The cam shaft, that is why. Great torque low end, HP really kicks in coming up too 5000 rpm. She handles 7k rpm no problem.You can feel it happen, very distinct and it's a blast. Triple webers don't hurt either. But that Ferrari dude knows what's up, Al Burtoni.
Oh, 5 speed gear box from a 280zx. Rear diff is r200 out of 280z, much stronger than r180 of the 240z. Gears are highway gears in rear. She handles like on rails. Hwy 17 is roller coaster e-ticket ride.
RX 7. You can thank Nissan for that. 240z was such an amazing success in USA that the other Japanese mfg's had to catch up. I still believe it was 240z that put Japanese cars on the map here. Before that they were just a novelty sort of, nobody really gave them much appreciation. The Datsun 2000 before it was nice though. I never lost to a RX7, but I never raced one from the 90's, the turbo, those things are bad to the bone. Toyota Supra TT was, still is, fkn bad ass too.
This is my 3rd 240z, my first car ever was a 73. I had a 350z for awhile when they were first introduced. Greg did 6k in mods for me on that one, cams, piggy back computer, borla exhaust and headers, intake, that thing was , dyno tuning, pretty impressive too, and it sounded so awesome, I miss it.