| You make many bold statements, however that doesn't make them facts. We're constantly learning new things, however our oem blocks aren't changing. Nissan's economic decisions in the 90's were certainly not the only reason they ran into trouble. Do you remember the rising exportation costs problem? I believe the NA radiator decision was an economic decision (ironically). The NA radiator (or a similar one) is used in the Maxima and probably several other Nissans. Nissan likely calculated that it was cheaper to use a higher production radiator in the NA. The NA radiator is also thinner than the TT radiator, likely reducing costs. I can rattle off numerous reasonable cost focused decisions from the 90's: No VIAS system, plenum shape, no 17" wheels, iron calipers, no telescoping steering wheel, 3L engine (tax reasons), stamped steel suspension arms, etc. The 3000gt showcased many more cutting edge technologies like adjustable aero, VIAS, etc. Nissan appears to have focused on several "high profile" technologies when designing the 300zx (VTC, TT, HICAS). They even removed VTC from the 1996 cars. Elsewhere, they cut cost as much as possible. The point remains that larger wrist pins, exhaust valve material, piston shape, and a reduced compression ratio are lackluster marketing points. Ken didn't drive a Z in the toys commercial while proclaiming "the TT has lower static compression!". Prove your "fact" that forced induction causes NO additional wear/stress to wrist pins. Head Designs- The head intake design was probably driven by the (outmoded) school of thought that a head could be optimized for forced induction OR natural aspiration. But not both. Now, virtually all competent shops would argue that an efficient head is an efficient head. Of course, this is after much computer modeling, new diagnostic equipment, and testing. The NA head is the more efficient head by far. I would rather port a NA head than have to weld up a TT head to achieve the same end result. Opportunity Cost- It seems you're a reasonably well-to-do guy but have you considered your opportunity costs here? You spend 300-400 hours tuning with Nistune in addition to "professional" tuning. Let's assume you make $30 an hour for sake of argument. At that rate, you've lost as much as $12,000 in tuning time, plus much more at SZ. What could you have saved if you had spent $1500 more on a basic refreshed TT short block to start with? I've spent about 45 minutes putting around the Nistune GUI. I would rather spend 5-8 hours more while tuning an optimized block conservatively than hundreds tuning a sub-optimized one. 95%'s the game before e85 and more expensive turbos go on. "Hi Compression..." 420hp isn't anything to sneeze at, but what have you given up by not dialing in the bottom end for your purposes? Are you running stock cams? Without a cam-driven lower dynamic compression ratio or de-shrouded combustion chamber you're giving up valuable safety margin. My time is too valuable to run without a healthy safety margin. -96 laps? lol When I visit Branson, drive a Z cruise, or even leave the city, it's full throttle as much as possible. I'm usually near WOT or hard brake for hours. You know it's bad when your regular brake pads only last a few thousand miles. I hate to say it but I've been in many nearly-deadly situations. Not only have I blown a nearly-new TT automatic transmission, but I've bent my brake pedal down an inch in a few stops. Still have to replace that. The Evo 8's help things but I still get decent brake fade while driving aggressively. I have a dedicated fund for blown suspension arms. Does that sound like pussy driving to you? 10.5 static compression and NA wrist pins wouldn't leave enough wiggle room for me (maybe unless I was running monster cams). SZ- SZ is a shop. Like all shops, they aren't infallible. I've heard Greg claim that the JWT mild cams are poorly designed- causing a dip in power output at over 5000 rpm. In reality, this dip is probably caused by the VTC's de-activating. Greg also suggested to a customer that he not degree his cams before bringing his Z into the shop. From the stories I've heard (yours included), I wouldn't trust SZ. Even $1000/hr (I know that SZ is a bit less) doesn't guarantee a good tune if the shop makes mistakes. Some famous chiropractors make $5000 for placing a patient in a vibrating chair a few times. My Head Experience- I brought my heads to Speed Specialties in Mesquite for porting only after driving to two other shops and calling 4-5 others. It took me a week to find the shop. The machinists examined the intake ports closely and identified the short side radius discrepancy. After 1.5 hours of questioning, I finally settled on that shop. I'd argue they're one of the top 4 performance shops in DFW. Gary senior spent about 30 hours porting my 30p's and charged accordingly. The competition valve job took a full day. I don't want to put words in the horse's mouth here, but I believe Aliaz would support the short side radius theory. He spent around 40 hours porting a 40p, etc. I would trust him over almost anyone when it comes to Z info. Finally, I have examined both heads and can personally confirm the difference. Do you only believe "facts" if they're your own? I don't understand many things, however I endeavor to learn as much as possible about the ones I'm focused on. I suggest you do the same if you value your time and money.
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