect little commuter with a few bolt-ons!
From the factory the GTi-R was a potent performer combining lightweight (2700 lbs) and 227hp, enabling low 5-sec 0 to 60 and 13-sec 1/4 mile times. The SR20DET has almost endless potential but also responds well to simple bolt-ons.
Gary didn’t want something too crazy…he’s already got the OS Giken TC24 Datsun 240z and a 500hp Z32 (featured soon) to soothe his power cravings. Our first order of business was to change the Japanese-spec battery with a US-spec unit. Next, we installed the AM Performance downpipe and midpipe, APEXi air filter, z32 MAF, Aeromotive 340lph fuel pump and Nistune ECU upgrade.
The main problem with high powered GTi-R is that the gearbox internals and the case are subject to great forces and can fail under heavy use (above, left). The SM solution uses a strengthening collar to prevent the gearbox from cracking. Installation pics below:
The Pulsar was treated to a new set of chunky and sticky Falken Azenis 14″ tires. Coil-over suspension is next on the short list of future mods. For now, Gary has been Enjoy The Ride with a major grin while piloting Baby Godzilla around town!
