Originally Posted by Fixxxercask

Got it all installed tonight. Drove it around....

Yea, I have not driven a "real" diff before. This thing gets the car to rotate like I've never felt before. I think I am going to drop significant time.

Thanks again Scott.

I'm going to MO next weekend. 53 cars in TT and 9 in TTB.

Originally Posted by 03threefiftyz

What diff did you get from Scott? His nismo?

Originally Posted by dkmura

I believe the rear wing available for Spec Z is the V3 NISMO unit. It's gonna be expensive and I doubt you'll see them being used in Spec Z.

Originally Posted by laze1

So i weighed my car at the track last weekend: 3050 lbs with full tanks without 200 lbs driver...no reasonable way to get lighter...sux for me.

Year Make Model Motor Note Weight (lb)
03-04 Nissan 350Z VQ35DE 3100

Originally Posted by laze1

Remarks from the 1st outing in full Spec Z trim at Road Atlanta, when Mr. Clark Crawford whipped me soundly:

Final Set up:
middle setting F & R on ASB
factory recommended settings on all 4 dampers
hot tire temps 38-39 psi
warm sunny day 85 deg..low humidity
Running the same tune as last year, tuned for pump gas w/ plenum spacer . now spacer is removed, but running 50/50 mix of 93 pump gas and 98 race gas from the track.

I ran a 1:44.9, which is just a little slower that the 1:44.2 I ran in Dec (older tires) , but still a good time for the 1st time on track and the temp difference. The good news is that I was not pushing that hard...not 100% for sure. So I think a 1:43.x is possible for sure in the same conditions.

Handling:
I did start out with softer damper settings..but that didn't feel as good..firmer was better all around. I still had a little push in all corners, and I like that at RA, and not real noticeable in the high speed stuff, but in T7 that is a slow >90 deg right taken at ~ 50-60 MPH I have BIG push...almost pushed off the track. Note: many cars push here! T7 leads to the long back straight so this impacted lap times for sure. However I didn't adjust anything to fix that since the rest of the track felt good, and frankly I didn't know what to change without F'ing up the rest of the track or create TOO MUCH Oversteer..which is NOT A GOOD thing at RA. So I changed my driving to deal with it. I would use a little trail braking and get the car rotated and THEN step on the gas. I used to brake hard in a striaght line, turn it and feed the gas in as quickly as possible...anyways it is something to work on. The faster I drove the car, the better it felt...that is a GREAT feeling!!!I plan to call KW and ask for some help...

Suspension "A"

Diff:
The diff seemed fine, other than leaking...I did have wheel spin in the paddock at low speeds in an uneven area...but don't think I had any on track.
I used Motul Oil 75-140 Comp Oil that is now recommended by WaveTrac...I will remove the entire diff and inspect everything...more to follow there.
I give the Diff a "B+"

Tires:

I like the BFG tire, and I like NEW tires even better In the past I bought used tires and ran them till...I won some new one. So having brand stinkin new tires is cool....you fell like superman. Frankly I didn't get 100% out of the new tires as I was taking it easy. But the tires felt consistent throughout the races, with little or no drop off. However, as I stated before I was not pushing..not sliding much. In fact I wasn't even getting the tires to come up to proper pressure early in the weekend and had to raise the starting psi from 29 to 32 (early morning prior to any driving) I give the Tires a "A+"...

General Comments: the big issue was going from a 4:08 gear and 17" tires to 3.5 gear and tall 18" tires. Where I used 4-5-6 previously, I now used 3-4-5 . This messed with me more than anything. I never felt like I was in the correct gear. The car feels/sounds SO DIFFERENT in this configuration. I am sure i will adjust next time out at RA in Aug, and this issues will disappear, and I will begin to really push the car & driver...

Overall rating "A"

Originally Posted by laze1

diff removed, cover pulled off...I don't see a problem????????? Maybe it was just over-blow-by???? side cover seals look fine. Maybe I dodged a bullet.

But Dayum does the diff fluid stink!!!

The oil all over the rear end of the car is consistent with oil overflow...and I don't have a catch-can installed.

Note to self...install overflow catch can and diff cooler!!!!

Originally Posted by Fixxxercask

I have a feeling they may raise the minimum weights due to the fact that most people aren't going to be able to get that low. My car is pretty stripped, a bit more than Spec Z allows and I can barely get under 3100. With the fuel tank topped off there is no chance at all.

I have about 20lbs worth of stuff I would have to put back in the car to make it Spec Z legal.

Originally Posted by Fixxxercask

I did some weighing of the car yesterday. With a completely topped off tank and me in the car I was at 3120lbs. I think we can easily burn 20lbs of fuel in a race. I have about 20lbs worth of stuff to put back in my car to make in Spec Z legal, so I guess I was a lot closer than I thought.

Originally Posted by Fixxxercask

...The single piston brakes probably help a lot since the rotors and everything are smaller, but it is Spec Z legal.

Originally Posted by Zazz93

Aren't the standard brakes better with pad knock back as well? I thought only the Brembos had that issue.

Originally Posted by SE5spd

Are brembo the biggest brakes you can run in SZ?

Originally Posted by scotts300

Any Z33 OEM is allowed for calipers, and any brand rotor with the same size as any OEM rotor is allowed.

Originally Posted by Fixxxercask

Yea I know, but I figured I would be running 10's in the rear and 9's in the front so the weight of having 9.5's would roughly be the same.

Here is a pic from today when I was washing the car.

Something else I just thought. I have a front splitter and a wing. Those add around 20lbs or so to the car. So I would be that much lighter without them.

Originally Posted by Zazz93

I think its gonna be a while to get a decent set of fields in some areas, I'd imagine most Z's that are currently racing/tracking have far too many improvements to simply drop back in to the spec rules. Remember, it wasn't exactly competetive out of the box in most SCCA classifications. And those that went NASA had pretty significant mods completed. I'd think most of the Z's in competetion would need to buy new/used engines or short blocks along with new diff's and suspensions (none of which cheap) to even consider switching.

Love the idea of the class, I just hope it can hold on long enough to get class participation up. What's the largest field of Spec Z's any of you have seen? I just took a look and there have been no points awarded in the So Cal region.

Originally Posted by dkmura

Going into the fourth Rocky Mountain NASA race next week, and I'm still the only Spec Z entered. At least there'll be the June-July Nissan bonus contingency to look forward to, but this class is taking time to build.