zuff

LOL scathing I wanna know how you took that photo on the move there? It looks great but who was driving !?!

I had a great time... It's not often you get to stretch the car's legs like that. And yes the times when we opened up in 6 gear were real nice.

If anyone has a crazy notion of selling their 350z, just take it to a cruise (lol..use that word lightly) like this.

I second on the Konis, they were just fantastic. And amazing value for the money Nuff spent.

I gotta give credit to Scathing for probably running us a notch above what we might have done without him...nice lead car mate! It was safe driving within the confines of what the 350z could pull off.

nuff

Great photos and I definitely had a lot of fun going through the twisties. I've a lot of tread left, but because of the feathering I didn't get as much traction as you guys.

I've to say the hi-tech exhaust sounds awesome, and it definitely adds power at the top end. We tried to do a quick comparison of how much quicker zuff's car (hi-tech and nismo flywheel) compared to my car (popcharger), but it wasn't very successful since we had VDC enabled in my car and it killed the launch. We didn't get second chance so we will have to do it some other time.

Also after driving zuff's car I've to add flywheel to the planned list below. It's amazing how much easier it is to rev match and the car doesn't jerk when downshifting. Also I've heard the cement mixer noise and it's not that bad as some people have described it. At least to me it's not annoying like all the rattles in my car.

Also I had a chat to one of the paramedics in the ambulance, he told me that we had great cars, but we should be careful since we will get a free trip in his I guess that's why I took the blind corners slower then scathing

scathing, by the way. You should get nissan to check your 3rd gear, because it's way to hard to shift into it.

scathing

The VDC didn't kill the launch, as such, since we were rolling.

When I snap-changed into second, it detected the slip and cut power, and we all know that it does cut power for a noticable amount of time. If I'd let it slip, it would have regained traction faster than the electronics cut power for, and I would have at least kept up. With the torque up from the spin, its probably the fastest way to accelerate.

Still, I'd prefer to find somewhere safer than that narrow country lane we did it in. Even if we used one of those long, long straights on Putty itself, where we'd have plenty of visibility should oncoming traffic come along, it would have been better.

What I might do is flush the gearbox oil and try the Redline or Motul stuff, and stir that around for a few thousand km before I take it to Nissan.

scathing

Our cars are so good you can drive them one handed!

The photos I took were during the "transport" stages, in town when we weren't going for it hammer and tongs. I just took several snaps since I can't see what I'm shooting, so many of the photos are either off-centre or out of focus.

scathing

In the spots where I opened her up and pulled away, that's the pace I normally maintain when I go for a country drive. Its not flat out, since I was throttle lifting early and only using a gentle application of the brakes, but because I'm not "racing" I don't want to work the car hard enough to even worry about brake or tyre fade.

Still, it gives people an idea of that their cars are capable of once they get rid of the leashes that the cops and the government put on us. Whenever I drive the Z around town and wish the clutch wasn't so heavy, that the suspension tune was softer, and I had rear seats, I just remember these kinds of drives and it makes it easier.

Of course I check my mirrors and when I saw that I was pulling too far away, I'd slow down and wait until I could see everyone else. Same with when we hit traffic; wait for everyone to arrive before passing. One of the benefits of having a small number of drivers; its a pain trying to get around 4WDs when you've got 15+ people in a cruise without losing anyone.

I was getting worried, about an hour in, that I was going a little too quick for people and they were feeling pressured to keep up. That's why I kept trying to find somewhere we could pull over, take a bit of a breather, and I could assess if the pace was OK. After missing that petrol station, I figured I'd just head to Singleton until we hit those open areas.


I've only ever done Putty Road twice; the first time in the dark and the second time in the light. The pace wasn't because I know the road, but just because I tend to drive a lot, and go on enthusiast cruises. My car isn't anything special in the handling department (Touring suspension with OEM Track boots that have done around 10,000km) but I do know how the car handles.

Anyway, if you guys are interested in more cruises in the future then I'd be happy to go for some more runs. People sound like they enjoyed it, and exploring new roads where we only limit ourselves to our own limits, rather than the lowest common denominator's, is always fun. The pace will come with experience, and I'm glad no-one felt the need to be heroic and try driving beyond their comfort zones.

KY350

What a great day. Weather was good all day and allowed us to really test the cars with some low speed turns and high speed sweepers.

I won't indicate exactly what speeds we did, but I did reset my digital average speed display after I left home to meet up with the boys. Average speed was 91km/h and that included some driving in Sydney traffic as well a some very slow cruising through Singleton.

It was an awesome sight seeing 4 silver Z's in high speed convoy, passing other motorists on the straights - wish I could have seen their faces as 1, then 2, then 3 and finally a 4th silver Z overtook them. We even hammered past some motorbikes (Harleys and the like).

Picture this - We were in the right overtaking lane passing some bikes at high speed. The road was sweeping around to the left. One Harley rider with a pasanger on board was riding hard in the left lane, leaning the bike right over to keep his speed up. The bike was leaning so far over that the hard luggage case was just off the road, but worse still, he was drifting over to the right lane towards Zuffy's car because he could not turn the bike in any more at that high speed. The bike's rear wheel actually touched the broken line marking that separtes the two lanes and was awefully close to Ziffy's car. But thankfully, the rider gave up trying to keep up with us. BTW, I was about 25m behind Zuffy while this was occuring, keeping up in 6th gear and my suspension was not loading up any. Just goes to show how well the stock suspension is on the Z.

Thankfully though some of the slow corners (35 / 45km/h), other cars / vans / 4wds pulled to the left of the single lane roads to let us pass. But there really was not a lot of traffic to deal with.

Also, some of the slower corners allowed me to practice balancing the car between experiencing initial understeer and then dialling in a little more car gas together with a little more wheel turn to induce very marginal oversteer, but just enough to bring the car back into line and accelerate past the apex. I must admit that I found this out by accident as I was pushing the car to its limits. Also, I would only do this on 35km/h left hand corners, so that there was some road to run off into (the oncoming lane) if the car kept understeering. Thankfully it did not.

With my Z being totally stock, I had the pleasure to assess some of the other guys mods.

Firstly, Zuffy's Nismo flywheel. Taking off from a crawling start in 1st gear, I noticed that Zuffy's car accelerated well, with the tacho climing quickly to 6.5K. Zuffy also has the HT exhaust, so performance was good. The Flywheel is not noisy, however. It is only just a little loader than stock, but not anyoing - keep in mind I hate rattles and unesesary noises.

Then onto Nuffs car. Nuff has the popcharger. You need to dial in about 3000 rpm before the induction noise becomes noticable. Again, its not overly load but you don't have to try hard to hear it. Hard to tell what the performance gain is via the drivers seat.
With respect to the Koni's, I went down the same road in Zuffy's car and Nuff's car. Nuff's may have been a slightly more compliant ride, but unfortunately, the road we chose to test the suspension on was fairly smooth and did not allow for a full assessment. Also, approaching the only major road irregularity at full tilt in 4th while negotiating a bend, my head overtook my heart and I backed off the gas as I was driving someone else's car that I did not want to damage. Still for an 18" Track model, it seems to ride at least as well as my 17" clad Touring.

Finally, onto Scathing's car. He has the popcharger and HT exhaust. Damn that car felt strong. Sounded great when on the gas and each gear change fell into the heart of the torque band and allowed Scathing to eat the approaching road. Did I mention the sound - brilliant! The combination of popcharger and HT made the car significantly loader than stock, but in a good way.

Comparing my stock Z to the HT / popcharger make me realise how quite the stock Z is. Keep in mind that most of the noise from Scathing's car is from the exhaust, so the popcharger makes it a little loader again when above 3000rpm.

Thanks for the ride / drive guys and the company through out the day. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

BTW, washed the car this morning and noticed a hell of a lot more stone chips, with a very few small chips on the bonnet - I guess that's the price we pay for having so much fun.

Looking forward to the next drive day.

scathing

If you're interested in more street cruises I'll post up the NSCC ones I'll be attending.

They do social lunch cruises, which tend to be slower paced (though not always below the speed limit) as well as the faster Dawn Runs. At any rate, non-members are always welcome to see what the club does. I think its only on Technical Nights (where they get reps from various aftermarket companies to give lectures) or garage days (where everyone meets up and works on peoples' cars) are really members-only.

Most of the members are pretty experienced street drivers and they don't tend to slow down for anyone, but on the plus side they also tend to have printed instructions on the route, and will pull over every few hours.

I'll post up the ones I go to, and you're always more than welcome to attend.

KY350

Thanks Scathing. Ive been to a dyno day held by the NSCC last year. Nice guys.

I might go along on one of there drive days, but I must admit that I am not keen on cruising with 15-20 cars. I am worried that there may be a few heros at the NSCC that will want to show me how fast their modded 200SX is compared to the Z and I'm not keen on getting into a p!ssing contest of that nature - don't want to increase my chances of an accident by competing.

I don't mind going fast down a straight bit of road on occasion, but I get a lot more satisfaction taking a series of bends at high speed.

Anyhow, keep me posted on their drive days and I will do at least one and see what its like cruising in a bigger group.

BTW, our convoy of 4 silver Z's yesterday reminded me of the Holder Presicion Driving team, we just allowed a little more space between our cars.

KY350

Scathing Zuffy KY350 Nuff

as we passed other motorists

scathing

The NSCC guys don't feel the need to be heroes. Most of the members are in their 40's, and so while the rush from driving quickly still comes to them (if you've ever seen them at motorkhanas or on the track you'll know what I'm talking about) but its tempered by self-preservation and maturity, and that the wife and kids will be very, very upset should any harm befall them.

I'm usually the only Z there, and they all know they can outpace me if they ever want to. The cruises vary in size (some times you'll get a half dozen, some times you'll get the full dozen) but, if you don't feel comfortable, you can always wave people by and catch up at your own pace.

Its the reason why I mention that club; I wouldn't bring you guys to a Silvia NSW cruise since they're mostly P platers that don't have the requisite skills yet, but nor do they have the maturity to recognise it and drive accordingly. But, since they've beaten some WRX in a drag race down Parramatta Road, they think their car is heaps quick.

Of course, on a road like Putty, the Old Pac, or Macquarie Pass, it takes me all of 3 corners to pull my stock, heavy, non-turbo car so far away that they can't even see me anymore.

apsilon

I thought those photos were black and white for a minute. Where were the other colours?

Sounds like everyone had fun. I was going to come out to the meeting point since it wasn't that far from me but I forgot

I'll second the NSCC drives. Anyone looking for a club should look into it.

KY350

4 out of 4 cannot be wrong when it comes to the best colour Z.

Silver is a classic colour that should be popular for a long time yet. I'm sure I could get an extra $1 on selling my Z simply because it is silver

LemanZ

4 Silver Zed is great, but if we have all difference color and model Z meeting lineup also not bad at all I think you guys need a Silver roadster