The return of the Nissan Z was received with a lot of excitement, perhaps even more than the Toyota Supra or the legendary 86, especially by JDM folk in America. It was the star of this year’s New York International Auto Show, and the first units are already trickling into the United States. Thomas Hunt of the TJ Hunt YouTube channel (a lucky few) recently took delivery of his 2023 Nissan Z Proto flagship model.
We say lucky because not anyone can afford to walk into a dealership today and drive away with this reincarnated legend. The starting price might be somewhere around $40,000 for a new unit, but add ADM (added dealer markup) and extras, and you are looking at $100,000 plus.
Yes, the markups are crazy, and at the moment, influencers and tunning companies seem to be the only ones picking up these units.
Apart from being one of the first few to own the 1 of 240 2023 Nissan Z Protos currently in the U.S., the YouTuber is looking to make a customized widebody kit for the unit under his StreetHunter brand.
On his latest upload, he took the 2023 Nissan Z for an exhaust upgrade from MagnaFlow.
“We are going to be creating the first xMOD exhaust. We are going to be the first people to actually put an exhaust on this car which is pretty sweet,” Hunt said, explaining the new exhaust mod planned.
To remind you, the 2023 Z comes with a twin-turbo 3-liter V6 engine good for 399 hp (405 ps) and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm) of torque. All that power is channeled to the rear wheels by a 6-speed manual transmission.
The 2023 Nissan Z has the same VR30 engine as the Infinity Q50. Therefore, a customized exhaust sound isn’t anything new. But since it’s the first time anyone’s doing a MagnaFlow exhaust mod on this unit, it drums up some curiosity.
“So this is still retaining the factory catalytic converters. So this is a catback system, and this is more of the xMOD style, so there’s no resonators. It’s just giving you what your max volume would be with catalytic converters,” Hunt explained before turning on the ignition for the first time after the exhaust mod.
The result is a deep droney bass tune out of the tip, nothing that'll make your neighbors hate you during those morning cold starts. It definitely needs to be louder for more effect.
Check that out in the video below, and let us know your thoughts. Is the MagnaFlow xMod exhaust a hit or miss?
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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