Gollum

To JSM -> 99% of the time drifting will be slower, and I'd say 80% of that remaining 1% is in wet scenarios. These people do it for one reason and one reason only though, style. I try to be open minded to all types of motorsports, and the only thing I've got against this one thus far is the atmosphere around it. But I guess that's just the kids now days. But man, who would drift a 2+2 Oh well. To each his own.

Man, some of you guys really blow me away. DavidK, your work is astounding. Let the pros go suck on a steaming hot cockatoo... And braap, you're no slouch yourself. If I just keep posting comments about everyone's work I'll be here typing out another one of my super long posts. So I'll just say I havn't seen a bad photographer yet amongst you guys so far. So I'll set a new bar... a low bar that is. I'll take the fall as the worst on the site One morning a chevy van ran into my friends neighbor's house. We'd been up all night playing computer games in his back yard... Somehow he fit through all the cars parked. And well, the picture says the rest. Some pictures my bro took when we were in hawaii. Taken by a camera that was $100 5 years ago. I can't remember what it was. The ones above where a fugifilm and I can't remember the model. S500 or something? Maybe I'll post more later, but I should spare the real pros here the pain.

Street legal.... in how many states? That's one fast SBC no doubt.

I was thinking the same thing alex. That's a darn good price for what it is.

Kids these days can work a computer like they designed it. When the industrial age began mechanical engineers were born and all of a sudden people had to learn how to opperate machinery. When the agricultural age began kids had to learn how to help out on the farm. A lot of kids out there grew up with EFI. I was working on fast turbo hondas when I was 10 years old. Can I turn a carb? No. It's just what I've learned to do since I was a kid. It's only natural. We really are in a different age. The information age. The birth the of car REALLY WAS a different age, and cars have come along way and have changed dramatically. Things will never stop changing and as always as they change the next generation becomes "new school" while people of yesteryear become old school. Both schools work, as ALWAYS. One just learned to be proficient in different methods. I tend to give lots of respenct to the old guys, and hopefully when once I've got my car dialed in and i'm running decent times I'll get the respect back. That's my brutal honesty. Don't hate difference, embrace it. Comedy isn't supposed to be about making fun of people, it's about making fun of the differences. If we all take it lightly and we're all ok.

Hey, with the stroke of luck going, you should apply for a job at a farrari dealership. Maybe score some killer part finds there too! I'm kinda on a roll myself, though not quite to the same extent. I got free tickets to the guitar show of a lifetime for free (guitar player magazine's hero hero awards 06'), and I got to meet joe satriani that night. And just the other night I got to see trans siberian orchestra for free, from BOX SEATS! After the show I got to talk to paul o'neil (the man who dream up the band to begin with and writes almost all the music) and he gave me some free merch and a silver dollor from 1899. Pretty random. I'm thinking about contacting steve vai for a record contract...

I think dispite the lack of content your myspace, it's still more exiting than mine. Simply becuase no content is better than bad content Oh yea, the reason I'm posting... I've got a new vid up on my myspace. It's my last guitar recital. Kinda boring but you might like it if you're into guitars or metal. I need to get some real recording done... Oh well. Link is on the second page of this thread. Someone should start a HZ group on myspace. It'd be a lot easier to keep track of everyone on myspace methinks.

I completely understand racerx. If he'd just said he didn't like the SR I would have let it go. But it's the comparison to the VG that I think makes his post sound absurd and unfounded. But that's just me I'm willing to play nice though.

So um.... how much you asking for rent? That thing is bigger than most houses over here. And just a FYI a friend of mine owns a european & japanese auto shop and when they recently moved locations they bought those lifts and haven't had a problem yet. They have 3 lifts, always full.

Gibson guitar = USA made high non-specialty models go for around $3-4k. Epiphone guitar = Same company as gibson but made overseas. Top models similar to gibson top models sell between $600-800... 10 years ago overseas guitars were mostly crap save a few companies. Recently much of the overseas stuff competes and gives the USA made stuff a run for it's money. I think it just takes all these newer factories to REALLY work out all the quality kinks. I think they really do want to sell a good product, but their CEOs are SO bent on cost that they can't do the research on how to make the product better for similar costs.

I've never done any formal training and have always regretted it. But I am currently trying to get prepped for getting into free running. Though I think I might need to get some health insurance first. I started agressive skating at the age of 7 and didn't stop till I was about 15. I've developed a good sense of balance and such. Playing guitar has also helped my hand eye coordination as well. I need a hobby that will keep my body stressed though. Even regular 3 hour gigs just don't make me sweat enough.

roastin - the SR really isn't that expensive, especially when we're talking HP per liter. Sure it won't make more than 500hp without taking some serious mulla, but it can make over 150hp per liter on a good budget and still get seriously good MPG and well behaved street manners. You also have to consider that with what you pay for a motor it's already coming with a decent turbo platform that can make some decent power gains. I'd also like to hear your definition of a "stock form" VG motor...

In theory yes. In principal no. If you can find someone who makes the eccentric shaft for the right rotor count. I believe there's also a bit of work that needs to be done to the housings to just keep stacking them, though I could be wrong on this. The stock motor still uses a counter weight and if you wanted a 4 rotor to fire 4 even fires you'd still need some type of counterweight. There's a guy though that built a race purpose 4 rotor who setup his motor to have 2 rotors in sync and the other 2 180 degrees offset. This allowed for NO counterweight and much faster revs, though it was rougher sounding. I think this might be how mazda setup the 787B judging by how rough it sounds anything near idle. The point that I'm getting at is that it's not as easy as it looks. It can take a lot more time and effort than it's really worth in some cases. But yes it's possible, and has been done. Feel free to chime in aux, i know you know way more than me about rotary motors. EDIT: Here's the link to the previously mentioned 4 rotor with no counter balance http://members.tripod.com/~grannys/4rotor.html

wow, something aux posted that I've actually seen before. Been surfing the shallow end of the net lately aux? Or have I just been going that deep lately? When I first saw this video I was like "wow, one of them is gonna loose if for sure"... sure enough...

I wonder if the owner is on zcar.com... ...purist. Ahh, leave him be. Once people don't buy it maybe he'll figure something out. Or if some idiot buys it for 5k maybe they'll make something worthwhile out of it.

^ I agree, wich is why I stated RPM's I've run, wich has no real bearing on MPH thus I accepted a guestimation admitingly). I didn't ever post to make a contest, but to add information into a good thread. I agree I hope BJ's research ends a lot of debate and such, and I think pretty much everyone here is behind him. So I don't know what contest we're talking about here. For the most part it's just been friendly discussion.

Yup, thanks the page. Thanks Zmanco. So there you have it people. That's how fast I've gone... wich is scarry in a stock ZX. Hopefully this will change in the near future

The front end lift on a S130 sounds a bit rediculous, but I won't say it didn't happen. I just wanna know what exactly was happening. I know I've been to a website that had a RPM -> MPH calculator for L series engines and nissan transimissions. If I could find that website then I wouln't have to ask but... How many MPH would the 3.545 Manual NA 2 seater 280ZX be going at 4400 rpm in 5th gear? That's how fast I've gone. I think the 85 mph speedo maxes out at around 3400 rpm in 5th. I personally can't imagine going any faster in a stock NA without restoration. But I guess I'm just not insane enough

I've had alignment check, and it's fine (also has new tires). I think the issue is probably old bushings causing funky things to go on under load. It could a number of problems though. But I've owned and driven 2 S130 2 seaters and both felt identical.

I know my opinion doesn't carry a ton of weight around here (as is fair considering the caliber of engineering here on HZ), but I just figured I'd add in my .00002 cents. My 280ZX drives great at 80mph, and I've talked to people who go scared out of their wits when they took their S30 over 80 (not car extremist granted). The main issue I seem to have in my car is how the car tracks at those speeds. In the bay area there isn't tons of places with long flat roads (that don't have pot holes), so in the turns the suspension gets quite unhappy thus getting into the 100mph range gets a bit hairy. But I don't think the limits are aero related. And aren't the main differences between the S30 and S130 in the front end? I think the windshields are at slightly different angles but that's not gonna make the difference. I know this thread is mostly about surface area, and I'm gonna get there. Trust me. The S130 is longer as we all know, but it's also quite a bit wider. The differnce is obvious just sitting the the car. The width of the roof is substantial too, wich adds yet more area for the wind to hit. Yet, the S130 SEEMS to have much better aero, but really the main differnce seems to be in air dam design. And I personally see heat as a big issue in this discussion. If you're running a turbo motor there's more to consider than getting JUST enough air through the dam to cool the radiator core. We also now most likely have an intercooler and a super hot turbo that's baking the engine bay. And the more times we turn the air to redirect it the more drag we're creating right? IMO there seems to be ALOT more to drag than just surface space of the front end/windshield (though I'm loving the thread chris). We also have to discuss how hard the air is turning inside the engine bay in order to get out. The new Ford GT lets large amounts of air out of the hood area after is passes by the radiator. Granted it's an MR car it's a cleaver idea witch should help create downforce correct? Another difference in the S30/S130 chassis is the wheel wells. I honestly have no TRUE idea as to why one would be better/worse than the other, but the S130 has quite a different shape to it (though i've never seen them side by side, only both at seperate times with no rims). But I generally think that the S30 has more potential than the S130 in the aerodynamics department, simply becuase you aren't going to make a S130 smaller any time soon. Though the S130 might be cheaper to get decent CDa ratings out of, I still think the S30 has the advantage of being a smaller platform that won't hit as much wind to begin with (though it's obviously hitting that wind a lot harder). I don't know how understandable this post is, but I hope that maybe it will get somebody thinking, becuase that's what we're all here to do. On the underhood pressure discussion, regarding the S130, my hood will lift up if not latched at around 30mph. I don't think it has as much to do with over hood pressure as much as it does under hood pressure. It's obviously the ratio of the two, but the underhood pressures can be modified with relative ease when compared to the overhood pressures. And I'm sure a Z with various setups could yeild VERY different results from cowl tests. If you lower the car, put on a Gnose, ect. The underhood pressure should drop dramatically since not as much air is getting under the car to begin with. I could see myself being very wrong though Closing comment - Take this all with a grain of salt, as my opinion is only worth .00002 cent as stated by ME!

Well, in a few of my races (of witch I look bad and regret to some point) I've been at speeds over 140mph. Even my ZX witch is supposed to feel better than a S30 at high speeds kinda starts to scare me at about 110. Now, I still have a lot of suspension restoration/upgrading to do since right now it's completely stock. I still think anything is possible of course with enough time and money. There are other starting chassis witch can be had for cheep enough money that will reach the 200mph limits sooner, but in my experience I don't even want to be 2 lanes away from someone going those speeds. Quick story - (admitted stupidity here and I don't do crap like this anymore and DON'T condone it) I was coming back from a street race with a friend in a low 14-high 13 sec CRX (BAD stock suspension, with upgraded suspension it would have been a solid mid 13 car, as proven by the cars it beat). So what had happened is it got a little hot where we were racing so most people took off. On the way back on the freeway "Hey look, iroc camaro" SWEET. Down shift to 4th, hit 6k and climb. The camaro had started right next to us and was on a DEAD pace with us. We hit 100 like nothing following 110 in seemingly less than a second, 130 doesn't take long, and we climb to 140... at witch point the CRX speedo doesn't read past... oh well, KEEP GOING he's still next to us... ...About 3 miles later he pulls off the freeway so we follow him "hey man, what motor do you have in that CRX???" he asks "Stock B16". "Dang that thing is fast" "Do you know how fast we were going?" we ask... "My speedo needle broke around 140 mph so I don't know"... If a cheep cheep cheep CRX with a meer 160 FWHP can keep up with a low 13 sec camaro at speeds above 140, then the main issue (as known by most members of HZ) with the Z is aerodynamics. The CRX is small, light, and had decent aerodynamics. If you could really fix the aero problems with the Z then you'd have a car that would reach 170,180, maybe even close to 200mph, witch in my opinion is totally unnecessary. :::::::Again, I don't condone street racing and those days are long behind me. Keep it safe, keep it real, keep people alive. Even pro drivers crash now and again... on tracks even:::::::::::

Ok, I've now owned my new Nintendo Wii for over 1 week. And I thought I'd give a short review (since the keyword "Wii" came up with 1 response on the search feature, and it was a post by me). One word??? Intuitive. The learning curve is very very nice. So far on all the games I own it's easy to get in and play, but the programming isn't so perfect that it all comes natural. On Wii sports I've just figured out how to stay consistent in bowling, witch is quite complicated. Zelda is very impressive thus far, and would be worth buying the console for even if it was the only game this Christmas. We've been having issues with it, but Nintendo is going to send us one free of charge and then have us ship back the old one, so that we're never without a console (still NO shipping costs to us at all, the big N has always been good in this respect). Red steel = don't buy. I was really looking forward to this title and it was a total let down. The controls were very poorly programed and don't feel natural like the other games. This game just feels like they slapped in some control code and sent it on it's way to store shelves. For the Wii being revolutionary on the controller idea this game used it terribly. The game is playable, but it should have been better, as proven by the other games on the console. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is fun, though I haven't really played it enough to give a solid comment about it. We just played our first Gamecube game on it today. OnGamecube we were noticing extreme LAG on final fantasy crystal chronicles, and the worst part is that once the frame rate dropped it wouldn't come back up until we changed rooms (witch isn't until the boss in some levels). This frame rate issue was not resolved with the Wii like I was hoping it would (being faster and all) so the issue must lie in the GBA link speed. The game is fine with 2 players, but with 3 or 4 players the drop becomes easily noticeable and many times painful. I don't have a component video cable yet so I can't review that aspect, plus I need to figure out how to adjust my projector to display a true 16:9 because the Wii won't add black bars. Wii sports feels like it should be displayed in 16:9 and you're just chopping off the screen without playing in 16:9. Overall my feelings of the Wii can be summed up by this video made by G4TV (though I'm not an endorser of G4 I find the utter repulsive 90% of the time, they ruined techtv). PS3 VS Wii 18+ warning on youtube, I'd say it's more like a 15+ or so. It WAS aired on cable so it's not THAT bad...

I know it's not 100% of what a car is, but most people here on hybridz are very weight conscious. A 240Z can be VERY light. And what does tire give you? Well grip levels come from MANY different factors, but all things being equal a lighter car only needs the same proportion of tread to it's weight, so you don't needs as wide of tires as a 3000+ pound car. The less rotating mass of the thinner rims and less rubber further increase how light the car feels for a much more responsive feel. With lighter weight comes other benefits as well. It's gonna get better gas mileage, it's gonna be easier to get to handle well, and it's gonna take less power to make fast, witch helps keep from breaking the bank. A 500+hp motor isn't cheep, no matter what. You can get 250-400hp for very good prices, and in a light Z is a very potent power/weight ratio. Now, you can take this all with a grain of salt as my Z experience isn't all the high. I'm doing my first Z car engine swap (280ZX ->turbo) but I've been around cars for a long time (done plenty of work on fast 11-10 sec hondas). So truth be told, I can't honestly say how fun it is to drive a V8 Z everyday, nor will I know for quite some time since I don't even own a S30 yet, but I'm no idiot on the subject. Just my .02

Yea, good job mtcookson. For some reason my mind never traveled the english direction as a possability. I though for sure it would be jap based or maybe a small Italian company. Did you see the company logo on that car? It's a butterfly... that's cool... kinda, in an odd way.

Wow, this is a fun game! Definately not a zonda. Hmm has alot of noble similarities but as stated a lot of details just don't match. The kiara doesn't seem to fit either. Seems the overall side line is too low and straight whereas the kiara is kinda rounded a bit more. The front proportions also don't look right. Dang, I just don't know. I want to know though.