For the most part, when you get together a big group of tuners – we mean real tuners, not some dude that throws 500 lbs of plastic and chrome on his ride and calls it a “tuner” car – there are several clear divides. One of the biggest divides is between the Nissan->ke62 group and the Toyota->ke88 group. As the No. 2 and 3 import tuner cars, respectively, there is no love lost between them. In real life they respect each other – for the most part – but under the hood, they despise one another.

This is why you never see a Nissan-meets-Toyota kind of monster build. You'll see domestic engines in Hondas->ke34 and vice versa, but you never ever see someone take a Nissan car and drop a Toyota->ke88 powerplant in it. Well, until now!

Steven Mills, in collaboration with ISS Forged and Tech 2 Motorsports, decided, like many others in the world, that the VQ35 engine found in his 350Z was not up to snuff, even with a wide array of mods. So he yanked it out and dropped in a Nissan powerplant. Oh, you would like to know what engine he swapped it out for. You will be surprised, we are sure of it.

Click past the jump to find out about the engine and read our full review.

nissan-350z-rival-swap-by-tech-2-motorsports

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: nissan-350z-rival-swap-by-tech-2-motorsports
Pros
Cons

2004 Nissan 350Z "Rival Swap" by Tech 2 Motorsports

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2004 Nissan 350Z "Rival Swap" by Tech 2 Motorsports
  • Segment: Array
  • Engine/Motor: inline-6
  • Transmission: 5-Speed Automatic
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

Let's ease you into this beast by starting on the outside and working our way in. The first thing you're going to notice when you roll up to this 350Z->ke520 is that it's hardly a sleeper. Actually, it may be mistaken for a “Ricer” that just had body part and rims slapped on it.

This 350Z is draped with pearlescent white paint and wrapped in a full Type E body kit on its lower third. The front bumper cover boasts a set of outer wings that are telltale signs that show this may not be just another “Ricer.” As you work your way up from the very basic wide-mouth front fascia, you come across a carbon-fiber hood. We're talking real carbon-fiber, not overlaid fiberglass or metal.

Up and over the slippery roofline of the 350Z you go and you come to a massive pedestal-style carbon-fiber wing. Go ahead and think to yourself “Pfft, I've seen bigger wings on a 105-horsepower Civic.” But this wing actually serves a purpose with all of the ponies that this yet-to-be disclosed engine pumps to the rear wheels. The full-size, weight-distributing mount on the base of the wing gives away that it's not there just to bend up his hatch lid.

When you reach the back end, you find a slick-looking rear bumper with twin heat extractors for the brakes and a pair of nasty exhaust pipes hanging out of the back end. Oh and these aren't your typical horsepower-decreasing fart-noise-increasing Folgers coffee cans you find on the ass end of a late-model Civic, but we'll get into that part later.

As you step back from this Z-car, you can't help but ponder whether it actually lives up to all of the noise that its body makes, or is it just that... A bunch of useless noise. We can assure you that is it certainly not the latter.

Interior

Take a look inside this monster and you'll see a lot more of the picture. You find yourself staring at a partial-race interior. A close look shows a blue roll cage spanning the length and width of the interior to both protect the driver and add a little rigidity to the body. You'll also find a pair of Bride racing seats to keep you in place while Steven whips this beast around a track.

The driver gets to hang on to a full-racing steering wheel. Sitting in the center stack there is another telltale sign that this car means business, a Greddy Profec B-Spec II boost controller, so he can fine-tune the turbocharger on the fly.

In the center console, you also see a shiny red button, but as Tommy Lee Jones once notably said “Oh, the red button there, kid. Don't ever, ever touch the red button.” We'll get into that little piece of awesomeness in just a little bit.

From what we can tell, the rest of the 350Z's interior remains untouched, giving it a racing look, but also a relatively stock look at the same time.

Engine and Transmission

Okay, we'll stop with all of the teasing, given you didn't skip every other section and come straight to the engine section. If you did, we can't blame you.

Let's first give you a little background on this engine swap. This 350Z began with the same VQ35 engine that all 2004 350Zs began their life with. Mills decided this wasn't enough, so he dropped $10,000 to have a twin-turbo setup installed. Like many 350Z owners, he found that the VQ just doesn't take too well to a lot of boost and the high engine speeds needed to crank out that peak horsepower. So he took to the customization route.

Mills started thinking about installing an GM LS engine or even staying in the Nissan brand and dropping in an engine from the Nissan RB family of engines. He decided against both options and branched out to a rival import, Toyota, to get the powerplant he needed.

The only Nissan engine he could find suitable for his build was a 2JZ-GTE engine. For those that don't know, that is the turbocharged 3.0-liter in-line 6-cylinder engine of Supra->ke355 fame. This donor engine was pulled from a 1998 Supra, which boasts 320 horsepower straight from the box. As it sits, the 2JZ-GTE can handle up to 500 ponies and a load of boost, thanks to its recessed piston tops to lower compression, oil-cooled pistons, and high-strength crankshaft.

At this point, Mills enlisted the help of Tech 2 Motorsports to take on the swap. Tech 2 provided the build the custom motor mounts, new drivetrain cross-members, and 4-inch intercooler to make the installation as straightforward as it could be. Mills then added in a set of oil coolers and a high-flow fuel pump to keep things moving on the inside of the engine.

Also strapped to this high-powered 6-banger is a set of OBX pulleys to help lessen the load on the engine and free up a few extra horses. Helping the engine breath a little is a full titanium exhaust system from HKS with custom turbo piping. Also, swapped out was the twin-turbo setup in favor of a single Precision turbocharger. To squeeze ever last ounce out of this build, Steven then had the ECU replaced with an AEM V1 ECU.

Oh, and we almost forgot the little red button. Well, much like the little red button in that Ford POS, as Will Smith put it in MIB, it'll make this 350Z do something like this when you push it. Okay, well maybe sans the defiance of gravity, body transformation, jet packs, and Elvis playing in an 8-track player, but you get the point. That button controls the 10-pound Nitrous Express kit, or as we like to call it, the “Haul-Ass Spray.” Just please don't call it "NOS" or our heads might explode.

All of this links up to a Toyota Aristo 5-speed automatic transmission, which is the only weak link in the entire build. Once this transmission is swapped out for a more durable unit, Mills can really unleash the engine.

Though the actually horsepower number is not released, we estimate that this build is good for at least 600 horsepower. With the mild modifications, the engine can handle upward of 700 ponies, but the transmission just can't take that abuse.

Suspension and Handling

Okay, you need to be able to stop and steer this beast, so Mills paid a little attention to the handling too. Under the car, you have a set of Greddy Type S coilover struts, plus a strut bars tying each side together. On the corners, you have a set of ISS Forged FS6 wheels that are layered in Lamborghini Verde Ithaca (lime green color) with black inner barrels, measuring 19 x 9.5 inches on the front and 19 x 11 inches on the rear. These flashy rims are wrapped in Nitto Invo tires sized 265/30R19 on the front and 315/25R19 on the rear.

Hidden behind the front rims is a Greddy 14-inch big brake kit with 6-pot calipers and steel lines. The rear brakes were upgraded to 13-inch Greddy big brakes with the same 6-pot calipers.

Conclusion

What can we say, this is by far the most creatively done build we've seen lately. Who would think to drop a Supra 6-popper into a 2004 Z-car? When we got word from ISS Forged that this project was complete our mouths all hit the floor in amazement. What an awesome set up and what supreme creativity Steven Mills, Tech 2 Motorsports, and ISS Forges showed when they came up with this beast. Absolutely phenomenal.