It would be safe to assume that once a car's built, a person never really deviates far from the original build, with the exception of maybe changing up wheels every few years to stay with current trends. Not Brian Duong. Call his obsession with modifying cars a straight-up stalker-like obsession because he's made-over his car more times than he probably cares to think. In a year's time, he managed to go through twenty sets of wheels and four separate body kits - yes, that's 365 days. Think about that - that's probably $10K on wheels alone if you figure at least 18s, which costs more than the actual cost of most cars you purchased used. And styling his car from head to toe with kits from ings+1 to Amuse, to the current NISMO aero pieces, you know for a fact that more than a pretty penny went into making this Z extra special. Of course, it probably really helps that being part of Mackin's sales staff opens up his wheel options tenfold thanks to a much-needed employee discount. But even then, who says you have to call it quits at one set of wheels and body kit? Think you're just as crazy? Brian strongly advises:
"Before you do anything, plan it out first. If you play it the way I did, changing things up is going to cost you more in the long run.
I think I've spent $50K. No, wait - I don't know and I don't want to know."
Fast Facts
2003 Nissan 350Z
Owner brian duong
Hometown stanton, CA
Daily Grind sales/marketing
Under The Hood 3.5L VQ35DE; 350EVO throttle body; ARC induction box, oil catch can version 2.0, oil cap, oil pan, oil cooler kit, radiator, radiator cap, titanium cooling panel and water pump pulley; carbon-fiber engine cover; Cyber Speed ignition amplifier system; Fujita air intake pipe; HKS spark plugs and Hi Power exhaust; Hyper voltage system; Kics magnetic oil drain plug; Motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer; NISMO header, camshafts, differential cover and oil cooler; Project M brake reservoir cover; polished intake manifold; Samco radiator hoses; Stillen engine torque damper brace; TEIN hood damper; TiTek test pipes; Top Fuel Power Neo; Unorthodox crank pulley
Drivetrain Act clutch and flywheel; Cusco RS limited slip differential power est. 290 hp with 270 lb-ft
Stiff Stuff ARC titanium front strut bar; Cusco 35mm front sway bar and 22mm rear sway bar; GT Spec aluminum front lower tie brace, rear lower tie brace, rear lateral arm brace, under bar and fender brace; Ichiba front camber A arm and rear camber arm; Kics 10mm spacers; Stillen rear toe arm; TEIN Type Flex coilover kit with custom valving and stiffer springs and EDFC
Rollers 19x10 and 19x11 Volk Racing RE30 (magnesium blue) wheels; Toyo T1-R 255/35R19 and 275/35R19 tires; Kics R26 Neo Chro lug nuts
Stoppers Brembo 2-piston rear brake calipers; Project Mu 6-piston front brake calipers, 355mm SCR-PRO front rotors, SCR rear rotors, B-Force front/rear pads, Teflon front/rear brake lines and G-Four brake fluid
Outside '06 Nissan 350Z bi-Xenon headlights and LED taillights; ARC aluminum under panel; Autotecknic racing tow hook; Ganador carbon mirrors; ings+1 LX carbon fenders; NISMO V.2 front bumper, canards, side skirts, rear under spoiler, rear over fenders and carbon B-pillar panels; PIAA wiper blades; Seibon carbon hood and trunk; JDM antenna
Inside ARC titanium shift knob; Bride Ergo II gradation seats; C's short shifter; carbon-fiber gauge cluster; Cusco 6-point rollcage, rollcage cushion and optional carbon bar; NISMO floor mats; Personal Grinta steering wheel; Splash Racing steering wheel hub; Takata racing harness and shoulder pads; Works Bell quick release; Zoom carbon-fiber rear view mirror
ICE custom under bar subwoofer box; Kenwood KFC-X178 speakers and SFC-XT14 component tweeters; Pioneer AVIC D2; Sony Xplod 10-inch subwoofer
Props My wife, Julia, for all her support throughout the years; my daughter, Jasmin; Mom and Dad, Kevin and Henry; Mackin Industries, Kyo-ei (Project Kics), RAYS, Project M, ARC, S&A Design, Toyo Tires, Fujita Air, TEIN, GT-Spec, Performance Nissan, A Spec, SP Engineering, TiTek, Technosquare, LOT USA, HKS USA, Deepvision, Nukabe, my friends on my350z.com, Jade Motorsports and anyone else I forgot to mention
WWW f5air.com; hksusa.com; mackinindustries.com (Volk Racing/Project Mu/Project Kics/ARC); my350z.com; mynismo.com; napsusa.com (Nukabe/Cusco); piaa.com; samcosport.com; seibon.com; sp-power.com; stillen.com; tein.com (TEIN/Takata); toyo.com