Z Car Superstar: Chris Forsberg Debuts 1,300 HP 2023 Nissan Z Competition Drift Car

For a car to compete in Formula Drift in 2022, it seems like it needs to have more horsepower than sense. Anything under 1000 hp is going to be left in the tire smoke of the more powerful car. That's why it's not an odd thing to hear that Chris Forsberg's 2023 Nissan Z is making 1,300 hp and 1,300 lb-ft of torque. It's also not an unusual power figure for the engine he's put under the Z's carbon fiber hood: the VR38DETT. Forsberg's Z will also be the first competition outing of the new Nissan, even beating Nissan's Super GT factory efforts by two weeks.

Kinda New, Kinda Not

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While many enthusiasts will look at Nissan's reuse of the Z34 chassis—a design that is now 13 years old—as a bad thing, for racers and drift car builders, it's more of a good thing. It's a proven chassis with parts that are readily available from the get-go and makes chassis tuning easier as you'll just look through your notes from last year. Trust us, crew and car chiefs hate new cars because nothing works like it did last year. That said, it's also not as if the Z34 chassis hasn't been improved upon, either, and some of that does reflect in Forsberg's new Z.

A VR Twin-Turbo V-6, but Not The VR30DDTT

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The one common part making a return for 2022 between Forsberg's outgoing 370Z and this new Z is its engine. Rather than use the VR30DDTT from the street car, Forsberg's Z will use the VR38DETT. It's a tried and true engine for high-horsepower and the environment Forsberg is using it in. The heart of this BoostLogic built engine is the Sunny Bryant Billet 3.8 liter crankshaft with BoostLogic's custom piston package attached Manley rods, making for a 9:1 compression ratio.

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The Supertech Performance valvetrain—bumped open by a set of GSC Power Division S2 Camshafts and covered by a pair of Mad Sweeden valve covers—are fitted into the VR38DETT cylinder heads and keeps its boost pressure from the pair of Garrett G30-770 turbochargers contained within the combustion chamber. The boost pressure is kept in check by twin Turbosmart Hypergate 45 wastegates and they dump straight up and out of the hood. The rest of the exhaust is custom made using Magnaflow parts and, when off the throttle, the MoTec ECU can trigger an anti-lag system to keep those turbos spooled and the wastegates continuously popping crowd-pleasing flames and bangs.

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Those twin-turbos feed into a custom-made CJ Motorsports intake manifold while Deatschwerks fuel pumps located inside the Fuel Safe fuel cell feed the Deatschwerks fuel injectors. The fuel those injectors get is also regulated and filtered by Radium Engineering components. Finally, keeping the engine package cool is a PWR radiator while its Valvoline lifeblood is pumped through a dry sump oil system and filtered by an Oberg 600 filter. For some additional power, a nitrous system is also installed whenever he needs more than his twin Garrett turbos can provide. Everything the engine does is monitored and logged by a MoTec data logger.

Inside the Office

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The office of a race car driver must be usable for the function it's intended for. Being a drift car means that the driver must be comfortable and secure while the shifter and handbrake are still within easy reach. While once the king of cable-actuated handbrakes, Forsberg has moved on to using hydraulic handbrakes in his cars, this one being a Wilwood 0.75 inch master cylinder feeding a second set of Wilwood calipers on the rear axle and actuated by a Forsberg Racing Drift Stick handbrake handle.

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The master cylinder for those auxiliary calipers is mounted so that the handle is just in front of the Grip Royal Forsberg signature steering wheel. That wheel is mounted to a Woodward SFI Spec 42.1 quick release and then to a Woodward motorsports steering column. Just above that column is an AEM CD-7 Digital Dash display that relays all vital information to Forsberg while he works his magic.

Ballroom Dancing in a Steel Cage During A Vape Rave

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Surrounding Forsberg—and sometimes a passenger—is a custom roll cage for the Z, but holding both occupants still are a set of Recaro Pro Racer seats with Takata six-point harnesses. An addition to his drift car interior comes from the off-road world with a Rugged Radios "Parker Pumper" helmet air system. This filtered and forced air system ensures that Forsberg gets fresh air into his helmet and reduces the amount of tire debris and smoke he inhales while on a follow run. Or even on a lead run, when he really puts the power down and the smoke from his own GT Radial SX2RS tires flows into the cabin. Finally, all of the body controls—from lights to windshield wipers to even his cool suit—are controlled by a MoTec PDM15 with its switch panel located where the infotainment system was located.

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For his footwork, a Tilton Engineering floor-mounted three-pedal box is adjusted to suit Forsberg's style, including how much pressure the brake pedal sends to its twin master cylinders that feed the front and rear Wilwood calipers that actively slow the Z down. Its clutch pedal activates a prototype OS Giken clutch system attached to their flywheel. That prototype system sends the VR38's power through a GSR four-speed dogbox transmission before heading out to the Z's rear gear housing that's fitted with an OS Giken limited slip differential.

A Sculpted Body by the Best in the Business

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Now that we've come outside, you'll probably just notice that the Z's body is wider than what you'll see on the dealer lots. Its visually subtle width gain is thanks to the work of legendary designer, Jon Sibal, as well as Streethunter Designs' utilization of CAD-design to make sure this brand new, never before produced kit fit the Z body tightly. It adds width without distracting from the original Z design.

In many ways, the kit compliments it, as the Rotiform WGR-S 18x10 -6 offset wheels do not poke out like many drift cars do. It truly speaks to the work of both Sibal and Streethunter Designs and, even better, there will be a street version of this kit, so it won't just be a one-off for Forsberg. The body and Steel-It interior paint work was done by King's Auto Body Shop in Hunting Beach, CA, which continues Forsberg's dark body era with splashes of NOS Energy Drink's iconic colors in vinyl by Wrap Legends. The colors flow with much of the body work, highlighting the car's natural lines and still calling out his main sponsor without being too distracting.

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Finally, the functional stance and control of the Rotiform Wheels and GT Radial tires is done by a set of custom BC Racing coilovers. Giving Forsberg maximum angle and chassis adjustability taken care of by Parts Shop Max and their Z34 Super Angle Kit. Additional chassis roll is controlled by a custom adjustable sway bar setup that uses an adjustable blade on one side of the straight hollow sway bar.

As the blade is turned more straight up (where the wider side is facing outwards), the bar is effectively made "harder" as the blade is stronger in that position. Turning it downwards (where its wider side is facing down) effectively softens the sway bar as that position flexes more and reduces the motion the control arm "sends" to the sway bar. To put it more simply, if you take a ruler and try to bend it along its narrower side, it doesn't flex, but bending it from its wider side allows it to flex more.

The First Ever Competition of the New Z

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When Chris Forsberg drifted his 2023 Nissan Z around the first turn of the Streets of Long Beach for the first 2022 Formula Drift round, it became the first ever competition Z in the entire world. Even beating out the factory effort by Nissan and its NISMO works teams in their homeland sportscar series, the Super GT, by two weeks. It was a momentous occasion that was also punctuated by the fact that Forsberg's team had only six weeks to build the Z from the ground up. As with most drift competition there was some contact made here and there, punctuated by the missing taillights and minor bumps and bruises on the Z's passenger side when we stopped by Forsbergs shops to grab some photos.

Yes, not only was this the first competition lap for the new Z, it was the first run outside of practice and Forsberg needed to adapt quickly. Fortunately, the new Z and Forsberg were ready and able to qualify in eighth place. That amazing effort shows just how good the new Z is, and how much experience the Forsberg Racing team has. Experience that made their expedited work time pay off in the end.

Drift Action Photos Courtesy ofJofel Tolosa