i recently got my Z back on the road after a headgasket issue. took some pics, its got a new look now with different paint and wheels.
this car is pretty much my poor mans exotic. I have changed so much around that there isnt anything about the way it drives that is remotely alike a typical 350z. i think that any of you guys would be pretty impressed with the braking, handling, and ride quality... and its not too slow either.
i know its nothing as exotic as your all probably used to... i have driven a bunch of vipers and i see the attention the car gets... while im not quite up there with this, it gets a lot of positive attention. its pretty interesting how few people even know what kind of car it is anymore... when I really havent changed the way it looks all that much.
my goal for the car is to get all the small bugs worked out now before chicago winter hits, so that when spring time comes i just can enjoy it and stop messing with it. I feel that I have reach the potential for this chassis as a regular street car, and would have to start puting in serious sacrafices to make it perform better towards any specific venue.
last time on a dyno, the car made 573rwhp... but the headgaskets didnt last. this time around i used a different block that is less likely to have issues, i significantly upgraded the headstud size and torque spec, and i put in some HKS headgaskets which have a built in o-ring essentially. so far no problems at the same boost that blew them out last year.
while the engine / turbos have quite a bit more in them, i think I am done at 650rwhp. the car really moves well as is, and the variable valve timing 3.5L really spools the turbos and makes torque / throttle response that your typical built imports cant come near.
For comparisons sake, to duplicate this car would cost about as much as purchasing a new SRT-10. If I could go back in time before I got stupid with this car, would I buy a new Z06 or SRT-10 instead? Yes, probably. While I wouldnt have been able to afford one of those cars and the mods to make it as fast as this one, I could at least afford to make it as unique as this one in the appearance department and I wouldnt have to always have to be wondering when is the next time something is gonna break. But, alas, here I am with this car. So as I continue to keep turning up the boost little by little and tuning it, I am looking for Z06s and SRT-10s in chicago that would like to run... maybe one with a paxton?
Here it is before the paint / wheels. Many people liked it better like this. Sometimes I do, but the pics of the new colors dont really do it justice. What it comes down to the most, is that the car was not unique enough like this, there were 30 other Zs in the USA that would have looked just like it.
I also have a drag suspension, brakes, wheels/tires setup for next year when I want to get down from a stop.
. But of course that doesnt show in photos, so nothing is really stopping me from getting some quality pictures of the car for once.
