We can’t thank everyone who attended this event enough!  The entire crew at ZONC was amazing and we look forward to the next event with them very soon, Jack and Yolanda special thanks to you.  The caravan down to Laguna Seca on both days was a real blast and I’m happy to report that we had no serious issues.

Another special thanks needs to go out to all of the people who drove some very long distances to join up with us for the races this weekend.  A few of you came from the Sacramento area which is a good drive but there were others who came down from Oregon and Washington.  A good friend of ours brought his ’71 Datsun 510 wagon down from Oregon after a few serious modifications.  The radiator was recently relocated to the rear of the car to make way for a new air-to-air intercooler for the turbo’d drivetrain that came from a Toyota Supra.  (Feel free to leave any comments about putting a Toyota drivetrain in a Datsun in the comments section.)  The kicker here is that he only put on 15 miles before making his way down to meet us.  Talk about commitment.

Like I said earlier,  the drive to the track went great on both days but when we got to the track on Sunday we were blown away at how many Zs were there.  I believe the final count was near 65 cars for the corral.  The Porsche club only had 20ish!  Awesome!!

Our parade lap took place right around noon.  It is always a good experience to get to drive on a track but Laguna Seca is a whole different animal.  The racing history here is immense and Nissan has certainly had its fair share of the limelight here.  The look on people’s faces after the TWO parade laps were over brought a smile to my face, especially for those who have never been on track.  There were so many people interested in doing a track day after this event, it’s a good thing that the Z is up to it!

For me the racing took a back seat to spending time with all of the Z owners that attended.  The MX-5 race on Saturday didn’t produce the carnage that I had predicted, those guys can really drive in close quarters.  The Mustang Challenge race was arguably the most exciting event of the weekend.  Lots of door to door racing and that  V8 rumble will really get your heart going.  I didn’t stay for the entire Rolex Daytona Prototype race so that we could get back to the bay area a bit early but I can’t wait to catch it on one of the greatest inventions ever, the DVR.

We will be hosting more and more Z events at Z Car Garage and ZONC has quite a few shows coming up so make sure to check back here for all the info.  Thanks again to all who attended and to all the readers of ZCarBlog.

Long Live the Z

Follow the “read more” for all the pictures that I took at the event.  The pictures from both days are in the gallery and they are in the order that I took them.  I know that there were a ton of friends with cameras at the event so I will try to get some of their pictures too.  Enjoy

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The drive from Solvang to our hotel in the LA area was fairly uneventful except for the hour of inexplicable traffic that we sat in for no apparent reason on a Saturday afternoon.  After we checked into the hotel we went out for some dinner at a sports bar so that we could watch the San Jose Sharks game, they won in OT.  Most of us then decided to turn in so that we could be rested for the show on Sunday.

We checked out bright and early and made our way to one of the quaint little towns that speckle the LA area, if you know where to look, to get some breakfast.  With our tanks full we venture on.  When we finally arrive at the venue we are not surprised to see what seems like hundreds of cars in line waiting to get in.  Good thing we ate.  After a good forty-five minutes of inching forward (some of it just coasting down hill with the cars off) we arrived at the front gate.  Every car in sight was a Z.  All years, every possible combination of mods, mild to wild paint jobs, you name it and a Z had it.  This was like a pilgrimage that had reached its destination.

The entire event report and a ton of photos are after the “read more.”  So click and read more.

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Here it is friends… the final schedule.

Saturday 5/16

Meet at Z Car Garage between 8:00-8:30am

Depart for Laguna Seca at 9:00am

We decided on this time so that we would be able to catch all the fender-bashing action of the Mazda MX-5 Cup (Miatas.)  These MX-5 races are some of the most entertaining events that I have ever seen and they should not be missed.  I hope that all those planning to join us from outside the Bay Area will be able to make the 9:00am departure time.

Sunday 5/17

Meet at Z Car Garage at 6:30am

Depart for Laguna Seca at 7:00am

I know it’s early but we do need to make sure that we are at the track and settled by 9:00am.  Raceday traffic can be a hassle here so leaving at 7:00am makes sense.  If you know how these caravans go we probably won’t get underway until near 7:30, but please try to be prompt.

Z Car Garage is only hosting the caravan down to Laguna Seca so any questions/comments can be addressed here or by email to Rob at rob@zcargarage.com

All other concerns about the corral or other track related events need to go through the appropriate channels at ZONC.  Check ZONC.org for contact information.  I believe that Yolanda Atkinson is in charge of this event if that helps at all.  See you Saturday morning!!!

Long Live the Z!!!!!

We are putting the finishing touches on the caravan plans to Laguna Seca on this Saturday and Sunday for the Rolex Grand-Am series weekend.  I will have a main post up by mid-day Wednesday to give all of you plenty of time to plan.  We would love to have as many of you join up with us as possible for the ride so don’t be shy, and if you have any questions just leave them in a comment here on ZCarBlog and I will address them.

After hearing the news that the ZCG 370z made some pretty nice power gains, a new customer came in and wanted to do the same for his blue 370z.  To up the ante a bit he also ordered a set of Berk high flow catalytic converters (HFC’s) to replace the stock units and hopefully make some more power, let’s find out.

We knew exactly what to expect from the install and everything went off without a hitch.  We obviously had to perform a few minor tweaks with the Stillen pieces just like we did on our shop car to get the fitment to be acceptable.  After all parts were installed the car was strapped to the dyno and we went about our business to get some numbers.  After all was said and done the car picked up 27whp and 14wtq for a total of 302whp and 247 ft/lbs of torque.  Which means the Berk HFC’s add roughly five to six horsepower when you compare the numbers of the ZCG 370 which goes without the HFC’s, for now….

The really nice thing about these simple bolt-on modifications is that the performance of the engine is increased over the entire power band.  I don’t know of anyone in their right mind who would turn these gains down for the price.  300+ whp with THREE bolt-ons, not too shabby for a couple hours work.

Special thanks to Ken at Roost Billet Products for making those killer ZCG plates for all of our show cars and cars without plates.  You rule Ken.