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months the car had been remapped using a Cobb Tuning Accessport. The result of which was around 580bhp. Once again, the work was carried out by Severn Valley Motorsport and a relationship was building. In fact, the entire build has now been carried out by SVM. Severn Valley's Amar explains: ‘We find that we build quite deep relationships with our customers. At the end of the day these cars are their pride and joy, and GT-R tuning isn't cheap, although it is very effective. We find that people come to us for the small stuff first, and when they see how we operate, they come back for future work. We offer every aspect of car tuning, styling and maintenance under one roof, so our customers can deliver their car with a list of jobs and leave it with us, knowing it will all be done to the highest standards. It's low-stress for them.’ In April 2011, almost a year later, Rob returned for a SVM 750 conversion. As the name suggests, this increases power to around 750bhp using a series of bolt-on modifications. Fundamentally, the engine remains stock, using the original bottom-
‘TUNING A NISSAN GT-R ISN’T CHEAP, ALTHOUGH IT IS VERY EFFECTIVE’ end. It's amazing how much power tuners like SVM are able to extract from the GT-R with just bolt-on parts. That VR38DETT engine has lived up to the expectation of GT-R enthusiasts around the world. This is despite Nissan bizarrely suggesting at the time of the car’s launch that the GT-R would not be able to be modified. They pointed out that all the electronic systems were linked to the factory ECU, which was so complicated that no tuner would ever be able to crack it. They got that wrong! The 750 upgrade felt like a big step up in power for Rob. He was very pleased with the car, so pleased that it remained in this spec for a full two-years. In that time he did a few high-speed events and the odd MLR 30-130 event which, as the name suggests, is a competition to find the ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?
ROB'S CHOICE OF SEATS REFLECTS THE G-FORCE THIS GT-R CAN GENERATE. INSTEAD OF LEATHER RECLINERS, ROB HAS GONE FOR A PAIR OF BRIDE LOW MAX FIXED-BACK BUCKET SEATS, WITH A SUBTLE BLACK LUKE HARNESS ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE. WHEN YOUR CAR HAS MORE THAN 750BHP AND IMMENSE LEVELS OF GRIP, YOU NEED HEAVILY-BOLSTERED SEATS TO KEEP YOU IN PLACE AND FEEL WHAT THE CAR IS DOING. THE RED ‘LOW MAX’ LOGO COMPLEMENTS THE COLOUR-SCHEME, MATCHING INTERIOR DETAILS LIKE THE DOOR HANDLES TOO. NICE TOUCH
www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk
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