GTM Motorsports 370z twin turbo test drive impression

[370z4Steve]

For those of you considering putting a TT in your 370z I have given the beast a test spin.
First and lasting impression...one word "Outstanding!"

So here is how the story goes...
I wanted to see first hand what the twin turbo would do in the Z34 in comparision to the Z33 overall, and these are my impressions after being given a ride as passenger and myself doing a fairly lengthy test drive compliments of SAM of GTM Motorsports.

As I went to GTM to meet up with Sam @ his shop this weekend, I laid eyes on a fairly normal looking nondescript (I say that because it looks like any other 370z thats a silver) touring 370z- great looking just nothing jumps out at you that it has a TT nor 467WHP ) quite stealth --hehe

So even when looking at the car from the front.. the intercooler is quite concealed by the bumper and again looking good and stock! So popping the hood open reveals quite a clean and again rather stock looking setup..looks like everything belongs. A very very well done job of engineering and with the exception of silver intake piping nothing looks out of the norm, well except to the trained eye. I like it already!

One thing of note: the car did sit lower in the front because of weight of the kit and intercooler, so it appears like it has lowering springs even though it doesnt, but mostly in the front a bit..nothing tragic, but I would say coliovers should be given some consideration if you want to level things off because of the extra wieght in the front and additonal power going to the rears.


On to getting in the car now first as passenger:

Sam fires up the car and it comes to life with a very solid and nice deep burble that belies this cars stock appearance...so everything sounds good, but I know this car means business now..

Sam brings the car out of the shop and proceeds to take us around in the thankfully somehwat desolate streets nearby his shop..ready to rumble and game on..
so Sam puts the pedal down and WOW!!!!
Immediately I can Feel the rush of torque being put to the rear wheels even as a passenger!!..goodness this car is deceptively fast because its not obnoxiously loud inside the car (blow off sounds are very subtle) and yet the car is very smooth and objects start to go by VERY quickly! This feels like it can do mid-high 11's all day if your into numbers.

I am starting to feel a bit anxious as a passenger because what cars there are around are quickly and easily overtaken - like they are standing still..ugh I am not sure I want to drive this thing!
Suddenly my 370z feels very SLOW..and I thought it was pretty quick on my drive to visit SAM..Ummm Thanks a lot SAM.. my car feels like it has the torque and power of a Civic compared to yours!(In my mind)

So at this point I am pretty convinced this car has every bit of being the numbers that Sam quoted and is Wayyy WELL OVER 550HP crank HP @ least.
Sam what have you done!!



My Turn behind the wheel:

I guess the best impression is when I am in control.. so here goes my first drive thoughts as Sam and I switch places..
ALL I can think is how anemic and slow my car feels..I mean its that big of a difference....because I dont remember my car feeling as if having to work to get up to speed from a stand still..nothing blazing but like up to 60 or 70MPH ..but this THING is Instantly up to that and more as it revs pretty freely and quickly... you better be ready to shift fast because 7K RPMs comes extremely quick and with decent traction w/VDC on...this is the part I like... that its ALL usable power with a fair amount Traction and little wheel spin..(remember this is with the stock tires 245F/275R) This is a BIG plus..me coming from a 350z with about 400 WHP and (265F/295R) tires didnt have this much traction or smoothness of a launch..I LOVE this!

Now at any point im sure if you turned off the VDC things might be different and the car might want to squirm around a lot more but for what its doing its doing VERY well!
Like im not sure why you would need more power than this and Sam tells me its detuned..wow!
This thing runs great and well be carefull, because this Car eats up real estate at an alarming rate! Simply a Big RUSH and BIG GRIN over comes you ( I must have given Sam the full commentary as he was passenger because the CAR IS an absolute BLAST with this TT Kit!)

....one thing the stock 370Z is a GREAT car for the Money no doubt about it... eveything is well done in stock form decent power and braking with outstanding handling and ride, great looks inside and out and a level of refinement the Z33 sadly lacked. Throw in a GTM TT kit in it and surprisingly it still feels this way and looks under the hood like it came that way from Nissan.
Great Job Sam and so far from what I can tell.. a nicely engineered TT Kit!
Neddless to say I had an absolute blast driving it around and feeling that huge surge of smooth power produced many an ear to ear inducing grins...right Sam?
Now what about that Super charger kit Sam?


Supplemental:

In order to better gauge my thoughts.. immediately afterwards I mentioned to Sam that we go take my car for a spin around the same area.. This helped to put things in better perspective With power, ride and engine smoothness and loudness of car and exhaust.

What can I say again.. my car DOES feel slower -its stock with the exception of some HKS coilovers and Volks...I will say that the stock ride of the370Z is VERY Good. I cant emphasize that enough and even though the car with the kit is a bit nose heavy the ride remains compliant and good as long as your not at serious track speeds.

(I imagine..) I say this because jumping into my car, well it felt noticibly stiffer and not as compliant as stock by comparision (so the moral is dont change your suspension unless you NEED it stiffer or want adjustablity or plan to make the car faster or FI it!) ...with the Kit The car will feel a bit lighter in the rear with the stock suspension.

I noticed it mostly under heavy acceleration/speed with the TT Kit... nothing horrible and still QUITE GOOD but be warned my car with coilovers didnt feel that way at speed..so who knows.. that could be a byproduct of being slightly nose heavy and car with tremendous accelleration abilities over stock. This could be a nonfactor I am just pointing this out this would come more into play.. without the VDC on too. This isnt a criticism of the kit just it is what it is any time you add more wieght to the car..

For kicks while with Sam after the Ride and test I wanted to see how loud his cars 3" exhaust was over my cars stock exhaust..and first impressions were it really wasnt that loud at all..this is a good thing and in keeping with my thought about nissan having a much more refined car now to quantify it.

Standing about 3' from my car I had Sam hold the revs to about 5K while I took a measurement using an app on my Iphone that measures SPL in dBs and my stock exhaust recorded about 85dB while his exhaust measured about 92dB..not to bad at all..well it wont get you kicked out of Laguna Seca!

Here is a rather stock looking photo of the beast..

Well folks thats it for now and thanks Sam the kit is quite impressive!

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