As car lovers and car enthusiasts, we all have our favorite cars from some of the best manufacturers across the world. The legends and Icons of the past and the present. Ferrari, Porsche, Honda, Lamborghini, Pagani, McLaren, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, and Nismo. Some of you out there are probably thinking “Why did you say Nismo?” It’s easy. Nismo (Nissan Motorsport International Limited) is one of the top tuning/racing companies out of Japan, and Nissan’s motorsport and performance division. The merge of Nismo and Nissan dates back to 1984. That’s over 30 years ago! In 1989 Nismo built 500 units of the R32 GT-R readily available to the public for road use. Let’s speed the history lesson up a bit. Nismo was given permission by Nissan to build the Z-Tune to celebrate Nismo’s 20 year anniversary in 2003. Nismo buys 20 units of used Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R Vspec’s with less than 19,000 miles (30,000km) on the clock completely stripped and resprayed a special Nismo color called Z-Tune Silver. This color was exclusive to the Z-Tune only.
The Z-Tune’s exterior is heavily engineered and well thought out. All of the assembly and modifications are done by hand using high quality materials and parts. The body of the Z-Tune was reinforced with extra spot welds. Nismo went all out on the body by keeping the weight of the entire vehicle significantly low by using dry carbon. Dry carbon was used with rivets to reinforce various parts. Like the strut towers, the dry carbon was bonded to the towers for reinforcement. Other examples of the dry carbon usage is the floor pan, the outriggers inside the front fenders, and the floor inside the car even the trunk of the Z-Tune used dry carbon. Thanks to the mass amounts of dry carbon used the overall weight of the Z-Tune weighs 3527lbs.
The Z-Tunes RB26DETT modified Z2 engine holds dominating power producing 500hp. Using the 2.8L GT500 block for strength and rigidity. The cam rods, crankshaft, and block are GT500 spec balanced. IHI out of Japan made two twin-turbochargers exclusively for the Z-Tune. These turbochargers are large, but the ball bearing in the bearings suppresses the horrible drop in response delivering you that ultimate feeling of turbos at high boost range. The cylinder head has been completely re-designed with ports and the combustion chambers. Additional coolers are also used for the rear differential to provide extra cooling under extreme temperatures. The RB26DETT modified Z2 is a monster RB engine built with precision, a purpose, and to dominate. An example of domination; One of my favorite JGTC racers, Naoki Hattori has rewritten history years ago by beating his own Ferrari 360 Challenge record of 1’02”44 in the Nismo R34 GT-R Z-Tune by setting a new record of 1’01”15 at Tsukuba Circuit for Best Motoring Factory Manufactured Vehicle.
I have a friend who lives in Sydney, Australia who owns the infamous Z-Tune. He owns build #001 with barely 4,500kms on the clock. Sometimes he’ll take his beast out to a local meet or event and everyone is in “awe” over it. Nismo is now sold out of the Z-Tune, but one is now up grabs. My friend is selling his Z-Tune. Interestingly enough he really wants to sell it to Jay Leno, but he has also received many offers even one offer of $765,000 AUD. When he told me that my damn jaw almost hit my cell phone. He has given me a few photos to share. A few of the photos shared were taken by a great Sydney based photographer, Matthew Everingham Photography. Enjoy the up close and personal look at the Z-Tune, the “Ultimate road-going car in the world.”
