raceboy

First let my qualify the dyno run. It was over 100 degrees!! [IMG]02 according to the printout. I also was running 91 octane pump fuel. Under these conditions, I think the dyno went really well. Notice the torque, it starts at over 200lbs/ft and never goes under until over 6000 RPM's, the HP continues to climb all the way to 6250 RPM's.



On to the races. This was my first run with Speedventures and I wasn't very impressed. The day got started about 1 hour late. A car went off in the 3rd session and there was no tow truck!! I have never been to a track day where there was not a tow truck. This caused a long delay and when we should have been getting 30 minute run times we were only getting 20. Secondly the event was WAY oversold. There were only supposed to be 60 spots and there were about 90 cars. I guess it's hard to turn down $125's at a time! To top it off the lunch break was 1.5 hours! I do have to say that the people that run with this club are great though. Many nice questions and compliments on the 350. I also have to apologize to the UNABAGLER. I just really didn't have time to talk to him and I was freakin exhausted from the heat!

OK, enough bitching. So how was the Z you ask?? In a word: FANTASTIC!! Once you get the tire pressures right the car seemed amazingly neutral to me. If it was a bit stiffer, it would have been perfect. The car was so well composed and confidence inspiring. My MR2 Spyder was only slightly more nimble, but it was also extremely nervous in comparison. I had a passenger all day and was still able to reel in some heavy hardware including C5's, S2K's, and even a well driven E55 AMG. A guy in a nicely prepared Miata on race tires came over to me and commented that he couldn't believe how quickly I caught him. There were tons of S2K's there all day and the only thing I have to say is that I passed quite a few of them, but was never passed by one. In fact, the only car that passed me all day was a Camaro SS that I waved by because he was riding my *** in a train of cars caught behind a slower car.

There were quite a few incidents. A brand new Porsche Carrera went off at the Bus Stop and not only filled up with dirt, but he broke something in the motor a half a lap later with a nice cloud of oil smoke spewing out the back. A black S2000 kissed the wall as well. Both of those incidents happened on the first laps of the first sessions. No matter how many times you tell people to work up to speed, some people will never listen. A WRX blew a motor as well. Unfortunately, my day ended early as well. Don't worry, nothing major, just a puncture in the driver's side rear tire. This happened right before I was going to go out for my 4th session, but my tire pressure warning system did it's job and warned me. They have a tire shop at the track and I got it fixed there, but my day was done. I am tired of typing now.

Michael-Dallas

Awesome! What tire pressures are you running? Your dyno results appears to be consistent w/ ColecatZ's dyno results (230rwhp/220rwtq) -- a far cry from SCC's 244rwhp. What gear did you dyno in and did you turn off VDC?

Michael.

RainmanZ

Thanks for the update.

tbcz

Cool. Nice to hear you could run with the C5s and S2Ks. Time for some of the others to start noticing the new kid on the block.

raceboy

Tire pressures started at 33F and 35R cold. I try to keep the tires pressures at about 40psi as they heat up all around. I had to bleed off air all day as the day ran to over 100 degrees.

I had to run the dyno in 4th. They did not want to run it in 5th gear. There was also no big fan blowing air through the radiator and intake as well.

John

iTrader: (17)

He mentioned it was 100 degrees too... that sucks power like an Amsterdam *****...

jeffw

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear that the Z is worth its salt. Now I just need to learn to drive like Raceboy.

One thing I noticed: It appears that the dyno report is corrected to standard temperature already. I noticed the SAE correction factor. Doesn't that normalize the torque ratings to standard temp/humidity/barametric pressure/etc?

--
Jeff

bhobson333

Great report, raceboy, as usual. Thanks!

Track_350Z

You are truely worthy of the Track Model!

Next task: Sprint Car Track

Emax02

The plots are SAE corrected so I don't see why the high temp has any relivance.

raceboy

Thanks! I can't wait for NISMO. I know my number one upgrade priority at this point is suspension. I also don't believe in running race rubber on a street car. I want the car to be in the same configuration as when I drive it on the street. I think it really helps you understand the car.

Actually, I hope my next task is to drive the Z on a wet track. One of my proudest moments was driving at the Streets of Willow in a torrential downpour in near freezing temps in my MR2 Spyder. Many drivers on the Spyderboard had complained of how undriveable the car was in the wet. Well, the Subaru club was out there as well with 5 of their 4WD babies (the old Impreza though, the ones right before the WRX came out). I lapped them all in the 30 minute session!! My friend Kirby almost had a heart attack as I went through the fast right at the top of the hill on the front straight without lifting. He later told me he lifted at that point in the dry and he was sure we were about to die!! LOL

raceboy

It could also just be that particular dyno. I watched 2 stock S2K's dyno at 190 and 192HP. These cars routinely dyno elsewhere at 200-205 hp. Maybe it's the lack of one of those huge fans blowing air in the front of the car as well. A modified Mustang Cobra spit out 274hp and the owner claimed the car has put down a 295hp pull.

Emax02

Different dynoes definatly can make a 5-10 HP difference. The dyno I take my max to is a bit low too

Flyingscot

raceboy,

How did you find those Brembos on the track?

Fly

rai

You had a passenger with you for the race. Did the other cars have passengers as well? Do you think your passes were because of the car or because of your good driving?

John

iTrader: (17)

At what elevation was this dyno done at?

THrussT

Steve, nice to see your threads again. Been awhile since I last visited the old stomping grounds (spyderchat.com). You provide a fine example of why drivers will ALWAYS matter. I never had problems with my MR2-S in the wet either. Experience and skill behind the wheel, as you pointed out when comparing your progress against others at Buttonwillow (including the S2000's) is essentially, well-earned horsepower not measurable on any dyno.

Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

Did you have the stock air filter or K&N air filter? Thanks..

raceboy

K&N

The Unabageler

Nice to meet you raceboy! I was dead in the heat too so no worries about not having much time to chat That event was the only poorly ran speedventures event I had been to, but that happens when you're short staffed. On top of that, the lunch crew (locals hired by the track) showed up late and threw off the schedule even more. The deal w/ that guy that ran off and stopped the session was that he didn't wave to the corner workers to say that he was ok, so they figured he was unconscious and sent the ambulance. That really sucked, but there's not too much you can do when the priority is guaranteeing safety. The event WAS overbooked and that blew bigtime too. In the red group it was really hard to get a clean lap, so although I was running 2:17s I couldn't do it consistently and that was very frustrating. I've never had these problems with them before so I hope you come back to future events.

About the dynos, stock s2ks regularly dyno in the 190s. some more, some less. There's a lot of variance because they're all hand built except for some welds and paint.

Put some r-compound on those rays wheels, throw on a transponder and join the red group next time!!

UnaB