Drax240z

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Looks good Ron! I'm pretty sure you'll want another muffler though.

Not sure if any of you know this car at all, but it's something that just about every gear head I've shown it to has enjoyed. 3.0L, 16 cylinder horizontally opposed, 64 valve. ~700hp at the flywheel, and 100hp in valvetrain loss! Made of 2, 1.5L flat 8's stacked on top of each other, and geared together. Not the most reliable engine ever build, far from it really. But sounds like nothing else on earth... (it starts to really wind up at about 0:33 or so)

Z32 (TT) is probably the worst engine bay out of any car I've ever worked on. Z31 is miles better for sure, but no where near the space you get from a L6/RWD setup in general.

Great work Derek, and thanks a lot for posting the R&D steps. I'm almost more interested in seeing how people do things than I am the final product. I've never been happy with the idea of kick panel speakers, because of the issues you are now faced with. Trying to make them non-intrusive. If you can accomplish this, and still get a 5-1/4 speaker in there, I think you've got a hell of a product on your hands.

LOL, there was some sarcasm in BRAAP's post that you missed.

Hey now, I've got TWO BMW inline 6 engines... they just happen to not be in my Z. If I had to do it all over again, I'd be tempted by an S50 or S52 me thinks... Need some Coupe content:

DX format has some benefits, depending on what type of photography you are interested in. I know quite a few people with a 1.5 (or 1.6) crop body just so they can get additional range without spending thousands on bigger glass. Is the result as good? No. But I've worked with professionals that do exactly that. The Nikon 200F2.8 looks good at full frame and 1.5 crop, believe me!

I wouldn't choose the M52 in the 328i personally... I've got one, and I don't find it responsive enough for a sports car. You should be able to find an S52 (ie: M series engine) for not much more than that. Try www.bimmerparts.com since you aren't too far away. (Fort McMoney I assume?)

Nicely done, I much prefer front speakers in the kick panels over the door panels. Nice job on the whole setup!

The S54 in the E46 M3 has about 90hp on the S52... Not that the S52 is slow, but it's not really apples to apples.

Ship it off to BRAAP in Oregon.

I've been a Nikon shooter for years, but have played with enough pro-body Canon's to offer a bit of advice. 1) Your sister has a Nikon. Buy a Nikon and swap lenses as desired. Cheap and easy way to try new stuff. 2) The photog's I used to shoot with (even the Canon ones) agree unanimously that Nikon ergonomics are far superior. It doesn't sound that important, but the first time you have to dislocate 3 fingers on one hand to navigate a Canon D-SLR menu you'll wish you had a Nikon... 3) Canon has a better selection of semi-pro lenses than Nikon. Near pro photo quality, at about 2/3 the price of pro quality lenses. Nikon doesn't really have lenses in the same class. 4) Lens to lens (ie: pro vs. pro, or entry-level vs. entry level) there isn't much between the two. Nikon lenses typically have slightly better build quality on the entry level stuff however 5) Canon does video better (in general) at this point 6) Canon kicks Nikon's butt in the point and shoot market (all the above comments I've made refer to SLR's... wanted to add this caveat however) 7) Nikon does a MUCH better job of ensuring backwards compatibility with older (and exceptional quality) lenses 8) Nikon's add-on flashes kill Canon's for usability and functionality If I was starting from scratch again without many $$$$ into my Nikon gear, I'd buy all Nikon again without hesitation. Most pro photog's shoot Canon, I'm convinced that is because they have to have every last megapixel for crops, and because they've had a bunch of $$$$ tied up in Canon lenses from the film days.

I've only got one thing to say to people about the L24.

I was trying to keep it simple... Granted changing the suspension layout to S13 hardware could modify the motion ratio between wheel and spring, and modify the wheel rate when compared to the stock setup. This discussion is also incomplete without talking about swaybars, tire selection, as well as dampers. I run 200f/250r with a 1" front bar, works well for me in combined driving. Is it that simple? No, weight, differential type, power band, my local track, etc. all played a role in me getting to that point. Does it work for MY setup? Yes. Sounds like the setup you want doesn't need the wheel reinvented, I would stick to what works well for many, many Z enthusiasts. Coilovers, decent dampers, and spring rates as discussed forever on this forum if you use the search.

For what you want out of the car, a ground control setup with good struts should do the trick nicely. Lots of spring rates available.

For a weekend driver with occasional autocross I wouldn't be going much higher than spring rates around 200/250.

Good stuff Mike! Glad to hear you old schoolers are still playing with fast Z cars from time to time.

Looking forward to some in-car shots, great job!

I know of one in BC, HybridZ member "Glitch".

Caster, not camber.

I've got an R200 with a Quaife in it I might be willing to part for the right price. Shoot me a PM.

Still up for sale. Price reduced.

I put mine under the windshield cowling, where the wipers are. Has worked well for 10 years.

How is the Noise/Vibration/Harshness with the RT mount and stock mount in place? Comparable to stock?