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Mike Kojima posted on November 22, 2009 22:58 

Robispec’s Street Class Time Attack Nissan 370Z, Simple is Better?
By Mike Kojima, photos by Jeff Naeyaert
Robispec is a Southern California tuning shop whose specialty is a rather unusual one. Instead of the typical shop in search of speed via the quest for more and more power, Robispec’s game is increasing lateral G’s, of the cornering kind. The proprietor of Robispec is Robert Fuller or Robi, one of our favorite people. Robi is always willing to lend a hand or give advice to whatever project we have asked him, either formally as in our Project EVO IX or by helping us swing wrenches at the track. Robi is on our short list of people we call for help if we have a problem that needs solving.
About six weeks ago we got a call from Robi telling us he would have something special, a Nissan 370Z he was building for the SEMA show and the annual Source Interlink Super Lap Battle. As there has been a lack of serious Nissan 370Z parts development due probably to its sluggish sales, we eagerly awaited checking out what Robi could cook up in short order.

The 370Z is one of our favorite cars and what we consider one of the great performance bangs for the buck. It is also blessed with sleek good looks. Unfortunately the buying public doesn’t seem to agree with us. In the vicinity of our Southern California office, the 370Z is a rare bird, the coveted Skyline GT-R seems to be more popular, we see several every week but the amount of 370Zs spotted can still be counted on a single hand. We have heard that the new car is selling sluggishly as well at a less than 1000 unit a month pace. These low sales volumes are also affecting the aftermarket's investment in the car. Other than bolt ons, GTM and Greddy’s turbo kits, there seems to be few hardcore things going on with the 370Z.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:12 AM
Is the rear wing mounted to the chassis or the truck lid? Because it looks like it's just on the trunk.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 2:27 AM
This is the way to build a car!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 9:30 AM
Very nice build, great approach. Surprised 370's are not selling well in CA, 1000 units a month total NNA is more like G35 Coupe numbers back in 2003-2004 vs. 36,000 350Z's the first year. Doesn't help most of those 350Z's are still around as used cars for pretty cheap, nothing like that back then. The 370Z timing was pretty bad here in the NE - both post-crash and January = not going to sell a lot in NE in Winter. I figured that was just a regional thing since it is every bit as exciting or better than when I bought my 350Z in Nov 2002, and they're mostly holding the line on price with a much nicer car! My theory is people on the top % are still buying the GT-R's since it's not a stretch for them, maybe even pulling in would-be buyers of much more expensive cars. The 370Z target audience is still trying to figure out how to keep the house, job, things were a heck of a lot easier back when the 350Z was introduced. A lot harder sell today for any new car. I just don't have room for another car right now with 6 vehicles (4 Nissans), or I'd be all over that. Or, a very slightly used 350Z NISMO, they're still around with ~10k miles for $24k.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 2:22 PM
Yes we mounted the wing to the edge of the hatch right wher they have folded 3 layers of metal together. the hatch moves not the wing mounts or the base plates. (so we added a bit of pre-load to the hatch latch mechanism) and the slight wing movement went away. Tested to 145 mph...
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:15 PM
Thanks Robi, I really like all the detailed refinements that you made to the car. I like the BIG BOY chassis brace and the high contrast color scheme is nice. In the article: "In the rear, a fully functional carbon, DHP composites single element race wing is mounted directly to the chassis via adjustable Robispec mounts." I just wasn't sure if I was missing some super trick mounting technique that you invented. Wow, this forum is pretty cool. I didn't expect that it would be the actual builder responding to my question. Thanks again.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:44 PM
Wow, that is awesome. I wish more tuners went for lighter weight with better handling before going for 1000hp.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:33 PM
here in mexico the sales have been really bad... mainly sales price... over 48 grand.... thats a lot of money for a nissan.
Thursday, November 26, 2009 9:05 AM
200.5 seconds for a lap at BW CW13? Was that a typo? That's over 3 minutes.
Thursday, November 26, 2009 11:42 AM
Supoosed to be 2:00.5 minutes
Sunday, November 29, 2009 3:06 PM
whats the driver (steering wheel gasket) ? "The driver (steering wheel gasket) is one of the heaviest single components".....
Sunday, November 29, 2009 9:35 PM
A driver is nutin but a steering wheel gasket.
Friday, December 04, 2009 8:42 AM
Hey Kojima i don't want to get off the subject of this feature but i recall asking a question on a previous feature (which was important to me) "DIY Exhaust that does not suck.... feature. As well as sent you a e-mail about the ? I was wondering if you had any info on the ? Thanks
 
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