Finding Its Voice

The Z came from the factory with a capable twin-turbo V6 but a pretty tame exhaust note. With the sway bars freshly installed, I decided it was time to let the VR30 breathe a little. I went with a two-piece setup from Z1 Motorsports - the Premium Stainless Steel Y-Pipe and the Touring-Ti Titanium cat-back.

First order of business was getting the factory exhaust off the car. I worked backwards from the rear - mufflers first, then the mid-pipe, and finally the factory Y-pipe. One thing that surprised me was how small the OEM Y-pipe diameter was. You'd think a 400hp twin-turbo motor would have a little more room to breathe down there.

The Z1 Y-pipe went in next. The difference in diameter was obvious - the stainless piece replaces the restrictive OEM mid-pipe with larger tubing and braided flex joints. The weld quality on the Z1 piece is impressive - clean welds and solid flange connections.

One thing worth mentioning - the Y-pipe fit tight against the chassis. I had to bend the pipe down slightly to keep it from making contact with the body, which wasn't the easiest thing to do on stainless. Not a dealbreaker, but it took some persuasion.

From there the titanium cat-back bolted right up. The fitment was excellent - everything tucked up tight with good clearance around the differential and sway bar. The titanium mufflers are noticeably lighter than the stock pieces.

The Z1 titanium tips fill out the rear diffuser nicely. Subtle but purposeful.

First startup was exactly what I was hoping for - a deeper, more aggressive tone at idle that opens up under throttle without being obnoxious. The Touring-Ti lives up to its name. Civilized when cruising, but it lets you know the turbos are there when you get on it.

Raising the Bar

With the big brake kit buttoned up, I turned my attention to the Z's handling. The Z1 Performance Sway Bar Set was next on the list - front and rear bars to tighten things up and reduce body roll.

The install is pretty straightforward if you've got a lift. Remove the stock bars, bolt up the Z1 units, and set the end link positions. I went with the outermost mount holes on both bars. The Z is a street car, but I want it to feel planted.  If I were tracking the car I’d use the inner-most mounting holes.

That red front bar tucked up under the subframe looks like it belongs there. Between the big brake kit and the sway bars, the chassis side of this build is really coming together. Time to find some good roads!

Stopping Power

The NISMO Clubsport wheels had barely been on the Z for a week before I decided to address what was behind them. The stock brakes are perfectly adequate for street duty, but once you see those little silver calipers peeking through 19-inch NISMO spokes, you know they need some company that matches the rest of the build.

I grabbed the Z1 Motorsports Forged Street Big Brake Kit - their red calipers are cross-compatible with Akebono, and the kit comes with sprinkle-slotted rotors and stainless steel brake lines. The whole package is a serious step up from the stock hardware.

The install spanned about a week of evening garage sessions. One thing I ran into right away was the rotor shields - the larger Z1 rotors wouldn't clear the stock shields, so I had to trim them. I used a sheet metal nibbler on my drill and ran it around the edges to remove the outer lip. I put a plastic bag over the hub assembly to keep the little metal bits from getting into anything they shouldn't.

As I swapped each caliper I capped the hard lines to keep the brake fluid from draining out. I definitely did not want to purge air out of the entire system.

The before and after really tells the story. Those stock silver calipers look like they belong on a Sentra compared to the Z1 units. The red calipers fill out the wheel wells and look right at home behind the NISMO wheels. I used Motul RBF 600 to refill and bleed the system - no sense putting budget fluid behind a big brake kit.

At 1,550 miles the Z is already getting the brake setup it deserves. Time to put some miles on them and see how they bed in!