List of Best Upgrades

[fenetikZ]

fenetikZ and I love AWE Track edition because of its visceral exotic sound with wow factor.

100% correct! You can feel the system in the seat, the steering wheel, and your bones. It’s good living.

 

[SleepyD7]

Interior starts rattling apart during acceleration

 

[Kludos]

Assuming you're going to tune, there are a few items that will keep your VR30 happy.

Heat exchanger: The stock unit is tiny making the car susceptible to heat soak. Many people suggest this is THE upgrade to do on your VR30

Oil solenoid delete: prevents oil starvation by making the oil pump run at full pressure at all times. Requires tune to remove the code.

Oil catch can: these engines get a reasonable amount of blow-by and this prevents it's recirculating through your engine.

Billet oil pan: the stock pan is plastic and doesn't fully drain due to the plug location. A billet pan will be easier to drain, safer, stay a bit cooler, and increases oil volume. Some have baffles too.


If you're doing lowering springs or coilovers:

Despite what some people claim, it's hard to get a good alignment for spirited driving with stock parts if you are an inch or more lower than stock. At a minimum budget for rear camber arms and some form of toe adjustment - I'm not going to recommend anything here because it depends if you are going true coil or divorced, and how you feel about dremelling your subframe.

For the front, you don't need FUCAs but they will help combat camber gain if you are quite low, and same with tie rods for bump steer correction, but the latter is probably a good idea.

People say you need adjustable sway bar links too, but the bars aren't level anyway and there's not much room to adjust without them hitting the lower links.


Enjoy the journey, deciding your build is the funnest thing about it.

My full build so far is here: https://www.nissanzclub.com/forum/threads/kludos-gunmetal-z-build.8979/

 

[Zplz]

Thanks for your compliments! The AWE track exhaust is indeed quite loud, especially when paired with a downpipe upgrade. This was very intentional on my part - I want the car to feel loud and generally unsettling; it increases the excitement factor. You can try to maximize this car for a comfort experience, but I like that it seems to lean into a more raw/pure sports car driving experience….which is not easy to find these days. I think that’s one of the things that makes the Z so special. For those who want comfort and luxury paired with speed, the market has lots of offerings. Back to the AWE track, I’m sure you’ve seen that they have a “track to touring conversion” piece that is not too expensive and, as I understand, really calms things down.

Regarding the heat exchanger - I felt it was a critical upgrade, especially when using the 80mm intakes since I’d like as much of that extra airflow to be properly cooled - Plus, I likely would not be able to get the most out of my tune if I had the OEM exchanger in there as a potential choke point.

Congrats again on the purchase! Have fun on the journey.

"I think that’s one of the things that makes the Z so special. For those who want comfort and luxury paired with speed, the market has lots of offerings..." Absolutely agree! That's one of the main things I love about the Z. It's a great platform for configuring to get it just the way is best for you.

I've always loved Z cars but at this point in my life, I wanted to set up my Z as a fairly comfortable ride but with very nice straight-ahead performance capability at a decent price. I just went with a base Sport but decided I definitely wanted an upgraded HX and CAI, along with the exhaust. The NISMO street exhaust has been perfect for me. Not loud at all for me ears but it provides the harmonious sound I was looking for when I accelerate.