just went and did my first event in the new 2005 350z, base model. not my first time drifting, but my first time at an event with this car. the only thing i did was toss in a nismo lsd, and add a plethora of tires to the car. thats it, nothing else is needed. it is so good out of the box, you are probably only going to screw it up by modding anything. engine felt better than my normal drift car, an e36 m3 with a sc. suspension felt easier to drift than my super harsh ground control coilovers on my m3. it understeers a little if you drive the car too fast into the corner, but of course it is, your going to fast! you could do an alignment to the car if you really wanted to, or put seats that hold you a little better in the car, but don't do any other mods! their was a very modded z at the event with a full suspension, all na engine mods including cams, and lots of other parts. i think his car was much harder to drift than the stock one, although it was a super cool car. i was running anywhere from a 225, 245 azenis sport, to a 255 on the back of the car throughout the day. went through 6 rear tires, no front tires.


anyways, there is no point in modding your 350z to drift other than a lsd. the only reason to mod it would be if your going to try and be compete in a series with really crazy cars.

i don't think you can buy a better car to drift stock at the moment, the 350z was that good, hands down. its not the fastest track car, 1/4 car, ect, but it absolutely is bad *** for drifting.

 

I am thinking of drifting for the first time this Thursday. I do not have spare wheels/tires, and my back tires are already pretty low. I am waiting for them to be gone to finally purchase wider tires for my after market wheels.

The front tires, on the other hand, are pretty new since they got replaced due to feathering. My question is, would it be OK to switch front and rear wheels just for this one drifting event? That way, I would burn through the front tires which would give me an excuse for buying 4 new wider tires. Besides the fact that this setup would look funny, any reason not to do it? I would think it would also reduce the understeer.

 

i think the only thing you have to do is take the bolts out ot the front wheel mounting area that blocks the rear wheels going on there. i forget if it was the front or rear, but they will be very noticable if you take off your wheels. it will make sense. i ran aftermarket wheels, 9s up front and 10s in the rear, and some 9s in the rear when i ran out of tires.

as ali put it, the z is a tire monster, it will eat them extremely fast. i had a set of azenis sports that were almost brand new last most of the morning session, then the second set of tires only lasted about 4 runs ( were used with about 50% tread ), and my last set lasted ONE long run, just ONE ( but were only about 20% tread depth )

take lots of tires with you!

 

Ah are you going to the night event on Thursday? I wish I could make it but I have to work. I'm trying to make it on DriftDay on Sat.

Your question, I usually put the bigger size wheel on the front cause I want better grip (up front) for direction purpose. It can be done, you are able to get the most out of your tires without spending. Just warm up your tires and you are ready to go.

Oh and just like aaronlosey said, just take the front bolts off so you can put the rears on.

 

If you are talking about the little bolts that fit the little holes in the back of the stock wheels, then they are already out since I have after market wheels.

So excuse the newbie question, but when you say bring lots of tires, is there typically a way to mount tires on the rims at drifting events. Otherwise, I guess you guys have several sets of rims which I don't.

 

you would have to check the event. There was a drift event I went to last year at the altamont in Tracy and they charged $7 per rim.

 

at our drift event this weekend, there was a tire changer, yes. do i ever have mine mounted at the events? no. whenever i used to try and do that, it would take hours due to something or other. i would miss a bunch of drifting and be all bummed. i take my front tires mounted on the car and a total of 6 rear wheels with tires mounted, 2 of course already on the car. as long as you don't understeer horribly, you won't kill the front tires at all, but the rears........ make sure you have something to drive home on : P

i trailer my car out there, and completely murder all the rears, so i guess i would need another 2 to drive home on if i had to. on a side note, my m3 weight ALOT less, and was much easier on tires, i would barely kill my second set of rears at the end of the day.

drift on some cheap 17s, don't be pimp and run 18s cause you will probably go broke! you can get brand new 17s ( tires ) from discount for around 90 bucks or a bit less. don't buy expensive tires unless you want to throw something grippy on the front, like azenis sports.

 

playing around with the new z. two pretty black strips left over from the new lsd. doesn't look underpowered to me.

http://fabricatedmotorsports.com/aar...rift%20Vid.mov

 

looks good!! dam, maybe i should sell the 86 and move up to a 350Z now....hmmmmm...

 

nice video!!! I'm glad you are enjoying the new Z.... I want to see the look on your face when you see the body kit on mine. See you in Houston this weekend!!! Are you coming up Friday night? I'll try and give you a call soon.

 

the z is awesome. i have all new azenis sports on it for this weekend, ready to rock. it feels so good to not be held up by the car, emilio was in the exact same shoes as me at mineral wells, stuck in a crappy car last year, jumps into a new one for mineral wells, and everything just CLICKS. drift showoff here i come!

oh, and i will be up there friday night, but probably really late.

and i don't trust you to call me, you never do. your like that with instructional runs too.

see ya there, can't wait to see the car!

 

where can i get the nismo rear lsd for a good price is it hard to install? how much is it?

 

Performance Nissan
www.mynismo.com
$800-900
not a bolt on part, but its easier than some make it out to be. You will need a backlash gauge, a vice, and a good breaker bar!
btw, is wonderful for drifting! I have one on my car set 1.5 way. I love it!

Jon

 

Yep, what he said on all accounts!

 

set it to 2way!

 

lets see i got 245/35/ 19x9.5 in the front nd 275/35/ 19x10.5 in the rear. lol can i drift and not mess up my rims??? or did i mess up with my tires set up? can you drift with 19s? i don't ever see anyone doing it. How much bigger tires do i need? or do i just need to go with 18's??

 

i use 19s all the time, ive got a set of 18s but I never use them.

tires are alot cheaper on 18s

 

Hey, I drift my Z all the time. I work for a large chain dealership so tires are easy to come by. I bought cheap camber arms for the rear off of ebay. They where about a 100 bucks. I got an alignment for the rear to take off some of the neg camber. It makes my tires last a lot longer. Not that there hard to come by for me, but its nice not having to change tires all the time. I would recomend this. Drifting rules!!!

 

uh, i dont think thats what he wanted to now as far as setting up Zs for drifting.

 

I'm doing my research right now for drifting tires. I want to drift with the 350z so bad but don't the extra wheels or tires. I found this place. tires-easy.com The cheapest tire for our stock wheels are 225/45/18-$68.60 and 245/45/18-$70.80. I wonder if they are creditable.