Zakira

So yesterday, I finally took my Touring Z on to the twisties up in the Angeles National Forest. Deep in the mountains, I was stuck behind a bunch of slow moving cars. After a while, a pack of motorcycles, maybe 10 to 20 of ‘em, in full racing gear caught up to us. When the passing lane came up, we all gunned our engines and I was leading the pack. We were doing like 60 to 90. I was shifting between 4th and 5th gear, and when I occasionally peeked, the tach was in the 4000 range. I kept the lead with some distance for a while but became curious whether the riders were going all out or they were holding back, because in my mind, there was no way the 350Z, or any other car, could outrun those super bikes. So when a passing lane came up, I dropped back a bit and the three riders that were right behind passed me and the game was on again. We were again flying through the bends and when the straights came we just floored it. And get this, the only times I braked was to avoid hitting them from behind. The Z was actually faster than those guys! There was one guy right behind me that I’m sure saw it all. And those guys were tilted like 45 degrees at those tight turns, their knees were down to the pavement. They were running hard. I was running hard. I hadn’t yet explored the Z at that level but I just had to defend its honor. After the curves ended there were like 50 more of those guys waiting for them. I slowed down, too, but the guy that was behind me motioned me to keep going. It was a total blast. And you know, it never felt like the car ever reached its limits. The car had monster grip and power. Even at that level, there was still a reserve left that I’m sure a much better driver can exploit. Now I don't know not'n 'bout bikes but...aren't they supposed to be faster?

ares

iTrader: (2)

in a straight line theres no question, bout 200hp for about 500lbs.

as for turns, I bet they were holding back, its easy and painful to wreck a bike, you only got 2 tires on the road, if you hit a bump on a tight turn and a wheel goes off the ground, your gone, while the car has 3 wheels left.

but yeah, if they wanted they should be able to beat you. but of course, this depends on what they were riding....

j's350z

Not to flame on what you wrote but????????

Most high end 1000cc street bikes have around 130hp and weigh 400LBS....Still, all of them will kick our ***. My kawasaki 600 will blow away my new 350. It does under 11 seconds in the 1/4 and 0-60 in about 3 seconds. However, I love driving my Z more now thats it is in the 40's in NJ...... I did race a new S55 Benz this weekend on the NJ turnpike and all I can say is that he gave me the thumbs up after hitting around 140..............

Jason
NJ

350zSpeedRacer

I seriously doubt that those bikes were giving it their all. They were probably just so interested in the car, they didn't want to leave it behind (and who can blame them!). But most street bikes these days can run 11's or even 10's in the quarter mile, bone stock. My guess is they were just so enamoured with the Z.

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

I'm sure they weren't really pushing as hard as you think they were. A well-ridden sport bike would leave the 350Z FAR in the dust under just about any circumstance barring rain. I've ridden a few of them, and they make just about any car feel slooooow. I'm sure on the streets they were keeping it within reason, particularly if they were on a group ride. If you went to a road course and went full blast against them in a race, it would be ugly.

That being said, that sounds like a total blast of a drive, and the Z does have some serious grip.

importriders

Well actually a properly tuned/set-up car can take a turn better than any sportbike can, but in the straights there is no comparison. Did you see the GSXR-1000 vs. Vette matchup in one of the sportbike mags? The vette was able to take the turns better but give the gixxer a couple of straights and it's over. The gixxer was the winner hands down. I would have to say that those guys were definitley holding back. I've ridden the Angeles Crest and 60-90mph on a bike is slow. We usually average 120mph up there. Not that twisty. Too many cops there too. Now come down to Palomar Mountain here in San Diego and go up the "tight side", that is probably one of the twistiest roads around.

By the way, my bike does low 10's in the 1/4 with a power commander and Yosh full race exhaust.

Here is a link of Angeles Crest route:
http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/AngelsCrest.htm

And here is a link to Palomar Mtn. compare the difference:
http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/Palomar.htm

Check out the sky map of Palomar Mountain. Decreasing radius turns galor. Make you wanna pass a loaf in your pants!

robertchen

but you got to think of in terms of the bike... a bike runs on 4cyl, depending on the bikes... a 350z has a v6... no matter what, the v6 will be able to go faster ... even though the 350z is much more in weight and size... i have a 600jiggy... and i know its fast, but towards the highend, its not much faster then a cars pickup speed...

importriders

Actually, that is the wrong way to look at it. You have to look at power to weight. Power being hp and torque. Now in a top speed race like you are saying my bike will probably lose to a porsche or vette(my bike tops out at 165mph). But my bike is also considered slow in the sportbike world (600cc). Now the faster bikes (i.e. 1000cc and up) will hang with most exotics. The Hayabusa can go to 200mph and so can the GSXR-1000...ohhhh and the ZX-12R too. But they are all limited to like 187mph or something. In any case, these bikes will have faster 0-100, 0-150, 0-200mph times than most cars.

By the way, it's not a race if the car can't reach that speed. I think only a few stock cars can reach 200+mph.

Zakira

Welp guys, I just found out that my co-worker's son was one of the riders that was there yesterday. Don't know if he was one of the guys I was runnin with, yet, but I'll post if I find out how hard they were pushing, hehe.

fatZo

no sport car can outperform a superbike.

there should not even be a comparison, they are not in the same league.

the cylinder/speed analogy makes absolutely no sense.
my bike has only 2 cylinders and it can smoke my 350Z in a nano second.

the 'vette/gixxr test was another failed ploy by chevy to give the 'vette some credence. pure bull $hit.

BigBadBuford

On top end, cars can hang with bikes. Did you ever see the video of the 'Busa Killer Supra? On top end the power/weight ratio doesn't matter as much as the coefficient of drag of the vehicles. If you have a powerful, aerodynamic car, you would be able to take a bike on top end. The Z isn't to that level, but it is not impossible for a car to be faster than a bike.

importriders

Ummm...that was a "busa killer supra" probably running 1000rwhp.
Of course that will beat a busa!!! Now have you seen the "kill everything and yo momma too busa" turbocharged w/nitrous???
That will take anything.

Please, if your gonna do a comparo (even though this is a silly one) keep it somewhat reasonable.

importriders

Exaclty, and the vette took the turns better. More facts that a car will turn better than a bike. Lets see... 4 huge contact patches vs. 2 smaller ones. A motorcycles grip nowadays is totally dependent on tires not chassis. Tires are the limiting factor.

Zakira

Dayuum, that WAS my co-worker's son I was runnin' with. He's one of the guys I let past me, small world. So I just talked to him. He said I did pretty good. He told me that they don't really try to push it on the road. I asked him "you guys could have taken me anytime, right?" He said not really, that a faster rider could have done that but not others. Maybe he was just try'n to be nice to me? I don't know, I never talked to him before, so.
But then again, my Z wasn't running at the limit, either.
By the way, he has a 300ZX TT.

fatZo

just bring it ('vette, busa killer, Citroen 2V or whatever) and i prove you wrong.

importriders

How about you come here and we handle it at willow springs or the streets of willow. Now that would be fun.

Chris S

My RC51 would blow by a 350Z in about the time it takes the driver to blink an eye...no comparison.

Lots of track time (incl. racing) has made me realize the relative dangers of the street and slow down on 2 wheels. I still ride pretty fast at times, but always keep a sizable margin for error. I can comfortably push my car harder on the street.

On the tracks I normally hit (TWS and TMR), I feel pretty confident that I'd be faster on my bike since I don't have to worry about cages, gravel, cops, etc.

Regardless of relative speeds depending on the venue, the bike is more fun w/o a doubt (unless it's raining or cold).

Chris S

new Gold Wing: 12.78 @ 103.3 1/4 mile. That time doesn't seem quite good enough, but I remember the hype at it's intro that it would beat a Countach in the 1/4 mile.