DavidM

I was at Sandown yesterday, and unlike last time, the weather was close to perfect as we had a beutifull, sunny afternoon. I was there with my 350Z (and RE55s all around) and managed a best of 1:28.9 .... that is unless I improved on that in the last session for which I did not see the times. My best for the S2000 is 1:31.1 (which is the best S2000 time there so far), and I had R-spec tyres at the back ... so I was about 2sec quicker with the Zed.

There were some other cars of interest, and here are the times (from memory) for them:
- S15 200SX (full worked/race-prepped) = 1:23.5
- STi (full worked/race-prepped, 260kW atw) = 1:25
- Porsche 993 (full worked/race-prepped, racing slicks) = 1:26
- e46 M3 (R-spec tyres) = 1:27.9
- e36 M3 (R-spec tyres) = 1:29.5
- Lotus Elise (R-spec tyres)= 1:33
- MR2 Turbo (~190kW, road-tyres) = 1:34.5
- Alfa 147 GTA = 1:36
- Astra Turbo (road tyres) = 1:39.2
- MX5 (suspension & exhaust, road-tyres) = 1:41.5

My time was (I think) 10th quickest for the day. Now if you think that is pretty good, then how about 1:27.6 that Stuart managed in the other 350Z ... that landed him 5th overal if I'm not mistaken. Yep, we had two 350Zs there ... both Track models and both on 245 RE55s R-spec tyres all around. Stuart came with his father Murray from Adelaide for the weekend and they were both ripping up the track. Murray managed best of 1:31.5 if I remember correclty. It was great to meet both of you and share the track. Here's the cool bit - Stuart is only 17 years only!!!

Anyway, the car felt great with the Whiteline springs (and hence -1.5deg of front camber). Still very stable and solid, but I did not feel like the front grip was letting me down. Sandown is not what one would call 'handling' circuit, but there's a few places that really work the cornering of the car, and the car was great. In particluar through the faster corners. Through the slow ones it was great as well, and you could (literally) through it from one side to the other without any protest from the car. I'm happy with the way the car felt. I'll maybe fiddle with the alignment and pressures, but I don;t think I need to change anything else for it to go to my likeing.

Took me a little while to find the 'right' gears for the track, as what worked in the S2000 did not seem to work as well in the Zed. It seemed that the Zed's gearing is a little bit too short for Sandown. Part of it could be that it can put the power down so well that you seem to be running out of the lower gears as you're trying to exit the corner.

The brakes held up really well, but I'm still not 100% used to the weight of the car when braking. I still have to conciously brake a fraction longer to slow down all that mass.

In terms of power the Zed did well as I saw seeing 207kph on the speedo on the back-straight. To put that into perspective, most I've seen in the S2000 weas 193kph (with the roof up), and 184kph with the roof down. In one session I had an e36 M3 (ie. one shape back) behind me, and it did not look like he could gain any ground on me on the straights.

ps. Was good to see Lionking come and say 'hi'.

Z350Lover

iTrader: (2)

btw David.... just an off-topic question...... why would you change your s2K for the zed? I love both cars, but never owned a s2K before.... I always love the high-revving engine (just like my previous m3), that is where 350z disappoints me a bit...

cheers,

richie

DavidM

why would you change your s2K for the zed?

Couple reasons:
a) My S2000 was almost 3 years old, and about to go out of warranty.
b) The S2000 is not particularly 'strong' car, so warranty (or new car) was important to me. It cost a fair bit (and took a lot of effort) to up-keep. 10+ sets of pads, 3 sets of tyres, 1 clutch, 1 set of rotors, 1 new suspension arm, 1 set of new rear bearings, and oil change every 5000km. The S2000 is in a way a touch too 'delicate' for my liking, while the Zed is built a lot tougher and has a lot tougher components out of the box (ie. the clutch, gearbox and brakes).
c) Zed has big Brembo brakes, and big wheels/tyres.
d) Zed has better driving position.
e) And this one is probably most important - the Zed (in particluar the way I have mine) is quicker in every respect that the S2000. It's quicker in the straight-line, quicker out of corners ... it's generaly a quicker package as you can tell by my lap-times. The two tracks I've had the Zed on, I've very much beaten the S2000 times there, even though this was my 1st time there with the Zed. With the S2000 I was thinking that if I try hard enough, and drive well enough that I could get into 1:29s at Sanown. With the Zed I'm now thinking about 1:26s ... totally different performance league.

ps.
Not sure if you remember, but about a year ago I was here asking a lot of 'silly' questions as I was not sure that the Zed was the car for me. I was concidering getting another S2000, and looking at the Boxster S again.

I always love the high-revving engine (just like my previous m3), that is where 350z disappoints me a bit.

The amount of revs are not that important to me (even though the more the better). Though,what is important to me is that the car 'delivers' as it approaches the red-line. That's why I got the hi-tech exhaust as soon as the car was run in.

In a way it does not really matter (to me) what numbers has the tacho listed ... if the S2000 did rev to 9000rpm, but felt 'flat' after 7000rpm, then I'd be disapointed with the engine ... just like I was disapointed with the Zed's engine above 5,500rpm.

Z350Lover

iTrader: (2)

Thanks David, that was a really thorough comparisons for me! I have yet to driven a S2K, but if you have a chance, I will try to feel the car as much as possible to go against with the zed... really appreciate for your time for answering the question!

BTW, the lap time is NIIICE and it is very good to hear that the zed can keep up with / very close to those out-of-box performance cars!

cheers,

richie

lionking

Hey DavidM,
Was great fun seein what the club day was about. Spewin I had to go so early - and that I wasn't able to have a burn around the track.

Here is a picky I snapped. I have to admit I was a bit lazy taking the photos so they're not very impressive. I'll be happy to send you a cd if you want to pm me an address. Just as long don't expect too much from them.

Good to catch up again and lookin forward to the calder drags!!!

ypwpat

Nice Picture

DavidM

I have yet to driven a S2K

It is has an incredibly responsive and 'alive' chasis. The gearbox and engine is awesome, but would be even better if it had a 2.5L(or even 3L) engine with the same kind of power delivery.

it is very good to hear that the zed can keep up with / very close to those out-of-box performance cars!

Yesterday, there were only the M3s which were in the same league and still standard (or as much as I am).

Here is a picky I snapped.

Thanks LK ... I think it looks great.

DavidM

Official results are out, and not many people improved their time in the last session, so the times stand more or less as posted above. Though, there was a Cooper S that was posted 1:34.6 ... that is very quick, I'm sure it had to have some work done. And the quickest time of the day was 1:22.6 by the worked S15 200Sx that I mentioned before.

Also I got few more pics from LK ... I like this one: