Nissan's Z-car has been around since the unveiling of the 1970 240Z at the 1969 Tokyo Motor Show. In the production year that followed, a six-month wait for the car was announced in order to keep up with the extremely high consumer demands. Fast forward to the '80s; by now the "Z" insignia is as American as apple pie, or at least as American as "Kung Fu Theater" on syndicated television networks across the nation. Fast forward again to the mid '90s; the era of the supercar seems to be dead, with many major manufacturers dropping their exclusive sports cars to make way for the increasing popularity of SUVs. In 1996, the American demise of the "Z" car--the holdout 300ZX--is at hand as the last production model rolls off the line. Z fans everywhere mourn, while some already begin speculations on what the future holds for the Z nameplate. Finally, in 2003, some of those speculations became reality as the new Z-car, the six-cylinder, normally aspirated 350Z, starts a new era of wringing hands and long wait lists.
Now, back up again to a seemingly unrelated turn of events. In 1970, Takeo Hayashi opened a small service shop in Kyoto, Japan. Hayashi's passion was to elevate automobile performance levels, specifically the handling characteristics and the performance aspects of the cars. By the time the '80s rolled around, the birth of Hayashi's passion--known as Racing Studio Type-R--is realized and the company, growing in its research and development of aftermarket exhaust systems and suspension components, moves to a new location in Toyonaka, Japan. Coincidentally, 1996 was the same year that Racing Studio Type-R (or RS-R)'s products were imported into the United States for the first time by an established tuner. This proceeded for a few years until a contractual agreement ended and RS-R found itself without a North American distributor. Now in 2003, RS-R has established a North American base of operations here in Southern California.
The temporal parallels between the history of the "Z" car and the history of Hayashi's RS-R project are uncannily coincidental. The car that you see here, however, RS-R's 2003 350Z, is anything but a matter of coincidence. As a matter of fact, the car is a showcase for the exact opposite of chance and randomness; it is the platform being used to introduce RS-R's new products, engineered and installed in Japan, debuting in the USA.
How does one build on performance for a car that is, from the factory, already performance-oriented? For starters, you do what you do best; for RS-R, that meant starting out with the factory exhaust system. The new system is so new, in fact, it doesn't have a branded-name yet; the exhaust stickers and insignias that you see on the car come from an overzealous color scheme and paint configuration. RS-R's rep, Ben "Cheechen" Chong, couldn't (or wouldn't) reveal much to me about the nature of the the exhaust system, only that it was the result of countless hours of research and development. Rather than bolt up an existing muffler and piping combination and call it an exhaust systems, RS-R went to great lengths to ensure proper testing was done from this "ground-up" system.
The rest of the power production department boasts a 3.5-liter aluminum alloy block sporting 24 valves in a dual-head configuration sitting over six cylinders. The fuel injection is a sequential multi-point system. Z-fans might think, "Big deal, that stuff is stock"--and they would be right. As a matter of fact, most of the underhood components have remained stock, save for the cat-back exhaust system, and that hardly qualifies as "underhood." What, then, is the performance aspect for this car? Well, although the car is ready strictly for the JGTC race series, it has only one purpose in that series. No, not to win, but to complete demo runs in the exhibition drifting event of each race. With that in mind, the suspension, an area usually relegated to "bolt it on and go" status, has been meticulously detailed, tested, tuned and whipped into shape.
Around the four corners sit RS-R's new coilover system, dubbed "Ishock." Within these monstrosities, dual 46mm pistons, bathed in oil, allow for independently adjustable rebound and compression factors for the ultimate in suspension fine-tuning. With the threaded body, exacting spring heights can be installed and raised or lowered as needed, furthering the fine tuning ability of the system. Mounted amidst the coilovers are RS'Rs Ti2000 springs coiled from titanium, fast becoming the bling-bling metal of choice for racers everywhere. The titanium coils allow for a significant reduction in weight while still allowing for the expected levels of durability and control.
With drifting being a sport all about control, the need to upgrade the braking system was a no-brainer. Project U brake pads sit within the factory Brembo calipers and ensure no loss of braking power due to heat soak. To alleviate the mushiness of the factory brake lines, a set of APP steel braided lines are used instead, and are filled with DOT4 racing brake fluid. The wheels were also changed out to a set of Enkei Racingline RC5s, sized 18x8.0 in. in the front and 18x9.5s in the rear. Keeping in tune with the "debut" theme of the car, the Yokohama Neovas--235/40R18 in the front and 255/35R18 in the rear--are as of yet unavailable in the States, pending DOT approval.
More in the way of control: The engine and its debutante exhaust system are under the full control of the factory ECU. It was reprogrammed by Auto Produce Boss in Japan, with a complete retuning of the ROM maps to ensure maximum drifting pleasure with minimum detonation displeasure. A Weds AAR fiberglass bucket seat sits in the otherwise stock interior (which, since it includes a TV, DVD player and navigation system, isn't really all that bad to begin with) with a Takata four-point harness holding down the driver who sits, in case you haven't realized, on the right-side of the J-spec 350Z. The job of getting the power to the ground is the combined effort of the Ogura twin-disc racing clutch and the Kaaz Tuning limited-slip differential.
With all the control from the cockpit, there needed to be an area that was entirely out of control, or that would at least elicit looks as if it were. That's where the complete Nismo body kit comes into play. The front bumper, side skirts, rear wing and rear skirt add-ons are all Nismo pieces, while the graphics scheme that envelopes them is representative of RS-R's new "Tuning Concept" program. The logo/icon, dubbed "Monkey Man," appears as an integrated part of the graphics scheme. For fans sitting in the stands at JGTC events, the large logo that covers the car is clearly visible.
The car seems pretty mild, you might say. But don't forget that this is a 350Z we're talking about and it has a lot of history; with lots of history comes lots of future potential. And don't forget who owns this car, either: Another company with a lot of history backing it up and a bright light shining ahead. Who knows what this platform will be used to debut next? Only time will tell.