E85 Tuning on GTM Twin Turbo G35
As a repeat customer, we last saw this beautiful example of a street G35 about a year ago. At the time, he brought his built 3.5L VQ35 for a tune on his APS twin turbo kit. Over 500 whp was safely achieved, and the customer backed it up with several 11 second quarter mile passes. While the power level was certainly enjoyable, he craved more. This year, he returned with a new turbo kit, the GTM Stage 5 with twin GT30’s, a bigger fuel system, the CJ Motorsports twin pump hanger and 1200cc injectors, and 30 gallons of E85 gas fresh from the pump.
After battling a smoking problem with the turbo’s oil supply and some electrical problems, we were able to begin tuning. With Hal behind the keyboard, it did not take long to get starting and driveability cleaned up and move on to the power tuning. After a solid baseline tune was established on wastegate spring pressure, 13 psi, the Haltech boost control was enabled and a maximum of 630 whp was achieved before running out of injector duty cycle. It is true that E85 requires as much as 30-40% more fuel compared to gasoline, which is an important factor to consider when weighing alternative options to race gas. Our customer picked up his car and immediately headed down to a National Mustang meet to represent the Nissans.
Since being tuned, this G35 has run an impressive 11.0 at 134 mph in the quarter mile. Judging from the trap speed, we agree that this car has a quicker time in store, even at the same power level. With some upgraded axles and possibly race gas, we look forward to seeing this car running easily in the 10-second range!
Supra Wiring Overhaul and Tune
Tuning and engine building are two specialties that we pride ourselves in, but wiring is an important factor of any heavily modified setup, and is often overlooked. Many of our projects, such as this customer’s Supra, involve cleaning up areas which may have been overlooked by other shops, or simply done incorrectly. This particular car has all of the right parts to go fast, including a 76mm turbo and TH400 3-speed automatic transmission, but could never complete a quality pass at the drag strip due to problems. Upon diagnosing what the car would need, we found an absolute monstrosity of wiring from the engine bay, interior, engine management, and into the trunk for the fuel system and nitrous.
The car’s owner requested that the entire electronics system of the car be re-wired. We started by cutting out the majority of wiring, including wires that were spliced, twisted, soldered and taped together more than 15 times in three feet.
The outdated Autronic EMS was removed in favor of the new Haltech Sport 2000 engine management system, paired with a M&W Pro Ignition box. A Mil-spec engine harness was fit to the car, and the remaining systems, such as nitrous, fuel, and fans, were also professionally wired in-house.
Shown is the dash layout nearing completion.
After a dyno session on low boost and one small stage of nitrous, the car was loaded into our trailer and off to the drag strip to be delivered to the customer, eagerly waiting to make a pass. We were only able to get in two passes before the track closed for the night, and the first was just a shake-down run to get a feel for the car. The second pass was a bit more aggressive, and the car crossed the quarter mile finish line in the 10-second range with ease.
Stay tuned as we turn this Supra up to it’s potential and see it dip deep into the single digits!
370Z on Phantom Edition Volk GT-S
We enjoy simple and tasteful looking cars, and this can be seen in our Nissan 370Z used for some in-house testing. Featured are Volk GT-S wheels in the Flat Black Phantom Edition color scheme. Unfortunately, this color has since been discontinued, but the flat black on Nissan’s Pearl White gives an excellent contrast that really draws attention.
More can be seen on The 370Z Forum!