Originally posted by del105

Here are my planned mods for my 350z I'm going to run nationally in BS in 05

Jic Y pipe to straight pipe this saves you an amazing 50 lbs


Can you elaborate on this? 50 lbs is HUGE.

volk ce 28n 17's in stock size and offset saves you 8 lbs per corner.


Enkei RPF1s do the same more for half of the price

Hotchkis hollow 35mm FSB save 6 lbs.


You'we got the wrong information. Hotchkis are about 4.5lbs heavier than stock front. I measured it, but I don't remember exact number right now. Anyway, front sway bar is a required mod for autox. I like my Hotchkis. I chose it over 350evo because it's lighter than 350evo.

Ubgraded brakes are not necessary for autox. Just good front pads that work in low-temperature range. And brakes would throuw you out of BS anyway.

 

Unfortunately the RPF1s only come in 17x7.5 +48, which is the width you need for the front. I guess you could run a big spacer or something. Where did yo get your wheels from, or how much were they? If they're cheap enough, it might be worth it to run a spacer in the fronts.

Kodiak Racing Wheels and Volk TE37s both have sizes that are legal in the stock class for 17" wheels, and surely they're extremely light.

A front sway bar might not be mandatory for an 04/05 model, as the stock bar for those years is 34mm solid. "Upgrading" to the 35mm adjustable solid bar on my 04 really made no difference, or at least that was my conclusion after a lot of runs yesterday.

Get the car, run it and upgrade as needed. Decide what you need and do so when it's time. If it was an S2000 with an experienced driver (I don't know your level, so excuse my ignorance), I might agree. Currently there is no "forumula" on how to build a winning Z car, since there hasn't been one yet. Nationals is 10 months away, there's enough time to work on the car.

For what it's worth, a curb weight of 3000lbs isn't totally unreasonable. I don't know if you can hit it, but you should be able to get close. The lightest Z at Nats. was 3074lbs, which is "christoc" 's car. Perhaps he can chime in what he's done with it.. it had stock wheels though, which you can replace to shave a bunch of weight. More weights from Nationals:

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...&f=11&t=235671

 

the Enkei RPF1's do not come in the proper size/ offset for the enthusiast in stock class.

The FSB on the 05 is a solid bar and weighs 5.8 lbs more than the hotchkis bar.

Carbotech brake pads are way way way better than the stock pads and the reason is simple. I can have a set of bobcats and panthers (street & track) and I can swap them without rebedding the brakes or sanding my rotors. They also work better.

 

I run 17x8 RPF1s front and rear. In my Region nobody cares. If I'd had the stock rims I'd put the same tires anyway, so by common sence I'm paying penalty by carrying extra half an inch of the rim around. So I don't feel guilty a bit. If I ever go to nationals or something than I'll take care of it.

I payed $1500 with tires shipped. Which will probably buy you only 2 or 3 Volk rims.

 

Vlad I agree regionally the Enkeis are fine as long as no one protests you. I really plan on being competitive at nationals this year though. I've decided on running my stock wheels and spending that money on revalving my konis instead which I hope isn't a mistake.

 

are you going to run your stock wheels on stock tires or with r compounds???

i would like to be competitive in b stock also, and the only real mods i plan to do are swap to r compound tires next year. i may swap my shocks for konis, however, from my monetary stand point that looks unlikely at this moment

 

You'd be suprised at how well you can do with just R tires. Whether or not you need to have the other stuff (shocks, sway bars) is probably true, but drive well and you'll compete with just tires. Try different alignments too. All this depends on how competitive your region is.

 

yeah, thats why its probably going to be my only mod! lol.

err, there is this one guy named michael bright from NC, who drives a 350z track, ran 6 seconds ahead of my best time (i did manage to drop my time by 6 seconds)! i had the priveledge of having him instruct me for my first lap and he was a huge help. considering i am a uber track newb, i don't think i'll be able to compete on his level, but hopefully i'll be able to progress as my experience level in this car increases (autoxed a 330 before, totally diff feel).

 

Im going to be running Kumho 710s in 275/40/17, if you look at the results from nationals this year it is obvious that is the tire to have. Unless of course the new hoosier compound is faster.

 

The 710s are ~40 bucks cheaper than the Hoosiers. 710s for my next set too! Hopefully Kumho can make them fast enough, it seems like everyone is running them now.