Spectre Stage 1
May 14th, 2016
When I started putting this 2006 Nissan 350Z together I set out to build an “effective car”. What I mean by that, is a vehicle that can be daily driven, handles corners with lots of confidence, is more quick than most of the average vehicles on the road, and still looks stylish while doing all of that. That’s why I picked the Z33 Nissan. As of right now, the Nissan 350Z is the best performance bargain on the market in my opinion. And this is coming from a person who typically gravitates towards American Muscle. This car is so cheap to buy and overall I love the way it’s built. The suspension and drivetrain is to die for, forged aluminium bits, carbon fiber drive shaft, bracing everywhere around the chassis, speed sensitive steering and a big 3.5L V6 to pull it around effortlessly. From the factory it’s already a nice package. If you look at my 350Z playlist on Youtube you can find videos of this car when it first came out and this thing can move around a track. It’s a very well thought out vehicle from a Driver’s perspective.
The 2006 in my opinion is the best bargain. It has over 300 crank horsepower and comes in at a very reasonable price. What you do have to watch out for though, are some of the cars from this year (if equipped with a manual transmission) are susceptible to oil consumption, this also includes the 2005 Anniversary Edition. By now those, the cars that were bad have probably blown up their motors by now. It’s always a good habit to check fluid levels, but you’ll have to be more diligent with this car. The 2006 also have an updated exterior with H.I.D. headlights, L.E.D. tail lights, updated front facia and an updated interior. Also in late 2005 and forward Nissan put in a better transmission (C009 model) which sorts out a lot of issues. Because the 2006 350Z is a great foundation to work off of, I decided not to reinvent the wheel, but rather enhance what is already there.
I decided to focus on “driver feel”. I purchased the vehicle for me, not for others, so how I interact with the vehicle is very important to me. The hydraulic flex lines for the clutch and brakes were all upgraded to stainless steel braided versions. A bunch of the bushings were swapped out from the tired rubber versions to polyurethane. A Torque Solutions short shifter was installed for more precise shifts. And Vossen Wheels with General Tire’s G-Max high performance all season tires were installed to get the handling of the car down and be good in the wet (it rains a lot where I am). Exhaust work was also done, mainly because I love to hear my motors and I believe proper exhaust flow is good for performance and engine longevity.
Looks were also addressed with L.E.D. lighting outside the vehicle and the interior was updated with a new sound system. Alpine Electronics provides the head unit and 5 channel amplifier. While Hertz is used for the speakers and JL Audio provides the bass with a thin series sub woofer. Given car install is my profession I had to have an audio system that sounds good, is reasonably loud but is unique. I think I hit that mark by building a very light weight and simple audio system. Not to mention I also made a custom bezel for Greddy’s Infometer Touch and the car is protected and operated with Viper’s 5806V security system and remote starter unit with smartphone integration.
What you get in the end is a vehicle that most people can’t take past its limits (especially on the street), but is very reliable, fun to drive and looks better than most cars on the road. The best part is I’m into the whole thing for about 20 grand. What you can see is I focused on foundation parts of the vehicle or changes that have dramatic effects for not a ton of money. In the future I plan to upgade the motor some more with a little intake work and update the suspension some more to help dial in the car’s chassis more.
-Anthony Jarantilla