sixpax Journal
 

Modifications and Technical Information

2010 Nissan 370Z Touring Black Cherry 7-Speed Automatic with Paddle Shifters

One of only forty (40) produced in this configuration, according to the unofficial production build calculator.

Engine Management

UPREV Engine Management Solutions
Current Dyno: 323.9 rwHP 280.6 rwTQ
ECU Maps: 93 Octane, 91 Octane

Engine

3.7L V-6 Double Overhead Cam with VVT (VQ37)
Kinetix Racing High Velocity Intake Manifold **
Custom Cork Manifold and TB Gaskets
Z-1 Motorsports 25 Row SETRAB Oil Cooler Kit
Z-1 Motorsports MOCAL Thermostatic Adapter
Z-1 Motorsports Oil Cooler Upper Mount Kit
Unorthodox Racing Aluminum Crank Pulley
Unorthodox Racing Aluminum Alternator Pulley
Gates Racing K070810RB Serpentine Belt - Micro-V High Performance V-Ribbed Belt
CJ Motorsports Billet Fuel Tap and Pressure Gauge
Circuit Sports DIS Ignition Amplifier System
Stillen Grounding Kit
K&N Twin Typhoon Cold Air Intakes
Thermo-Tek Cool Tube Intake Tube Heat Sleeves
Enjuku Racing Gold Foil Coated Heat Shields
Saikou Michi Dual Oil Catch Cans
Koyo 1.3 Bar High Pressure Racing Radiator Cap
Z-1 Motorsports Silicone Radiator Hoses
Z-1 Motorsports Silicone Heater Hoses
Z-1 Motorsports Silicone Radiator Overflow Hoses
Z-1 Motorsports Silicone CAI Breather Hoses
Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) Ratcheting Oil Filler Cap
TiTek M12 Titanium Magnetic Oil Drain Plug
Z-1 Motorsports Hydraulic Hood Struts
Custom Painted Strut Tower Brace
Future: Z-1 Motorsports Power Steering Cooler
Future: CSF Aluminum Radiator
Future: JUN Motorsports High Lift Cams
Future: ARP Studs

Exhaust

ARK Performance Grip 2V2 Cat Back System with Burnt Titanium Tips
Berk Technologies (HFCs)
Future: Tomei Expreme DE Headers & Test Pipes

Brakes

EBC USR Ultimax Black Slotted Rotors
EBC Bluestuff NDX Brake Pads (Street)
EBC Yellowstuff Brake Pads (Track)
Wilwood Vinyl Coated and Braided Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Stillen Motorsports Front Brake Cooling Kit
Auto Craft RHD Japan Brake Booster Reserve Canister (Firewall Mounted)
Motul RBF 600 Racing Brake Fluid
Motive 1107 Power Bleeder

Suspension

ARK DT-P Racing Coilovers
Springs: 12 kg/mm (F) 11 kg/mm (R)
Pillow Ball Mounts
16 Level Dampening Adjustments
SPL Pro Titanium Rear Camber Arms
Hotchkis Sway Bar (F) 35mm
Hotchkis Sway Bar (R) Adjustable (3-Way) 28.5mm
Hotchkis CNC Billet Sway Bushings
SPL Pro Front Endlinks with 1/2" FK Bearings
SPL Pro Front Endlinks with 1/2'' FK Bearings
SPL Pro Titanium Rear Traction Arms
Future: SPL Eccentric Lockout Kit
Future: SPL PRO Front Camber Arms

Interior

Modified Interior Rear Coilover Access Holes
Corbeau VX-2000 Racing Seats
Corbeau Custom Dual Lock Brackets
Corbeau 4 Point Harness Belts
Future: Robispec Racing Harness Bar
Future: AFR and Oil Pressure Gauges

Exterior

Empire Graphics custom motor sports design
Custom Front Fascia Fang Air Ducts ***
JDM F-1 Style Rear Brake Light
Kahtec Smart Blink Module
Plasti-Dipped Black Emblems
Custom Kimberly-Clark's Evolution® Car Cover
Stillen Front Fascia Canards
Stillen Front Fascia Splitter with Adjustable Turnbuckles
Aero Jacket Carbon Fiber Rear Vortex Generators
Custom Aluminum Mounting Plates
Kognition Designs 68" GT Carbon Fiber Adjustable Rear Wing
AoA Adjustable from 5-12 Degrees
Hotchkis CNC Billet Quick Release Hood Pins

Wheels and Tires

H&R Trak Spacers 15mm (R)
Vertini Racing Drift Gold Wheels
(F)19x9.0 5x114.3 (R) 19x10.5 5x114.3
Michelin Pilot Super Sports
(F) 255/35/19 (R) 295/30/19
NRG Black Chrome Aluminum Open End Lug Nuts

Notes:

** This is a rare prototype piece, only three were ever made. They were all slightly different in design, mostly in the chamber size. We are not certain which of three we have.

*** Feed air from the front fascia opening to the stock air box inlets to feed cold air to the CAIs

....couple shots at the dealer before I picked it up. It was on the showroom floor, and had to wait awhile to get it outside. Had 19.4 miles on it, never been titled and was purchased on 05/25/2011.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ide-custom.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ear-custom.jpg

First thing I did was get the windows tinted at a place here locally, and that turned out to be a disaster. More on that later.

...then at 5,000 miles I decided to buy it some presents...an Ark Grip version 2 CBE, some Berk HFCs and a K&N Typhoon intake:

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...xes-custom.jpg

Berk HFC installation on 01/28/2012. One thing we had to do to reach the top cat bolt on the driver side in a straight shot was unhook the steering shaft at the bottom so we could kick it to the right a little. I never read where anyone else had to do that so I guess my car is slightly weird. Besides that, all the bolts broke free pretty easy.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...box-custom.jpg

...mounted with the O2 sensor reconnected.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...rk2-custom.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...rk3-custom.jpg

ARK Grip 2V2 installation on 01/28/2012.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...rk2-custom.jpg

Have to do a better job of getting things to line up ... I went backwards it seems, tightening from the HFCs back to the tips. Going to try to loosen everything back up, and tighten from the tips back to the HFCs.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...k88-custom.jpg

...readjusted everything 2/2/2012. This is as good as it gets. A big improvement I think. Having a lift helps a great deal. I had this done at Fast Line Performance in Brandywine, Maryland. The owner is a pretty smart cat who loves his job so the car was in good hands. The easiest thing he did, was a tall stand that had a flat metal bar welded to it horizontally, like a shelf. He loosened the back hangar bolts, and the bolts at the first pipe joint, and then raised the "shelf" with a piece of carpeting on it up to the point that it was holding both cans in the same spot. Then tightened everything back up. Slight bend of the left side rear hangar was necessary, that was done by locking a giant pipe wrench on the hangar, and then sliding a long metal tube over the end of the wrench for leverage, and then carefully easing it to where we wanted it. Only took about 30 minutes. I left a happy camper.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...k55-custom.jpg

...from a lower angle...looks perfect

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...k58-custom.jpg

...gotta love those burnt tips. Damn the car is filthy though.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ips-custom.jpg

K&N Typhoon installed on 01/28/2012...

Stock intakes all removed. Had the MAF sensors all wrapped up pretty good to keep them clean and safe. If I had to do it again, I would remove them entirely and stick them in plastic baggies just to be safer.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...-kn-custom.jpg

...all done with installing. I didn't put the supplied rubber edging around the heat shields yet. Might leave it off, looks kind of stock they way it is. The hood comes no where near touching them, and they don't rattle on anything so not sure what the purpose is of the rubber they supplied. Had to cut a few inches of one off the hoses, passenger side, as it was so long it was kinking a little too much.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...kn2-custom.jpg

nice progress

My car was like that when I put the HFC on. I should have unbolted the steering shaft but I had already farted around with it for so long that I was determined to do it without. I can be a stubborn SOB sometimes. lol

You have some good parts there, making nice progress! Enjoy!

Thanks !

Thanks ! We had no correct combination of swivels we could come up with to get enough of a grip on the thing to break it loose, so had no choice really but to remove the spline at the bottom of the shaft and move it out of the way. Least I know the car is not crooked or something !

Updated a new comparison photo above after adjusting the ARK today. Lined up way better than it was but still not "perfect". Also verified the stamp date on the flanges are 12/2011 so it is indeed a V2. Not sure if the ding indicated in the other photo added above would be significant enough to cause any issues with getting the thing to line up better. It's way better than it was anyway.

the car looks awesome! can you do a cold start, revvings and take off vid? i'm on the fence for this ark 2v2

Thanks !

I am not much of a video production guy, but I can try to do something. There are lots of sound and video clips out there already. I listened and watched crap loads of them before I decided on the ARK.

Your car looks good as well ! I think with that diffuser you have the ARK would look pretty cool.

Yeah, that's why i'm on the fence bcause of that crap load of vids..i only watch from ARK own youtube channel..

Thanks for the suggestion dude :tup:

Made an appointment at Hill's Garage in Baltimore on 2/25/2012 to get an UPREV tune, a few dyno runs, and maybe another goodie or two installed if I get them in time. Looking forward to that so I can at least know it is tuned with the stuff bolted on already. Car seems to be running strong, but I am hoping they can make it better. I guess I need to figure out what maps I want.

Hope to get good enough results to post them up.

I just noticed something about the K&N looking at pictures in the install manual. It looks like the plastic thing I circled in the picture using my mad paint skills is supposed to be removed ? What the hell is that thing, and does it hurt anything ? Looks like with it removed the routing of the hose remains unchanged.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ver-custom.jpg

Don't know if this is useful to other people but I was looking around at braided stainless steel AN type hosing to replace some of the rubber hosing. I had no idea what what all the sizes were so found this nifty little chart that converts inches to -AN. Basically, an AN style size is the measurement of the Inner Diameter of the hose measured in units of 1/16th of an inch. So...

an -2 hose has an I.D. of 1/8"
an -3 hose has an I.D. of 3/16"
an -4 hose has an I.D. of 1/4"
an -5 hose has an I.D. of 5/16"
an -6 hose has an I.D. of 3/8"
an -8 hose has an I.D. of 1/2"
an -10 hose has an I.D. of 5/8"
an -12 hose has an I.D. of 3/4"
an -16 hose has an I.D. of 1"
an -20 hose has an I.D. of 1 1/4"

...this ain't high on my priority list, but I do plan on doing all the PCV stuff when I get my Saiku Maichi OCC set up ... then do some others on down the road.

your stage 2 what?

I can see where that would be confusing so I edited that phrase out. It's a custom Oil Catch Can company that makes "real" catch cans with baffles and internals as opposed to just an empty can. They name them Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 as far as basic design goes.

I am too poor for a real Stage 2 Supercharger, so I get excited about the little stuff.

Anyway, some GTR guys are using them, so I guess if they are good enough to put on a GTR, then they are alright with me.

Oh I see. I am also looking at a good OCC, this is the one I found and its prob. the one I will get. Universal Catch Can seems pretty well engineered.

Link to the one you are talking about?

Little rich for my taste, but it looks like a mighty fine OCC. I see alot of Lotus guys must be using those. I am looking at two of these for like 100 bucks a shot ...

Stage 2 OCC Product Page

If it's truly functional bling you seek, the cadillac so to speak ... I would roll with 42 Draft...

http://store.42draftdesigns.com/Ulti...Can_p_288.html

yeah 42 draft design is pretty slick. I got their vacuum manifold.

I added some MASSIVE horsepower and torque today by installing the world famous "The370Z.Com" decal ...

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...cal-custom.jpg

Decided to get rid of the dealer sticker from the back of the car ... used a blow dryer to heat it up ... made the mistake of using my fingernails a little too much to pick at it instead of just rolling it with my thumb or finger. Result is the after picture was taken from an angle far enough away that you can't see the error of my ways.

Before...

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ler-custom.jpg

After...

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...one-custom.jpg

Went to Hill's Garage in Baltimore, Maryland today for an Uprev tune. Spent about 2.5 hours there, seems like we did about 10 or so dyno runs.

I know they are kind of pricey compared to others, but I always feel you get what you pay for. Not to take anything away from other DC area tuners, but Frank Hill seems like he has dedicated his life to Nissan and Infiniti. Very passionate about what he does to the cars, and the treatment I got while I was there was top notch. So in my opinion anyway, it was worth every penny to take the car there.

I had noticed the car was sort of degrading, which is why I got the tune. After the exhaust, HFCs and CAI were installed it ran very well...but as days turned into weeks it seemed like it was losing power and not running as well.

Well, after Frank and company worked some magic...she is running like a champ now !



So...very first dyno run we were at 307.1 ... not bad considering my three bolt-ons so far. After a whole bunch of more runs the best we could get was the last run of the day at 323.9. Dyno charts forthcoming if I can get my scanner to work.

...getting ready to go.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...v99-custom.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ev2-custom.jpg

Frank Hill (right) discussing stuff with the tuner, who was also named Frank.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...v88-custom.jpg

Tuner in the car doing his magic...

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...ev1-custom.jpg

Baseline dyno ... this was with K&N Typhoon, Ark Grip CBE and Berk HFCs. I am not sure what happened after the 5240 mark a big blip.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...eline-dyno.jpg

After Uprev tuning and numerous runs ... had to wait a for the last two runs as the oil temps were getting up there. This was the last dyno run. Little blip around 6920 not sure what that was ... I wish I would have asked them.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...run-custom.jpg


...I had the following maps loaded... 1. Final Dyno 2. 93 Octane 3. Wife Mode 4. Anti Theft and 5. Stock. My wife mode map is MPH max set at 60 and RPM not over 5,000. :tup:

Wow thats high. And 280 wtq? Lordy.

I always thought Dyno Dynamics read relatively low

They seemed little surprised after the baseline of 307. I asked the guy what he expected and he said maybe 295 ... a Z went before me and a G after me, and the Z was in the teens i think after tune...the G guy was hoping for like 315 or higher but I didn't stick around to see him finish.

I dunno, maybe the wind was blowing favorably, but in any case I'll take it !

Congratulations; VERY nice numbers!!!!
And I agree with all your comments about Hills. They did a great job for me as well.

Thanks ! I was pretty impressed with Hill's...good to see I am not alone. Your numbers are very good as well.

... better late than never on this. Here is cold start ... check the dyno run video it is just as good as a drive by.

Looks awesome

Thanks ! HUGE fan of your exhaust ... I could not be more happy with it thus far !

Thanks for the vid bro! repped:tup: kinda funny at the beginning though :bowrofl:

It sounds f****** awesome!!:tup:

LOL.

Yeah I had forgotten to give the keys to my son and I was too lazy to edit the beginning out. Did you hear that thing when it was on the dyno ?

lol yeah i can hear that :bowrofl:

I did! that thing sounds super mean! do it emits any drone or rasp if any?

Not that I can hear, but I am a bad guy to ask sound opinions. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 and left most of my hearing in Desert Storm somewhere so wear two hearing aids that pick up some sounds good, and others not so good.

The only sounds I can hear anyway are ones I like. I especially like the gurgling like sound it makes on downshifts. Sounds normal unless you get on the throttle then it gets mean sounding. Drone a little bit maybe around 3,000 RPMs, but it's not bad. My wife, who hears really good, has mentioned nothing about "bad" sounds, and trust me if it droned bad or hissed bad she would let me know.

Aww i'm sorry for you my man, but you're lucky coz you have two precious ears (your son&wife) :tup:

Well if you've said that there no bad hiss and drones then it's all good :tup: Thanks for your time man, i appreciate it and you've greatly helped me :tiphat:

Thank you for kind words. +1

Saw the dyno video Dyno Run Uprev Tune Ark Exhaust Berk HFC Typhoon CAI - YouTube

That pretty good number with those mod especially tuned by Hill's Garage. I never been there but hope to visit some day soon. I read other part of your post about your hearing loss. I am hard of hearing on left ear but deaf on right ear.