ldstang50

iTrader: (2)

I'm moving from a SM Evo that won local events and if it stayed together might have done well at Nationals. I got sick of having to put it back together, the rough ride etc. so I bought a 07 Nismo 350z to run in BS.
I ran it twice at the very end of last year completely stock. First things I noticed, understeer on turn in...probably from pushing to hard and being used to R comps, oversteer on exit (used to awd and r comps), inability to trailbrake, great linear power.
I had the car aligned at the end of the season and noticed the spring blocks used in shipping the car were still on the coils of the springs. I removed those and had the car aligned.
Slight toe out up front, -.8deg front camber, rear toe at 0 and rear camber taken down as low as I can get it so both sides are even -1.3deg.
I was racing last year with 1/2tank, tools and spare still in.
So far this year I have my 2nd set of wheels and tires for street use, Cobb 4way adjustable front bar, Stillen true dual exhaust, K&N drop in filters.
I have two 295/30/18 A6's that I'm going to test mount on the front when the roads clear up. I have a friend with 315/30/19 who will let me try those out on the rear. I know the wheels can fit them, but can the car fit them is what I'm trying to find out. Brake pads....anything to help rotate the rear underbraking besides the alignment?

From you guys with more z experience than me, what can you recommend? I do have some very good competition locally with former national champ Keith Skala running a brand new RX8 this year. He had been running an 05 RX8.
Thanks

Chiketkd

Is that you Liam? It's Chike, I used to run with you when you were in the BRR-SCCA region a few years back. I remember that SM evo well (I was driving a DS '06 WRX at the time).

Looking forward to running against you at the Finger Lakes NT.

ldstang50

iTrader: (2)

Hey Chike, I do remember you. You were the first person I ever gave a ride to in my car.
Looks like were both in different animals now

Chiketkd

Ha ha! I still remember that "No Fat Chicks" sticker across your dash.

Yes, definitely we're in different animals right now. Many feel an '03 Track/Enthusiast, Nismo 350Z or the new 370Z could be the Z cars to have for the class. Looking forward to seeing you do well this season.

Will you be making the trip to Lincoln in September?

guitarist

iTrader: (1)

I'm a relative newb, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I've really applied my mind to figuring out how to set this car (an 03 Enthusiast) up properly for BS.

A square or nearly square R-comp tire setup does WONDERS for both understeer on turn-in and for helping the car rotate under trailbraking/left-foot braking. We're running an experimental setup on tires this year (275 V710s in front, 295s in the rear, which actually measure 285mm/305mm, on stock 03 Enthusiast wheels), but that's to actually tame some of the oversteer we were getting, especially on corner exit. Plus the extra 0.75" diameter helps in gearing (our engine runs out at 6,600rpm - not a problem for you).

The car itself has room for much more tire than we have wheel; a 295 tucks in a good deal on an 8"rim, but we easily have another inch on the inside before we're in danger of rubbing the strut. These cars can fit a lot of rubber under them, and with your bigger Nismo wheels, you should be fine.

We are also running the Cobb bar, we've set it to full stiff and been very happy with it. Our alignment is a little more aggressive, but I don't DD the car that much, and i don't mind a 'lively' car. We have a good amount of front toe-out, and a little bit in the rear. Front camber is max we can get while staying even, about 0.75 degrees negative. Rear we're at 2 degrees, and we could even go greater if we wanted to. I'm thinking 1.7-1.8 might be more optimal for forward grip, however. We'll have to play with it some more.

Next up is Koni yellows. If money is not a problem, you can get some DA Konis from Nismo parts too, I think.

As for brake pads, that's really mostly personal preference. I've found the stock pads to be plenty powerful and easily modulated both at the limit and in finer mid-corner application.

We race the car with the spare, tools and all removable bits out of the rear. We also have a super-light-weight custom Y-back exhaust that ends just after the axle. All in, that probably drops 70-80lbs from the rear of the car, which definitely helps with an easy-to-control rotation, especially under trailbraking/LF braking. It doesn't noticeably affect the car in any other way, however.

Well I guess that's about most of the basics. I'm sure folks on here will disagree with me. Maybe my codriver (a mechanic) will have some more technical advice as well.

At any rate, it's great to see another Z driver getting serious about B Stock.

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

Remember, the Z doesn't pitch up under hard acceleration -- so you'll be going a LOT faster than you think that you are when entering the next corner. It also doesn't pitch down under hard braking, so you'll think that you aren't slowing down as much as you actually are. Also the Z doesn't have a lot of body roll, so static negative camber isn't as big an issue as some other cars.

Nobody listens to me, but I'll give you my setup anyway.

My setup is either SA or DA Konis (DA because I know what to do with the additional adjustability), Eibach FSB, Kumho V710s (285/30R18) on track model wheels (since I have a track model). I'm within 10 pounds of my ideal weight balance (about 10 pounds too much in the front) and will probably be draining my washer fluid (6-8 pounds ahead of the right front wheel). Oh, and I leave my trailer hitch attached to the bumper, which moves some weight back (and low). Stock exhaust. 3/8 tank fuel (1/4 tank allows wheelspin, 1/2 tank adds too much weight so the car has TOO much grip in the rear).

I rolled over the scales at Topeka at 3208. Not the lightest Z, but probably one of the better balanced ones.

Ruff Z

iTrader: (8)

Hey Glenn, just for quick reference. How stiff from max do you run the fronts, and how much less (I am assuming softer) in the rear for your Konis? I need a benchmark, throwing mine on tomorrow.

mw9

iTrader: (51)

So you guys running these big tires on stock rims, have you had any problems. Right now I am running a stock set of 17's with Kumho V710s 245/45 all around. Do you think I could go any larger on these rims? Thanks

guitarist

iTrader: (1)

the 275s and 295s I mentioned above are on stock 03 enthusiast wheels (17x7.5F and 17x8R).

We ran 275/40/17 V710s on all four corners all last year with zero problems.

ldstang50

iTrader: (2)

ahhhh yes, the infamous, NO FAT CHICKS sticker. Apparantely it was funny with the guys, but some of the girls didn't like it....oh well
I'd like to go to Nationals, but I have 3 national events planned..... Ohio, Fingerlakes and DC. IF I do well in those I will think about going out to Neb. Business is really hurting right now and I have to see what my school schedule looks like


Guitarist and PDX
many thanks
I haven't seen too many Nismo z's auto-xing. I think with my experience in a stock car, I am going to keep the shocks stock for now. The front bar seems like a good first mod. I don't know too much about the car yet to be swapping the shocks and making adjustments.
I think I'll have my hands full enough with figuring out tire pressures and how to drive RWD.
Do you guys know of any northeast z auto-xers?

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

I installed the shocks pre-set to full soft, that gave me just over three turns from full soft to full stiff. I also go off of full soft instead of full stiff since full soft is usually the baseline -- not full stiff.

In the dry, on asphalt, I run 2.5 turns up from full soft in the front, 1.5 turns up from full soft in the rear. I could pull my dyno sheets out and tell you exactly what that is, but they're out with my racing stuff.

I actually had more problems with tire wear on the narrower tires than I've had on the wider ones.

One of the advantages to having a lot of people autocrossing the same car is that usually there is a wealth of setup info out there. That hasn't happened with the 350Z, since contingency attracts the good drivers (and Nissan isn't paying contingency for Solo).

When you do go for shocks, get single-adjustable. WAY too many people put all kinds of adjustable parts on their car with no thought to how they relate to each other or the OEM parts (because in their opinion, of course, the OEM parts are "junk"). They have no baseline to work from, and yet they start making all kinds of adjustments and soon end up with a car that works poorly in virtually every situation. You really start with a setup that is nearly OEM and work one adjustment at a time from there. In fact, make one suspension change at a time (springs/anti-roll bar/shocks/tires) unless you're willing to be a bit frustrated (or you've been doing car setup for a while and can recognize and compensate for the interactions between the changes).

The Z comes with decent springs (at least on my 2005), so that's not a huge issue. That leaves FSB and shocks for suspension bits that you can change (for stock), and you don't have to go ultra-fancy on either of those.

I'm not saying that the Z is perfect (First350's BSP trophy last year proves that the Z *can* be improved) but that it is a very good platform that has potential for being even better -- but it doesn't take a lot to get it there.

Ruff Z

iTrader: (8)

Awesome, thanks. That'll give me an approx. for me to start with and adjust from there. I also put a 36mm front sway bar on. So we'll see how it shakes down in 2 weeks at my first event.

I might scamper up north with Dennis Healy for a few events in your kneck of the woods. You planning on any Oregon Region events in Packwood?

Chiketkd

Well I guess I'll be seeing you @ Finger Lakes & DC then. Good luck getting fast in that beast - those Nismo's look and sound awesome!!!

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

We'll have to see. Last year I spent all year pretty much dealing with the wife's accident in Sept. 2007 (head-on at est. relative speed of 85-90 MPH) and buying a house, so my mind (and money) was tied up in those.