For those of you that are into autox & road courses and have had the luxury of driving both versions of the motor...

What do you prefer and why?

It's been about a year since I've done any of this and as a potential Z buyer in '08, I'm still researching. Since this will be my first rwd vehicle, I'm going to drive it stock for at least a year before I fall victim to pouring money into another car...

My Z will be my daily driver and weekend track car...

 

umm i did ok i think with my 03 heres my scoring time...


http://cvs2ks.net/Results093007.pdf


im the only 350z n they spelled my name wrong-_- its Rodney Moenadi but they spelled it Rodney Moenack

 

havent tracked the new one or seen it on the track... soo i dunno bout the diffrence...

 

Sometimes during autocross and the few times I was on a road course, extra revs do help... shifting takes time. It's either hit the rev limiter and deal with it, or up-shift, just to have to down-shift immediately after... but my previous car went from 6700rpm to 8700... much more than 400rpms.

 

I had an '03 Performance, ran it at my local autoX series in stock class in '04 and '05. It performed very well, never felt like it never had enough power. Much better w/ the Koni yellow than the OEM dampeners. I took the local stock class in '05 w/ it w/ just Konis, RPF1's, K&N Filter and Hoosier R's. I began modifying it for BSP back in '06 but never got a chance to compete w/ it. I've had it out at Pacific Raceways twice and it did very well except for the brakes. Even w/ the Nismo R-Tune pads and Motul RB600 it would still be subject ot brake fade about 3/4 into a 20 minute session.

Earlier this year I picked up an '07 Base, I've put a VLSD from an '06 in it but asside from that it's stock. I had it out last weekend for an autoX but it was raining cats & dogs so it wasn't possible to make a decent comparision. It felt like power came on much more linearly and the extra weight wasn't really noticable. I haven't tracked it yet, but I did do a few hours in the mountains w/ friends and I found that the bigger rotors had much better capacity for heat. I blued my rotors that day but I did not feel even a hint of brake fade while my buddy in a WRX had smoke coming out of his wheels & fenders after a 30 minute stint. It took a little concious effort to go beyond the 6700 RPM that I was use to but the HR engine did not disappoint. Definately more powerful than the DE especially at 5500 RPM and beyond.

Nissan did not revise the FD in the '07 so it'll redline at 72 mph vs 63 mph w/ the '03-'05. From what I've read on this forum, it seems that depending on the type of autoX courses you run that could be a disadvantage or an advantage.

 

https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-road/288027-03-vs-07-a.html

 

Less difference in autox, certain noticeable difference (HR > VG) on road courses for acceleration.

SS

 

Just curious, how is your Z set up? Tires, mods etc?

 

If money is no object, I would go for the newer car. The 18" rims on the 350z might actually help in autox as you can run 275s on them. I have had moderate success with an 04, but I wish it can go another 10mph in 2nd gear.

Of course, I would probably wait for the 08 with the newer motor.

 

isnt 08 still running the HR?

 

Maybe the 09, basically I would wait for the 3.7L

 

Is more horsepower better?

With respect I cannot take this question seriously.

 

Are you speaking in regards to peak numbers here?

My question is aimed toward preferences that drivers have with the extra RPMs vs difference of power under the curve.

 

IMHO, the 07 is. More RPM's that allows me to not need to shift to 3rd if needed. I can stay pretty much in 2nd on any course. Once your moving on a autox, your in the 07s powerband most of the time.

 

Late 2010 is the new Engine/Body. No sooner.

 

On a related note, no one can credibly say that any future model will be better than any current or past model -- who's to say if they'll be too heavy, have some other Achilles heel like non-defeatable stability control, or if they'll even go into B Stock?

 

I agree 100%, who knows if the new, more powerful Z is going to be the new, heavier Z as well.... like the new EVO. Which I can guess will be faster on a road course than the IX, but slower in autox stock class (if it's in AS)

 

Any 350Z has plenty of torque for autocross. I run the entire course in second gear.

For open road racing, I could always use more horsepower.

 

Dave,

Until you put sticky tires on the Z you will not come close to the limits of the 03-05 models. once you put stickies you will hit the limits of the 03-05s on almost every course. I can't recall more than one autox this year where we were not all over the rev limiter...

 

the gears on the z are stupid, they should have put a taller rear end on it to increase the speeds. 58mph in 2nd gear is a joke. Like the other poster, I ran into the rev limiter way too many times.

look at how long i was in 3rd for

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPF1n9DVjs