Whether you have a classic 240Z, a 370Z right off the showroom floor or are lucky enough to roll in a Skyline or GT-R, your local specialty mobile enhancement retailer offers a variety of audio, convenience, styling and safety system upgrades. From a technology upgrade like a new radio with CarPlay and Android Auto, a custom audio system that sounds like a rock concert, to a camera system to help you park safely, it’s easy to add improvements to Nissan sports cars. Let’s look at some of the most popular and unique ways to make driving your Nissan more enjoyable.
Nissan Skyline, GT-R and Z-Car Audio System Upgrades
Way back in 1969, Nissan started selling the 240Z in North America under the now-defunct Datsun name. Equipped with only an AM radio built by Hitachi, things couldn’t have been more basic. Fast-forward to 2007, and the latest-generation GT-R rolled off the showroom floor with a multifunction display screen on the dash that was quite literally straight out of a video game. The interface was designed in cooperation with Polyphony Digital – the game development studio behind the incredibly popular Gran Turismo series of video games. With the ability to display such vehicle information as cornering forces, brake system pressure and boost pressure, the difference between these vehicles couldn’t have been more dramatic.
Designed by Polyphony Digital, the modern GT-R display offers an impressive array of vehicle and driving information. Thanks to Gary Bell from Define Concepts in Orange, California, for the photograph.
Whether you have a classic Datsun or a brand-new Nissan, upgrading the audio in your car will make the drive much more enjoyable. Let’s start at the front with radio upgrades. If you’ve got an older vehicle, you may want to add something with USB support for your smartphone or media player. Having Bluetooth for streaming and hands-free calling is another great reason to buy a new radio.
Thankfully, many Nissan sports cars have come from the factory with ISO-mount radio solutions that can be easily upgraded with a double-DIN multimedia receiver. Aside from options for large touchscreen displays between 6 and 7 inches, these radios open up the options for navigation solutions and backup camera upgrades. We’ll circle back around to safety system options after we finish the audio discussion.
Mobile Edge in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, upgraded this client’s 2010 Nissan 370Z with a Sony XAV-AX5000 so she’d have Apple CarPlay smartphone integration.
No matter what head unit you choose, picking amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers that deliver accurate sound is crucial to your music’s faithful reproduction. If you want to make your music sound clearer or play louder, you need high-quality products, proper audio system design and a reliable installation. In the images that follow, there’s everything from daily-driven upgrades to show-quality custom installations.
Jeff Smith from Cars of Atlanta in Georgia shared this photo of a 2009 Nissan 370Z they upgraded with an Audison LRx amplifier and a pair of JL Audio 10W1 subwoofers.
Taylor Pearson from Phantomwerks Designs & HIFI Mobile Audio in Roanoke, Texas, sent along this photo of a 2019 GT-R upgraded with a JL Audio amplifier and subwoofer system.
Al Vincent from TiBurnt Design in Ste Anne, Manitoba, built this epic 350Z system with Mosconi and Focal products purchased from Brian Reimer Audio. Colin McAndrew from Brian Reimer helped with the amplifier.
Adam from Devine Concepts in Naples, Florida, upgraded this 2003 350Z with Audison subwoofers.
Chris Rogers from Audio Express in Texarkana reached out to the team at Mobile Toys in College Station, Texas, to build these custom pillars and door panels for Audison AP1, AP2, AP4 and AP6 drivers in his 1987 Nissan Skyline.
Audio Crew from Moncton, New Brunswick, sent this photo of a Nissan 240Z they upgraded years ago with Alpine amplifiers, subwoofers and speakers.
Our friend Mike Maltais has worked in the car audio industry in the Vancouver area for years. Here’s a shot of the Digital Designs system he installed in his 2003 Nissan 350Z.
William Coats from Audio X in Florence, Alabama, shared this fantastic photo of an R34 Nissan GT-R they upgraded a few years ago.
Nissan has had fun-to-drive cars for a long time. Sak Mach from Ralph’s Radio in Vancouver, British Columbia, shared this photo of a Datsun 510 that they upgraded with Helix amplifiers and JL Audio speakers.
Simplicity in Sound in Milpitas, California, built this show-grade custom trunk installation in a Nissan GT-R for one of their Canadian clients.
There are always a few paths you can take to get better sound in your Nissan. One of the best-bang-for-your-buck upgrades is to add a subwoofer with a dedicated amplifier. Having a sub means that the small speakers in your car don’t have to work as hard. Your local specialty mobile enhancement retailer should have a variety of options for subwoofer upgrades for your car. They can build a custom enclosure like the those in the photos above or set you up with a prefabricated enclosure. Of course, make sure you pick a high-quality amp and choose good power cables to feed it.
The JL Audio SB-N-370/10W3v3 Stealthbox for 2009 and newer 370Z’s features a pair of 10W3v3 subwoofers to deliver great bass output.
The Audison APBX 10 DS is a compact subwoofer enclosure that features a 10-inch subwoofer.
The Match PP 8E-Q from Audiotec-Fischer includes a single 8-inch subwoofer with a unique quad-3-ohm voice coil design that works perfectly with its Match amplifier solutions.
If space is at a premium but you still want to add some bass, check out the Sony XS-AW8 powered subwoofer system. At only 3.125 inches thick, this amplified subwoofer system will fit into even the tightest of spaces.
Speaker and Amplifier Upgrades
Once you’ve got some solid bass in your Nissan, it’s time to upgrade the speakers and add an amplifier to power them. Good quality speakers are crucial in improving the realism and output capabilities of your sound system. Think about it – you could have the best radio and amplifiers, but if your speakers don’t perform well, your music won’t either.
Aside from choosing the right speakers, make sure you are investing in proper installation. The addition of sound deadening to your doors will make a world of difference in what you hear. If your installer needs to create adapters to allow new speakers to fit, make sure they’re constructed of something other than wood. Wood will get wet and warp or become moldy. Finally, if you’ve opted for a set of component speakers, make sure the technician is going to mount the tweeters on-axis with the listening position or place them at the edge of the dash, so the sound bounces off of the windshield.
The Hertz Energy ESK 130.5 speaker set combines a large soft-dome tweeter with a woofer that uses a treated paper cone and rubber surround to deliver impressive clarity.
The new BLAM 165-ES is a component speaker set that combines a set of 6.5-inch woofers with compact 20 mm soft-dome tweeters to deliver your music with that classic French sound.
The ARC 602 6.5-inch coaxial speakers from ARC Audio feature a cast aluminum basket, a glass fiber woofer cone reinforced with Rohacell and a soft-dome tweeter. These features combine to recreate your music with impressive accuracy.
Adrenaline Autosound in Clayton, North Carolina, stripped the interior out of this 2005 350Z to treat it with a layer of Focal sound deadening material.
To get the most out of a new set of speakers, you’ll need a good quality amplifier to power them. Shopping for an amplifier can be tricky since it’s challenging to audition different options under controlled conditions. For a set of high-performance speakers, you’ll want at least 75 watts of power. For a subwoofer, as little as 300 watts may be enough, but some high-power subs can handle 500 or 750 watts. Stick with the name-brand amplifiers, and you shouldn’t have any issues with background noise.
If you want to extract the most out of your audio upgrade, then you’ll need a digital signal processor. The acoustics of a vehicle are, quite simply, atrocious. Compensating for different pathlengths between speakers and the reflections caused by all the glass, vinyl and plastic close to the speaker location is crucial to hearing your music the way it should sound. As we’ve said a few dozen times, ensuring that your processor is calibrated properly is key to the upgrade being worthwhile.
ARC Audio’s latest generation of ARC Series amplifiers is available in two-, four- and six-channel configurations that can produce as much as 500 watts per channel. These amplifiers can be upgraded with their IPS-8.8 digital signal processor so your technician can fine-tune the performance of your mobile audio system.
The Sony XM-GS6DSP is a six-channel amplifier rated to produce 45 watts of power to the front channels and an impressive 600 watts to a subwoofer. The amp can be used without a source unit by installing the Music Center app on a Bluetooth-equipped smartphone.
The Helix V Eight DSP MK2 is an eight-channel amp that offers 75 watts per channel into a 4-ohm load. The amp includes a powerful digital signal processor that can be used to calibrate your audio system’s output.
The Audison AP F8.9 bit amplifier includes a digital signal processor with powerful features to make integrating it into a factory audio system reliable and efficient. The amp can produce 85 watts per channel into 4-ohm loads.
Adrenaline Autosound in Clayton, North Carolina, modified the Bodysonic amplifier knobs to serve as the master volume control and subwoofer level controls for a Bluetooth-only audio upgrade in a 1984 Nissan 300XZ.
Lighting Upgrades for Style and Safety
Headlights are an essential and often overlooked safety feature. Being able to see clearly while not blinding oncoming drivers is crucial to driving safely once the sun sets. If your car came with incandescent halogen headlights, then you might want to ask about an HID or LED upgrade. The style of light you have (reflector or projector) will determine which upgrade works best for your application.
Companies like Lumens have LED upgrade bulbs explicitly designed for projector or reflector headlight housings. LED lights reach full output very quickly and can also be used in high-beam applications.
If you want to add a little extra style to your Nissan, RGB LED lighting is a great choice. LED lighting has replaced the unreliable and often-dangerous neon lighting that was popular many years ago. With RGB lighting, you can change colors using a wireless controller or a smartphone app to personalize your vehicle’s look.
Audio Garage in Fargo, North Dakota, added RGB LED lighting to the interior and exterior of this client’s cool 370Z coupe.
This 2012 Nissan GT-R was upgraded with under-vehicle LED lighting by Tunes-N-Tint in Lakeland, Florida.
Backup Cameras and Safety Systems
If you own a 350Z or 370Z, then you know how difficult it is to see behind you when parking. Adding a backup camera system to these vehicles makes backing up and maneuvering safer. There are many options for cameras and displays. If you want to maintain your car’s factory look, then a replacement rearview mirror with an integrated display is a great option. If you’ve upgraded the radio with a multimedia receiver, most camera solutions will work with the touchscreen.
California Car Sounds and Tint in Campbell, California, added a flush-mount backup camera to the rear of this 2013 Nissan 350Z. The camera image is displayed on a new Pioneer multimedia receiver.
Audio Garage in Fargo upgraded this Nissan 370Z with a Sony multimedia receiver and a backup camera that makes parking much safer.
Safe Drive Solutions near Vancouver, British Columbia, installed a Thinkware U1000 dual-camera dashcam in this 2017 Nissan GT-R to monitor everything happening around the vehicle while it’s in motion.
Remote Car Starters the Drive More Comfortable
Of course, the options to make your Nissan sports car more comfortable include a host of remote starter options. If you live somewhere that’s cold in the winter or hot in the summer, then starting your car a few minutes before it’s time to leave is a great way to make the interior more comfortable. There are car starters that include safety features to make them safe for manual transmission vehicles.
Remote car starters like those from Compustar include safety and interlock features that allow them to work with manual transmission vehicles.
Upgrade Your Nissan Sports Car Today
If a feature is missing from your car, or you’d like to enhance its looks or audio system performance, drop by your local specialty mobile enhancement retailer today. They can make your music sound amazing, make your car more comfortable or make it look even better.
Lead-In Image: A huge thanks to Robert Kelly from The Car Clinic in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for this great shot of this 2014 370Z Touring Sport. The car features a laundry list of upgrades that include a Stillen front bumper, Z1 intakes and test pipes, Eibach sway bars, Koni struts with Swift springs and Power Stop rotors. He’s added a JVC head unit and dB Drive speakers to make sure it sounds great while cruising.
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