At first glance, you might think Ed Reeser has a split personality. By day, he pushes pen and paper in a large Los Angeles law firm. Two nights a week, however, this Harvard-educated lawyer trades in his three-piece suit for a black belt in kung fu.
Reeser's car displays similar manic behavior. Stickers aside, his street legal/race ready Infiniti G35 Coupe has been developed to kick some serious butt. Look deeper, though, and a more complex character emerges from both car and driver. Reeser is an ardent Nissan fan and regular contributor to many Nissan/Infiniti online forums. But why a G35? "It has good bones," says Ed. "With the front-midship design and 53/47 front-to-rear weight distribution, it's an excellent platform to start with. It wasn't until I got further into the modifications and began to experience just how well it performed that I decided to keep pushing the envelope."
This is abundantly clear from the amount of time and money he has invested in his G. If you could take apart the VQ35 engine you'd find ceramic-coated CP piston heads and skirts, Pauter rods, a Fluidamper crankshaft harmonic damper, and Jim Wolf Technology S-2 cams (constructed for his twin-turbo application). The light (10 lbs) ATS flywheel and the triple carbon plate racing clutch are further proof that Ed is clearly one who pays close attention to the finer details. "Nothing has been done that does not provide results," says Ed. Botched jobs are not an option.
Neither is turbo lag. Twin JWT 530 BB turbochargers (modified Garrett ball-bearing units) are fitted to the 3.5-liter V-6, spooling out 403 wheel-hp at 6250 rpm. More impressive is the 419 lb-ft of torque peaking at 3750 rpm. This broad powerband gives Ed a choice of gears during his frequent track outings, and that's with only 12 psi of boost. As much as 14 psi of boost is available with the Blitz SBC i-D III programmable boost controller.
But Ed's Infiniti isn't merely an exercise in bolting on more go-fast stuff; there's a subtlety to it. "Developing 800 hp at the wheels is certainly attainable, but why?" asks Ed.His approach is to get the optimum performance, not necessarily the maximum. To this end, Reeser focused his efforts on optimizing engine temperature, deploying a carbon-fiber vented hood supplied by VIS, a Koyo three-row aluminum radiator, and a Stillen oil cooler that works in conjunction with an Amsoil Pre-oiler and a BMK-13 dual bypass filter system. Incidentally, this oil system holds 13 quarts of Amsoil racing-spec oil; the standard car's oil capacity is around 5.5 quarts). But here's the really clever bit; Ed had Turbo X thermal barrier coatings applied to the exhaust manifolds and turbo housings, while the intake piping and plenum get a full treatment of Cermakrome--another brand of thermal barrier coating.
The result? A 100-degree F drop under the hood. Not only does the cooler air mean more power, it means less boost required from the turbos and an engine that is less stressed. The turbos also spool up faster by retaining interior heat better and scavenging waste gas more effectively, another important weapon in the war against lag. Greater efficiency with greater reliability; it's a win-win situation.Jim Wolf provides the plumbing for the intake, turbos, and intercooler while Violent Racing Technologies (VRT) of El Cajon, CA, did the wrenching over the space of two months. Naturally, the ECU got a custom program, courtesy of TechnoSquare. A stainless steel, titanium-tipped HKS dual exhaust system interacts with Crawford high-flow catalytic converters. Other upgraded parts include a Nismo power steering fluid cooler, a Walbro 255-lph fuel pump, and a Nismo limited-slip differential.