PROVING GROUNDS

Now that the Z34 had been tuned, it was time to see what it could do on the track. Aside from the necessary practice days at the racetrack to dial in the suspension, Maezuka pointed out that the drag strip is the best place to evaluate a car. After changing to a softer spring rate and raising the ride height, Maezuka drove the Z34 on the drag strip himself, his first time ever. He managed to run a 12.85-second pass from 0-400m (the Japanese equivalent to the quarter mile.) He mused that the twin-supercharged Z should be able to break into the 10s with drag radials and a professional driver at the wheel.

GOING FOR THE TIMES

Entered to compete on HKS Premium Day in the Option Magazine Fuji Superlap Battle category, the day to put his project to the test had finally arrived. Instead of doing it himself, Maezuka hired Hachiroku driver Ichimaru Akira to pilot the Z around Fuji Speedway. With a best lap time of 1:50.9, Maezuka’s twin supercharged creation just missed the mark. He cited insufficient suspension tuning sessions and brake balance issues that couldn’t be dialed in quickly enough at the track between sessions. Still, he was thrilled with the Z34’s overall performance.

Z FUTURE

The Car Making Revyou Z34 was built for street and circuit, and now that it has made its attempt to reach its goal, Maezuka plans to retune the ECU for street duty. He wanted to build the car to be street legal and track worthy, thus the street setup will include high-flow catalysts to maintain “street legal” status. While he feels that he has gone as far as possible with the twinsupercharger setup, the next step would be turbocharging for greater peak horsepower. For now, he is just tinkering with the idea, but the temptation to attack the lap times could push the Z34 to the next level.