11 Jul 06
The Z's interior is pretty much stock, except for the console-mounted button that switches the supercharger on. Nissan says it'll get around to modding the cabin with lightweight racing seats and other go-faster touches. Actually, part of the Z's appeal is just how unmessed-with it feels. Nissan wanted to create a car that any owner could conceivably duplicate, so virtually every modification is an off-the-shelf item, from the Swiss-sourced Novidem supercharger to the German Strosek bodykit. The only specially fabricated item is the exhaust system, which isn't actually a difficult thing to source.
So will the GT-S bit be a future offering at your local Nissan dealer? Well, apart from the supercharger and specially tuned Bilsteins, there's nothing a Z owner couldn't source himself here. But Hardcastle points out that Nissan hasn't done any durability testing on supercharger-equipped Z's and the cost of homologating such a beast for production rules it out entirely. Which means this particular car will remain firmly in the 'publicity stunt' camp.
But that doesn't for one minute diminish what Hardcastle and his crew have achieved. This feels like a properly developed car. It rides remarkably well, the supercharger installation looks properly OEM and the bodykit complements the Z's butch stance perfectly.
So how well does it work? Well, Nissan claims that a full second has been wiped off the 0-60mph sprint, which makes it quicker than a Porsche 911. And from the driver's seat, I can tell you it works bloody marvellously.
