Speed Magazine 350Z Tuner Wars!
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From: San Luis Obispo, CA
Jim Wolf "Only one I saw that had a LSD noted":
Yokohama Advan A048
265/35zr/18
285/30zr/18
Nismo LSD, anti-roll bars, springs and dampers, 350EVO control arms.
Stock Brembos
GReddy:
Nitto NT555
245/35ZR/19
275?30ZR/19
"I have this same set up on my car, it's not so good."
TEIN Type Flex Coilovers
GReddy/Alcon 6-pot, 355mm rotor front, stock Brembo rear.
Stillen:
Toyo Proxes RA1
245/40ZR/18
305/35ZR/18
Eibach Springs, Koni dampers, Stillen anti-roll bars and contol arms and camber & radius rods rear.
AP 6-pot, 14.3" rotor front, AP 4-pot 13.5"rotor rear.
Vortech:
Toyo Proxes RA1
245/40ZR/18
275/35ZR/18
Nismo Springs, dampers and anti-roll bars.
Stock Brembos with Nismo Pads.
Nismo Carbon Fiber Shift **** and Vinyl Mayhem graphics, you know that helped it go fast.
Yokohama Advan A048
265/35zr/18
285/30zr/18
Nismo LSD, anti-roll bars, springs and dampers, 350EVO control arms.
Stock Brembos
GReddy:
Nitto NT555
245/35ZR/19
275?30ZR/19
"I have this same set up on my car, it's not so good."
TEIN Type Flex Coilovers
GReddy/Alcon 6-pot, 355mm rotor front, stock Brembo rear.
Stillen:
Toyo Proxes RA1
245/40ZR/18
305/35ZR/18
Eibach Springs, Koni dampers, Stillen anti-roll bars and contol arms and camber & radius rods rear.
AP 6-pot, 14.3" rotor front, AP 4-pot 13.5"rotor rear.
Vortech:
Toyo Proxes RA1
245/40ZR/18
275/35ZR/18
Nismo Springs, dampers and anti-roll bars.
Stock Brembos with Nismo Pads.
Nismo Carbon Fiber Shift **** and Vinyl Mayhem graphics, you know that helped it go fast.
The testing was conducted at Streets of Willlow, which is high elevation...I think about 2500ft above sea level, so that likely contributed to the low times as well...but still...
Those R&T drivers were weak...maybe they sent out the B-Team.
Those R&T drivers were weak...maybe they sent out the B-Team.
So they were all running about the same set up for tires and rims , that the average guy has on the street would . Did the same guy or guys run the tests on all the cars , or did the owners do the driving ? I would think that the mag had thier own test drivers . So it makes it a very good test of what the kits can do , with out of the box set ups .
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They had Mike Cronin Jr. from Performance Nissan Racing do all the driving. He's won some races in their 350Z, so I'd have to say he's got skill.
Last edited by Gary King; Jul 6, 2005 at 11:16 AM.
it might have been interesting if they had a stock C6 corvette out there for comparison
that's a BUNCH OF CRAP that the NA Z had hoosier race tires and all the others had to use street tires. WTF comparison is that? Put the traction on a car that isn't in such desperate need of it?
the greddy car - just as I thought, mediocre tires on a minimal suspension with medium tire sizes, and no LSD.....
the JWT car looks like it was set up half way decent
I'm puzzled how the vortech did so much better than the rest with 1/4 times
they should have done a 1/4 and 0-60 run on that NA built up Z
that's a BUNCH OF CRAP that the NA Z had hoosier race tires and all the others had to use street tires. WTF comparison is that? Put the traction on a car that isn't in such desperate need of it?
the greddy car - just as I thought, mediocre tires on a minimal suspension with medium tire sizes, and no LSD.....
the JWT car looks like it was set up half way decent
I'm puzzled how the vortech did so much better than the rest with 1/4 times
they should have done a 1/4 and 0-60 run on that NA built up Z
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From: Charlotte, NC
Originally Posted by sentry65
it might have been interesting if they had a stock C6 corvette out there for comparison
that's a BUNCH OF CRAP that the NA Z had hoosier race tires and all the others had to use street tires. WTF comparison is that? Put the traction on a car that isn't in such desperate need of it?
the greddy car - just as I thought, mediocre tires on a minimal suspension with medium tire sizes, and no LSD.....
the JWT car looks like it was set up half way decent
I'm puzzled how the vortech did so much better than the rest with 1/4 times
they should have done a 1/4 and 0-60 run on that NA built up Z
that's a BUNCH OF CRAP that the NA Z had hoosier race tires and all the others had to use street tires. WTF comparison is that? Put the traction on a car that isn't in such desperate need of it?
the greddy car - just as I thought, mediocre tires on a minimal suspension with medium tire sizes, and no LSD.....
the JWT car looks like it was set up half way decent
I'm puzzled how the vortech did so much better than the rest with 1/4 times
they should have done a 1/4 and 0-60 run on that NA built up Z
The 1/4 mile times definitely should be better, how much power did the article claim each car was putting down?
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From: Valdosta, GA
Originally Posted by HyperSprite
Finally a magazine that holds the tuners feet to the fire to prove they are more than just show. They are doing more than printing the marketing spiel the companies hand them and really testing them against stock and each other (the one thing we just can't do with an online community).
Speed Magazine called 9 FI companies, 9, and all they got was 4 cars. Where the rest scared of real testing? You be the judge. It had to be running on DOT tires (and even two DOTs were disallowed because they were unrealistic for a street car) and 104 octane or lower (and all the cars came with 100 in the tanks) so these cars could be something you could really build and drive.
Read the sidebar on page 69 about the Nismo suspended car with better lap times than any of the blown cars, albeit on tires the would not have allowed for the test but still, it's interesting.
Bling Factor: Both the Greddy 350Z and RX8 were built to show and their performance suffered because of it. That whole thing about having to disable the ABS for the 6 pot greddy brakes on the RX8 was ridiculous and silly Greddy, 19s aren't for driving, both cars ended up with longer stopping distances than stock. That's not a performance upgrade.
Also on page 30 they have a Nismo R34GT-R Z-Tune (look to page 32 for the Nismo steering wheel some have seen on 350Zs)
On another note, check out the Audi TT 0 to 60 in 3.8sec and the 1/4 in 12.3 (although the rest of the numbers don't look nearly as good as a stock Z).
Chris
Speed Magazine called 9 FI companies, 9, and all they got was 4 cars. Where the rest scared of real testing? You be the judge. It had to be running on DOT tires (and even two DOTs were disallowed because they were unrealistic for a street car) and 104 octane or lower (and all the cars came with 100 in the tanks) so these cars could be something you could really build and drive.
Read the sidebar on page 69 about the Nismo suspended car with better lap times than any of the blown cars, albeit on tires the would not have allowed for the test but still, it's interesting.
Bling Factor: Both the Greddy 350Z and RX8 were built to show and their performance suffered because of it. That whole thing about having to disable the ABS for the 6 pot greddy brakes on the RX8 was ridiculous and silly Greddy, 19s aren't for driving, both cars ended up with longer stopping distances than stock. That's not a performance upgrade.
Also on page 30 they have a Nismo R34GT-R Z-Tune (look to page 32 for the Nismo steering wheel some have seen on 350Zs)
On another note, check out the Audi TT 0 to 60 in 3.8sec and the 1/4 in 12.3 (although the rest of the numbers don't look nearly as good as a stock Z).
Chris
Originally Posted by mcduck
I'm not surprised. I think for a out of the box kit, the Vortech is much better than the TT offerings. 370-380rwhp is not uncommon vs 350-360ish you get with the average TT kit out of the box and tuned safely. The strength of the TT kits is what you can do with them **beyond** just installing the kit. They have a lot more room for growth than the SC offerings. Put built/tuned SC & TT kits in a contest and the TT Zs would probably eat the SC Z's alive.
And as far as the driver in that article, he may be the big d!ck on the road course, but he'd get laughed at around here running 14.2 in a stock Z. Just by seeing that he ran better times in the Vortech s/c Z over the Greddy Z, that tells me he couldnt control the power off the line worth a damn. Even with a slighlty worse launch in a Greddy TT, he should have easily overpassed the s/c by the end of the 1/4 <-----just my opinion
Last edited by Alberto; Jul 6, 2005 at 12:21 PM.
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Dynojet used at XS Engineering.
Jim Wolf:
358 bhp @ 6110 rpm
365 lb-ft @ 4260 rpm
GReddy:
411 bhp @ 6190 rpm
372 lb-ft @ 4570 rpm
Stillen:
320 bhp @ 6560 rpm
306 lb-ft @ 3930 rpm
Vortech, power was very close to stock till about 3000 rpm:
359 bhp @ 6450 rpm
317 lb-ft @ 4920 rpm
Stock:
243 bhp @ 6200 rpm
236 lb-ft @ 4520 rpm
Jim Wolf:
358 bhp @ 6110 rpm
365 lb-ft @ 4260 rpm
GReddy:
411 bhp @ 6190 rpm
372 lb-ft @ 4570 rpm
Stillen:
320 bhp @ 6560 rpm
306 lb-ft @ 3930 rpm
Vortech, power was very close to stock till about 3000 rpm:
359 bhp @ 6450 rpm
317 lb-ft @ 4920 rpm
Stock:
243 bhp @ 6200 rpm
236 lb-ft @ 4520 rpm
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From: NY
They also mentioned that the owner of the dyno said that his dyno puts out numbers typically 20hp or more less than other dynos. The driver of all cars said the JWT car felt like it had the most power from top to bottom with no noticeable turbo lag at any point.
Last edited by kjbalto; Jul 6, 2005 at 01:16 PM.
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From: Sammamish, WA
Originally Posted by 35oZephyR
I thought an equally entertaining article in that same issue was the Greddy (turboed) forced induced Rx-8.
With all it's mods it yielded like a 14.2 on the quartermile and less than a stock Z's performance numbers. The modded Rx8 also weighed in at over 3300 lbs.
With all it's mods it yielded like a 14.2 on the quartermile and less than a stock Z's performance numbers. The modded Rx8 also weighed in at over 3300 lbs.
First off, Im not trolling. I am at this site due to possibly trading for a 350z in the future.
Anyway, the owner of the turbo'd RX-8 is a member of the RX-8 site I visit regularly and has stated he didnt get a chance to take out all of his stereo equipment, thus the high weight. And before you jump on him for leaving it in the car he is active military and was due back to duty.
I believe he has left the boost at 5llb, (which tails to 4llb after 7500) instead of upping to 7llb across rev range like some other members.
Traction is the culprit on the 8 as the rear wheels wont hook up for drag launches which leave a high 1/4 mile time.
I agree the numbers were horrible for a FI car. (rx-8, not the z)
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I didnt read the full Z article (the girlfriend was *****ing to leave B&N) but am I reading some above posts correctly that a Nismo Z beat the FI Z's?
What Nismo parts were included? Clutch/Flwheel? Cams? Exhaust? Light weight rims?
Were the Hoosiers the Z running not DOT legal (R compound?)
What Nismo parts were included? Clutch/Flwheel? Cams? Exhaust? Light weight rims?
Were the Hoosiers the Z running not DOT legal (R compound?)
Originally Posted by nis350ztt
Regarding the 5 that did not make it. Keep in mind that Sport Z Magazine was doing their article around the same time and invited everyone as well.
Chris
i bought this issue last week. great write-up. A definite must read!
I went to barnes & noble 3 or 4 times looking for Sport Z.
No luck they still hadn't recieved it? I saw this & picked it up instead.
I went to barnes & noble 3 or 4 times looking for Sport Z.
No luck they still hadn't recieved it? I saw this & picked it up instead.