cygnusx1

Honestly, my driving game/sim experience is very limited. I started with Need for Speed which got boring pretty quickly. Then I found RACER and loved it for it's sim value. Then I bumped into Live for Speed which is offers a great Free Demo version. I played the Demo version for about a year while the three developers put out beta after beta until about a year and a half ago they released a "retail" version that you can buy from their site. If you like racing, you will like Live for Speed. It is designed for online competition and you earn points by winning public races. You can also pass along and retrieve car setups from online fellow racers with permission. DL the demo its sweet. http://www.liveforspeed.net/ I dont have much xperience with other driving games/sims.

Actually last time I played RACER was about 1.5 years ago. I had moved on to Live For Speed which is an AWESOME simulator also. Live for Speed is a bit more refined and can be purchased for about 20 bucks online. RACER on the other hand, free, was really great with a force feedback wheel. The RACER physics are great and the ability to tweak the car in an .ini (text) file is great. This is NOT a game. It is very difficult to get good lap times. It will teach you, no doubt. Most people try it and drop it because its too hard. They are used to those "fake" driving sims that make it easy to drive. Don't expect crash and damage and dancing girls in RACER. It is just a great physics and car control SIM and that's it. Try it, it's worth the price---FREE--Oh and you can drive the BRE 240Z and mod it too! It took me a while to set up the controls but it was well worth it.

Nice job!! Remember RED is faster. Looks awesome.

I would like to add CIVILIAN AIRLINERS to the list of WMD's.

http://www.racer-xtreme.com/cars.php?bk=87 <--that is sweet!!! It's the model for the free racing simulator called RACER. Download the free simulator. http://www.racer.nl

Hehehe, check out this creative brake cooling Idea from donmei over at imprezawrxsti.com forums! http://www.imprezawrxsti.com/postnuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=156524#156524

Just a follow up. I did loosen the rear shoe adjuster and it seemed to have cured the rear bias; at least temporarily. So I did take it to the track and the bias was fine. The brake fluid did boil though. http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=38038

I am putting my patio bench away for the winter. This is an opportunity to bolt it to the hatch...winter project. Engineering, Expression, Art, Ingenuity, Passion, Performance, Pride = HybridZ

...as long as the threads on the stock bleeder screws dont leak and as long as the hose stays on the nipple tightly it's a one person job. I always have thread leakage when I loosen the bleeder screws. I suppose some "thread compound" could help that situation. However, for $7 a corner, I'll give them a try. Getting new toys also gives me more incentive to get under the car and play. The toy factor. Bast.. brakes are important for the street, but on the track, to be competitive, you can have ALL the horsepower in the world, if you dont have enough brakes, it's worthless. I was pulling away from all kinds of cars on the straights, in turns, and out of turns, However, I was losing all my ground at the ends of straights entering corners. Very frustrating.

Yeah, I have been using a weighted hose (to keep the end submerged) and bottle for many years and it works fine but I guess I am getting spoiled. I just like the fact that old fluid or air has no chance of getting sucked back into the speedbleeder no matter how lazy or incompetent I get...as long as the threads are providing a good seal.

http://www.speedbleeder.com The idle normally moves a little bit when you pump the brake quickly...That's because the booster is "stealing" vacuum from the motor when you do that. Bleeding brakes is pretty easy and should be done at least every two years for normal use. Follow the bleeding procedure in the manual. Old fluid can get spongy due to moisture absorption and foaming. Don't use silicone brake fluids unless it's just for a show car. Use a good DOT 4 fluid. I am switching to ATE Super Blue brake fluid. It is not the best, but it is affordable and probably good enough for me. The fluid I boiled at the track was DOT 4 but it was just a common store brand and I have no air ducts to the brakes. If I run more track events, I plan on either adding ducts, the better fluid, and/or looking for a dedicated track car....maybe a low budget 240Z only for the track

I see your point bast. I wouldn't worry about it too much. One way you stress the turbo more, one way you run more conservative. Like you said, two gauges will give you a read on your entire compressed side losses due to flow....if you want to know what they are. It's all in the name of "science" but dont lose sleep over it. I just ordered speedbleeders. When I get my brakes bled and the fluid changed, I'll take it for a spin again and watch the boost...I dont think it drops though. I use 2.5" I/C tubing and a pretty big Spearco.

I use the ACT PP with the solid 6puck ACT disk. It chatters if I try to drive it in traffic gently. There is no way to drive it gently. If you rev to about 2000+ and ride it, it engages fine. It offers very fast engagement with the price of chatter. On the track it is great. On the street it is ok. In traffic, it sux. When it heats up it grabs better but chatters worse.

I never noticed boost dropping off but I do have a much higher flowing turbo. I also don't go to 6K rpms. The motor just feels nice and fat between 3K - 5K...I dont feel the need or urge to rev more than that with my current setup. The boost drop off in yours may be the stock T3 running out of breath at 6K and 14psi. Tough to say. I never ran my T3 at 14psi. It was old and blew the bearing shortly after adjusting it to 10psi. EDIT: I reread your post. If you can maintain 14psi all the way to 6K when tapping MBC off the manifold, then your turbo is NOT running out of breath, nor is your intercooler causing more pressure drop than the turbo can handle. Think about it.

Yeah, Ball/Spring MBC, built from Grainger Parts....actually McMaster.com parts. I tapped a hole in the compressor housing, near the outlet, of the TO4B and send that signal to the MBC. My boost gauge is piped to the intake manifold. I am still taking the FMU boost signal from the intake manifold.

http://www.limerock.com 1.53miles I never made it to the timed trials because my brakes went away during driving school. I had an informal, manually timed, run of 1:22 during my first practice session....keep in mind it was my first time ever on a track and there were 34 other cars on the track.

I never really reved it past 5K rpms. It has soo much torque and power between 3000-5000 that its wasn't worth reving it over that. If I did go over 5k the power flattened drastically. That may have been the knock sensor pulling timing. I dont know When I did the swap, I got new injectors that are supposed to be stock turbo ZX injectors. Other than that, it's all 1983 factory L28ET with 115,000 miles on it. Maybe it's on the verge of destruction. I have NO idea. The rear and the half shafts definately took a beating. I was doing alot of downshifting, using the clutch as a brake, to assist my faded brakes. On the way home, I noticed that noise from the rear during engine braking got quite louder. Fortunately, I still have the donor ZX with it's rear and CV shafts in my driveway.

Yeah, thats my highly trained, rare, apex-pointer squirrel. He stands there to help me hit the apex. He used to work for that insurance company forcing cars off the road...... No, I think its just lens debris. The Z was very fast compared to almost every car in the class. I was hitting 110 mph and was letting up very early because of the brake problems. It was my first time ever on any track and I was being held up alot by slower traffic. If it wasnt for the traffic I would have boiled the brakes much sooner. Good luck rags. Maybe I'll call in sick too.

Yeah they definately need bleeding now, I was wondering about that..thanks. Yes, I loosened the shoes up and that cured the rear bias. The track was Limerock Park in CT.

Big enough, looks nice, decent price. Make sure it fits. I dont remember the available space up front in the Z but a tape measure should tell. Good Luck. BTW, 0.2 @ 15psi IS meaningless info. Pressure drop depends on flow rate, not PSI.

Well I made it back in one peice and so did the Z. I attended my first EMRA School and Time Trial event today with my Z and did well. The Z held up to about 220 miles of travel and 42 miles of shear beating. I am thorougly happy with the way the motor performed. I had no trouble pulling away from almost every car in the class asides from a couple of M3's with great drivers. The handling of the Z was phenominal. I put space behind me in every turn. Perfect drifts and throttle steer with NO bad habits. I was afraid of my lack of brakes and it came to haunt me later in the day as I came down the main straight at 110mph for big bend and the brake pedal went soft. Oh C2Ap! Fortunately the track is designed with enough space so I pumped the brakes, got pressure back, and managed to get it around the bend into a really late apex. I took it easy from there on in and did not enter into the timed trial for fear of killing myself. Once the brakes cooled, they came back but enough was enough. I ran 13psi boost and 54psi fuel at boost, 27btdc. My friend in an STi was behind me and said he saw flames coming out of my tailpipe I wish I got a photo of that. Here are a couple of shots-

Nope, wasn't me this time. I do the same thing...I tweak and tweak and tweak but really for no reason other than I can go for another big-grinned test drive. No dynos around here and no tracks within and hour or two. Lots of twisty, hilly, roads though. Tomorrow, will be my first time EVER on any track and it will be Limerock Park Road circuit. Lessons and time trials; brain tweaking. Funny thing is after all this tweaking to go faster, I am proabably going to turn down the boost to about 12psi for the track day. I am there to learn; not to break records, break my neck, or break my Z.

I dont think that the fronts are glazed because I do get excellent braking..especially after I warm them up with a couple of casual 60 - 10mph stops. It feels like the rear shoes are just grabbier than the fronts. The rears are locking up when I get down to about 30mph under hard braking and the rear end steps out a little just before the stop. I adjusted the rear shoes with a screwdriver through the access hole in the drum to the point where I felt a little drag on the drum while turning by hand. The handbrake also feels tight so I probably have the shoes too tight. I will back the shoes off tonight and see if it helps. Wish me luck. I will be in the STGT class against the likes of the WRX STi. It's too late to do a proportioning valve at this point as I dont have one and I need to drive to the track at 5am tomorrow morning.

I am supposed to take my turbo 280Z to a local road course Friday for some driving school and time trials but... ...since I put in the brand new rear shoes and went through the bedding procedures, the rear wheels want to lock up before the front. I will NOT drive on a track like that! I have Powerslot front rotors with the Toyota 4-piston calipers, KVR pads. In the rear I use aluminum stock drums and Nismo green shoes. The rest of the brake system is 280Z stock. The proportioning valve is original. The pedal feel and braking is AWESOME until the point where the rear locks up. I think I may have made the adjuster wheel for the shoes too tight. Is it possible to lose some rear brake bias by backing off on the shoe adjuster? or could I have made an error in the shoe installation? If I dont cure the rear bias quickly, I am SOL for this Friday. Dave

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