This Nissan Z Makes 820 Horsepower With Bolt-Ons

AMS Tuning has more than doubled the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6's output. Here's how.

Photo by: AMS Performance / Facebook

By: Anthony Alaniz

May 29, 2025 at 9:45am ET

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There are almost too many choices when it comes to getting more power out of a car. You can spend tens of thousands of dollars tearing open the engine to create something utterly new, or try to keep things simple with bolt-on parts. That’s what AMS Performance did, and the aftermarket specialist was able to develop an 820-wheel-horsepower Nissan Z that achieved a 9.23-second quarter-mile time at 149 miles per hour.

The car’s first run returned an official 9.471-second quarter-mile time at 148.34 miles per hour, according to the slip. AMS said in a Facebook post that the Z has an unopened engine and a stock transmission.

There’s no nitrous, either. The power comes from “a catalog of parts we’ve developed for the platform over the last handful of years and a whole lot of hard work from our team here at AMS Performance.” The upgrades include new turbochargers and a software tune.

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The stock Z engine, a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6, makes 400 horsepower in its base form and 420 hp in the Nismo, so it’s impressive that the stock block and internals can handle making so much more power. The coupe is available with a six-speed manual, but AMS’s car has the nine-speed automatic.

Z sales got off to a slow start but have picked up since Nissan launched the model. The Z demolished the Supra in sales through the first three months of the year and by a wide margin. The Z isn’t the cheapest sports car you can buy today, but the prospect of 800-plus hp with just bolt-on parts should be enticing to power-hungry enthusiasts.