Girl Gone Green: Verena Mei’s Time Attack Nissan 350Z
MotoIQ Staff Report
Although you don’t normally think of motosports as being a green sport, in Verena Mei’s case it is- sort of. After a career as a pro drifter, Verena turned her interest towards Time Attack and with the help of her crew chief, Steve Mitchell of M-Workz, converted her 350Z drift car into the awesome grip machine you see here.
The 416 whp motor that powers the Z is actually a mildly built VQ35DE, one that can be easily duplicated by any enthusiast on a modest budget. Most of the power gain comes from a Jim Wolf Technology twin turbo kit. The well engineered JWT kit includes twin ball bearing Garrett GT28 turbos on shielded cast iron exhaust manifolds for reliability with a bar and plate front mounted intercooler. A custom 3″ 2-1 stainless exhaust exits the burnt gasses. Verena runs her car at a low 9 psi of boost for reliability under tough road racing conditions. The engine also has JWT S-1 camshafts with stock heads. The engine's bottom end remains stock and has amazingly proven to be totally reliable through several seasons of drifting and a season of Time Attack.
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| The day after winning the Redline Time Attack at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, Verena entered a Pro Am drift event there the next day and did well in a car not really set up for drifting. |
A little understood fact about prepping a turbo car for reliable track use is that extreme cooling is needed and the off the shelf performance radiators and oil coolers on the market are not enough to keep a turbo engine cool under actual track conditions. The VQ35DE engine is kept cool by a custom Ron Davis C&R core dual pass radiator with swirl tank and large 13 row Setrab oil cooler.
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| When she's all dressed up, Verena doesnt look at all like the T-shirt and jeans under a car girl we know! |
