It takes a unique kind of person to drive the mighty Nissan GTR and come to the conclusion that it lacks some punch. After driving this stunning GTR in stock form for quite some time, our long time customer and good friend A.B decided it was time to get serious. There are many tuning options and packages available for the GTR. On this build however we decided that we were going to do it right. The Nissan engineers at the famous Yokohama plant in Japan did things the right way and so will we. This naturally led us straight to AMS.

AMS offers various packages depending on how much power you’re looking for. We chose the Alpha 7 Package for this build. The Alpha 7 package is designed to maximize the output of the stock turbochargers. This is as far as you can go without a turbo upgrade.

Luckily Nissan was kind enough to leave heaps of power potential on the table when they designed the R35 GT-R. The AMS Alpha 7 kit bumps the power and torque of the GTR’s VR38DETT motor by freeing up exhaust flow with a set of properly tuned downpipes and exhaust system, increasing turbo efficiency with improved intakes and a larger intercooler and boosting fuel delivery. These changes unleash the GT-R’s real potential.

Enough intro, lets get into the build.

This is the car back when it was stock. The only mod at this point was the TIG Motorsport Decal.

Here she is at the TIG Motorsport HQ.

Time to get this show on the road. The GTR is put on our lift.

These are the parts we are going to install on the GTR.

The front bumper is taken off and now the fun can begin.

The bumper is set aside for now but what’s that black box underneath?

Yeah, its an Akrapovic catback for this GTR build. We are doing this properly. The takumi (specialist) workers from the GTR’s home in Yokohama Japan would be proud.

And it’s on. Those tips are epic!

Here they are again. Stunning!

We could spend all day staring at those carbon Akrapovic tips. Time to continue this build though and move up towards the front with ALPHA downpipes. Check out those welds!

This is the complete Akrapovic/ALPHA exhaust combo that was installed.

The Akrapovic/ALPHA combo is on the left. The weedy OEM setup is on the right.

Time to get serious now and get to work on the VR38DETT motor.

Right, we’ll grab some tools and get into it.

The OEM components are out, time to get our AMS goodies installed.

This is the Alpha intercooler that’s going in.

OEM intercooler comes out.

And the ALPHA intercooler is in. Looking good.

The Cobb Access Port will be used to remap the car once everything is put back together.

Now it’s time to tackle the ALPHA coolant expansion tank.

The expansion tank is in and looks brilliant. Notice the wooden stick used to keep the bonnet open. The OEM bonnet support was taken off with the front end. A state of the art wooden stick was substituted and did the job until the front end was back on.

Time to pop in the 1,000 CC injectors.

The oil cooler is also installed. Check out that cheeky Evo 8 in the background. It’s feeling very jealous as it watches the ALPHA 7 package being installed.

Here is another photo of the oil cooler. The AMS components are top quality!

Time for a cup of coffee. We take a step back to admire this beast as we load up on caffeine. It’s going to be a long night.

BAM! The intake is on.

Time to grab the bumper and put everything back together.

The Cobb Access Port is fired up and plugged in.

Here is the official dyno sheet from AMS for the ALPHA 7 package. Did we reach those numbers? Stay tuned (no pun intended).

The AMS build hits the streets! Check out this quick video we made 🙂

 

Time for an update!

Now that the performance mods are done (for now), it’s time to make this GTR look as good as it goes. The aftermarket offers many aero kits for the GTR, we chose to work with Revozport on this build. Why? Simple, because Revozport is ISO 9001:2008 certified by both SGS & TÜV SÜD. They offer top notch build quality and develop and test their parts in a full scale wind tunnel.

The results of this intense testing are impressive to say the least. The overall downforce level is significantly higher than that of the stock GTR setup (as demonstrated in the graph below). This means higher levels of grip and ultimately faster lap times. The Revozport package includes a rear trunk lid, rear spoiler, dive planes, splitters and brake cooling ducts. This kit not only looks that part but it’s functional as well.

This is the front splitter, notice the brake cooling ducts.

The ducts feed cold air into the cooling pipes that deliver cooling to the from brakes.

The dive planes, necessary on all race cars.

The rear wing is stunning!

The rear diffuser all carbon.

The diffuser looks great with the akrapovic exhaust.

Up on the lift, looking good!

The wing looks awesome!

Time for a photoshoot!

The rear end.

Now that the Revozport aero kit has been installed it’s time to take care of those OEM wheels. What should we go for though? We need something that’s been properly engineered, lightweight and strong. We invite Godzilla to our shop to see what he has to say.

Godzilla suggested we go for a set of HRE wheels. So HRE it is.

Wow Godzilla was right! These HRE P101 wheels are looking good!

And here is the complete build 🙂

This project is far from over. For now though we wanted to say a big thanks to:
1. A.B for choosing TIG Motorsport to build his ALPHA 7 GTR.
2. Our partners for this project PitStop.
3. The top notch support we received from AMS.
4. Revozport for supplying the aero kit.
5. HRE Wheels for supplying the Awesome P101 wheels.
6. The TIG Motorsport photographer (Stig Photography) for documenting this build.