First let me introduce myself! I am Twisted300zx an American Z31 enthusiast. I own, collect and restore Z31s.
Stumbled across this thread on google.
Kevin Lee said:
The Z31 is also rare on Malaysian shores. The Z31 would easily be a recognisable Zerotohundred.com car, since there's not much of these on the roads. One of the reasons would be that it carried a larger 3.0 litre engine, which has unfavourable road tax pricing for people who wanted to own the Z. However, in the modern days, the oversized 3.0 litre engine could be swapped with a more efficient 90's engine , that would put out much more horsepower than the engines in the 80's could offer.
Installed Nissan RB26DETT engine in the Nissan Fairlady 300ZX Z31
That's partially incorrect. The car is rare outside of the USA, yes, but the 3.0L V6 (VG30ET) engine is not oversized or under powered at all. It has been proven by my fellow US Z31 enthusiasts to handle up to 700hp on stock engine internals and there are people who have got their VG30ET powered Z31's to run 9 seconds in the 1/4 mile. The fastest Z31 currently has a fully build VG30ET running a ~9.3 in the 1/4 mile.
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The VG engines from Nissan are one of the more superior engines and gaining popularity recently, capable of producing more power than the RB engines, and VG parts are easier to find and cheaper too. Not mention more reliable.
Fun Fact: One of the models of the Z31 came stock with a RB20DET (2.0L In-line 6, with T3 turbo), only available in the JDM Fairlady Nissan 200zr. It came with 172 horse power... Non-turbo 300zx came with 165 horse power, Turbo 300zx came with 205 horse power, stock. With light modification the VG30ET can reach over 300 horse power easily, and there have been claims of 1000hp VG30ET engines.
