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Serge's Widebody 350Z
When some people imagine legendary sports car lines, many people think of the Porsche 911, Chevrolet Corvette, or even the Ferrari 308-430 line. The Nissan Z Car usually isn’t the first sports car series to come to mind. Despite being in production for nearly four decades and holding the title of the best selling sports car of all time with over a million cars sold over five generations, the Z Cars often don’t receive as much respect as the deserve.
Sports car models are all about progression, with the successor always improving on the previous generation’s strengths and weakness, and usually increasing the engine size or power output of the car. When Nissan, who at the time was under the name Datsun, released the first Z car, the S30 240z in 1970, it was a fairly tame sports coupe. The Z was introduced with a carburetor tuned inline six engine producing 130hp. Respectable numbers for the time, but Nissan saw this car as just the beginning. The models that followed, the 280z, 300zx and the current 350z, all shared the same bloodline and each got progressively more powerful and faster as each model was released. The successor of the 350Z has yet to be revealed, but Serge L. of Canada might have a car that Nissan should refer to when developing the latest incarnation of the Z heritage.
Have you ever heard of a 420z? We didn’t think so. They are about as common as an intelligent statement from Paris Hilton. When Serge came down to Altered Atmosphere from up north in Canada, he wanted to build a 350z that would be like no other. He wanted power, torque and a lot of it. The stock VQ35 engine was torn down for a full rebuild. Starting with a Brian Crower stroker kit to increase the engine’s displacement to about 4.2 liters, Serge sourced a slew of reinforced parts to be installed on his Z. His VQ35 block was taken apart and prepped for transformation in Altered Atmosphere’s state-of-the-art CNC RMC V-40 Engine VMC. Altered’s head engineer laser scanned the block and found the engine, after being raced for some time, was off OEM Blueprint Specs. Shortly after the entire factory cylinder system was completely machined out of Serge’s block in preparation for the very rare patented Darton Ductile-Iron Mid-Sleeves – capable of supporting over 1,000hp! New sleeves installed and another laser scan to verify the block has been restored to exact AAM Spec VQ35 OEM Blueprint-Specification, Serge’s race-prepped block was ready to be reassembled. Rebuilt heads, stronger JE Pistons and rods, camshafts, and even a higher output crank were all assembled by the technicians at Altered Atmosphere. To help increase the power output of the freshly rebuilt engine, an APS Extreme Twin Turbo kit was installed on Serge’s Z. Because the fuel setup that comes standard in the Extreme Twin Turbo kit has been proven unreliable in AutoX competition (Serge didn’t want any limitations with his Z!) an AAM Stage 1 Fuel Rail Return System and AAM Stage 2 Big Pump Upgrade (with external serge tank!) were dialed up.
Engine Management is one of those necessary accessories to accommodate a pair of large turbochargers on any engine. For this, Serge used an HKS F-Con VPro, and the car was tuned on AAM’s in house dyno by tuner and owner of Altered Atmosphere, Mike Mahaffey. To aid the drivetrain for the immense amount of power that was going to be put through it, a near bulletproof ATS Carbon triple disc clutch was installed to help efficiently transfer the engine power to the drive wheels. How much power you ask? Serge’s 420z put down an immense 711 wheel horsepower and 561 lbs sq. ft of torque. And that’s with a very conservative tune. Mike was under a strict time constraint due to Serge’s intense show schedule for his Z, so he didn’t even push the engine to its limits. This car should easily be capable of producing numbers close to 900 wheel horsepower. Needles to say Serge is scheduled to return to Altered Atmosphere the spring of next year, when we’ll shoot for 850+ wheel horsepower!
Serge’s car is also very easy on the eyes. With a full Veilside wide body kit and custom candy apple red paint with wheels painted to match, anyone who sees this car knows he is serious about performance and good looks. The interior is accented with Reacaro seats, a Sparco steering wheel, and custom dash mounted gauges and a surplus of audio components. With a great amount of care and attention to detail, the end result is a car that is a very rare breed of full show car that can back up its stunning looks with raw power.
We think that Serge’s car is a shining example of the sheer potential of the current Nissan Z Car, the 350z. This makes us wonder what the next Z Car is going to be like. Let me be the first to tell you, if it is anything like Serge’s car, I’ll be the first in line to buy one.
