zland

Let me first qualify my review. I own a 350Z with upgraded tires (toyo’s) but I have not tracked a car before thus maybe I am easily impressed with a car that has been modded. Never the less, here is my assessment of the Mossy 350Z of Oceanside.

Greg Vogel, parts manager of Mossy Nissan of Oceanside took me for a ride in the Mossy 350Z today. Greg is into tracking this Z, a VQ3.5 Altima they are modding, and his own personal SER. The great thing about Greg being the parts manager is he loves racing, cars, and is documenting every mod thus you are assured ahead of time what HP gain your car will get. In addition, you can ride in their car and feel the performance prior to buying. I find this aspect very helpful as a consumer. I like to see 1st hand what it performs like prior to laying out cash.

The 350Z has been dyno’ed on the same dyno after each modification they make. The car has a baseline dyno of 236rwhp. Currently, the car has pulleys, flywheel, cams, air intake, Bola exhaust and headers on it. I know I might be missing something on the motor and if I am, maybe Greg or someone else will correct me. The car now puts out 282rwhp thus a 46hp gain over stock.. If you allowed a 15% loss in drive train it would be putting out 324 at the crank or if 17% loss, 330hp at the crank. This is a fairly well built NA Z for those wishing to go this route rather than FI. With recent problems with some cars on line with FI, this is a valid option in my mind to consider being it is less of a risk. BTW, Greg put it on a dyno and it passed smog with these mods, now passing smog and getting by on the visual inspection might be a little risky. In addition, the car now has NISMO S suspension and NISMO sway bars, Toyo proxy tires.


Engine performance: I had my stock Z motor right next to the Mossy Z. Greg fired up the Z, rev’ed it then I started up mine. At first when he rev’ed it, I was surprised it was not louder. I guess I was expecting something really loud. The exhaust combination of the Borla exhaust/header makes the Z sound deeper and throaty, more like a V-8 to me. In contrast, I started up my Z, rev’ed it and well, it just did not cut it in comparison. Once in the car, the sound of the exhaust/header sounded great and it made it a pleasure listening to it throughout the gears yet never too loud to over power you if you just want to cruise and listen to the radio etc.

I have read it several times in reviews of the NISMO S suspension that it is the way the 350Z should have come stock. I feel the NA modifications to the Z at Mossy are the way the track model should have come to begin with. I would describe my stock Z as very “peppy”. In comparison, the Mossy Z gives you an adrenaline rush. It is not at the level of scary, but way beyond the stock level. I do not know how much hp is enough. I can say that being in this car makes me really want to ride in a Z with more hp. Again, the main thing that attracts me to this set up is definite improved performance without fear of boost blowing up my motor.

Handling: The NISMO S suspension was everything others have said in the past reviews. Great handling, no bounce like stock, pretuned to the 350Z and easy to install, and will still be covered by Nissan under warranty. I was disappointed personally in the lack of drop. I compared it to my stock Z, both having Toyo, 35 series 18” tires. Mine being larger (i.e. 265 fts vs 235). I honestly could not see any difference in ride ht visually. If there was one, it was about .5 inches. I did the fingers in the wheel wheel/by eye estimate. I could not see a big difference and BTW, I do drafting/architecture thus my sense of measurement is quite accurate. To be fair, the suspension has been on the Mossy Z less than 500 miles thus it might drop some later. Greg did have Eibach springs on this car prior to NISMO S. He said the Eibach was an improvement over stock but NISMO far exceeds it in handling/ride. The positive (in my mind) of Eibach is a lower looking car but he did say he had to be careful not to bottom out with the Eibach, not so with NISMO.

I am still going to ride in a Z with Tein coilovers with EDFC and JIC coilovers before deciding on which one I like the best. I am starting to look at this decision as a win-win one. If the coilovers are anything as nice as the NISMO, how could you be unhappy? I bet they are all are nice and soon, I will know by experience.

I did buy the NISMO sway bars tonight. Greg matched Jeff’s prices at Performance Nissan which was $385 + tax. Greg wants to be competitive and is trying to match the competition in prices and offers great service. I want to thank Jeff at performance Nissan for setting the standard. It is nice to have 2 dealerships I know of in southern California that are promoting performance upgrades at competitive prices.

If you want more information about what specific parts are in the Mossy 350Z, contact Greg Vogel, Mossy Nissan (760) 720 9797, or toll free 866-55-mossy, e-mail parts@mossyperformance.com.

I hope this review helps someone out there!

Jeff - Zland

hypersonicaz

Great review! Nice to hear this info.

apex locator

iTrader: (5)

i have all similar power mods except the pulleys

do you know if they used a dynopack or dynojet? it appears that the mossy 350z is the same one on the nissanperformancemag.com site, which states that the car put down 263 whp, and it appears to be on a dynopack, which yields slightly higher #s than a dynojet.

anyways, i wish i could get a ride in the mossy z to see if its much of a difference from my ride. i doubt i'm in the 280s....just HOPING to be in 270s, and my stock dyno was 233 rwhp on a dynojet.

btw, did you ask if he's on stock ecu too?

zland

350Z4steve:

Your mailbox is full thus I am just going to post this here, i hope you do not mind....

Steve:

Do you live in so. cal? Greg will give you a ride if you do. There is a BIG difference in power between my Z and this one. Power at all RPM's just like ours but just more of it. Write Greg at gregv@mossy.com. He can send you copies of dyno of it vs stock. It is an even power curve. I did not notice flywheel noise but to be honest, I was listening to that motor and just enjoying the ride!

I was 100% considering ATI SC with TT as a 2nd choice. Now, I will wait until ATI problems are resolved. I also has the opportunity to ride in the ATI and Stillen SC in the next couple of weeks as well has the PE TT possibly when it gets back here. I am going to keep an open mind until i am in all of them before deciding.

I will say this, if TT and SC options prove to all be undependable, I will go this route with NA. It is a lot of money for only 50 hp but it will not blow up either so that is a big issue for me. I am just hoping FI will give more hp and be ok too.

b18bvudoo:

The power went up recently from the 262hp range to 282hp when new exhaust and headers added. No chip has been added yet. Greg is hoping for 300hp at wheels with chip added.

I am sure if you write Greg, he would be happy to post dyno of stock vs current motor and list all specs of mods to car.

Jeff

apex locator

iTrader: (5)

yeah i think i'll email greg to get the specifics on the mossy z. those are impressive #s.

if you're easily impressed, then you will LOVE an FI car. but if you plan on autox, then do you really need all of those "yet-to-be-proven-reliable" hp's on the track? i still firmly believe that an n/a motor is not designed to take boost, no matter if its low @ 6-7 psi. and especially if you dont run a standalone. this is from personal experience w/ other cars.

anyways, i digress...good luck in your quest for speed

g356gear

iTrader: (12)

Which cams are being used in this car???

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

Zland,
Thanks for the review! I've been wondering who has the most powerful NA Z for a while now...looks like Greg is a contender. If at all possible, could you try to get a full modification list, and the accompanying dynos posted. In other words, it sounds like Greg has done a good job of documenting the build-up. It would be great to see dynos from each step of the way, so we can see which mods added power, and where the power was found along the curves.
My long-term plan is to get the Z to around 275-280 whp. That would roughly be the equivalent of having the same power as an E46 M3. I think at that power level, the Z would be almost perfect.
I don't think I've seen anybody post a dyno showing 260 whp or more. I'd love to though!

GregV

Thanks Jeff for the write up. Jeff is the brother of one of our good wholesale customers, and very knowledgeable in my opinion.
Yes, our's is the NissanPerformanceMag.com project car. We added the headers and went to about 272 whp, and then swapped out the B&B for the Borla and instantly went to 282 whp. The Borla is the real deal. I contacted Borla after reading about some of the positive gains here. I told the rep that if I found these to be true after my own independent dyno testing, I would put in my order. Needless to say, the order is on the way. BTW, Borla will be displaying systems at our 2nd Annual Mossy Performance All Nissans Car Show .
We try to carry products that work, and we test them to be sure. The Z has offered a great opportunity for this. I like being on the leading edge with this car. We haven't tuned the ECU yet. We are waiting for JWT to do this. They have been very good to us, we will be patient with them. The dynoing has been done on a DynoPack. We dyno'd 266, and at Stillen I think it was 266 or 263, close enough to be equal uinder the circumstances.
The Cams are Nismo.
Mods so far:
JWT Popcharger
Borla Headers
Borla dual cat-back exhaust
UR Pulley Set
JWT aluminum flywheel
Nismo Cams
Mossy Stainless/Kevlar brake lines
Nismo S-Tune suspension
Nismo S-Tune sway bars
19" OZ Superlegerra III wheels 19*9.5 , 19*8.5
Toyo T1-s 235-35 and 275-35 tires

If I can answer any questions personally, or if you want to come down and check us out in Oceanside, please contact me directly.

Z8M

iTrader: (3)

Hey Greg, is this particular Z for sale? Maybe we can work out a deal.

DavidD

What would be the dyno hp with 18" wheels, any change?

zland

Greg:

I think everyone would love it if you put hp gains on dyno next to each mod. Maybe you can post dynos. I think the baseline and final ones to start. Maybe people would love to see all of them? I am not sure if that is needed but maybe they would want to see specific gains per mod.

Jeff

zxsaint

280+ is very impressive. So its almost unanimous that the borla is good for ~10rwhp. This has got to be the 3rd or 4th case proving those numbers.

Few questions:

Is 282 a SAE corrected number?

Have you been resetting the ECU before the dyno runs?

You mentioned 266 @ Stillen? Is this before or after all the mods currently listed (incl. exhaust & headers) Or is the lower # due to dynojet vs. dynopack.

Any plans to head over to Fontana for some 1/4 mile timeslips?

zland

This is not my Z but Greg did mention something to me about the dyno be calibrated or something to SAE. Lets just say that I remember the words SAE and dyno in the same sentence. The other thing I remember him saying is they always were very careful to make sure the conditions were always as close to being the same each time they dyno'ed ie engine temp, fluid temps etc.

I think the reference to the Stillen hp was the old version and they are getting better hp now...I think, Jeff

apex locator

iTrader: (5)

wow, borla headers? i thought they didnt do much, but i guess in conjunction w/ the borla TD you get almost 20whp...impressive.

anyone else with this combo that shows similar gains?

del105

iTrader: (4)

So you spent about 5k and only got 40 hp? I mean 282 Na is impressive but it sure isn't a deal.

apex locator

iTrader: (5)

you're paying for the reliability of an n/a motor on a track (not 1/4-mile track)

thats what i'm aiming for.

Ricky

Don't add the suspension items into that cost, the 282rwhp comes only from engine work, and by looking at it I'd say it cost roughly $3300, and also remember since he is a retailer, he most likely got bigger discounts, and the nismo cams I'm sure were much cheaper.

Also, putting out more HP on a NA car is much harder (unless you take the easy way, which is FI), but imo it's definatly worth it.

I'd pay about $3500 for 40rwhp, and keeping the motor NA in a heart beat.

EgH

Now, that's what I'm talking about!!

I had a modded VW 1.8T and that blow off valve drove me nuts.... the problem w/ FI IMHO is that I could never say or think my car sounded like the Le Mans series Porsches, Ferrari's, Vettes or protoype sports cars I saw circling Laguna Seca - every shift sounding like a gunshot.....

With a 330 hp 350Z I could re-live the track every morning as I drive to work or go to the grocery to buy a loaf of bread & six pack...

To me that's what sports cars are all about. Not 1/4 mile times or dyno-plots but instant screaming power, finesse and reliability. At 330 bhp the Z is a true Alpha-dog on the street, dismissing $80K sports cars without breaking a sweat and making Porsche 911 Turbo owners contemplate why they spent $125,000 for a name.

Having grown up on howling side-draught Webber equipped 4-cycl. rally cars, I've always liked the pure grunt of a highly tuned NA machine ready for action . FI'ers don't flame me I respect your power but I'd drop $3.3K for 280+ rwhp in my Z any day of the week!!!!

Zland, great post man.

zxsaint

AND 200lb lighter (or 400 vs. vert) with plenty more torque!

Yes it would be perfect indeed.

MY350Z.COM

iTrader: (2)

282rwhp is awesome and get this

no crawford intake plenum

add a crawford intake plenum and you are easily over 290rwhp.
add test pipes closer to 300rwhp? or maybe over?
ecu? wow this is cool.