I spun out for the first time in my Z during an autocross event Sunday. I did one-and-a-half rotations after entering a sweeper too hot. I couldn't start the car immediately as I sat there in a cabin full of tire smoke. It took two tries. On the second try, I turned the key in the ignition for what seemed like an eternity before the amps came up and the car roared back to life. I've had no trouble starting the car since.

Does the Z have a fuel pump intertia/kill switch? Something that cuts fuel or power when the car "thinks" it's been in a crash? Or did something entirely different take place, and should I get the car inspected? Any ideas on what happened out there? Other than a bruised ego, everything appears to be fine. If it matters, I'm driving a 2007 350Z Enthusiast Coupe MT. Traction control was, as you may have gathered, disabled at the time.

 

I don't have an answer to your question, but next time you feel like you are losing it and are about to spin, slam on both the clutch and the brake at the same time. Supposedly it stops you quicker, and it definitely gets you moving again quicker after the spin.

It would have prevented you from stalling out in the first place.

 

Maybe something simple like a loose battery wire... :/

 

There must be something more technical going on. I myself also notice the car is harder to start right after a lap. Not that it dies when starting, it just stumbles once or twice before catching. I noticed it this weekend when track temps hit 96 at Etown on Saturday and see it much less when it's cooler out.

I wouldn't worry about the problem too much. Definitely not to the point of going out of your way to get inspected.

 

Most Likely the car was doing a self diagnostics since it registered an "event". You can probably get more details on exactly the system was doing in the Motorsport section since many there are very familar with the Nissan ECU under track and AutoX conditions.

 

I believe if you do a ECU reset (pull positive battery cable for 1 min) that should straighten things out. Its a fail safe mode from what I've heard.

 

How much gas was in the car? At the end of the spin were you on a angle?

 

I think it's a fuel cut off.
I's happened to me.
I just pressed the accelerator a few times, and then turned the ignition and it started right up. I later read up on it ( this is 6 years ago)

 

I have spun our track car once and it did the same thing. Our car is always completely inspected before and after a race/event. We found nothing wrong. I would assume it's normal but I have never asked the question before.

A piece of advice, if you have suspension with adjustable dampening, adjust the car to give you understeer your first couple sessions so you can get a feel for the track without going in to a spin. Track conditions always vary place to place, time to time. Once you know how the track is, re-adjust your suspension accordingly to balance your car back to neutral.

If you haven't spun your car, you don't know what it's limits are! Now.... You know lol

 

Always make sure to remove the negative terminal first, and make sure it is the last terminal back on, when working with or around a battery on a vehicle with a negative grounded chassis.

 

Been there done that while autocrossing, i would have to say its normal.

No need to pull the battery cable, the car starts and after that first start its back to normal.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm just getting into autocrossing and except for some KDWs, I'm running a stock car. For me, it's all about learning car control and how to go fast with what I've got.

Between my lack of experience and the fact that I've yet to see the same course twice, I'm doing a lot of learning on the fly. I'm getting as many pointers as I can from the veterans out there, but I was too embarrassed to ask anyone about my issue Sunday. Coincidentally, a guy with a 350Z who ran earlier in the day did the same thing I did on the same section of the course. He'd left for the day by the time I was done, so I couldn't ask him if he killed it and had trouble restarting.

I tried to catch it and thought I did, but the Z quit on me anyway. That's what got me wondering about whether the onboard computers are programmed to shut the car down when they sense it's been in a crash or crash-like event.

Again, thanks for the input!

 

And to answer this question, the track -- set up at the Oakland Coliseum -- was flat. My tank was near full -- I know that's not a great idea, but I had a lot of driving to do after the event and it can be sketchy filling up in Oakland at night.