Makes sense! Nismo bodywork might just work a little better than stock pieces at track speeds too. You guys are building what the "NISMO" version of these cars should have been, doing seam welds, special suspension pieces, engine work beyond simple tune and a sport exhaust. etc. Cant wait to see what you do with brakes and venting. I'm hoping parts for dual street/track use comes of this effort!

Can you guys do much to motors in Grand Am? I know some guys who worked on development of Grand Am Boxsters and 350Z's and seamed to remember decent level of engine work allowed. I have to look at that series again to see rules and cars. Its really a more pure form of production car racing in my opinion.

I keep on meaning to stop by as I drive by your shop every day on my commute from Bonny Doon to San Jose.

Keep up the great work. Very exciting to see the 370Z being developed into competitive race cars.

Interesting...

Wow. Thanks for even addressing the comments a.m. Brian!! That is impressive to me. I will very much be following your progress as I am sure many of us will. I am SO very excited to see the Z's out there mixing it up with the others.

Are you all getting any help from Nissan/Nismo by way of sponsorship?

That's the best way to do it. Mike thanks for the wheels, more pics coming soon. I'm def gonna stay in contact, hopefully we will do more business in the future.

Followed you guys on FB. Hope to see some awesome things out of you.

I don't know maybe I see things different then everyone else. I open the door to insult when I get done saying what i am about to say. Regardless if there changing everything that makes a base different then a nismo it is still not a nismo. Vin number alone says that. How would you feel if I sold a car to you saying it is a nismo when really it is a base because I changes the suspension and the body pieces. I am going to bet you would be pissed at me. So let me ask this my engine is more powerful then base nismo I got KW suspension and some new sway bars, can i start telling everyone I own a nismo and be respected for it? I bet not I would be the laughing stock of the forum more then what i already am. If there changing all this stuff there car isn't even a nismo if it really was then, it is like Phal said a 370Z. The nismo name is just being used for marketing so now a bunch of kids can run around saying that Nismo is the best, no z compares to a nizmo, when in fact that info could be debated. Just because they put a NISMO front and rear bumper on there doesn't give the right for someone to say there car is one. True Nismo will have the tag with the manufacture number.

Edit: I am not saying what there doing isn't cool because it sure as hell is. There doing a great job from the pics I seen and hope they do well in the race, but I want them to call it for what it is not some BS marketing act. If thats the case they should have spent the money on the real NISMO and not on some base models and advertising it to be one. Kind of like the replica body kits all you guys got upset about.

NISMO or base, whatever they start with will be wholly other when they are through. I am glad that they will still call them 370Z's.

i suppose if atleast one of the guys is an engineer from nismo (preferrably from japan), then i think promoting their base as a NISMO-Tuned car is okay. this is why i jokingly asked.

i dont really care eitherway but using a base as a nismo-z is a little tricky to understand. it needs to be a nismo-engineered car to be badged nismo imho... are these guys from nismo? or are they a local shop that makes race cars? i donno.

I completely agree with your points on selling a street car as a NISMO when it is not.

These are not street cars, these are racecars racing in a professional series. You will find nothing different with the "M3's", "Mustangs", "Camero's" etc. that we are racing against. As much as Grand Am Continental Challenge is showroom stock racing, you still need to make multiple makes compete evenly against each other, they all need to run reliably, and that all takes different mods for each car. There are homologation sheets available online to show exactly what is different on the racecars that race in Grand Am as opposed to the car you buy off the showroom floor.

The Nissan NISMO 370Z is the car that our race car is modeled after, not a base model Z. Just like the BMW M3 Grand Am racecar is based off the M3, not the 328, or whatever the base BMW equivelent is.

Very cool, will be following this one closely! Hope you guys come out with some great stuff for us. Good luck at GrandAM! See you guys at Homestead Miami if you are ever bringing the cars down! Would love to get to meet you.

Like I said I see things different. Just because you put a nismo front and rear bumper on it, I don't think its right to call it a nismo. People on here spent that extra cash for that name and that name should be reserved to them since they paid for it. I havent paid for that name now regardless mine handles better and is faster I will never use the word nismo unless it is in a comparison. I look forward to your results and hope you kick some *** because none the less you are still reping the Z34 for us and I am greatful for that.

meh, nismo or not, there are better things to worry about.

besides, at the end of the day, we all still share the same badge:
http://wot.motortrend.com/files/2011...ster-badge.jpg

good luck in the races guys :tup:

A lot you guys need to stop breakin his balls about the name soo much & just enjoy all the R&D that's being put into these 3 grand am cars. The nismo name isn't even "that" special, really tho all it is, is a different body kit, slight ecu tweak, & a couple of suspension upgrades. Mike picked the nismo body kit because it is functional & he was allowed to do it, so why not get that edge? What if he bought an amuse kit, would you all be freaking out if he called it an Amuse 370z? Nope cus it'd be the same concept since it was still a base Z to start off with. Mike, thanks for representing us Z34 owners & picking the 370Z as your platform to race in.

You might want to do some research, Nismo is not just a body and 'stuff'
Nismo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is Nissan's tuning & racing company, one reason people are questioning using the name. I am all for the R&D and hope it trickles down into the street market or track market, but for some people a name is what defines a brand.

Exactly, it is not being sold as a Nismo, it is racing as a Nismo. Why would they start with a limited edition Nismo when they are throwing away most of the parts (entire suspension, engine, exhaust, interior etc)? Plus the car is going to get beat up. It's all about marketing, Nissan is going to want them to represent the Nissan Motorsport division, the areo is just a nice bonus.

I think what they are doing is cool and it is good to see a hard-core race build from the ground up. I for one will attend the Lime Rock race for sure.