Max Y visited us in 2018 for bolt-ons and returned in 2019 for a Stillen supercharger supercharger and OS Giken limited-slip differential. Power can be addicting so Max visited Z Car Garage recently for more boost and a full Stoptech Big-Brake Kit to reign it all in.
Providing more boost is a 9lb pulley and supporting upgrades to the fuel system including a CJ Motorsports return fuel system with billet hat. Injector Dynamics 1050cc injectors and 485lph Wallbro pump.
A Soho motorsports air to air intercooler kit replaces the Stillen air-to-water setup:
We pulled the transmission to install a Fast Intentions billet flex plate:
Dyno tuning was performed via Ecutek making 447hp/324tq 91 octane and 475hp/349tq 100 octane:
https://youtu.be/Z5U_tCjfzlk
With more power available the brakes were upgraded to a full Big-Brake Kit from Stoptech: 6-piston calipers with 355mm front rotors and ST22 calipers in rear with slotted rotors :
This kit sports Stoptech 6-piston calipers calmping 355mm front rotors and ST22 calipers in rear with slotted rotors, OEM vs Stoptech front:
The brakes also look great behind those awesome Enkei R05rr wheels:
New SPPC front/rear control arms and a full alignment following installation of larger Michelin Pilot SS 275/40/18 F and 295/35/18 R
It was very important for Max to monitor boost, A/F, and trans temperature so we installed a PLX Devices DM100 gauge in the factory clock lcoation:
We replaced the headlights with an HID setup(7k), and installed Max’s rear/side diffuser panels:
Zspeed Performance splash shield:
Enjoy The Boost, Max!
More pictures in the gallery below and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Richard M has been our customer since he moved to California years ago and together we built his 2009 370z into a balanced sports car with power and style. We are really proud to see him enjoy his Z and be an active member of the community. Let’s take a look at the journey with a few highlights along the way…
Humble Beginnings Lead to Boost
“My experience with ZCG has been nothing but exceptional. Rob Fuller has taken care of me since day one and currently we are so close I call ’em family.”
Rich simply grew up loving cars, being a young enthusiast back in Philadelphia enjoying the street racing scene and drag strip at Atco and Englishtown NJ. His vision of a quick, balanced car started off as a bone stock 370z touring addition purchased from the original owner with just over 20k on the clock.
“I had just moved to California from Philadelphia and was searching for a reputable tuner in the Norcal region. That’s when I found ZCG and brought the car to see Rob to determine if this motor was worth investing in. We put it on the dyno and made over 313whp & 268wtq with just Uprev Osiris management and a Top Speed Pro 1 Track edition catback exhaust.”
That was in 2015, and indeed 313whp for a basically stock Z34 was well-above average, but Rich wanted a bit more:
“Then 2 months later we reached out to Stillen to bless the Z with the full Stillen Supercharger kit and oil cooler. The kit was installed and dyno’d making 433whp and 340wtq. We transformed the Z into a new car. The new driving characteristics were improved drastically and the kit, compared to the naturally aspirated setup was day and night.”
We added a Stillen 25-row oil cooler and GTR plugs:
The installation was seamlessly, before/after:
With a CAN tune out of the box we saw 376hp/284tq to the wheels. This wasn’t terribly impressive considering baseline NA numbers were 305hp/251tq, netting gains of 69hp/33tq:
After Rob’s custom tune we squeezed another 58hp/55tq for a total of 433hp/339tq to the wheels. The gains were significant all the way to the VQ’s sweet 7500rpm redline, even with slightly less boost!
Richard was happier now with over 400whp 🙂
“The performance of my Amuse 370Z from the beginning has met both my expectations and Rob’s expectations. Rob and I always talk about how this car has been a stand out in regards to reliability with added power enhancers.”
“Working with Rob was the best decision I could’ve made in allowing someone to tune my car and keep me grounded as it’s easy to get sucked into the battle of “who has the most horsepower”? Although it can always be done, I am proud to daily drive and make repeated trips between Norcal/Socal without any issues.”
We thank Rich for the kind words, and the Z certainly has been a workhorse. Here are some of Rich’s memorable moments with his 370z.
Highlights
Landing the front cover of DSPORT Magazine (Feb. 2018) which was also their SEMA issue and my first car cover and centerfold.
Being featured on Matt Farrah’s youtube channel “The Smoking Tire” which has over 500k views. We love to see our customer’s cars spotlighted in the media! Check out the video:
Winning 1st place Best Import at The San Jose Auto Show inside the “Spider Section” for custom cars at the Convention Center
Being invited & featured by Super Street Magazine to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Nissan GTR & Z Heritage in Monterey California for car week
The final and most special to Rich is being invited to be featured in the “2020 Toyo Tires X SuperStreet” calendar which has also been declared the very last Calendar that Toyo Tires and Super Street Magazine will do. SuperStreet has been such a pillar for all of us import enthusiasts so to be recognized by them has been a childhood dream come true.
Style
Rich added his own touch to the Z, including a full Powerhouse Amuse kit and custom paint job with Silver with Gold flakes:
“The PowerHouse Amuse body kit is a kit that is also functional for cooling purposes but is also one of those kits that I actually fell in love with. The sharp body lines that I think enhances the Z. I imported the kit from Japan after becoming friends with Hitoshi Matsui and becoming more confident in Amuse now known as R1 Titan.”
We love the Work Emotion CR KAI wheels (F: 19×9.5 +15 R: 19×11 +18) with Muteki 12×1.25 Neo Chrome Extended open lug nuts and Toyo Proxes T1 Tires 285/35/19R -255/35/19F:
The Z was then fitted with ISC Suspension 32 way fully adjustable coilover kit with custom spring rates. We also included SPC front and rear camber + SPC bolts to dial in the alignment. The brakes were upgraded to Stoptech slotted Rotors and performance pads with the addition of Stainless steel brake lines and Motul fluid. Rich continues to daily drive his Z and visits us for routine maintenance. Next up will be an OS Giken rear end
Rich would like to thank his sponsors: Toyo Tires, Stillen, ISC Suspension, Socal Z, and ZCG.
This 2003 Nissan 350z Enthusiast has been maintained by Z Car Garage since 2014. Sporting a Vortech Supercharger, Volk SF Challenge wheels, 6-spd manual transmission and Brickyard paint it is ready to be enjoyed. Interested? See more details on our FOR SALE page.
Roy A hails from Scotts Valley and we first met in 2015 when he brought his 2012 370z for UPREV tuning. It made 309hp/256tq to the wheels:
We also knew after his initial visit to ZCG that he couldn’t stay NA for long. In 2017 we made a plan to install the Stillen supercharger kit on his car.
This is the satin kit with our usual supporting mods like GTR plugs, a Z1 25-row oil cooler and the Stillen AT transmission cooler:
It made good power with 365hp/295tq at the wheels, but Roy is a guy that likes to keep turning up the boost (pun intended). At the end of 2018, we installed an air to air intercooler from SOHO Motorsports. Ecutek software was also installed which allowed us to run at Speed Density instead of MAF:
The gains were impressive, picking up almost 100hp/50tq for 465hp/343tq to the wheels:
We actually had to dial it back down after running out of injector. A full fuel system upgrade is next on the list. For now the Z is making 410hp/328tq:
Now it was time to add suspension to the mix. We installed our favorite coil-over: the KW V3.
Stock Vs KW installed front:
Rear:
SPC upper arms up front and new links at the rear.
Hotchkis sway bar set:
We also installed Roy’s new set of wheels:
These were freshly released at the time: ADVAN AVS F50 in platinum black. Sized 20×10 F 20×12 R with 275/35/20F, 305 in rear. New TPMS were installed to retain factory tire pressure readings eliminating that annoying warning light.
We tuned Maximus’ 2014 370z on his last visit to ZCG with gains of 30whp using bolt-on parts. Power can be addicting, and soon Max told us he was ready for boost. We chose the Stillen supercharger kit for its CARB-legal status and straightforward installation.
With only 28k miles on the odometer we installed the Black Edition Stillen kit and our standard ZCG supporting mods like a Concept Z performance 25-row oil cooler and automatic transmission cooler. A few pictures of the installation:
The completed supercharger install:
Max’s Z had an open diff so we did installed an OS Giken limited-slip diff and gearset from the 370z 6spd MT:
Hotchkis front/rear Sway bars:
On the dyno, Rob performed an ECutek tune yielding 383hp/304tq to the wheels:
