The spoiler is also fitted with a carbon gurney flap to add even more efficiency to the design. While the FRP body parts do help shed quite a bit of weight, it's the dry-carbon items that really make a difference. Starting at the front is the Type-III dry-carbon hood, which on top of being paper-light sports a series of outlets arranged in a "V" design. Helping shed mass from the highest point of the car is the dry-carbon roof. A great deal of weight was removed from the rear of the car, thanks to the Amuse rear hatch, which is again made from precious dry-carbon. As a final touch, and the biggest weight-saving measure, the doors have been replaced with dry-carbon ones, beautifully constructed to fit and align with the rest of the bodywork. Thanks to the Amuse kit, the 380RS has lost more than 300 lbs.
One of Amuse's strengths has always been its titanium exhausts, sporting high-quality welding and the signature burnt-blue tailpipes. For the Superleggera, no cost was spared in creating the best possible system, which starts all the way at the front of the car with the titanium headers. These help the VQ38 pump out gases more efficiently, not to mention giving the engine a totally different tone. Twin sports catalysts then clean up the gases without compromising flow and, of course, keep the car street legal. It is then on to the lightweight titanium Y-pipe which connects to the "R1 Extra" main system featuring titanium construction, twin silencers and the signature blue accents on the tips.
The sound is simply phenomenal, deep at idle and very metallic and race car-like as the engine revolutions rise. To help give the engine a sportier edge, the camshafts have been replaced with a set of special Amuse R1 items. These, together with the Amuse Hi-Tec reprogrammed ECU, allow the VQ38 to produce just less than 400 hp-a very respectable number indeed. To provide more performance-oriented driving dynamics, specially set-up Amuse dampers have been fitted along with extremely lightweight titanium alloy springs. These allow the car to remain comfortable on normal roads but are great on track as Tsuchiya-san proved in a recent Hot Version DVD. The Superleggera runs on Ericsson BBS LM-R 20-inch wheels shod in Bridgestone RE050 tires, but when pushing for times on track smaller 18-inch wheels are used along with sticky semi-slick rubber.
Once you open one of those light carbon doors you can't help but admire the interior, which has been kept pretty simple. Replacing the stock seats are a pair of Recaro carbon-Kevlar racing buckets, which help shave a few more pounds from the Z33 while additional instrumentation from Defi has been neatly fitted to the Amuse triple meter enclosure. All of the body parts from the Superleggera demo car are available as a complete kit, although the carbon parts will be extra and ordered separately.
There is no doubting that Tanabe-san's vision will live through the cars Amuse will continue to build. The company has already started development on the new 370Z, so expect to see some great products coming out in the future.