JMortensen

All the info I see online says the Catera is rear wheel drive. FYI, you wouldn't want to use a purpose built front differential in the back of a car, because in all likelihood it would have reverse cut gears so you would be driving on the "coast" side of the gears, and they're much weaker that way. For this reason taking a rear differential and putting it in the front of a truck (like the R180 used in the 720's for example) is also the crappy way to do it. I guess the theory is that people don't use 4wd very often, but if the vehicle is to be built to put down a lot of power or for harsh usage like rockcrawling, better to get reverse cut gears in the front diff.

I don't think the little wing in the front did anything at all. It's in a really bad spot for airflow since there is a lot of turbulence around the grill. Putting it on top of the hood would have made an enormous difference. I was told that back in the 70's or 80's they used to do this in NASCAR. Basically have ducts that ran from under the car to a low pressure spot on top of the car. I was told this a LONG time ago and I've never seen any proof of it, but it doesn't sound out of the realm of possibility...

You're just going to have to get over that one... It used to bug me when people say that the .40 S&W has a maximum of 33,000 psi too. It's wasn't doing me any good trying to explain the difference between psi and cup though.

Try again and squirt a little oil in the cylinders. If the #'s come up then the loss is due to rings. If not then it's probably valves leaking. I think your numbers can also vary widely by the gauge, whether the engine is hot or cold when the test is done, etc. You can also do a compression leak down test, which is much more accurate than a normal compression test and would show a problem more than just showing a difference between the last time you tested it and this time.

He says the hats are 6061.

Splitters and getting neg pressure under the hood are two methods that I would pursue to get front end downforce. It sounds like you haven't seen the threads dealing with these issues. You might do a search and read up, as there were some LONG discussions previously.

Not to diminish the result or anything, but being competitive in racing is all about classes. This is the class where the Z is currently competitive. It used to be competitive in ITS, but no longer. Before that it was CP, which morphed into GT2. It's not competitive there anymore either. In 20 years there might be a different class where the Z is competitive. I'm glad there is a class for the Z to run well in, and I'm really glad that Greg was able to put that car on the podium. That car has been running around podium speeds for 5 years or so that I've been aware of (might be more), seems like it was always getting bumped off the track by a Miata. Anyway, congrats to Greg. Nice driving!

Yes, a spoiler should at least cancel some lift if not provide some downforce. I don't think the 3 piece spoiler was tested in the wind tunnel, but the did test the larger one piece, and the results would probably be in the same ballpark. I'm changing the title of your thread. It needs to be descriptive so that people don't have to open it up to see what it is about. I should have caught that before, but didn't.

Picked up my pistol today. Looks basically new. There is even a sticker from Sig on the side that says "Used Excellent Condition." There is some light scuffing on the barrel where the slide can contact it, and a bit of the bluing on the barrel is worn off from use, but the chamber and the inside of the barrel look brand spankin new. It's in the condition I expected after hearing all the glowing reports of "like new" guns. I didn't realize that the gun came with a case, 2 clips and a lock. I had already bought a couple clips, so now I have 4 .40 clips and 2 9mm clips. My 9m conversion barrel dropped right in (apparently some of them need fitting) so that was a nice surprise as well. The trigger seems a bit lighter than the one I fired at the range. Not sure if that's just my imagination, and this one doesn't have the 3 dot night sights, which I wasn't so hot on at first but now I think I might prefer. Anyway if this thing shoots as good as it looks I'll be ecstatic. I'm going to go get some bulk 9mm and .40 ammo. Need to get wifey out on the range too, she already seems hesitant around this gun. She is really a hell of a shot (especially good with a shotgun) but when she hasn't shot for a while her confidence goes down and she starts getting a bit afraid. She does the same thing with the Z too...

That's really good info. Thanks for following up.

I would have bought it too. I'm impressed with the airfoil shape, and it squeezes in just under Solo II regs for XP. I'm just wondering what the weak part is in the assembly, and if you put a Gurney on there and it brought the total downforce to 500 lbs is it going to tear the thing apart at an inopportune time...

I was actually looking at the APR site again this morning and it says this wing maxes out at 120 mph. I'm wondering if the aluminum extrusion can't handle the downforce that it would create at speeds above 120. If the flap made the wing a lot more efficient, that might stress the wing even more. Not to mention there is a limit to what the hatch can take.

No leaks anywhere? You've pulled the boots at the master and slave? Checked around the hoses and fittings? If that's the case, then I'd say replace the master again. Also, if you're sitting at a light for a minute, it's a good idea to put it in neutral and let the clutch out, especially if you're running a stiffer than stock clutch.

I think a belly pan all the way back to the floor is going to be a problem because of the exhaust. It's a good idea but I just don't think it's workable. Side skirts to prevent airflow in from the sides of the car is a good idea. I doubt you'll be able to produce anything like the force you would get from a wing with the underbody mods you're talking about on a Z car. I'd like to be proven wrong though.

Yes, that should work. Cameron, I think even with the 9.5 inch slicks you're going to have a hard time controlling roll. Roll = less camber with independent suspension. I don't think you'll be able to get enough camber in there to compensate. I agree that he's probably bouncing on the bumpstops. I think if he cuts the bumpstops and raises the car a bit he's still going to be on the bumpstops when the car rolls with that spring rate and losing camber due to roll to boot, that was my point. It may not be as obvious because it may not be slamming the bump stops, but it might cause a mid corner push.

Fixed link.

Is that what this is? You be the judge: http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90361515

Let go of the idea of half-assing the flares. If you're going to cut up the car you might as well go big. Just my $.02... You can get better materials that are more linear in their spring rate, but you need room for them. I would guess that the ones you got from MSA are the Energy Suspension poly bumpstops. You can cut them down so that they're smaller. These issues are all inter-related. Too low = roll center underground = not enough travel. You can section struts to gain travel, but you may still have issues with the RC being low. The RC can be raised by raising the LCA pivots on the front. On the back it's a little tougher to deal with. Terry (blueovalz) lengthened the bottom of the strut housing to raise the rear RC. I've only seen a few people go that far. I didn't like 5 on the Illuminas. Didn't seem good for anything. I almost always ran on 3 or 4 at autox. Droop is the same thing as sag, but look at from the opposite end. When have the car on a jack for instance and you set it down on the ground, the suspension sags. The suspension might compress 4 or 5 inches before it stops as the suspension gets to the actual ride height. Droop is another name the same 4 or 5 inches of suspension travel that is used up when the car is at ride height. When you put a jack under the crossmember and lift the front of the car, the amount that the car can lift before the tire leaves the ground is the droop. When the car rolls in a corner, it can lay really far over because there is so much droop. If you limit the droop then the car will roll over until it runs out of droop, and then it stops (or bicycles). The rest of the roll at this point comes from the outer suspension compressing.

Do the zip tie test that cary mentioned and you'll know if you're lowered too far. I think the measurements at the rockers are somewhat suspect because the tire height isn't taken into account. Your tires look pretty tall, so you'd have to lower the car further to get the same 5" at the rocker. Checking at the strut shaft eliminates the confusion. One thing that absolutely amazed me is how much suspension travel Dave Kipperman's Z is using with 5-600 lb springs in it. Cary has posted pics of it leaned pretty far over in corners. Just mind boggling to me. Of course his car has gigantic slicks too so it can generate a lot more lateral g, but still I think it's unrealistic to expect 250 lb springs to control the roll on a well set up Z. I think this same problem is something Cameron (heavy85) is also running into right now.

That's always been the thing that confused me too. It seems to be mostly young kids who are into it, and how you can work a crap job at 18-20 and afford so many sets of 225/15/20 tires is beyond me. That's because watching autox is like watching paint dry. At some point I think the drifters will realize, or maybe already have realized that they're burning up huge amounts of $$$ and that they'd be going a lot faster if they actually kept traction.

Looks very similar. I'd go for it.

So I looked again and it's hard to tell from your video. Are you spinning the inside tire, or both, or can you tell? If you're spinning the inside tire, then the Quaife is a problem. If you're spinning both, then you just need more tire back there, or some other method of getting more traction out of the tires you have.

Poly in front, rubber in back. Doesn't matter if you're talking Z or ZX, poly in the front, rubber in the back.