Mikelly

Guys, I'm gonna ask that we hold any further comment on the aerodynamic testing until we can get the data analisys done. There are comments that have been made to this point that are NOT accurate. We're all excited about what's been achieved but we have to make sure the statements we make are truly accurate. Give us some time, please. Mike

Gang, We'll post pics once we sort things out... Give us some time... You're all asking lots of questions, and we've had little chance to compile the data and sort through it all... I also have a commitment to Nissan Sport Magazine that needs clarifying... Give us a day or two! Mike

What a couple of days... Took my life in my own hands the last 5 minutes of the ride home, but that's for another thread... What I can tell you guys is this: It's a complete package that makes things "work". If you disrupt air at the back of the car, it will have an impact at the front. If you disrupt air at the front of the car, how it comes around the sides, top and bottom of the car at the back really has an impact. I've taken over 1000 pics, an hour of video, and started a basic write-up for the magazine. However, I need to talk with the chaps at Nissan Sport. There was serious discussion among the members who attended about what we should release... We had a list of parts, a lot of parts, and some of them were on various cars there. We tested the things that we knew you guys and gals wanted to see the most, and then we listened to our Aero Tunnel operator. The guy was a WEALTH of info. Bob Smith knows as much or more about aerodynamics than anyone I've ever had a serious chat with... The guy has been doing this stuff so long, we could tell him what we intended to do next, and he'd tell us, go ahead, and you'll get "XXX" reaction, and he was right every time. We started listening to him, because we wanted to maximize your money and our time. Some of you won't be happy that we didn't do a few of the major mods. Sorry, but we listened to Bob, and had to make on the ground decisions and we did. Sue us. This was EXTREMELY difficult to organize, and with the combinations, numbers of cars to get into and out of the tunnel, and the people there who helped, we made history. I'll post some pics later, and some of the data that can be extracted in laymans terms. I'd like to thank BJ and John Tedder (jt1) for organizing this, and for Tom Barnet, Roddy Sugg, and Mark Ulrich for the organization of parts and parts combos. David Spilman loaned us a bone stock 74 Zcar to run a comparison against. This car was stock in every way, and I do mean every... Right down to the Nissan hubcaps and stock body trim. Austin Hoke and Tom Harris were on hand to help all day and busted their butts right along with the rest of us, and Mark Icard, showing up late in the day and jumped in head first, helping with bolting on, taping on, rolling cars in and out, and offering thoughtful suggestions on the whole event. It was hot, hard work, and not a single person was unpleasent to work with on this project. I want you folks to understand a couple of things... We took our time, spent more money out of our pockets, took time off work (Some of our participants lost wages to make this happen) and in the case of David Spilman, Spent money out of their own pocket to have the car transported to us for the test. A LOT of effort went into pulling this off. Before anyone gets their panties too bunched, remember that there was a lot of effort that went into testing the THIRTY combinations of parts that were able to be tested in an 8 hour period. We made history on Monday, April 30th and I am so proud to have been there to witness it, and to be a part of such a great car community. More later, but I can assure the HybridZ community that our efforts bore some great fruit, and we can now lay some of these myths to rest. Mike

Anyone heard from Ken? I need him to contact me offline... Sent him an email a few weeks ago and haven't heard back... Mike

Keep in mind gang that I'll also be doing testing on my own Zcar, and as with everything else I do, the data will be shared. I have ZERO desire to hide my findings from anyone. Mike

I have to agree here... I'm myself piloting a 600CranK HP car and I can tell you that ME getting it to launch would make for GREAT YOUTUBE footage to Laugh at... Not everone can launch a hi HP car, or make it hook up, even with the best of suspensions... Mike

The information will be produced one of two ways... We will produce it immediately and it will obviously be a sticky, OR it will be produced in NissanSport magazine, and THEN be added to the site as a sticky. Regardless of which way it turns out, you guys will have access to the data... Mike

If that's the case, I'm with GIJonas, except for the punching oneself in the beanbag... That's all him. Mike

Here's a tip... We're not alone on this planet, and if you ask people in other countries, WE are butchering the king's enrish! This world is bigger than you and I... Mike

Yes, it is very near, and we'll let you folks know the day of the test, after the test is complete. We've invited a few people to attend who will be helping work on the cars/ parts. We hope to have everything well documented! Stay tuned gang! We're with about a week of this project finally being pulled off... Mike

Guy at work did a pulley, chip, and a catback on his 2003 Cobra and netted 465Wheel HP... That's about $2000 worth of upgrades. Those Cobras are about 3600# and quite well appointed = HEAVY!!! They're also a real good buy right now, since the newer bodystyle is selling like hotcakes, and nobody wants the old body style... You can get one with low miles stock for in the upper Teens! Mike

Loved it... Amazing! Bravo, BRAVO!!! Mike

Which Cars? Mike

Yea, the rears look almost perfect. The fronts need a little spacer, but otherwise it looks good Phil! Mike

Well Said ZR8ED!!! Wigen, Nice video... Very nice! Mike

Here's a perspective from the other side of the fence... I've owned fast Zcars, and am building two... One for Jim McNemar, and one for myself. Both have SBCs, custom large brake kits, custom cages, and upgraded drivelines... Both weigh a BUNCH more than a stock Zcar. My car is damned near stripped and I bet it will still weigh in at 2500# and that's without inner doors, door hardware, door and side window glass, stereo, hvac system, and a lot of stock metal trimmed out... The 14 point cage and other parts will more than tripple the weight I took out. I've spoken with a number of guys here who have rolled their Zcars up on the scales and found that their "light weight" zcar is a pig at 3000+ pounds... They're approaching the weight of a 2004 Z06 Corvette, Which has better brakes stock, better suspension design stock, and much wider tires on a MUCH wider chassis STOCK. What this all equates to is higher speeds more safely. I spun my modified C5 at well over 100 miles per hour and the car dug into the dirt hard with the right front wheel, causing it to lose air pressure, but NOT allowing the car to roll. Every single person who saw that footage agreed that if I'd been in the Zcar, it would have rolled, because it doesn't have as wide a stance. Sure, we can make these Zcars go faster, because of a "slight" advantage in weight (Although looking at Jon M.s and bjhines cages I'm seriously wondering ), but how safe will it be at 9/10ths when you get that wiggle at the wrong spot on track... Can you save it before it swaps ends on you? After years and years of drving around modern technology brakes and suspension, can you adapt back to non-abs brake systems? These are questions I ask myself when I come off a weekend like I had two weekends ago, where I've been out of a Zcar for a very long time, and been in these "supercars" we all dream of beating... Will a HybridZ be faster than a modern car? To 150? Sure... To 175? Maybe. Will you be as safe? Unless you have a cage and some seriously good driving skills (Like the handful of drivers I've seen in them on the east coast and west coast), I'm not sure you'll be able to "save it" when you need to most. Turbo charged or V8. These cars add weight to the calculation... NO, the V8 w/aluminum heads/accessories isn't heavier. But add in the appropriate driveline and driveline safety, and you add back in a LOT of weight... Blow proof bellhousing? 60#. Upgrade to Q45 axles? You now have two 30# dumbells for axles! Driveshaft hoop? Add another 15#! All this "safety" adds up. Two weekends ago at the THSCC event I saw John Tedder drive his ass off in a relatively mild built 240Z. No cage, just a four point bar. Nothing really exotic, just parts that work. His car is probably the best east coast example of the basic HybridZ platform to make work. Add John's extraordinary driving skills (John is an instructor at CMP) and you have the perfect mix of minimalist HybridZcar with GREAT driving skills... But the point here isn't to bragg about John, or his car. It's to illustrate that I can think of John and maybe four others here on the east coast who are capable of safely piloting a Z like his to within 4/10s of a second of a highly modified 2004 GT3 Porsche's times. Build you car to suit your needs. But don't forget to BUILD the DRIVER to compliment the car's abilities. Without those, you'll be another hack like me, thrashing about on the track and wondering why you should be faster than you are... Mike

Many tracks offer a program called drive to survive for teens... I know Summit Point WVa offers one that is highly recommended for people in the Mid-atlantic area... Mike

Still got that 750 double squitter you're more than welcome to borrow... Mike

I personally don't think you'll be unhappy with the Hawks. They are a little rough on the rotors, but rotors are a "wear" item anyway, right? Mike

I'm running the Mustang Cobra setup front and rear, Although now I'm planning to change up AGAIN and buy all Jamie Taylor's stuff, and I believe his rear brakes are 13 inch wilwoods, so it's a good thing I haven't welded up those rear brackets yet, ey'? Mike

I'd be planning a full tear down... If you have metal in the bottom of the pan, you can bet you have metal sucked into passages you can't see... Mike

Pete, I've got a 750 double pumper you're more than welcome to try... But I tend to agree with the others here... You'll need to start thinking about the cubes you're feeding and I think a 900 would be more sufficient for your application... As to the comment about Edlebrock carbs, I think for a daily driver, they're decent and reliable, if you're using a mild cam with good vacuum, like in stock type applications. If you are running something more radical, even a mid level cam, they can be hard to setup. The Edlebrock is probably going to get you only 85% of the power a Holley will, but it will be more consistantly drivable in changing weather conditions. That's been my experience in the past anyway... Mike

I posted a link yesterday... Search here in the non-tech forum. 10 minutes of it on Utube! Mike

Well I'm going to make the leap and buy something like a TC3... If anyone has a 1/10 scale for sale, contact me offline... Ill be buying by next weekend. Mike

Enjoy!