NA&CH

iTrader: (74)

Thanks for the write up. It doesn't help my situation but it a great write up for new owners. I am at a cross-roads currently with my 03 DE tubro. (sold and bought back). The love is there.. But I found a new love and that is track / autox days. There is so much fun to be had in these cars. It can be competitive(in the right class).

My situation currently:

Sell my 03 DE again and Buy a Nismo HR. Or part out the turbo and rebuild to spec(maybe a little more) DE for track autox use.

A good buddy at the same autox was 1sec aster then my de turbo with a bolt on hr(e85 tuned). What killed me was the 6,xxx redline and his 8k redline. Needed to shift but no room to shift...
And competing in SSM with a heavy pig and no hoosiers is always 3 secs behind...

Again great write up. Thank you for making it harder

Chris

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

Whats the limitation on your T set up??


Cause Im looking into a GT35r or 6266 set up for mine to hold up at autox AND track days. Try my best to keep up with my buddies jag and C6 vette lol


Also isn't there a way to get the DE redline to like 7.5k? Isnt there a way to mod the engine components to be able to handle the stock rev limit safety? Like how guys get Honda B and K series to rev out to 10 and 11k RPM when bone stock its like 8k redline?


Not exactly sure what internals but Im sure its possible.




EDIT: Also NA... Have you ever thought of getting a new dif longer or shorter to help with gearing and shift points for your autox course set up?


Hell of a lot easier than buying a whole new car to solve a course gearing problem and you could always go right back if you don't like or want to change it up.

turboed350z

Actually, if i recalled correctly, the 350z did yake alot of design cues from f1 cars. I remember that the seating position and visibility is suppose to be similar of the gt cars raced in leman so hes not far off.

Not to mention, the average driver shifts in around a sec, and the faster shifters shift around .5 sec. Auto trany auch as the dsg or dct shift insanely fast. Somewhere around .3 or faster. If i recall the gtr shifts in at .4 sonitll be hard press to outshift a computer.

Manual va auto is a can of worms. However, auto ARE faster shift at the cost of extra weight and disconnected from the car.

Personally, idk if you drive a manual or auto, but have the knowledge to being able to drive manuals is a handy skill to have. Half the muanl driver who disses auto usually shifts slower than an outdated auto. The whole "men drives manual car" idea is just plain stupid.

That said, if i lost a guy in a manual, i lost to the driver. If i lost to an auto, i lost to a machine.

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

Yea well a lot of cars do, and many F1 cars actually take from commercial cars as well. My whole argument to him was tho about car control. Not just drag racing or shifting times. I know that's a no brainer as far as modern A/T's.


But all he wanted to argue was time slips and shift times.




I was speaking about car control in general. Ive driven M/T cars all my life. And I still hate the feeling of my car wanting to push under braking and nudge forward while Im still on the brake at a stop light if I lift off any or at all.




And mostly the factor and ability to weight transfer, clutch manipulation and all the other benefits of having a manual gear box and clutch control.




And F1's don't use commercial type A/T's which he couldn't understand. They use straight cut sequential gear boxes. Which to me at least, is apples to pine trees lol

NA&CH

iTrader: (74)

Hey CK,

Its to damn hot here. My DE has 94k on it. I have no doubt I can get the turbo setup to run "good" but a NA motor is just so much better for what I am planning and wanting to do. Gives so many options. A $400 track day with only 25 total mins of track time sucks. A buddy next to me with a NA de swap parts car build ran the entire weekend.

I have tried oil cooler setups. The only thing I can think of is to do a complete tube front end to open the air movement among other things.

Now there are a few turbo Z's doing well at the track. I just do not have that type of budget.

Yes I have looked at 3.3 gears. This course was just long enough to want a shift but short enough to not shift. Last course I could hear all the frs and boosted miatas calling for more power. I had it just couldn't use it correctly...

It is a tough rope to walk on.

Chris

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

Yea I feel you. But that's also what makes autox so great. Its the drivers/tuners sport. Not all about who has the faster car with more HP.


A lot of my auto x buddies want me to stay and build NA or go small turbos but mine has to double up when my buddies go to the drag strip too. And I cant afford to get into autox competitively haha


Also I have always wanted a big turbo weekend car. Now I can finally afford to build one and have a perfect candidate for it.


But I see where your at. GL with your decision. 370's are sick. I just cant afford one for a project/second car. Wish I could tho.

turboed350z

Its funny you mention frs and miata guys. I find it strange that when talking to others, they claim that "the cars arent meant to be fast, it was meant to handle well."

But when talking amongst themself, its "man i wish we had more power." "Me too!" Lol

ashram

iTrader: (1)

As a previous owner of an 03 de and a current owner of an HR , those looking to stay na I believe should go with the HR if they can afford it , the de is great but there is a pretty big gap in performance between a stock de and hr it may not feel that way when driving but there is atleast 3 mph difference in trap speed .

Now if I was shopping for a z today I would go with a de, reason being is I now have the boost bug . There are great deals out there now for single turbo and super charger kits for the de.

Especially if your not looking for insane h.p levels , the vortech, turbonetics single turbo kit , hks super charger kit all put the z in the 400 h.p realm . If you look in this sites classified fi section there always seems to be someone selling there vortech kit . Either model z has more then enough h.p for daily use but if you think you may get the urge for boost and are not looking for a 500 whp monster I would go with the de .