Well, it’s been a while since I last sent out a “Spotlight” article and I am quite excited to do a new article.
I would like to thank Ivan for being willing to share his 350Z with our club members.
Ivans Nissan 350Z
I am extremely impressed with Ivan’s tasteful work on his car—it is well-executed and not excessive.
Lets look at his build.
Ivan bought his car in July 2021, so he has had it for a while. He bought the car stock, except for its mismatched wheels: 19″ at the front and 18″ at the rear. Which is indeed an odd combination.
Ivan likes his music so along with the wheels he fitted a new pioneer unit 6-inch pioneer at the rear, a pioneer class d 1600watt mono block amp and a 12x pioneer dvc subs. With that out of the way he started to enjoy his car. This then gave him the itch to really get serious with his car.
Next, he went to MTS Automotive on Auckland’s North Shore to have lowering springs installed and his tyres sorted. He is now running Vs2 Z136 wheels with 18×9.5 on the front and 18×10.5 at the rear. Which you would have to agree is a much better combination. Later the same day he took it to get the windows tinted.
Next on the list was to remove the factory spoiler and fit a Rocket Bunny boot spoiler and type N rear bumper lip. These were both painted and fitted to the car. Check out the rear end pictures, very tasty. Then a roof spoiler, carbon fibre wrap on the door handles, headlight eye lids and taillights. The bonnet now has gas struts, and you will note the TMR harness cover in the engine bay.
That was it for a year, but with money burning a hole in his pocket he then went out and bought a NISMO front bumper cover with canards, front lip and side skirts, he was able to sell the original bumper enabling him to recover some of his costs. They were subsequently installed and painted.
Then it was on to Takapuna Mufflers, he had custom Y pipes made and fitted along with two mufflers and 3inch piping. To finish it of he purchased a couple of very nice exhaust tips.
In Feb 23 Ivan took his car to Possum Bourne Motorsport in Pukekohe and had a K&N cold air intake and a Link g4 ecu fitted. The car was then dyno tuned, and they were able to tune it to put out 194 kw at the wheels. A typical 350 produces about 214 kW at the engine, which translates to roughly 168 kW at the wheels—so he’s achieved a notable power gain. In the past year he has made even more changes. He added an aftermarket D style carbon look steering wheel, a bride gear shifter, arm rest, seat belts pads and a dash mat. But to top that of he has fitted a set of Bride Low Max 3, reclinable bucket seats along with the mounts and slider rails. You will agree with me that this gives the interior quite a buzz. At the same time, he installed front splitter and mudflaps. His car has just passed its certification for the mods, and he is busy now getting a WOF and rego.
What I really appreciate is the I love and enthusiasm he has put into his build; he has done enough without going too far and has spent his money wisely. For all of us our cars are our passion. What a lot of us love is not only the enjoyment of driving, but love tinkering with them. I know this personally as I have spent time and money on my 260Z 2+2 and am not finished yet. We build them to what we like and then we can really enjoy them. Good on you Ivan and well done. It will be good to meet up with you at an event.
Just a Note: I have said this before, but the 350Z is the best bang for your buck you can currently buy. I have seen the prices of these slowly drop, and there are still new imports coming into the country, if you have a hankering to buy a 350, now is the time because I can’t see them getting any lower. Buy one now and Ten years from now you will be saying, I only bought this for x amount. I bought my 260 2+2 20 years ago and I paid $3800.00 for it. It needed a lot of work, but I was able to drive home to Auckland from Christchurch, but that is still quite laughable now, especially considering where prices sit now with the S30 cars.