My Nissan 350Z

No Boss · Feb 20, 2008

You "track wheels" would be my "24/7" wheels cause they look friggen awesome.

scathing · Feb 21, 2008

hansvonaxion said:
Most of the compliments he gave were backhanded ones.

Some of the compliments were (it was worse when he tested the Vauxhall by itself on the TG Test Track), but in the end he says he adores the car in every soap box he has, and in that 3 car shootout he still said of all the vehicles the Monaro would be the one he'd buy.

hansvonaxion said:
I also like the rims.

Thanks.

I quite like them. They were a massive pain in the backside to get, and then I had them painted in a custom colour.

BorHor · Feb 21, 2008

I am not sure if you posted it yet but what are the rim and tire sizes/offsets? (TE37)

scathing · Feb 21, 2008

Rims.

F: 18x9.5 +22 w/ 255/35 R18
R: 18x10.5 +22 w/ 285/35 R18

They're the widest and lowest offset rims I can get without modifing the guards (fenders / arches and inner liners, for the American / British readers respectively). In hindsight I should have had the guards modified, dialled in some camber, and run a +19 offset.

I prefer 18" rims since I like the ratio between the wheel size and the wheel arch size. I have mates with 19's and I thought they looked too big. I used to have 17" rims and they were too small. 18" also gives me a reasonable tyre compound choice.

lamboman · Feb 23, 2008

Nice car, clean and simple. Those track rims look awesome.

MattD1zzl3 · Feb 25, 2008

scathing said:
Ironically he adores the American pushrod V8 powered Vauxhall made by the colonials. I can't see that being of better "breeding" than a "Datsun with a Renault engine".

What is with the pushrod hatred? Seriously?

WE'VE GOT DISPLACEMENT! WE DONT NEED A HIGH REV RANGE!

....christ!

scathing · Feb 25, 2008

MattD1zzl3 said:
What is with the pushrod hatred? Seriously?

WE'VE GOT DISPLACEMENT! WE DONT NEED A HIGH REV RANGE!

Because its seen as low tech. Despite Clarkson crapping on about how he prefers old-school driver's cars he still likes his tech. He's a very confused man.

His first drive of the Monaro (aka GTO) he called it "meat and veg engineering" for its very basic setup, and the Corvette for its ox-cart leaf-spring suspension, compared to the techno-wizardry of the modern Euro and Japanese cars. Its delivered, of course, with the typically Clarkson sneer that Aussies and Americans have barely discovered fire. However, he also says he doesn't like electronic aids and yearns for a more direct mechanical connection...which these cars provide.

You'll see modern Japanese car fans do the same things. You always see them posting "OMG its pushrods, they're so old and crap". Next time you see some zealot post that, ask them why overhead cams are better. Almost none of them will be able to give you a technical description, aside from the fact that its newer. They ignore the fact that pushrods keep the engine lower for a better CoG, and as you say if you're going for a long-stroke engine and you pump up the midrange rather than aiming for massive top end then the pushrods aren't as much of a problem (nor are having fewer valves).

WDWBen · Feb 25, 2008

Nismo rims look really good on that car, though I could imagine running them only on the track results in lower tyre costs, as well as ease of changeover when you make it to the track.

scathing · Feb 25, 2008

The track wheels are shod with R-Comp semi slicks (currently Bridgestone RE55S). They get put on the day before a track day. I drive to, at, and from the event, and then pop my TE37s with regular street radials back onto the car the next day.

I would put full slicks on the LM GT4s if I could fit all four wheels into the car and have enough room for myself, and do the change at the track.

It does cut down on costs as it means I'm not destroying a set of street radials by overheating them at the track, nor am I driving around town on a set of tyres that make so much noise that you get headaches, and only last for 5000 miles (if it doesn't rain and spit me into the scenery first).

I'm also not a fan of bronze wheels on a silver body. I don't think the colours work well together. If I'd bought those LM GT4s new and picked the colour, I would have taken them in the same black as the Nismo R34 GT-R Z-Tune's.

Spice_Rack · Mar 6, 2008

Nice ride... I just got a Roadster and love it. Some of what Clarkson said is somewhat accurate I think. But then again I like a bit of a bumpy ride, and a loud noise... Admittedly it does drone on even in top gear (no pun intended) when your just trying to cruise along quietly. But every time I go around a corner and put the tail out, it just puts a huge grin on my face and all is forgiven.

Those wheels are great though, i'd have them on all the time too.

scathing · Mar 6, 2008

Bronze wheels look great on white cars. They'd suit your car far better than mine.

I didn't find much drone with the factory exhaust. My aftermarket one drones between 1900RPM and 2200RPM (so the exact rev range you're sitting in at around 35mph in 6th gear), but after a while you just ignore it and turn the stereo up.

scathing · Mar 6, 2008

I may as well post a dyno graph from the last time I had the car on the rollers.

I've done basically everything that can be done without touching the engine itself, and since I'm not wanting to spend the money on cams (let alone a rebuild) this is probably as much power as this car will make until that bottom end rebuild is required.

I have got a custom exhaust, with a bypass valve, in mind so I might be able to eke another couple of rwkW and hit 200 but we'll see.

scathing · Apr 9, 2008

I went to 5Zigen Australia's track day at Wakefield Park on Good Friday, and pictures have finally been posted:

http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/showthread.php?t=8844

Not particularly happy with my time. 1:11 is off the pace on the old surface, and the new surface is amazingly grippy. Even with the damp I should have been running mid 1:10's.

I ran a 1:10.88 with mz_scathing in the car that afternoon after the track dried a bit more, and since my tyres had overheated and gone a bit off I should have been significantly faster earlier in the day.

hansvonaxion · Apr 9, 2008

Well, you were second fastest and beat the 4WDs on a damp track so congrats.
Looks like fun, I'm surprised there weren't more shots of cars sideways.

scathing · Apr 9, 2008

Yeah. I did try and get the car sideways for the cameras in one session, but trying to drift on R-Comps did not work out well for me.

Even at wide open throttle I couldn't maintain enough torque for wheelspin, and when the R-Comps bit back into the hotmix they'd do so really savagely. I had some major tank slappers and a spin trying to hold it.

scathing · Apr 9, 2008

Also, a lot of the guys there were track n00bs, and so they were still learning their way around.

Not enough time to try for a 3rd or 4th gear drift when they're doing their best to not run off the road.

scathing · Apr 9, 2008

hansvonaxion · Apr 9, 2008

Maybe it looks wetter than it was and I understand the tyre issue, I wasn't saying you should have been getting sideways, I just thought that with all those high-po RWD cars (and some inexperienced drivers) on a wet track we'd see more sliding. Its actually encouraging to see people going for fast, clean laps.

I envy you.

scathing · Apr 10, 2008

Most of the guys were way too n00b for sideways shenanigans. A lot were still learning the lines and the basics of track craft like smooth inputs and the line.

If you're an interested, here's the timesheet for the day:

http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?21/03/2008.WAKE.S1

The S2000 that beat me has a turbo kit, and I'd assume by its 10.8 ET down the quarter that it doesn't have factory internals. I don't know what else was done to it, but it looked pretty serious.

The KIET RX8 also had a turbo kit, but as he was running on full slicks he didn't go out in the morning when the track was very damp. He ran a 1:08 later in the day, though.

FYI, Wakefield Park's old street car "time to beat" was 1:10.000. They resurfaced the track over December / January, and its probably worth 2-3s a lap due to the extra width and grippier hotmix. Given that I've run a 1:10.6 on the old surface, I should be deep in the 1.09's already.

I'm heading out at the end of next month, but I will probably go out on street tyres as I'm feeling like the R Comps are acting like too much of a crutch to help me set fast times. I'm going to use street radials to pull my grip threshold back and force me to learn how to drive the car better.

scathing · Apr 19, 2008

hansvonaxion said:
I'm surprised there weren't more shots of cars sideways.

My Nissan 350Z

Neener, neener, I banned your title!

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