Shoomakan

Hello ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Zade K and I'm a very proud and happy owner of a 2003 350Z Base 6 speed with 70,000 miles on the clock (purchased at 65k). I live in Lebanon, a tiny country between Syria and Israel in the Middle East.

I'm a car enthusiast and have gone through a dozen cars in the last 12 years. The Z is the first one that immediately spoke to me. I'm in love with it.

Anyhow, my first mod was a factory VLSD since my car didn't come with one. Second mod was a Blox shifter with a matching shift boot. I picked this unit for its weight (450g, that's nearly 1lb in retarded units I think). I needed to thread the shaft (NPI) a bit so it would drop low enough for the shift boot to not resist going into 2nd and 4th and 6th.

Third mod was a Scorpion exhaust system. Very, very happy with it. Sounds like it should have came from the factory IMO. Doesn't sound that aftermarket which is what I wanted from the get go.

Fourth mod was a K&N Typhoon intake system. When I bought the car it had a hot air filter mod and it was so bad here in Lebanese summer that the car would shut off sometimes due to the idle dropping so low (and my MAF readings were all over the place). Much more steady now and all of my engine's low rpm stuttering has gone the way of the dodo.

Mods in progress: I purchased a set of Wedsport SA-70 wheels (18x9, 18x10) that are currently being re-sprayed a dark bronze. I also ordered a Bilstein B12 kit that should arrive here in a couple of months. I had coilovers on my Audi S3 8L and to be honest after adjusting them once I never did so again, so I chose to go for a spring/shock combo this time to see if I like it better. I have no intention of dropping the car or stancing it out.

I have XERD long tube headers waiting to be installed along with Brian Crower stage 2 cams. I'll probably do those along with a plenum spacer after I get my NY bonus in a few months.

I aim to participate in the local racing championship. Nothing fancy, it's a combination of auto-x parking lot races and a few karting tracks. No more hillclimbs for me as I don't want to drive this car off a cliff. :P Car is used as a DD since my BMW is strictly a weekend car.

I also aim to add SPL front compression rods to aid in my caster woes, along with some form of camber control front and rear. I'm also going to order a Whiteline essential bushing kit with poly motor mounts. I feel those will yield the greatest benefits without converting the whole car to polyurethane. I've done that before to my old 540iT/6 and it made my life miserable everywhere but the track..

I've been a member here for a couple of months now and have picked up tons of info and knowledge. Not a frequent poster since I know how to use the search quite efficiently and usually get the answers I need without creating new topics and cluttering up the front page.

It's nice to meet you all and I'm looking forward to making new friends and learning new things. I'd love any input on my plans, setup, and future mods. Here are a few pictures to get you started.

Her name is Lisa (from My Fair Lady). The connection is obvious I hope.

jhc

Welcome and congratz!

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Welcome Zade K and you already have my respect for SEARCHING for answers! Nice Z and we'd love to hear more about driving in Lebanon (what are the roads like? Speed limits? Any track days at the local road race circuit?).

Shoomakan

Hey buddy. Driving in Lebanon.. It's a zoo. It's like driving in Egypt or India. Check out this video while having your cup of coffee. It's quite amusing and the music is great.


Roads are bumpy and shitty, and the asphalt the municipalities use is so low quality that the roads turn into mirrors after a few years. Makes for fantastic impromptu drift sessions. Car culture is very very big here relatively, Lebanese absolutely adore their BMW's. If I'm stopped at a checkpoint I'm usually asked to let her rip on the way out by the police. Once got pulled over in my LOUD 540i and the cop literally told me that he'd either impound me for my car being too loud or I could do a burnout as I left. My choice was obvious.

We have fantastic mountain roads, however. They rival the best of Europe although they're much smaller. Here's a sample of a friend of mine driving his hillclimb-prepped E46 M3:


Those are usually the races I participate in (different series though, this is the official Lebanese championship whereas I partake in a different Amateur series). Here's on of my old attempts in the 540. It was years ago and I've come a long way since then, but this will illustrate how dangerous and tight our hillclimbs are!


We don't have any racing tracks, sadly. The best we do have are a couple of larger sized karting tracks (still less than 1 min per lap). Car culture is booming these days, though, and there is talk of building a track in the near future. Fingers crossed!

ps: We have speed limits, but they are usually on the coastal roads. None on the mountain roads which make up the majority of driving roads in the country.

pps: Can this thread be moved out of "New Users" and into the front page? I'll be using it as a build thread and I don't think I'd get the same views/help/input if it's in here. Thanks.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Impressive videos, but those hillclimbs remind me of safety standards from the 60's. Pretty dangerous stuff with minimal safety standards! Even the spectators are parked on some of the most dangerous sections of the course.

As for moving this thread, there's not a "front page" for this site and nowhere to move it to. My suggestion is leave this where it is and start a new thread in the 350Z general section if you really have new content to add. You can always link back to this one.

zakmartin

Welcome to the boards Zade. Beautiful ride you have there.

Shoomakan

Yeah, to be honest Lebanon seems perpetually behind everyone else by about 50 years.. I just upgrade my internet at home to.. wait for it... *drumroll*... 4mb/s. :P

Thanks for the tip on the thread. I may do that at some point.

Thanks buddy! It'll only get better with you guys helping me out!

AutoPilot

Welcome and congrats
Excellent video,nicely paved cowpath,wow that was narrow.
Great looking Z,too bad about the front license plate though.Alot of places on this side of the pond still have to have them,fugly.

samsniss350z

Congratulations on the purchase of your 350Z and welcome to the forum.

Shoomakan

There is a patch, I can get a smaller license plate and fit it on there. Looks a lot less intrusive. But yeah, front plates are ****.

Bit of sad news today. Went to collect my XERD headers from the shop that's been holding them for me for a few weeks, and it seems they had mistaken Mustang V6 headers for 350Z headers. So no headers. Same shop is also re-spraying my Wedsport wheels, told them to keep them as well as I don't really want them anymore. I can get wheels from anywhere, but decent long tube headers aren't as easy to find. So, stock wheels and headers for now.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Gotta ask: longtube headers or any other bolt-on mods won't help performance without a dyno and a tune. What do you use for tuning Zs in Lebanon?

Shoomakan

I'm aware of this. The plan is to do all the bolt ons + cams and then tune it all in one go. As for tuning, we have what you have I guess? I'm going to use UpRev as I don't feel it is necessary to convert to a standalone system like Link. I'm sure I picked up a touch of power with the typhoon kit and cat-back, but nothing enough for the good ole butt dyno to register.

We have many high horsepower cars here. We have dyno tuning, UpRev/GIAC/Upsolute dealers (to name a few). We even have a Megasquirt dealer here. :P

Best of all, labor is very cheap compared to you. Some things are the same (like an UpRev license and tune), but installing headers here is a $200 job for example. Full body re-paint (good quality) won't exceed $1000 if there's no rust. You can get it done for as low as $400 in the south.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

UpRev is the gold standard for tuning using the OEM software IMHO. What does dyno time run in Lebabon, as you'll need several runs to dial in a tune? Also, can you get high octane fuel there? I know gas isn't as cheap as here in the states, but 100 octane race fuel with test pipes will probably result in a bigger gain than any of your bolt-ons once the tune is done.

Shoomakan

We have excellent fuel here. Middle East and all. :P I only put premium in the Z, 98RON. My tuner doesn't usually tune on the dyno, he prefers on the road. Dyno runs cost $40, as for dyno tuning time I have no clue. Never done it before. Don't think it is much, though.

I pay $16 for 20 liters of 98RON over here. We do have race gas but since I daily drive the car I really don't want to be using that. I'd rather lose power than lose drivability and practicality.

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

+1 on the new thread idea.

I would just start a new thread and continue with that.

Great vids and thanks for sharing. Those were fun to watch.

dboyzalter

iTrader: (3)

That last video haf some sketchy racing going on.

jhc

Damm nice run in the 540, off-camber turn ins and everything. Good luck with your new Z. So nice to see someone who does their homework and knows what this car is meant for.

So, I'll be the 3rd Mod to chime in. My suggestion- Keep adding to this amazing "New Owner" thred. When you start the work on cams, etc, contact one of us to move it to
"2003-2009 Thred", change the title to your name, and "build".

All the Best!