Mikelly

I"ll be working on the shop on Saturday, so if you want to get PIZAID, Head on out! Mike

Hey there TOM... You need a LITTLE SHORT TERM LOAN??? I could use a little LABOR 'ey Manuel... Mike

Here's my dream... My Zcar Fixed and sorted, My Porsche TT (soon to be making over 550WHP ) and Jim Mcnemar with his modded GT3 and his 73 240Z/V8 track car, at the track, for a day rental somewhere reasonably close by... I want to time them with the same driver in all four cars... That'll be the wet dream of all wetdreams! I'm still convinved my Zcar will beat all three of the others, if I ever get it track-able... Mike

The GT2 is known to be one of the most difficult cars to drive well... The GT3 really does shine on a road course and certainly isn't made for "drag racing"... Just keep that perspective when running one on the interstate or around town. The're truly a road racecar on the street! Mike

They aren't that quick at all (380-425HP, depending on the year), and the ability to upgrade them with more power isn't much of an option... Jim MacNemar spent a ton of cash and got something like 6WHP... Which is why Jim was kind enough to tip his had to me and advise me to get the Twin Turbo instead! Mike

The reviews are actually pretty decent. You've got a BMW, so you know the slight increase in European parts, which seems to be getting lower as the years go by. So adjusting to that won't be an issue... Some say that the Chrysler/Benz merger helped dodge and hurt MB, but the ratings on the cars between 99-2005 are pretty good... The C class can be a bargain if well maintained, but I'd get a PPI done before jumping in head first. Just keep up with the maintenance... Oh, and the little lady will look good sporting that around... Mike

Those stickers have been known to not be so accurate... I'd say that your car probably was closer to 2500# (Well over 2400#) fully fueled, spare tire/tools/ and ready to roll! Mike

Final copy/pics/data was sent out back in late July/Early August. The article is put to bed on my end. Dave and the guys at Nisan Sport are in the process of working their magic for the next issue. I'm not sure if they'll be able to do the spread in one article or break it into segments. I included about 33 images total, and still need to link the video clips up so they can be accessed and viewed. Mike

Why no, No they are not... Although technotoy does a great job with their parts... Wonder where Alex got those arms??? Mike

That's an awful lot of rust. You'll need to get baddog rails, some sheet steel for the floor pans, and have at it... How much more rust is there in the car??? MY guess is that you'll find more in the battery box and under the firewall/windshield cowl, and back around the fuel filler neck. Mike

I was just getting ready to get my license, at the age of 15 years, 10 months, when I found an orange 240Z sitting at a used car lot in Orange Co. Va. I fell in love, until I checked the insurance on it. The agent told my dad that it would be the same to insure a corvette or porsche... I was dejected. 1/2 mile down the street this hottie from highschool (Her name was dawn, smoking body!!) had her 73 toyota celica for sale at her dad's gas station. It was a littel silver 4speed coupe... Loved that car. It was abused, crashed, "modded" the best I could afford at the time, and eventually broken sitting in my parents yard. I was in college when they had it towed away in 1985-86 time frame. In 1987 I was involved in a bad car accident and totalled the car I was making payments on at the time. I couldn't afford the gap in pay-off, so I had to buy a beater. I ended up at my uncle johnny's VW repair shop. He had an old Porsche 912, a 74 Datsun 260Z, a fiat X19 and a 72 chevelle, all for sale. He'd buy projects from other people, fix them when the shop was slow, and flip them... Anyway, I drove all four, and ended up paying him $1200 for the 260Z. That single purchase took me down the path of Zcars. Since then I've had 22 of the cars in my posession. I've never owned an S31 or newer, and I've never wanted to. I've owned two that have seen speeds in excess of 150MPH, and I've won a regional autoX series in the F prepared category with one of the sports car clubs here back in 1995. I don't think there's been a single day that's gone by that I haven't had at least one S30 in my posession since 1987, 20 years. Mike

Guy, I know what ya meant, but when I read that, I just broke out in laughter, because Porsche and Ferrari guys don't have a problem dropping coin on their cars... But a PICKUP TRUCK??? HOW MUCH??? $50K FOR THAT??? No, there are a LOT of beat-to-♥♥♥♥ piles in the paddocks at most tracks! Most of them aren't fit to tow with either! Mike

I appears this one is very clean... You guys should jump on it... Mike

This comment completely baffles me... Why would a person that owns a ferrari NOT own a pickup truck??? Lots of guys with the money to own an exotic still own "normal" vehicles... We use trucks to transport our "exotics" on these cool things called "trailers" to events and track days... Matter of fact, the next track event I'm at, I'm gonna take pics of all the absolute pieces of junk transport vehicles these guys buy to use to tow with... It'll be a real good laugh! Mike

I'm with you... That's probably exactly what happened... Mike

So I'm pretty sure what I have will work, for me... But I still am unhappy with the "selection in gears"... We still don't have a solution that is not the norm fellas... Kick it around some more... MIke

Jon M. That calculator is fine on paper, but not so good in real world application... John Tedder and Mark Icard, What are you guys seeing on the front and back straights at VIR top end? My guess is that both these cars are gear limited to about 150MPH. This is just a guess... My "Current" setup will use a Hoosier 275-35-18 which is 25.2 inches tall. The tranny is a TKO600 W/Road race gearing (1st gear is 2.87, 2nd is a 1.89, 3rd is a 1.28, 4th is a 1.0 and 5th is a .82) and the Current diff is the Q45 w/ 3.54 gears. I plan to spin the motor to about 7K RPM. As SVEN said (Thanks Sven), The Datsun rear has been debated to death... Hence the title of the thread for this little excersise! Mike

I'm still not hearing about GEAR choices for the R200, which is another part of the solution to the initial question above... Mike

Couple of things I want to contribute first hand that could shed some more light... My 99C5 Chevy corvette had upgraded fluid, upgraded pads, upgraded brake lines, and factory 13inch front rotors, and 12.2 rear rotors, both solid, both vented. The braking on that car was ALWAYS responsive, always dependable, and always easy to modulate. Speed bleeders made it easy to maintain, and Hawk HT08 pads were always used to stop the 3250# beast consistantly on high speed road courses, making 382#ft. torque and 386HP. My 2001 996 Twin Turbo Porsche has "world renound" brakes. They are 13 inches front and rear, vented and crossdrilled, have the best fluid (Castrol SRF) and pads (Pagid Yellow RS29s) along with some major brake duct cooling at all four wheels... The brakes, when properly heated are again very responsive, very predictable, and very easy to modulate. This in a 3600# AWD package that puts out 532#ft. torque and 510AWHP. These two platforms are "World renound" and considered benchmarks to shoot for. The corvette brake sysem is well documented for spreading calipers and eating rotors with aggressive pads. The Porsche NON-6 piston, non-14inch two piece caliper system is known to be underpowered, due in no small amount to the weight/power potential. Heat and weight are serious issues, especially when the platform is modified. The Zcar is well documented as having a WIDE RANGE of power and weight ranges... These ranges truly make each build different, requiring different braking needs. Regardless of the rotor or caliper size, Pad compound, brake bias and fluid wet and dry boiling points are of utmost importance. Heat buildup, inability to shed that heat, and fluid boiling will cause you to lose total confidence in your vehicle. I've suffered this first hand... It isn't pretty. Know your requirements for your platform. Know what you need to do to stop your platform repeatedly and consistantly, for 30 minutes at a time, 4 sessions per day. Rotor size, caliper size, piston size, number of pistons, ventilaton of hub/rotor, all these items play into the overall chassis dynamics and power/weight ratio. Add larger wheel/tire combos to the "lever" effect, and it gets more complicated... Heavier mass rotation, larger levers, less deflection of tire types, all play into the equation. My Corvette was hitting 145MPH on the front straight at VIR. My 911 Twin Turbo will easily top 170mph at the brake markers on that same front straight. I'll be praying to god that they function properly. POwer to weight is a huge factor. Build your braking system to accomodate the platform, calculating power to weight. Mike

I'm starting this thread for several reasons, and I'm sticking it, as I hope we get some serious development to come out of it... Two things brought this issue to mind... Tom Barnett (Mayolives) continually breaking CV joints at road courses, and Jody Creegan (JBC3) breaking a forged stub axle. Non-conventional (ie NON-Nissan) differentials/ axles are the topic of discussion, and here's why: The traditional Chapman strut/ diff design is not the most practicle design, and is limited. The gear selections are extremely limiting for those who need TALLER gears for road course duty. The CV Axle/ Half Shaft/ Hub carrier/ stub axle/ Bearing is very limited, and a potential failure point. You can keep or discard the chapman strut housing, doesn't matter to me... So what are the options??? Ford 8.8 center? Winters Quick Change? Chevy Corvette C4 differential/ Axles? This discussion will include the removal of the existing Nissan differential, Axles, and modify the strut assembly as required to accomodate something more significant, without giving up the independant rear design... SOLID AXLE DESIGNS need not apply... Come on you engineering gear heads. Weigh in here... Mike

Tom, That's a decent find... I'd jump on it and plan to sawzall some of the tubing issues you found... Looks like you finally have your Zcar project! Mike

This has been well documented elsewhere, and yes, it is disappointing... The LS1/2/6 is supposed to be such a light platform and all... Reality is that the motor is probably about the same (+/-50#) as the L6 powerplant with all accessories... The tranny is the kiss of death... However, going to a T5 or TKO and blow proof bellhousing isn't any lighter... The key is the power to weight ratio. When guys swap to a turbo setup, they add even more weight... Is what it is... These cars are lighter than current platforms. But they're not ubber light weight competitors unless they are gutted. Mike

Guys, Anyone know how Tom Barnett aka Mayolives did at the UTC? I was supposed to be there yesterday, but things happened here that I couldn't get away from... Mike

David, You didn't mention this when you visited last weekend!!! Excellent story... You should write it up for Nissan Sport... Would be a GREAT READ!!! Mike

I've decided to lock this one, as no good will come of this whole discussion... Jon and Kathy, You've both had your "side" of the story. Kathy, I don't see you contributing to our site much, just trying to defend your story... If you want to stay and be a contributing member of technical info, then great... However, If you're just gonna stay to hound Jon, a respected member of the site, your stay won't be long... I suggest you read the rules here and make an honest assessment of the site before you cnotinue on... Mikelly Administrator at Large...