VIDEO: One man’s RB-powered 240Z vs Nissan’s crowdsourced 370Z

Nissan 370Z vs 240z

What’s faster, a home-brew Datsun 240Z or a professionally built Nissan 370Z? Last year, Nissan Performance (ie, NISMO USA) reached out to the tuner community and asked them to modify a Z34 by voting for their favorite mods on Facebook. The result was the kind of money-no-object dream build most of us can only wish for, made from the best parts the aftermarket had to offer, from a GReddy turbo kit to Volk TE37-SL wheels to Yokohama Advan Neovas.

Gordon MacSwain, on the other hand, is someone we can all relate to. He built his S30 Z with his own hands in his Columbus, Ohio garage over a period of three and a half years. Along the way, Gordon updated all its mechanicals, including the engine, which is now an RB26DETT. Fans then chose to pit his baby against the crowdsourced Z. So, how does a sub-2300lb, 360hp nostalgic fare against a more powerful but heavier modern machine? Watch the video below. 

Not bad for a 40-plus-year-old car, eh? For those interested, here’s parts 01, 02, and 03 of the 370Z build.

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8 Responses to VIDEO: One man’s RB-powered 240Z vs Nissan’s crowdsourced 370Z

  1. ylee says:

    beautiful! beautiful!!!! makes me love my green s30 turtle even more!!!

  2. Tofu_Deilvery says:

    love that 240z. the 370 is cool but it’s waaay easier to build a brand new car with bolt-on aftermarket parts. they prob didnt even get their hands dirty! gordon had to deal with 43 year old metal, paint, and wiring. there’s no comparison…. that’s what separates jncers from the rest… passion!

  3. Ranbat says:

    Both cars are amazing machines. I will always favor the labor of love car over something crowd sourced though. Gordon built something that not just anybody with a hefty checkbook can buy. In 40 years though, there will be a guy drooling over that beautiful ‘nostalgic’ 370.

  4. Nigel says:

    Really great to see both of these cars so closely matched.
    I figure if the 370 had just a few less mods the 240 would have it beat.

  5. Fast510 says:

    I can’t believe they didn’t mention the main reason why any car is better/worse than another… TIRES! If they had put better tires on the 240Z the car would have done much better. True its hard to compete with a good ABS system but the lighter car with better tires would have done so much better if it had at least similar tires to what the 370Z was shod with. The biggest issue to running older cars is lack of tire choice when running smaller rims. This is a travesty that needs to be addressed. Try to find a good tire in 13, 14 or hell even 15 inch rims anymore. I run 195/60/14’s on the 1972 Datsun 510 to keep it under the stock body work and there are very few good tires made in this once very common size. I also own a 1989 MR2SC and run 235/45/13’s and I don’t even think they are made anymore so when they wear out I will have to drop back down to the 215/50/13’s. It really is a shame that the newer technology tires with better compounds are not made in sizes for our Japanese Nostalgic cars!

    • Nigel says:

      Yep, I almost forgot about the round rubber thingys.
      (I would love to get a nice set of 185 60/14’s for my car).

    • KisseMjölk says:

      Oh god, this brings up horrible memories of naively playing Gran Turismo. Being a total ignoramus at my first play through, except for tires, I had a Civic that I tuned up to 11… even adjusting specs on the car to ridiculous extremes all in the interest of getting every last millisecond out of the car. Then, I finally bought a pair of decent quality tires, and suddenly lost seconds off of my lap times…

      It taught me a harsh lesson: tires are more important than just about anything else about a car…

    • Colt says:

      I got a flat and called a tire place and asked for a 185-65-13 and the guy asked if it was for a Trailer.

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