There hasn’t been this much hype and attention focused on the race to be the quickest and the fastest since the golden era of modern import drag racing. Back then, the likes of Steph Papadakis, Adam Saruwatari and David Shih battled it out for the title of quickest and fastest import. Today, top tuning shops across the USA and Japan have investing heavily in building parts and performance solutions for Nissan’s R35 GT-R platform. While Japan has focused on the street and on-track capabilities of the GT-R, America’s passion for brute acceleration has focused on the R35’s quarter-mile capabilities. 10-second, 9-second, 8-second and now 7-second passes have been achieved in less than five years. In the hands of the right tuner, the R35 GT-R continues to redefine the line between what is and isn’t possible.

Text by Richard Fong // Photos by Michael Ferrara

From Four to Six

AMS Performance of West Chicago started as a tuning shop focused on turbocharged, four cylinder, all-wheel drive imports like the Evolution and the STI. When the R35 GT-R became available, it was a natural progression for AMS to take its experience and apply it to the exotic Nissan.

States AMS’ founder, Martin Musial, “Our successful history with the 4G63 and 4B11 engine platforms inspired us to work with the larger displacement and twin turbochargers of the VR38DETT engine.”

Alpha Starts, Omega Ends

A year after the GT-R’s release, AMS purchased its own R35 GT-R for development and testing. Shortly after, AMS initiated the release of its Alpha line of tuning packages. These staged power upgrades offered turn-key performance at a variety of power levels. Of course, other tuners and manufacturers were offering packages while exploring new performance boundaries.

With competition from the likes of SP Engineering and Switzer Performance, AMS continually pushed to stay at the front of the ever-growing pack. AMS added multiple Alpha packages to appeal to a broader base of customers while the test vehicle “Omega” was used to find the end limits of performance. An A to Z approach, in the Greek alphabet.

Allied For Success

[pullquote]THESE ALPHA SPEC PARTS ESTABLISHED THE FOUNDATION FOR THE ALPHA TUNING KITS[/pullquote]AMS realized that in order to succeed in its efforts to be Number One, strategic alliances were essential. Having worked closely with manufacturers and specialists in engine and driveline development, exclusive components built to AMS’ requirements contributed to the racing effort. Consumers ultimately benefit from this development, as these Alpha Spec parts established the foundation for the Alpha tuning kits.