zland

I have a standard subscription as this point I think? Remember, I am such a new member to the staff that the adjustment may have not been done yet.

Jeff

publisher

Jeff -- There really is no Santa Express to writers, just pulling your chain. Got yah!

BTW, welcome to our staff. It is indeed an honor to have you with us. Hope you guys have fun next week.

Bob

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

This shootout will mean little to me (and many others) unless we can get a Procharged Z into the fray. I would LOVE to volunteer my car but those pesky 3000+ miles always get in the way!

I hope SOMEONE with an ATI kit gets into this.

Jim Jones

A certain former member has offered to drive his Z to Arizona and temporarily trade with Jesse, drive Jesse's car to CA for the test, and then bring it back to AZ and trade back. You can't ask for much more than that.

zland

Dumb me, I thought you might have a different shipping rate for certain people! I feel like I just got invited to watch the submarine races

Jeff

zland

1. Jim, I just pm'ed you, can you call me at work please.

2. I am making a phone call again today to talk to an ATI owner. It appears we got a car and are just working out details for testing. Actually, the reason I have not posted so much yesterday is I have been working on those details all day and night (until past midnight) as well as working with ATI, Vortech, and Stillen on details to insure an accurate dyno. Each company is providing input on details they feel would make sure each car should follow to insure a fair and accurate dyno pull will be made.

Jeff

publisher

Looks like we've got the ATI covered Dr Bonz and you would be correct in your assessment that the shootout would be meaningless without the ATI Procharger.

Jeff is all over this and is putting in a lot of "extra" hours to make this work. The 350Z owners who subscribe to Sport Z will all benefit from the hard work that Jeff is devoting to this shootout.

Along with Jeff, Yuichi Kurosawa, Carl Merritt, Stillen, ATI, Vortech and the 350Z owners involved, the shootout will be a success. Dave Bexfield and Art Singer of Sport Z have also put a lot of work into this shootout as well.

The shootout will be fair and without spin or bias; all the people involved will see to that.

Everybody is invited to join us at Qualcomm Stadium, Carlsbad Raceway and Stillen; you can look forward to the feature articles and results in the Spring 2004 issue. Our link to the video's will be available on our Home Page in advance of our the spring issue.

Bob

zland

Dr Bonz & update for those interested:

I just got confirmation of a 100% go for our ATI test car. We just had to work out some time scheduling issues but we got it done.

Unless someone gets in another car wreck or something, we are back to having ATI, Vortech, and Stillen cars, all by private owners entered. You guys that own these test cars, please be sure to watch out for crazy drivers talking on cell phones while driving (they got one of you already!) and try not to be speeding and get your car impounded between now and the testing date.

SportZ's own Carl M., will be operating the dyno and doing the driving on all tests. You can read his recent article on comparing NISMO S an R tune 350Z's in the winter 2003 issue.

As for me, I am just trying to make everyone ready and happy to participate. I think the job description is called being a gopher or maybe a pin cushion?

I hope to see a lot of people during the tests. Come on out everyone if you can! I might be acting as Santa Claus during the test.

Jeff

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

That's great guys! Man, I'd love to be there representin' for the Procharger guys. Can't wait to see the results.

zland

Yes, it will be interesting to see the results on this supercharger comparision. I have been studying all of these products for months and I still cannot predict how they will perform side by side. Now, we will have them on one dyno on the same day. One track, same day, same conditions.

I will let all of you ponder what you think the results will be while I work with SportZ making sure we can give you accurate data. Carl is a good writer. I have apprecited his work in the past so this should be interesting to read his article.

Have any of you check out the winter 2003 issue of sportZ magazine yet? Check out Carls article comparing stock vs NISMO S 350Z vs NISMO R 350Z. The results are interesting to say the least.

Just as SportZ compared the aftermarket exhaust for the 350Z, we are now comparing other mods. This is the advantage of SportZ magazine. We are lovers of the Z doing articles for other people that love the Z just as much as we do. I know you "get" what I am say, that is why you are on this website.

Jeff

Anyone2u

iTrader: (1)

Great job putting this together Jeff! BTW I would hope that ANYONE who volunteers their supercharged Z for this event would get a complimentary copy of the DVD!
Bonz: 3000 miles? Where's the commitment?

LA-------------------------------------------------------------PA-----------------------MA

zland

1. Roger: I will have to check into the freebies for you. Thanks again for getting involved. Your ATI SC 350Z sounds like a beauty. I cant wait to see it.

2. Here is the weather forcast for San Diego/Carlsbad for the testing sites:

Tomorrow (Friday): Mostly sunny skies. High 62F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow night (Friday): Mostly clear skies. Low 41F. Winds light and variable.

Saturday (Autocross/drags): More sun than clouds. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the low 40s.

Sunday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s.

Monday (Dyno): Abundant sunshine. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the upper 30s.

Spyre

For auto-x how is that going to work? Is everyone going to try to get their car into say the second run group in X and not classed and work the first group so there is plenty of time to get up to carlsbad?


Also, what about putting on one set of wheels/tires on the cars as they go so as not to make wheel/tire choice a bigger factor on times. If these are all privatly owned cars I'll bet if the $$ was there for the supercharger they'll likely have aftermarket rims/tires which in auto-x for sure and drag as well will make a big difference in times and such. Thoughts?

zland

Spyre:

1. Dave at SportZ set up the autocross/drag strip bookings and Carl will do the event thus they got a handle on it more than myself. My job is more oriented in getting owners cars coordinated and getting feedback from SC companies related to dyno testing.

2. There will be differences in wheels/tires/suspensions. These varibles will be discussed in the article and how they might effect results.

Look at Road and Track magazines comparision recently on their MotorX vs 350Z Brembo Z comparison. There are something like 4 Z's in that article and none have the same wheels, tires, or motor modifications as well. In that test, the MotorX car had stock brakes yet out stopped the Brembo 6 piston brake kit on their car. Why, wheels and tires.

In a perfect world, all SC companies would have test cars and they would have the same suspension, wheels, and tires etc but that is not the case. If money was no object, car magazines could buy 4 350Z's and set them up with all the same suspension, wheels, tires, etc and run the test. In this test, we selected 4 car owners to use as test cars.

This is not a perfect world. We are providing the best imformation with the resources and time restraints all magazines have to deal with. SC compaines are in the same boat, thus the reason for some companies not having a company owned test Z. I am sure we would all be able to do more things in a better way if money and time were not limited.

We will discuss the variables and how they could affect results, dont worry. We feel our readers are smart enough to consider these varibles.

Jeff

krazE

iTrader: (1)

sweet, if i didn't have work - i'd so be there!

zland

1. SportZ is hooking up cameras in the test cars. If you wait until we put the video on our website, then you will be riding along the test drive. Expect to see the video just about the time we release the issue that the article will be in.

Until then, check out our video of the NISMO Z's tracking at Willow Springs. The video can be viewed right on our website.

I am bring my digital camera to the track on Saturday. I will post a couple of pics for you guys stuck at work or in the snow.

Jeff

jimster716

iTrader: (3)

.

jimster716

iTrader: (3)

.

jimster716

iTrader: (3)

I'm with Spyre on this one. Autox by nature would mean very little except for classing when it comes to blowers. Suspension, wheels/tires, and most importantly driver skill will determine the best times...besides you're never above second gear in autox.

I would hope we can have the same cars in March at the HPDE track event for a more thorough evaluation of the blowers.

I would still go to the shootout this weekend but i have a CSCC autox practice and points event this entire weekend.

zland

1. I just spoke to Carl, he is pumped to drive these Z's. We are just hours away from testing. I hope I can sleep.

2. I think you have a great idea. That would be awesome if we could get some SC Z's out there on track day, March 5th. By then we should have more Vortechs & Stillen's installed and we already got a bunch of ATI's running around in California. Cheston is planning on running his PE TT. I could enjoy myself just watching all of those Z's tracking without even getting on the track. I think all of these Z's are well beyond chirping in 2nd gear.