BE CAREFUL!!!!

I almost wrapped my Z around a tree tonight on the way home from band practice. I was cruising in 3rd, going about 40-45mph, slightly wet road conditions; no standing water or puddles anywhere; when I suddenly got the urge to just punch it, thinking to myself "surely it won't lost traction in 3rd, even on wet roads"....well, almost immediately she lost all traction and I almost lost it...scared the living **** out of me! Well, lesson learned, but I almost learned it the hard way.

Just be careful with your "new found power..."




(r.i.p. Dimebag)

 

yeah everyone needs to be careful


just curious, what tires do you have and how wide? do you have an aftermarket LSD or suspension?

 

I'm N/A. I had that happen to me on a DRY road in the wintertime ~30 degrees outside and I had snow tires..so it's not like I had summer tires in the cold that were all hard. I was @ 60mph and nailed in in third..and the rear end just shot toward the curb...after several occilations I was able to straighten it back out. The snow tires really hold traction most of the time. Needless to say I leave VDC on unless I'm really paying attention and it's dry and WARM out.

Just goes to show you need to REALLY stay on top of things when driving even a moderately powerful RWD car when the conditions aren't perfect.

 

I have 245/45 ZR18 Toyo's, VERY good condition, less than a thousand miles on them.

As for differential, just stock Track LSD. Stock suspension also.

Of course, I had the VDC 'off'.

 

245 width tires are WAY WAY WAY too small for 400+rwhp...especially with the low profile they come with in 18 inch sizes. That probably contributed a little.

I have 275 width tires (S-03) on my N/A 350Z and I have trouble with traction from a roll if it's cool or wet out.

 

No boosting in any gear at any speed on wet roads is a good rule of thumb.

 

I'm workin on that, these are the tires that came with the car when I got it earlier this year. I honestly have no clue when it comes to tires, I'm learning as I go. I thought up till this point they were pretty good!

Exactly! Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

 

Toyo T1-Ss are actually pretty decent in a straight line.

I'm assuming you're on the stock ray's 18s...I would say look into a set of rims that have am 18x9.5-10 in the rear and run a 295 to 305 width T1-Ss or Drag Radials if you want to hook in every gear. You'll be amazed how much more traction you have on tap with a good 295-305 tire.

 

Thanks, I'll look into something like that in a couple of months, or maybe 19x10's rear, 19x8.5's front. Gotta pay off the turbos first!

 

I try to avoid it, but I hit boost sometimes on wet roads. Never on a bend in the road though. It's not too difficult to keep the rear end under control when you break traction, unless you're on a curve.

And trust me, you will STILL break loose with 285's on the rear.

 

Right, I certainly wouldn't have tried it around a curve; this happened on a straight road. I'm still learning what kind of power this thing has. The sad thing is though, I'm already itching for more! I'm probably going to order the new Crawford plenum from Sharif tomorrow, then driving to GRD this weekend to have it all tuned up! My goal for right now is a reliable 430-440whp.

 

how much whp do you have right now?

i'd seriously get wider tires/wheels before you do anything further

I've been saying this a lot lately, but I'm suprised at how little most people with FI are upgrading their traction. Everyone spends a huge amount on FI, then nothing on grip.

even supercars have wide tires for a reason

 

I haven't had it dyno'd yet, so I'm assuming 400-410 maybe, with test pipes and greddy exhaust?

I hear ya about the wheels, and the logical part of me is saying to hold off on more power until I get better grip, but the kid in me just wants MORE POWER, NOW!!

 

You're driving your car before dynoing it? The first thing you should do after the kit is installed is dyno. But really, what good is power if you don't move when you hit the gas?

 

That's the whole point behind the APS kit, you are safe out of the box, supposedly. I don't have a dyno in my garage so it would be kind of hard to dyno before driving.

 

Okay, I just ordered the plenum from Forged Internals, will install it before I dyno and tune this weekend, then I'm saving for better wheels/tires. I know this isn't the wheel forum, but can someone recommend a good wheel/tire combo and a ballpark price I'd expect to pay? I'm not looking for mad bling, just some nice sharp rims and tires that will perform well that won't cost me a limb.

 

I do not claim to be a FI expert - but - I believe APS TT is safe out of the box with stock exhaust.

You have: Greddy EVO2 Exhaust & Ultimate Racing Test Pipes
I really think you need to check your state of tune.

Good luck.

 

Direct quote from Peter.

 

Yea yea yea.....ha, jk. That's why I'm going to Chicago this weekend. I would be worried about it if I was indeed hitting 9 or 10 psi, but I'm only seeing around 8 psi, which seems a tad low for the mods I have, and the a/f ratio is around 10.5 to 11 at WOT throttle, so I think I should be okay. I have a suspicious feeling that I somehow got the 91 octane map instead of the 93 like I requested. I can't think of any other reason for the relatively low boost.

 

I'll bet money that they gave you the 91 octane map...APS doesn't take ANY risks out of the box no matter how small. Have a good time at GRD this weekend. I live 5 minutes away from there. My APS kit will be here at the end of this week and I'll be starting install next week.

I wish I could check out your Z this weekend but I'll be up in Wisconsin!