As we enter the 2005 season, one thing’s for sure: Hondas are no longer going to be dominating the scene. The 350Z from Nissan has slowly become a crowd favorite with its VQ-powered RWD power train and is just one of the newer vehicles taking its form in the sport compact scene. Sam Patel and Speed Elements in San Antonio, Texas picked up one of these new bad boys and started their own method of madness on it. A little more horsepower, a little more stylish shape on the body, and a wicked suspension setup on a beautiful set of wheels and tires, Patel equipped this 350Z with nothing but top of the line modifications.
Starting with the exterior of the round 350Z, Patel gave the entire chassis a cleaner look with an Ings+1 Half Spec body kit. The car was then lowered to the ground with a set of TEIN Flex coilovers equipped with an EDFC for easy adjustment. Unmistakable with their traditional green shade, the TEIN coilovers can be seen behind each HRE 845R custom wheels. These 845R HREs were custom made in a staggered 19x9 and 19x10 setup wrapped with Dunlop tires. Helping bring these custom lightweight wheels to a stop is a set of Stoptech 4 piston brakes with 14" rotors in the front and the rear. The entire exterior receives a little bright of contrast with a Seibon carbon fiber hood unit.
Peeking underneath that Seibon hood is a polished Vortech supercharger kit. Equipped with a full front mount intercooler and blow off valve, this Vortech supercharger kit is complete for 374rwhp and 307 lb-ft of torque. Efficiently feeding more air into the VQ motor is a Crawford Z plenum with a full Tanabe exhaust system to expel the cycled fumes.
What lies inside for the daily driver of this extremely fun-to-drive 350Z? The stock leather seats were scraped for Sparco Milano units. From the center console is a Kenwood DXX7015 head unit that helps power the bright Focal Utopia components in the front and the coaxials in the rear. Providing some extra bass to the entire package are 2 10" JL Audio W3V2 subwoofers in a custom fiberglass enclosure. A custom amp rack was also built for two JL Audio amplifiers that help power the subwoofers and the high end Focal speakers. The 350Z has a finishing touch of entertainment with a Sony PS2 that should be equipped with Gran Turismo 4 in the near future.
