Drax240z

Uhhhhh... so you are going to use the electricity generated by the alternator, which is driven by the air motor, in order to compress air to run the motor? I'm no thermodynamics wizard but I'm seeing a flaw here.

Best lap time is 3 seconds faster than you! I bet that's boggled your mind a bit, that's a large margin on a short track. I've done those 'events' before and they are super fun, well worth the money. I wish the closest one to me wasn't about 6 hours travel time away though!

The front end of a stripped Z is pretty damn light though, I can pick it up at the front cross member myself and wheel it around on the back wheels without any problem. You're probably not talking more than 200lbs at that point. If you are really concerned about it run some steel down to the horn mounts and triangulate things there, then you will have 4 attachment points to the chassis. Incidently, it's amusing but at first glance it would seem to me the horn mounts are at least as strong as the sway bar mounts...

The "K" shape will not be as rigid as a bar with an X in it, as the two lower bars will not be leading to a node, they will end in the center of a straight bar, transferring load somewhat perpendicular to the axis of the bar... consequently the direction of least strength. (and stiffness) The best (easy) way to do this is something between the 2nd and 3rd pictures, leave the existing braces and end the X bar where they attach to the floor. This way the end of all your bars are on a node. Also try to attach the X bar to the horizontal bar at the same point that it attaches to the strut tower. A little more difficult to fabricate, but stiffer.

Scrap 1 all together. Leave the existing braces in place. Do a top straight bar, and do your cross to the base of the existing braces.

I have to disagree, they dyno really isn't that hard on the car in comparison to drag racing. (or any racing for that matter) You have no shock loading, no slipping clutches, no violent launches, etc. You're a lot gentler on the car on the dyno than you are on the track, be it autocross, drag, or road course...

Whoa there, no need to get 'testy' about it! :D

In all honesty, the difference between a well executed V8 swap and a well executed turbo L6 swap is quite minimal for power, drivability, speed, costs, etc. They are both simply excellent options for the early Z, and you'll have a tough time deciding "which is better" because they are both great. Just go with your own preference, and do the swap work to a high level, and you will be happy with the results.

There is a reason why I have TWO 14,000 cfm fans in my shop for cars on the dyno... The dyno came with 1 of them actually. (which is what you get when you buy a quality machine) And I got a second one as well. I've seen everything from leaf blowers to household oscillating fans used. Honestly if your dyno operator doesn't take this aspect seriously, and have the equipment to match... look for another place to dyno your car.

Maybe it's time to upgrade to inline 6 turbo power? :D

I've seen some pretty tight autocrosses that I wouldn't put my money on an 800hp AWD car over a small, powerful FWD car in. In fact, I've watched my buddy in his Civic repeatedly beat a 12 second stealth TT in such a course, both with drivers of similarly high skill, and both were street cars with similar states of suspension tuning done.

Not disputing that a 2.5" DP is plenty for most applications, however I am 98% sure that I measured the stock turbo outlet at 2 1/8".

With that said if someone builds a 800hp AWD race car to a level of track tune approaching what a 270hp FWD race car is, and they pit them against each other with drivers of similar (and appropriate!) skill levels, I'm going to put my money on the higher HP car on most tracks...

Meh, second hand information on my part. I heard the story differently... and incorrectly apparently.

Uh, I think the skyline beat the cobalt by 7 seconds. Skyline was 800hp at the wheels... cobalt was 300hp IIRC.

"...how I might be able to tell if he's smoking, taking, or licking them..." LOL... too funny.

Too bad, I claim 0-60 in 1.6 seconds in my Z.

I remember Scotty being well under 3 seconds as well... can't recall the exact number for some reason though. I think he was closing in on 2.5 seconds... However, remember that comparing scotty's Z and an enzo ferrari isn't exactly fair. I mean scotty has drag tires and everything!

Actually 2.97 seconds. The car was called the Tiger Z100. Twin Kawasaki 1200s, 408hp, 1355lbs.

The thing that always got me about Foose, was that he could build every part of his cars himself, to an insane level of quality... He hires experts so he can finish projects faster, not because he can't do the work.

I'm pretty sure the guys that found it/studied it and reported it could assess that if it were the case.

Interesting, but anyone have a picture that is a bit larger? That could have been a stick bug and a worm for all I could see.

Your bearing loads change a lot depending on where you mount the calipers. If you are using otherwise a stock suspension/hub layout (ie: struts) I would keep them in the stock position.

Dude... absolutely stunning. You can tell that there has been a lot of time spent on it. I can't believe how straight it is! Top notch!