A Legend Reborn - 2003 NIssan 350Z

It's been three and a half decades since Datsun first astonished the world with their mass-appeal 240Z. With a few exceptions (perhaps most notably the Toyota 2000GT), this was truly the first accessible Japanese sports car. Also, the fact that it humbled cars double or even triple its price was almost just icing on the cake. The Z-car has been making waves ever since, when turbocharged or naturally aspirated.

24 PSIWhen the brawny 350Z came to life in 2003 as a base model that produced nearly the same power as the last-gen turbo model, it was an instant hit. With a low entry price, plenty of grunt and muscular looks, the car played a serious role in bringing Nissan back from a potential grave. Yet, for a select few, an essential ingredient was still missing: turbo power. Enter the Car V2 350Z shown on these pages.

First, a little history of Car V2. Located in Wilmington, Delaware, Car V2 established their reputation in the late '90s by catering to modern sports cars from Japan. Unfortunately, business came to an abrupt halt in 2003, when owners James Cusack and Jay Kang found their shop under four feet of water, with no flood insurance. Every car on the premises was destroyed, including two beloved shop cars.

However, all was not lost. Car V2 was able to scrape together the finances necessary to not only survive, but amazingly, to open a bigger, better shop in an entirely new location. Game on. Now all they needed was a new mascot to carry their torch. Their eyes fell squarely on the then-brand-new 350Z. They quickly snatched up a brand new 350Z and got to work. The legend of the twin turbo Z-Car would soon be reborn, and subsequently boosted into the stratosphere.

In late 2003, there were not many companies able to assist with engine parts for the VQ35 motor, at least not for forced induction applications. CP Pistons came to the rescue and supplied a set of low compression (8.5:1) heavy-duty pistons, and Crower was soon able to provide ProBillet rods. ARP offered tried-and-true fasteners to keep the cylinder heads and caps secure-even in the face of 25-plus pounds of boost. Aside from an overly complicated search for stock bottom-end bearings, things looked as though they were finally falling into place.

With the bottom end built to their satisfaction, it was time to work out the turbo system itself. They turned to Bob "The Builder" Cossaboom for his expertise in turbocharging naturally aspirated engines. Bob was happy to blueprint and assemble the system in-house at Car V2. In fact, Cossaboom states that he was so impressed with the stock VQ35 cylinder heads that he decided to leave them untouched and get to work on the turbo system itself.

Thanks to a brand-new GReddy twin-turbo system with front-mount intercooler, the Z had its first taste of forced induction with little hassle. Now sporting a pair of TD05H 18G turbochargers and a small boost jump to 9 psi, the Z was putting down hp and torque figures in the 400 range. Not bad at all. But being that their end goal was a touch more "optimistic" (say, 600+ bhp) than this setup could handle, they needed to start looking elsewhere for an engine management system, an appropriate fuel system, and of course, a clutch capable of putting that kind of power to the ground.

Based on how well RPS clutches worked for Car V2 in their MKIV Supras, the RPS Stage 3 setup (clutch, pressure plate and CYN-R-G flywheel) was sure to get the job done with ease. Luckily, the 350Z aftermarket was just starting to take off, and Car V2 was able to get their clutch needs taken care of with no hassle.

Fuel delivery was another story altogether, and would have been quite a pain had it not been for a trick fuel return and race-duty swirl tank. By eliminating the stock in-tank fuel pressure regulator, the setup from Altered Atmosphere Motorsports (AAM) combines 750cc injectors and billet fuel rails to get the motor properly fed. A Walbro GSS342 HP in-tank pump was used to feed the swirl tank, where a second external pump from Bosch sends the fuel to its final destination within the motor.

Controlling the fuel, as well as ignition, is a UTEC engine management system from TurboXS. Essentially a parallel "plug and play" setup designed to work alongside the stock ECU, the UTEC is rated for use with injectors as large as 1000 cc, and up to 45 psi of line pressure.

With the Z up and running again, the guys at Car V2 were surprised to discover that the GReddy wastegate created a slight bottleneck at around 18 psi, due to the 90-degree re-entry of the exhaust path. At saner boost levels, say 14 psi and below, the GReddy setup worked fine, but for their plans they needed AAM's help. By relocating the wastegates and replacing the turbo outlets with full 3" downpipes, the twin TD05's now had atmospheric outlets and the problem was solved. This also added a truly demonic soundtrack to the Z, like a jet at full song flying just overhead.