What's up yall. Long time forum nerd here. I've got a deep background with S-chassis and switched over to VQ cars about 5 years ago. While I was working at a VQ specialty shop, I got pretty familiar with Q50s and noticed that they share a lot of the same suspension components as 370Zs and G37s. I love sedans and thought it'd be cool to build a Q50 drift car. So I bought a bare bones shell and started stock piling parts in 2019.
I wanted to do the build on a budget, so I picked up a VQ37 from a 370Z that rolled over and had broken oil pans for $500, and got a 6 speed transmission that grinded 5th gear for $100. I picked up some ISR long tube headers and started throwing my parts together.
These cars never came manual (except for the 2.2l diesel version in Europe) but the firewall was the exact same as the G37, including the cutout in the mat for the clutch master cylinder
Although I was trying to stick to a budget, at the time the only angle kits available for the V37 chassis (same angle kits as 370Z and G37) were wisefab, FDF megamantis, and the full PBM kit. So I picked up an FDF megamantis kit, and the whole build kind of snowballed from there. I got a deal on some 370Z BC coilovers and swapped the rear top hats to work on the Q50. I also used a 350Z rear subframe which bolted into place. I chose a 350Z subframe so I could have more final drive choices, and a better selection of adjustable control arms. Again, at the time I built it, the selection for rear Q50 control arms was pretty awful. I think Megan was the only company making anything. And stock Q50 final drive choices were either 2.9 or 3.1 which wouldn't work so great.
I eventually finished the build in early 2020, about 2 years after the idea first came into my head.
Aaaaaand I quickly started destroying the car. Although I've been drifting since 2010, this was my first car with anything more than extended tie rods for angle, and holy shit did it feel like cheating.
Hey dude! So much work from start to "finish" and congrats on the business! Let's hang soon, hmu if you're ever in the crystal river area
always liked how these cars looked. cool to see one drifting. will be sick once you clean it up aesthetically.
Being a shop owner now, I've been shifting more of my attention to making the car presentable and something I'm 100% proud of. I made quite a few sacrifices during the build in exchange for an earlier completion date, and once it was driving, I had so much fun that I didn't want to spend any money on aesthetics. So now I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the entire car, with parts I can be a little more proud of, while also adding more power.
I also picked up a somewhat matching G37 to daily drive. I never meant to mod it, but I kinda went down the rabbit hole.
I drove around 20 events in 2020 when I finished the build, including an out of state trip to go drive Midpond and Atlanta Motorsports Park in the same weekend
This car was never supposed to be a street car, so I never registered it. Buuut I did get caught street drifting an on ramp one night in late 2022, and got "let off easy" with a ticket for driving an unregistered car. My solution was to register it, which meant making it street legal and having it inspected by the DMV due to the salvage title history. So stock seats, stock exhaust, stock wheels, and a full functioning air bag system went back into the car. I failed 3 times before I was finally issued a rebuilt title. Something about a full roll cage and wheel poke didn't sit right with the inspectors, but I eventually satisfied all their demands, and got the ticket thrown out.
I street drove the car for a couple months before I decided I didn't have the self control to not end up in even more trouble. It was a weird era, but tons of fun daily driving a car with all the angle in the world
Fast forward to 2023 and I moved to Orlando and opened my own Infiniti/Nissan specialty shop. I defintitely had to take a step back with driving so much to focus on growing the shop. I only drove 4 events this year but I made each of them count.
I ended up getting a practically free ride to drive pro bro down at etown
The rain sucked, but I did get to do a few dry laps during the week between FD and the Gambler event.