You are absolutely right.

Bob

 

Thank you Tere, your comments mean a lot to me and they mean a lot to Art and Dave.

Bob

 

Sam & others:

Of course this data will be reviewed and coupled with impressions of the driving experiences. Carl, will pen most if not all of the article. I will submit some impressions of my own to SportZ magazine but they might or might not include them in the final edit. A limited amount of pages are allocated and Carl had his hands at the wheel thus the reason.

The article will of course discuss the data (dyno, track times etc) and variables that might have determined those numbers.

As most of you know, all of these SC kits produce a lot of hp. Each has its own personality so to speak. The article will speak of these differences or characteristics and how they affect the driving experience on the track and 1/4 mile. Basically, combining subjective experiences with objective data.

I think that if your expectations are that this article will determine a "winner" is a simplistic perspective. Yes, someone will have the highest dyno pull or 1/4 mile time but the real issue is driving a SC kit that fits each persons needs. We hope we can explain how these kits differ in how they handle in track conditions so you can get a perspective on these products. As with every product, each strengths and areas needing to be improved upon will be discussed.

Thanks again for all the people owning test cars. Every one of these cars was a blast to be in. Any positive comments or suggestion you have for me or SportZ magazine are appreciated. I will reply to any PM sent to me.

Thanks, Jeff

 

We appreciate the excitement our supercharger shootout has generated among our subscribers and the Z community. However, it is the policy of Sport Z Magazine not to release test results prior to publication of the magazine. All car magazines have similar policies (e.g., Road and Track tested 350Z
tuner cars in June; the article and results weren't released until the fall, several months after their test). Regretfully, to prevent what has transpired above in the future, all upcoming tests will be unannounced and closed to the general public.

With a shoestring budget and a core staff of only three guys (all of whom have other jobs), we at Sport Z couldn't have done this shootout without the generous contributions of our donor cars, complimentary dyno time at Stillen, and the patient coordination by Jeff, Carl, the supercharger manufacturers, and, of course, the participants themselves who juggled their schedules (and took time off from work) to attend. The four will be
receiving a package of thanks from Sport Z.

Partial results of the testing *will be released* with the shootout video, which we will make available online at www.sportzmagazine.com (release date TBD). Please be patient and thanks for the support. If you have any questions or want to express your outrage, feel free to PM me--I'm always available. In the meantime, those upset at Sport Z for denying readers timely 350Z coverage should head over to www.caranddriver.com, www.roadandtrack.com, and www.motortrend.com to catch their latest 350Z shootout articles and accompanying videos.

 

This thread has gotten WAY out of control. I am just as curious to find out the results of the Shootout as everyone else, but will simply have to wait until they release it in the next issue. I have gotten to know Bob in the past few months and I can GAURENTEE you all that he is not the type of person to lead anyone on or pull a bait and switch. He along with the rest of the staff produce the only magazine dedicated to Z's and they do a damned good job at it.

So we have to wait a few months... BIG DEAL!

Let's take movies, for example. How many months before a movie is actually released do they show trailers and commercials?? Several months in some cases. So do you call the production company and tell them that you saw the trailer but want to know how the movie ends?? No, of course not. It would be silly. The whole point is to get you excited about it and to then go see the WHOLE movie when it is released.

This is the same type of situation. The original posts about the Supercharger Shootout were like trailers and were designed to let you know the basics, without telling you the specifics.

I personally have no problem whatsoever with waiting a few months to get the printed results in Sport Z Magazine and noone else should either.



Ok, I am now stepping down from my soap box.

 

JEFF,

By me stating that there wasn't a winner I meant that there couldn't be and won't be a winner declared. If you do declare a winner then the testing had many flaws. i do firmly believe that the majority of the testing is going to declare a subjective winner based on needs of the driver (1/4 mile, autocross etc) and not an objective winner since there were too many differing factors, tires, brakes, rims, exhausts etc to declare an objective winner

I know all the cars we had out there were great and fast. The people who owned them were great, very generous and very pleasant to be around. We all got along great and every single one of us were proud owners.

I appreciate all your effort and time.

 

umm Ken Jones/VP of ATI sent me a email stating .......ATI won the autocross and 1/4mile in the sportz shootout. He did not state who pulled the highest dyno numbers.


STATEMENT FROM KEN JONES (VICE PRESIDENT) ATI

"The JIC car and a
local beta vehicle were tested rigorously before the general release of this
product. Both cars have been running extremely strong for 7-8 months now,
including the local customer who has run the **** out of his car, and just
had the car driven across the country to the Sport Z Shootout, where it won
both the autocross and the drag testing (dyno results are not yet known, as
they are being kept under wraps by the magazine)".

 

Thats very interesting since KEN!!!!! was not present. Now the 2 ATI Techs who were present were very nice guys but i was with them the whole time.

There were many aspects of the testing that we did not get the official results from. The results were purposely masked so that we could not post them online.

As far as Ken: Ken you seem a little annoyed by all the rantings about your product. I understand your gripe and your explanations. Your product seemed great during the testing but so did the Vortech and Stillen products. What I do not appreciate is slander of other companies. I think it's a below the belt move and one that should be left on the playground (when we were 13).

Also please retract your statement that : ATI WON. This is false as only a handful of people know what ocurred and also no one can declare a winner. Too many differeing factors to declare a winner.

 

How can a 1/4mile run have too many differeing factors to declare a winner????? Must be the tires. -





PS - yes true Ken wasn't there, but he is the VP of ATI, dont you think he would know the results or do you think the techs told him..."I cant tell you Ken I promised i would not say anything".....give me a break.

 

Sam, I think the best thing to do is discuss the characteristics of each car. As you know, your root type blower produces power in a different mannor than lets say the other two SC tested. We should describe how those characteristics effect how it handled during testing and how it might effect how it would perform for a future owner.

People dont typically drive a car 0-60 or other exact testing standards commonly used. These standards are nice quick ways to get a picture of a performance level but not the full picture. For example, some high powered cars are designed to shift from 1st to 2nd above 60 mpg so it looks good in magazines to get a quicker 0-60 time since they dont have to shift. In reality, the car is not really quicker for daily driving, just looks better on that test.

Some magazines appoint a point system to compare products which is fine but my personal feelings are most readers are smart enough to measure and weigh the article and make decisions based on that information. In otherwords, we dont have to spell it out for them. The characteristics of your car might be more appealing to some readers while some others may feel the other SC cars have characteristics they are attracted to more. I am not trying to be wishy washy, just stating our task is to describe those differences that go beyond what a track time or dyno can describe.

Jeff

 

Well I will tell you: I have a subwoofer enclosure in my trunk. I have exhaust and a new flywheel. Each and every car had different mods. We are comparing SC's in this test. Well we really cant declare a winner based on the SC. Everyone had different mods that could affect 1/4 mile times besides the SC.

Hence no Supercharger winner: We can delcare one of these cars as the winner. Ken was describing his ATI supercharger as superior based on the 1/4 mile test and autocross. These tests were not congruent to declare the winning supercharger even if Ken had all the data, which he has about 1/10th of.

 

Yes Jeff I hear you

 

Sam:

If you remember, we had everyone list the exact mods each car had. I typed those lists up and sent them to Carl so when he is writing, he will refer to those issues. So things like brand and size of tires, wt of wheels, wt of stereo etc are being considered. For example, even if two cars have the same size tires, a brand like Nitto performs differently than lets say a Proxie by Toyo. Certain tires are better suited for drag racing while others suited for cornering, others just for tread life alone.

I dont know if you caught this little detail but we were checking air pressure on tires etc just prior to running each car (as it was in line to go on the track).

Jeff

 

Art,

Thanks for the post, it's appreciated.

Thank you for the work you do.

-slay

 

I don't even know the results.

 

As per usual Chris, you've nailed it.

Bob

 

Steve/Vortech:

No results have been posted to anyone including manufactures. The numbers you are seeing on line are not the official numbers.

Jeff

 

First off, this should have been labeled a "Quick Look" into the various different SC systems out there. a comparison to factory claimed power and 'real-world' results. This should have never been a competition. why? simple enough. the playing field is not level- there are way too many variable to affect performance times (like previously stated, tires, wheels suspension etc) i.e. there are NO WINNERS. you can, however, have a decent test if your test parameters are correctly planned out prior and everyone agrees to it.... the switching of drivers for the ATI car doesnt meet consistancy criteria... it should be same driver for all cars after that driver get accostomed to the car and feels comfortable-

all this fuss and whooplah is over the management of the event... and not really the test results. i seriously hope that there will be a standardized test plan for the upcoming spring turbo quicklook, seeing the aftermath of this event... if you want, i will write out a plan, i do it anyways all day for work...

 

Cheston for President!

A ringer for a driver one who needed Octane Booster and now even the results from the VP are in question?

Geez Louise this has gone from sad to ugly!

Why not have him drive all 3 cars?

Unfair and not credible IMHO.