It seems the driving simulator Forza Motorsport 3 is already an unqualified hit among several spheres of influence, and it just barely went on sale to the public yesterday. The gaming press is mostly smitten with its near-photorealistic graphics and ease of accessibility. When we messed with Forza 3 at its official launch last week, we were sufficiently impressed with the detailed level of tuning the sim provides-pretty much blows every other product we've seen out of the water.

Engine mods are a big part of Forza 3's deep tuning garage, encompassing cam upgrades, turbo kits, engine swaps and more. Players can also tweak tire compounds and pressures, gear ratios, alignment settings, spring rates, brake bias-the list goes on.

Cars can then be painted and decaled in Forza's Livery Editor, and tuning schemes and graphic treatments can be bought and sold in Forza's marketplace. The game is backed by a legion of players and their support is a click away at forzamotorsport.net.

Seeing an opportunity to mine the creativity of the Forza community (and because they have no style sense of their own), our friends at Import Tuner magazine came up with a clever contest to cross-promote the game and their latest project vehicle, a 2009 Nissan 370Z. IT is essentially accepting player-designed graphics schemes for the car generated through Forza 3's livery builder for the Xbox 360.

One winning design will get onto the Z ahead of a debut at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January. The dressed-up car is also headed for a future cover of Tuner, and in addition to the fame of being the guy that decorated the IT Z, the creator of the cosmetic scheme will receive some nice gifts from the magazine staff.

Tuner's real-life Nissan sports car project has a compelling narrative all its own. The G-Dimension-built coupe will feature the first GReddy twin-turbo kit for the 370, and is slated to compete at the Super Lap Battle time attack finals on November 11, with drift/grip ace Tyler McQuarrie behind the wheel.

Mods for the Import Tuner 370Z consist of:

* GReddy turbo kit (twin TD06SH-20G turbos) w/optional 370Z Fuel Enrichment Set (www.greddy.com)
* GReddy Turbo Ti-C full dual 70mm exhaust (www.greddy.com)
* SPEC clutch and flywheel (www.specclutch.com)
* Carbonetic 2-way carbon LSD (www.carbonetic.net)
* Tein Mono Flex coil-overs (www.tein.com)
* Project Mu 6-pot front, 4-pot rear big brake kit and stainless lines (www.mackinindustries.com)
* Volk G2 20" wheels (www.mackinindustries.com)
* Falken Tire FK452 (show), RT-615 (track) (www.falkentire.com)
* Sun Line Racing dry carbon Sport Aero Parts (front half spoiler, side step, rear under fin, roof cover-www.sunline-racing.com)
* Bride Cuga seats and rails (www.tees-usa.com)
* G-Dimension (builders, www.G-dimension.com)

To enter the contest, participants:

- Need to send an Xbox LIVE friend request to "ImportTunerMag"
- In "Forza Motorsport 3," buy the '09 Nissan 370Z and choose the option to "Get in the Car"
- From the Paint menu, paint and apply decals to the Z and create a design
- Once the design is complete, press the "Start" button in Livery Editor
- From the Save Menu select "Save to Design Catalogue"
- Name the file: "Import Tuner 370Z"
- Exit the Livery Editor and go to the Paint Menu. Select "My Designs" and look for the file in your "Design Catalogue"
- Select it and choose the "Gift" option
- Choose "ImportTunerMag" from your friends list to share the file with the magazine staff

If you're headed to the SEMA Show next week, the Tuner project Z will be making its grand entrance at the SPEC Clutches and Flywheels booth (#24523) in its modified, yet design-free form (with the exception of sponsor decals). Contest details are at blogs.importtuner.com/6571708/editorials/digital-art-becomes-reality/index.html, while updated info and pics on the project can be sourced at www.importtuner.com. For info on Forza Motorsport 3, click www.forzamotorsport.net.