Dream Car: Infiniti M30

17 Jun 2017

Previously on my dream car: I worried about the compression on the R34 and started looking at other cars to replace it.

Today I have what some of you will see as an anti-climax.
This is the Nissan Leopard, better known as the Infiniti M30 (if anyone even knows what that is).

Despite being a hub of Japanese used cars, New Zealand has almost no Nissan Leopards, aside from the J’Feree and Y31 series.
The Nissan Leopard is basically a luxury version of the R31 made to compete with the Toyota Soarer.
Unlike the previous generation of Leopard, the F31 was only available as a coupe and unlike the R31 it housed a VG engine.

This Leopard is the cheapest one for sale in Japan at $3500; as such it is missing luxuries seen in other trims such as electrically operated seats and leather trim. The previous owner obviously didn’t like the multi-function steering wheel and has swapped it with a woodgrain Nardi wheel (which I would swap back to factory).
Another drawback from being the cheapest version is that this one is powered by a VG20E - that’s right, a 2 Litre V6 single-cam.
Power output is rated at 115HP, which really is nothing.

My plan would be to modify the powerplant and drivetrain.
In New Zealand you will require certification if you increase power by 25%. This means that if you add a turbo, you will be required to get it certified or to prove that the turbo doesn’t increase the power over the threshold - and if you require certification, you will most likely need extras such as upgraded brakes and a driveshaft hoop.

Therefore my engine of choice would be a VG30DE from a 300ZX. From factory the VG30DE had 230HP which is twice what the VG20E has, plus because of the plethora of intake manifolds and the rarity of the VG20E, the vehicle tester will not notice that the engine has been swapped, and if they do notice they would rarely believe that a twin-cam conversion without a turbo will add much power at all (huehuehue).
The gearbox will be swapped with a 300ZX 5-speed while the diff and driveshaft will come out of an R31 or R32 since they share the same wheelbase.

My intention will be to keep the exterior stock for the sleeper look and beat a few GTSt’s off the mark (this will have 230HP n/a, GTSt is 210HP turbo’d).

Comments

That’s nice! Could be quite a good sleeper if you keep it looking stock with that engine. Though it looks like the suspension is non-existent in the rear…

Haha yeah it’s definitely lowered somehow, and the wheels were taken from a 180SX, R32 or Cefiro, but they match (apart from being pushed in).

This car could be a cool vip style car

Was thinking more like kaido racer. Slammed on 14’s.

There was one of these in white for $2K here in the states I considered after the Volvo died. It’s a really rare car over here, like, I’ve still never seen one in the metal rare.

You should have bought it: a year ago, these saw a major increase in price - like 5x their value for a good condition one. At least in Japan they did.