AydinZ71 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 17 hours ago, Ironhead said: I would say I am happy with it. Reasonably quiet at idle, pretty aggressive sounding when you step on it. Definitely quieter than I expected it to be....which is fine. I'm not really a fan of loud cars....even track cars. im with you! I have been searching and searching for the quietest performance muffler/resonator I can. The best I have done is find some comparison data online. According to one website and a few forums, the Borla XS straight-through mufflers are the best, although 110db at WOT is still pretty damn loud. If you can pair it with a resonator, even better. As was mentioned though, there just isn’t much room under a Z to put both without limiting ride height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Z-LS3 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 10 minutes ago, AydinZ71 said: im with you! I have been searching and searching for the quietest performance muffler/resonator I can. The best I have done is find some comparison data online. According to one website and a few forums, the Borla XS straight-through mufflers are the best, although 110db at WOT is still pretty damn loud. If you can pair it with a resonator, even better. As was mentioned though, there just isn’t much room under a Z to put both without limiting ride height. I think Ironhead's inline resonator design is not the limiting ride height factor. Recall it is the header collector??? Ironhead, what was used as the resonator? My thoughts are using a small race muffler which there are many to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AydinZ71 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 7 minutes ago, 280Z-LS3 said: I think Ironhead's inline resonator design is not the limiting ride height factor. Recall it is the header collector??? Ironhead, what was used as the resonator? My thoughts are using a small race muffler which there are many to choose from. oh I meant if a muffler and resonator were used in combination. Some websites indicated this was the best overall solution. I can see using a resonator as a muffler in the rear. There aren’t any other recessed areas I can see that could accept the resonator if you already have a muffler in the traditional location. several folks seem to like the resonator as a muffler solution. if used in combination with a performance muffler, that’s probably best-case for noise suppression and performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted March 27, 2021 Author Share Posted March 27, 2021 5 hours ago, 280Z-LS3 said: I think Ironhead's inline resonator design is not the limiting ride height factor. Recall it is the header collector??? Ironhead, what was used as the resonator? My thoughts are using a small race muffler which there are many to choose from. This is the resonator(s) I used: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vpe-1794 As far as ground clearance, I have a couple of low spots, but the header collectors are the lowest. I would like to see someone build 1 7/8" long tube headers and dual 3" exhaust without winding up with compromised ground clearance. I sure as hell couldn't find a way to do it. If you went with single 4" exhaust you could better tuck it into the driveshaft tunnel and pick up ground clearance without losing much (if any) flow, but the headers would still be a problem. I thought about making shorty headers...so the collectors could be higher up and not lower ground clearance, but I just don't think there is enough room to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted March 27, 2021 Author Share Posted March 27, 2021 5 hours ago, AydinZ71 said: im with you! I have been searching and searching for the quietest performance muffler/resonator I can. The best I have done is find some comparison data online. According to one website and a few forums, the Borla XS straight-through mufflers are the best, although 110db at WOT is still pretty damn loud. If you can pair it with a resonator, even better. As was mentioned though, there just isn’t much room under a Z to put both without limiting ride height. I think the Borla and Magnaflow straight-through mufflers are fairly equivalent. The key is just to have as much volume (large mufflers) as you can find a place for. I have two large Magnaflows under the fuel cell (lots of heat shielding) and they have good ground clearance. But, to accomplish that....I raised the fuel cell a couple of inches when I was designing the rear end of the car. Which, of course, raises CG a bit.... Everything is a tradeoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 4, 2021 Author Share Posted April 4, 2021 I added a couple of coats of Raptor Liner to the areas I knew would almost immediately receive rock chips if left unprotected. I'm not crazy about how it looks, but figured it's either that or pock-marked paint. Now I have to let the car sit for a while. Raptor Liner "mostly" dries fairly quickly, but remains soft for a surprisingly long period of time....I am going to refrain from driving the car for at least a week while it fully hardens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusion Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Why wouldn't you use clear paint protection film instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 2 hours ago, fusion said: Why wouldn't you use clear paint protection film instead? I could have.... I already had significant rock chipping from one short drive. This would have needed touching up, or even a repaint...before PPF. I was blown away by the amount of gravel thrown up by the soft compound tires. The Raptor Liner killed two birds with one stone. I really like Raptor Liner. It is affordable, easy to use, durable, and simple to seamlessly retouch. I thought about doing the tintable Raptor Liner and matching the paint, but decided this is a track car, not a show car, and just went with black. I would have had to outsource the PPF work, and I have trust issues...what can I say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 I dig it. Reminds me of the 80's 930 Turbo with the black guards on the rear flares. Was considering doing something similar on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 (edited) 39 minutes ago, JMortensen said: I dig it. Reminds me of the 80's 930 Turbo with the black guards on the rear flares. Was considering doing something similar on mine. Thanks. I remember your car has large rear flares. Do they get absolutely peppered with rocks? I think part of my mistake was driving the car without the front fenders installed...but I got rock chips on the front of the rear over-fenders and on the leading edge of the doors. There was literally like two fist-fulls of gravel deposited on the inside of the rear over-fenders. The front fenders will solve the issue with the leading edge of the doors, but in the rear I decided some kind of protective coating was the only option. I also made some tight fitting fender liners out of 1/16" ABS to somewhat control the flying rocks (I was going to forego this step in the front). I don't entirely get it. My other track car has Toyo R888s on it, and doesn't have this problem with thrown gravel. On the "Z" I am running R888Rs, which apparently are significantly softer. Edited April 5, 2021 by Ironhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Mine's a trailered autox car so not many miles on it. It definitely has some stone chips in the flares, but the biggest damage so far has come from hitting a cone with the rear flare. Spider cracked the gel coat. Still haven't decided what to do about it, but I don't want to put a lot of work into making it pretty because it's a Rustoleum painted race car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 On 3/22/2021 at 6:26 AM, JMortensen said: If I let you drive my car you'd never come back with a comment about the brakes, either travel or effort. Just feels normal. Out of curiosity, what pad compound do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 The wrong one. Hawk Black. John Coffey recommended them 15 years ago and I bought based on the idea that they have a decently wide temp range. There are better options these days. Main issue I have is insane amounts of dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 My current pads are good hot, but terrifying cold. Since I don't plan to trailer the car to the track, it's a problem. I'm probably looking for that magic bullet pad that doesn't exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Z-LS3 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 When I purchased my kit Essex recommended the Ferodo DS2500 pad as good place to start while experimenting with pads for a street driven car. The DS2500 looks to be their lowest aggressive pad with an average 0.42 Mu over operating temp range. Hope to offer up an opinion on these pads in the coming months. https://www.ferodoracing.com/products/car-racing/racing-brake-pads/ds2500/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 I've tried both the 2500 and the DS3.12. Both to some degree have the "no cold bite" issue, but I found the DS3.12 to be the better of the two. I've used the 2500 in my other track car for many years. In that application it's been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calZ Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 We loved Raybestos ST-43 pads in our racecar. A lot of the endurance racing guys swear by them. Their bite is pretty consistent from cold to hot, and they wear like iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Z-LS3 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Maybe the DSUNO might work for you. The Ferodo graph for their pads start at 150C so it's anyone's guess how they perform at ambient temp for first few stops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 6 hours ago, 280Z-LS3 said: Maybe the DSUNO might work for you. The Ferodo graph for their pads start at 150C so it's anyone's guess how they perform at ambient temp for first few stops. Yeah I noticed that too. Each set of these pads costs $300-$500....trying new ones is getting expensive....lol I thought about putting in "street pads" and just swapping them out at the track. This would be a bit of a PITA, but the big problem is I don't think anyone makes street compounds for the AP calipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Z-LS3 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 I found post #13 in this thread informative. https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1270915 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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