10-14-2006, 12:31 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,633
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Yashio Factory Nissan 350Z - White Hot
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/fe...y_nissan_350z/
Quote:
Yashio Factory is a smallish tuning garage just outside of Tokyo with a reputation for spitting out some of the quickest cars on the island. Funny thing is, the shop wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t set up initially by one Mr. Okamura, as a way to fund his true passion: racing. That’s not to say he plops himself down on the couch each Saturday in front of the TV with a bag of popcorn. And it doesn’t mean he pours gigabucks into watching people drive around the track in the cars he builds.
Mr. Okamura races the Yashio Factory cars himself, in special events and tuner shootouts throughout Japan. Only after being in business for some time did he use experience gained dialing in cars on the circuit to develop his own line of parts. Yashio Factory uses a select few items from outside suppliers, only because Okamura believes they couldn’t be made better in house.
Okamura is one of the more notable tuners in Japan, his face easily found in every Japanese automotive publication, as well as in the Best Motoring International (BMI)/Hot Version video series. He’s competed personally in every car Yashio Factory has entered in the popular BMI video shootouts and often places first.
Most recently, Mr. Okamura prepared a 350Z for battle at this year’s Nismo Festival, which was unfortunately delayed due to snow. The race eventually ran in May at Tsukuba Circuit. And though it rained by the bucketful, the lightly-tuned street car managed to post an impressive 1.15.890 lap time.
Being one of the most respected tuners in Japan, Mr. Okamura looks at us like we’re crazy each time we question the nature of his Z-car or elongated racing resume. Here, car people just know who he is – they know which races he’s won and which cars he’s done them in. They know the details of his latest Z-car and they’ve peppered their own Nissans to mimic his.
The white 350Z is sitting outside the garage waiting for us when we arrive. It’s really quite clean – one of the first times I’ve ever seen a car with stickers manage to look this good. The soft bronze tribal design that spans the car’s flanks isn’t actually that gaudy at all. And the Z is perfectly hunkered down, sitting on humongous 20-inch chrome Yokohama AVS wheels, wrapped in 235/35R20 and 255/30R20 Advan Sport rubber like a cat sits on its haunches right before springing on unsuspecting prey. Lest you judge Mr. Okamura for his choice of tribal tattooing and chrome-plated dubs, remember that Okamura puts his money where his ostentatious mouth is, and this thing sees battle almost weekly. These ain’t the same bling-bling rims you’ll see competing at the NOPI Nationals.
The red tow-hook is in place to help track hands drag the car off course should things go awry, not to score points with the car show judges. Other than some HKS Hypermax suspension, the exterior of the car looks clean enough to be an untouched stock 350Z, with a subtle Vertex body kit accentuating the natural muscularity of the sloping fenders. Inside, Bride Gias seats are big enough for a single butt cheek and part of one American leg, in traditional Japanese fashion. The Vertex steering wheel is also a business item. It’s got a rally stripe through top dead center, so Mr. Okamura can see how sideways he is out of his peripheral vision. Twin Neko A/F-700 boxes relay detailed information about the air/fuel ratio.
Though the engine certainly looks innocent enough sitting in between the shock towers, it’s actually a Nismo unit that produces 307bhp. Whether you’re in Japan or not, picking up this engine at your local Nissan dealer isn’t an option. Nissan selects the racers and tuners it gives these engines to, and you need a reputation like Okamura’s to even be considered. Prototype forged pistons pump on a forged Nismo crankshaft, and a 0.7mm head gasket pushes the compression up further. High-compression milled heads feature Nismo 284-degree camshafts on the intake sides and 268-degree bump-sticks on the hot sides. Nismo titanium valvesprings ensure everything remains float-free when Oka-chan is banging off the 7500rpm redline, and a Nismo oil cooler keeps the lube from boiling come race day. Finally, Yashio Factory’s own stainless steel headers carry all the spent gases from the VQ heads and out through a proprietary exhaust system.
A good tuner is more than someone who can slap a throng of parts together and call it a day. A well-tuned car must drive as smoothly as stock, yet manage to raise the limits equally in each category; improved handling matched with higher horsepower, for instance.
Yashio Factory has gone a step further and dialed the car in for precise handling characteristics on the track in addition to displaying civil road manners. Perhaps such cars wouldn’t be possible if their creators weren’t so deeply passionate about driving them.
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