crankandpiston finally hooks up with Lotfi Aichour, President and Founder of the GTZ Motor Club, and his twin-turbo Nissan 350Z
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A crankandpiston feature on Lotfi Aichour’s Nissan Z33 has been on the cards for as long as I can remember. As the President and Founder of the GTZ Motor Club, a club devoted to Nissan and Infiniti performance cars, Lotfi and his 350Z are both a familiar sight in the local tuning scene. Somehow, the feature just never materialized. And I blame Lotfi.
I understand that the President needs a sick set of wheels to roll around in and it should stand out from the crowd, however, Lotfi’s Z33 has undergone more changes than a Madonna concert. Previous incarnations have included a VeilSide lip kit, NISMO V2 kit and a full wide-body Do-Luck kit before reaching its current state of Zen. Good time to hook up and grab some snaps then before this Fairlady Z decides it is time for another costume change.
As it now sits, very little of the original 2004 tin-work remains. Amuse Superleggera front bumper, splitter and fenders with carbon fibre side skirts and fender vents add some serious aggression to the front while the rear bumper and fenders sit squat with a Do-Luck wide-body kit and carbon fibre diffuser.
This mixing and matching of different elements from different kits can often be dangerous ground to tread on but it is a theme that makes Lotfi’s Z totally unique. The Do-Luck wide-body rear adds serious girth, needed to cloak the massive 19 x 10.5 Volk Racing SF-Winning rims, and manages to gel with the Amuse front end. I actually prefer this aesthetic over the standalone Amuse kit which I find has an overly fussy rear, however, Lotfi’s pick ‘n’ mix of choice cosmetic parts doesn’t end there.
Paint matched Seibon rear carbon fiber hatch and Type-N spoiler are just some of the other additions and everything has been tied together with a fully custom one-off paint job. However, the main work on this Z has taken place under that CarbonSignal one-off vented bonnet.
Far from being all show and no go, this Z is a fully built beast of a road car. In fact, it would appear that Lotfi removed the engine, held it upside down and shook it quite vigorously until anything with even a hint of OEM fell out. It is another mix and match of high-end quality parts, chosen to attain reliability and longevity of the build as well as the obvious quest for more power.
Currently sitting at a healthy Stage 2 tune, the twin turbo set up is good for about 400 Whp running 7 Psi. This, however, is one of three different maps and it is mainly only utilized when out on short runs to collect milk from the shop. The other two maps give 510 Whp running 10 Psi and 690 Whp (around 800 hp to the flywheel) running 17 Psi which does seem to give Lotfi a few options depending what mood he is in (or the car next to him).
I am sworn to secrecy regarding the nature of the engine ingredients but if you make your way over to GTZ Motor Club forum you may find some useful information there. Didn’t hear that from me though…
Cusco Zero2 coilovers and Cusco A-Arm front camber kit/SPC rear camber kit combined with Hotchkis adjustable sway bars (front and rear) and upgraded end-links help with cornering duty while stopping power comes from a full Stoptech kit – stage 3 front/stage 2 rear – running Ferodo 2500 pads. Combined with a trick Quaife ATB limited slip differential with SPL solid mounts, you kinda get the feeling that Lotfi has all bases covered on this Z.
The goal of the build was always to achieve a reliable car capable of handling 700 Whp as a daily driver. It has been achieved through a lot of research, using quality components and not cutting any corners. Unlikely that the evolution of this Z33 will end here though and Lotfi is already compiling a wish list for further modifications. Just a tweak here and there. Nothing major…
Yeah, right.
