A 300 HP Lexus V8 in a Classic Datsun Z - Travesty..? or Genius

foreign welcome to number 27 I'm Jack and today I'm here with the Datsun Zed now you all know that I really have a soft spot for these cars but this is a 280Z with a difference because it has the Lexus V8 in it now some might think that that is a little bit of a travesty not only has the inline six been swapped out but in its place it has a Toyota engine not just that but it has a Mazda RX7 gearbox and the limited slip diff from a Subaru so this set has the engine from an LS430 I myself had an LS400 and I love these engines so it is quite an interesting choice let's just make a little bit of a comparison in terms of stats so this has exactly double the power compared to the l28 that would have been in this car originally it's a V8 versus an inline six it puts out 400 no not 400 300 horsepower as against the 150 that this car would originally have had it's the same story with the torque it's double 200 newton meters for the original engine 400 for this also you might think that putting this engine in the car might spoil the handling and it is true that the original engine is a little bit lighter than this but from what I've been able to find we're only talking about 20 25 kilos and if you look at how far back the V8 is because it is more compact than the inline six it's moved back in the car so that might actually help handling let's take it out and see how it drives hmm [Music] sounds quite mean I can't wait [Music] so let me tell you in terms of power to weight ratio I think this is close to a Ferrari 355 now now the 240s were a bit lighter the 280s were heavier cars by about 100 150 kilos so this should weigh about 1200 kilos with that engine but of course it's not all just going to be about the power the torque is going to make a massive difference I think to this car and straight away as soon as you prod that throttle out of a junction the back comes straight out it does feel like the back end is so light it's running so much power that this is going to be quite interesting I'm going to have to be quite careful apart from that though driving slowly it feels very much the familiar lovely Zed that you would expect because the interior is largely unchanged the exterior has those lights which actually I don't mind and it all looks pretty much the same the gearbox feels absolutely lovely but it is extremely short extremely precise nicely weighed absolutely nothing that you can say that's bad about that gear shift the steering a little bit heavier parking speeds then as soon as you go still it lightens up but not massively so I think this car is running some bigger tires than standard so it's carrying a bit more weight through there already it feels just a little bit more ponderous than the other Zeds that I have driven the standard Zeds anyway um but we'll see what it's like when it's um properly on the move when Ash first got this car thank you so much Ash for bringing it down it came with the original gearbox so they'd put the Lexus 430 LS430 gearbox on it which is a little bit disastrous [Music] it does feel I mean the moment you prod that throttle it just surges forward you can feel the talk so I'm being a little bit careful with how much I how many Liberties I take with that engine steering is interesting I'm going to reserve judgment until a bit later in this test but it loads up very quickly off center and it doesn't I mean it doesn't feel like it's particularly quick I mean there's a lot of feel but I'm not sure if that's just weight that's piling on or if it's actually feel but we need stairs all right doesn't feel like the front has a massive amount of um of grip nor the back to be honest with all that power coming through these Lexus V8 they are amazing engines they're incredibly smooth they're powerful they're reliable they're pretty light and compact now the engine is completely standard uh it's straight out of Alexis I mean the exhaust is slightly different but it has a center silencer so as a result it's not madly loud I have to say the I think the inline six has a more distinctive sound being an older engine as well obviously it has carved so there's air intake sound this I wouldn't say it's worse but it has a more generic V8 sound it's um in a way it's not as special it feels special in this because this isn't normally how this would sound they're pretty Revy engines the standard um l28s l24s that the Zeds had as well whereas this you can tickle along you know a 2 000 revs and it really picks up instantly so it's quite a different Driving Experience Ash told me that he'd fitted some quick steering Knuckles and he was quite unsure about them steering doesn't feel quick to me and although it's it's nice and measured I'm also just unsure I don't know if it's those Knuckles or maybe the bigger tires but question Mark's still about the steering the yes and we'll see how it behaves there um hopefully not too wildly we'll come back anyway so I'll take it a bit easier on the way in see what it does should have probably left it in third there because there's so much torque tight corner oh again it feels like it wants to push wide if I'm a bit braver with the throttle um maybe it would be a little bit more maybe it was a little bit more um balanced so we'll try that again on the way back I'll be a little bit more aggressive and see what it does [Music] okay that's a it's a damp day today and it struggles to put down its power it is sort of wheel spinning a lot but [Music] to drive slightly it's easy but drive it quickly I don't know okay let's see how it goes again through these we'll leave it in third this time and just use that tool Todd it definitely feels like it it wants to push wide a little bit at the beginning of the corner and then you can kind of get it to tuck in a little bit fitting with rain now I don't know if maybe there is a bit more weight at the front than with the original engine or if it's higher up it doesn't look it looks like such an oem placement in there it doesn't look like it's been cobbled together the chassis the tub hasn't been modified at all it's a straight fit as well so if you want a hooligan car this is absolutely it ah the road's a little bit drier here and see how it goes suspension isn't particularly harsh I haven't asked Ash actually what he's done suspension wise I presume he's got some sort of coilovers that key air change is just lovely it really is oh my God man this thing really is quick now something quite unusual has happened you're seeing me now but the recording is a separate recording that's because I finished everything done a conclusion then we did the flybys and then I drove it again and I've had some thoughts since then and actually I've gelled with it so much more that I thought I had to add something to what I said previously and it is it does feel if you go into a corner on a trailing throttle or whatever it will feel like it's slightly to the pushing wide at the front but in actual fact it's gonna be a bit more brutish with it going slightly slower plant your foot well not quite plant your foot otherwise it would spin out but just be a little bit braver with the right foot and then it's quite a nice tidy little Brew really is it's it's completely changed character from a standard Zed incredible what a massive difference a different power plant can make now this 3u Zed engine as well as well as having a lot of low down torque it does still pick up the pace around sort of four and a half I think it develops a little bit of a harder sound and it just pulls harder but it's not that frequently on a road like this that you can use all that power I think it's a could really appeal to my American friends I think it's become much more of a muscle car in character obviously there's the sound of the V8 but there's the torque there as well and maybe in a way it's good that it's not quite as agile up front because I think it needs that stability to deal with the increased power it's intimidating at first this car but I'm learning to trust it a bit more the back end feels quite predictable and it's quite communicative so you know what it's doing and it kind of gives you the confidence to get over that front end Push by just tickling it a bit more from the back I'm really enjoying it now so smooth five and a half thousand I didn't even realize I'm kind of just keeping it at that gin is just amazing this whole Road apart from this twisty little bit where second it's actually a little bit better let's see The Hairpin here go in slow-ish and then open up the back end oh yes what a tool totally different from a normal Zed but none the worst for it thank you all so much for watching I massively appreciate it please do have a look at this other Zed video that I'm putting out actually two Zed videos one is another modified car but more standard than this again a 280 I think or a 260. and the other one is a comparison to the cars that this was designed to crush the MGB and the TR6 well the MGB in this case thank you so much and see you for the next one

Channel: Number 27

Views: 32,572

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Id: VdW3eIh6eoA

Length: 12min 50sec (770 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 07 2023