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So despite the oppressive desert
heat, topping the thermostat at around 115 degrees Fahrenheit,
Noel and I hopped in the
FreshAlloy Project 350Z and drove up the Antelope Valley
freeway toward destination "middle-of-nowhere," about 90 miles
north of Los Angeles. For those of you who have never been to
the Streets of Willow, situated right next to Willowsprings
International Raceway, it's a popular "teaching" facility for
local So-Cal organizations because it offers a long, sweeping
course on one side, and a short, tight, technical road course on
the other.
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The day couldn't have started
better, as we approach the paddocks we were greeted by 10
beautiful Nissan automobiles. Two Sentra SE-Rs, five Altima
vehicles in various trim, and three differeent 350Zs. Right in
front of me was Nissan's bread and butter performance line, just
waiting for me to take them out and stretch their legs. The team
from Nissan and NISMO greeted us with hot coffee and wonderful
pastries. But you know, I can't be bought (that and I haven't
joined the Motor Press Guild yet). I was determined to push each
one of these cars to their limits and be as objective as I can.
So after a brief introduction to some of the engineers
responsible for the NISMO line of products, I quickly grabbed
the chief instructor WHO? for a few quick recon laps before I
went out on this short, tight course by myself.
First, the line-up. Leading off, we have the two Nissan Sentra
SE-Rs. Both were extensively modified. The S-Tune (Street-Tuned)
vehicle comes with NISMO springs, dampeners, and swaybars, along
with NISMO intake and exhaust. The R-Tune (Race-Tuned) SE-R has
all the S-Tune parts, in addition to R-Tune camshafts, headers,
flywheels and clutch. The AltimaS started with a base 3.5 SE,
two Altima SE-Rs, an S-Tune Altima 3.5 SE, and an R-Tune Altima
2.5 S (yes a 4 cylinder NISMO car). And the clean-up, big
hitters were a Touring model 350Z, an S-Tune Enthusiast model
350Z, and an R-Tune Track 350Z. They also had two of the first
NISMO semi-badged vehicles in the U.S.; two NISMO Frontiers. And
oh yes, a 2006 350Z, with model changes which we were sworn to
secrecy. Unfortunately the '06 350Z was not available for
testing. An impressive line-up indeed.
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