How fast on an autoX course would you have to go to roll the new Z?

 

don't be too sure,JmanZ, about the stability of the Z. Given the right circumstances, ANY vehicle can be rolled...you just need enough energy in the right direction to overcome the mass of the center of gravity. Certainly, the Z is more difficult to roll than a lifted SUV, but not impossible.

 

I don't believt that any vehicle can be rolled (unless you are talking about hitting a curb or a ramp). My point is those F1 cars go 200mph and turn on a dime and I cant see one of them rolling I think it's impossible (that is unless there is some type of assist device like a ramp).

 

There is no possible way to roll this car withoutnhitting something. I auto-xed Sunday and with VDC on, the car either took the corner or plowed. With VDC off, it was easily tossed.

my .02.

Eric

 

Roll a Z? I guess it's possible with a big enough paper. How you gonna light it?

 

Bill T--Ah ha ha ha ha. I actually laughed out loud at that one!!

 

The only way you'd be able to roll the Z is if you hit something while you're sliding sideways. Even if you have R-compound tires, the Z has too low of a center of gravity to roll it.

 

Top speed on an Auto-x course will only be 55-65mph depending on the design.

Are you saying they flipped their cars (NSX and Supra) during an Auto-x?

Eric

 

Any car can be flipped easily if you loose control and hit something while you're sliding sideways... 'nuff said. Even at the track, if you go off the track and start to go sideways, it's quite likely you'll flip.

 

I don't think a 350Z is roll-able at autoX speeds. On flat pavement, the car will simply slide before it ever goes over. On the other hand, if there is a curb, rut, or other surface extremity, hitting that may cause it to tip.

Most of the cars that have rolled at autoX's have high centers of gravity, narrow tracks, and/or soft suspensions (VW's, BMW E30's). On street tires, there isn't enough grip generated to tip one over, but if you put some sticky DOT-R rubber, it's a whole different ballgame.

 

Actually you are wrong, at high enough speeds a car can DEF. roll, without hitting ****. Case in point, RX-7 going 215.7MPH starts to slide out, and gets airborn and flies upside down for about 4 seconds, which at that speed means he is going several hundered yards, then lands.

 

Of course, you can flip ANYTHING if the wheel gets caught on something, so I assume that that's doesn't count for the sake of this thread (otherwise it wouldn't be work asking in the first place).

So as for rolling the Z on just on flat pavement the way the Jeep Liberty rolled over when Motor Trend (I think?) was testing it in the slalom, it's nearly impossible. The lower the center of gravity, the more you have to actually *lift* the car at the start of a roll. If it's even possible, you need some MASSIVELY sticky tires to do it.

Otherwise, you just slide.

 

I don't believe that you can roll a Z on an autoX course. This is only due to the low speed involved. Say you entered a powerslide in the Z at about 55mph (This would be really difficult to do on a Z) that car would not flip as long as it did not catch on something or the outside wheels didn't snap down and break off. As for a track, any car can flip, even F1 cars. I saw a video of an EvoVII im japan on a track. It was entering every corner tail out rally style. He was passing skylines and purpose built race cars. (This was not a stock EvoVII) None the less, eventualy his tires went out and his rim caught and he flip/rolled. Pretty nasty looking.

Steve

 

Of course you can roll a Z just as any other car. The Zero lift doesn't work while travelling sideways or backwards however you wouldn't be able to roll it at autoX speeds unless you hit something. All you need is some serious speed and some quick left to right trasition to really get the air flow under the car and that Z will be doing turtle in no time.

 

Having autocrossed for a number of years now, I can say that most any car can be flipped, given the right circumstances. I have seen several cars on two wheels (_way_ up on two wheels). I know of an ///M3 lightweight that went over (slid sideways, hooked the rims on the grass at the edge of the pavement, no curb).

It is usually due to the dynamics of the transitions, rather than sliding sideways. Occasionally there are right - left - right transitions that happen to find a sweet spot in a car's suspension and cause the body roll to actually increase with each direction change. There is a certain slalom spacing (can't remember the exact distance between cones) that, if the driver doesn't give it up, a Del Sol with a stock suspension will go over eventually. It’s just a quirk of the chassis.

Granted, the higher CG cars are more prone (VW rabbit, etc.) The attached picture was taken at the 2000 Solo II National Championships by a professional photographer. I don't think anyone would argue that a Saturn Coupe has a high center of gravity, and Koni Shocks don't exactly make it floppy in the turns...

BTW, the car did not go all the way over, Kudos to a great job of driving to bring this one back to earth in one piece.

 

Hypothetically, say you're driving like mad and the car goes up on two wheels like that Saturn. Then what are you supposed to do? (I'm no stunt driver, but knowing is half the battle.)

I just thought I'd better ask, or else I'm going to be on two wheels some day and think "darn I wish I had asked."

 

Steer toward the ground (in the case of the Saturn, that's left) until you fell the car start to rotate back down, then steer straight and prepare for landing.

 

let's go to the oppisite extreme from a saturn, take a F1 car, do you think that it can be flipped without hitting something or without some type of air turbulance (ie. lift)? I mean flipping due to forces acting on the CG? Seems to me the CG is very close to the ground in relation to its wide track.