Sweet video dude... rep for taking your car and beating it up.

Thanks TypeOne! Here is a pic taken of me at the track. I was going to drive with my Top Secret parts on at first but then I saw the track lol!

http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...amage-them.jpg

^^wheres your sideskirt?

cool vid man! :tup:

He has the Top Secret side skirt and left them on when he got to the track, but opted to remove them when drifting.

His skirts are yummy carbon fiber...

very good call man! :tup:
those parts are quality.

Loving the green drift wheels :tup:

Picture taken by Alex Ventura of Houston Streets during our Galveston Cruise.
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...ton-cruise.png

Even my wife's Juke got some love
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...wifes-juke.png

Great build thread!!!! I love those fenders!

baby gtr

Brother as long as your having fun, it makes it all worth wild..:iagree:
That was awesome, I wish we had a place close by to try drifting. Can't wait to see whats next..:tiphat:

Update: Just signed up for the next event, this one is back in Houston yay!! Buying tires now...

http://fabricatedmotorsports.com/ima...-8-19-2012.jpg

Just received these Hotchkis sway bars from mputiri1. Thanks! Will install this weekend.

http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...-sway-bars.jpg

very awesome

This weekend I installed these Hotchkis sway bars. Installation was a bit rough in the rear since I had to remove the exhaust y-pipe which still wasnt enough to get the sway out. I then tried to take out the bolt to let camber arms loose so I could twist the bar on its side but still wasnt enough room. So last I took out those frame support bars and that did the trick. I think if you just take this out first you dont have to remove the camber links and screw up your camber settings but I wasnt sure how hard it would be to take them off so i avoided them.

Here are the new bars:
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...sway-bars.jpeg

This is the Y-Pipe you have to completely remove and the support bar you can just take off the end and side pieces to let it hang:
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...r-sway-out.jpg

Once you get it out you can see the slight difference and the 3 holes for adjusting, I set it on the stiffest cause thats how your mom likes it!
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...new-rears.jpeg
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...new-rears.jpeg

The fronts were much easier just having remove 6 bolts for the front diffuser, then the sway bar and the difference is much greater.
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...ew-fronts.jpeg
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...ew-fronts.jpeg

Took about 5 hours for the complete installation using air tools and wrenches. How do they feel? Since I set the rears to the stiffest setting and feel a BIG difference in the front and rear. I have Tanabe 9k springs and I thought the car was stiff with those but now it feels even stiffer. I feel every bump in the road, even road lines make noise when I cross them. The steering is so sensitive now, any bump or dip in the roll actually slightly pulls the car in that direction so I feel like Im all over the road now lol. Definitely need to drive with both hands with these. On fast turns I feel the car is planted and I don't get much tire squeal as if the roll before was putting too much stress on two outside wheels. I believe these are going to make a big difference drifting as I will test out this weekend!

Yeah those Hotchkis sways (or I guess any stiffer ones) are great on this car, it really changes the cornering. Makes the car stay flatter all through a hard corner.

Great work, i can't wait to see your impression after a track day.

Mke
Do they have grease fittings because the sways are bearing supported or are they nylon?

It does, im starting to think twice about getting coilovers. Dont want it much stiffer than this.

Me too, getting excited!

They come with 2 little grease packets to lube the nylon that fits around the bar, and then cover it with the metal bracket and mount it to the car. No bearings.

Sorry if I missed it, but are you running the stock rear diff (Viscus one)??

Yes I am. It seems to be working fine, ill consider upgrading when I have more money.

The big thing I want coilovers for is to keep the car from nosediving so hard under braking. My car's really nice and flat side to side while pushing through a corner, but when I nail the brakes in a straight line braking zone the car porpoises pretty bad afterwards, which makes it hard to get the car "settled" for the turn-in. I can compensate by easing off the brakes a little slower, but I shouldn't have to :P

Haven't experienced that since I don't really brake much sliding through a turn but I can see your point. Which brand are you looking at?

I'm probably going to try Stance's GR+ (or whatever they renamed them to), they seem like a pretty good deal on features/price for what I want. If I had unlimited funds I'd probably do JRZ :). I need to hit up Spohn about his longer-term impressions, he's running those same Stance units.

I had Stance on my 240SX and loved them, really well designed. Im thinking about going BC Racing since they are one of our Lonstar Drift sponsors. Chelsea Denofa works for them, he used to practice at our events and is now a pro competing in Formula D. He's going to be at this next event and is also giving a free training class on saturday to help others learn more about drifting. Dont know how much off we get but will find out soon. I just know that I want to go true type and then get all the SPL arms for added strength and adjust ability.

Ah nice thread Mikael

I'll be joining you soon in the Turbo FR-S :D

I want to do true type in the rear as well, that's one of the upsides of those stance units. I thought the BC's were separate spring in the rear on our cars? I've heard good things about BC in general.

Yeah, they are separate spring on our application. I'm running a custom set of BC ER's with swift springs and I've had no complaints. They are a bit stiff and noisy, but they handle well. I'm actually considering selling and swapping over to something a bit softer; I'm not maximizing the potential of these off of the track.

This guy says he is selling his BC Coils that are true type :confused:
http://www.the370z.com/parts-sale-pr...coilovers.html

For those of you following my little journal, gonna let you in on a little secret. I photoshopped the future plans of my z. Was trying to figure out how to tie in the carbon Top Secret side skirts with the rear bumper. I hate how the rear looks so droopy and lower than the sides. The Top Secret sides are pretty much a copy of the Amuse with the addition of a fake vent so why not just keep the same style as the Amuse on the rear. Only problem, Amuse doesnt make a carbon rear which means I would have to get "knockoff" to complete this design. There is a whole war on this issue but I think this is the only option if I want to customize the rear since Top Secret didnt design anything, not even a diffuser like they did for the 350z. Also, dont forget to imagine my fenders and maybe not that spoiler, thinking of maybe a voltex Type 3 GT Wing or something of the sort.
http://www.voltex.ne.jp/pro_images/pro_GT_Type3_175.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/vdc_o...ture-plans.jpg

Hmmm both look good, option 2 would be my choice!

Plan on doing both in stages! Maybe some Mishimoto cooling products in the futures as well ;)

Sorry guys, havent been updating this as I find myself running out of time a lot lately. But to catch you up quickly (or not so quickly)....

Last event at GGP in August was a blast. I went to a Drifting 101 class taught by Chelsea Denofa and Stewart Leask where they went over basics of how to drift. Got a lot of nice pointers, and some that didnt help me much. Guy on the left is Stewart Leask who is semipro now and maybe future pro, guy on the floor is Aaron Losey who puts on the events who has run at some pro events at some point, and the guy on the right is Chelsea Denofa who is now running in Formula D as a rookie.

http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws...0a1e8aaf_7.jpg

One pointer they taught me was using my ebrake. I have found in the past that clutch kicking is the easiest for me but I really wanted to go out and try this. So I did and failed miserably spinning out everytime. I think it may work for Chelsea's crazy steering angle BMW but my car is spin happy. After about an hour of trying I just went back to clutch kicking and nailed it. Was drifting the entire course. Even my wife who got to ride along with me looked at me and asked what happened? How did I get so much better? I dont know the answer, I just feel like I figured it out.

http://distilleryimage3.s3.amazonaws...0a1cba86_7.jpg

I also learned a lot about my car in the process. I had bought some slightly used tires for about $50 a piece to try out which was a good deal I thought.

http://distilleryimage4.s3.amazonaws...0a1cdaf1_7.jpg

Until I drifted in them. Stupid tires only lasted about 10 laps each before they started cording and slapping my inner fenders. At one point I had to limp to NTB to get them to swap out to the next set. Here is what they looked like when I was done.

http://distilleryimage5.s3.amazonaws...0a1e9610_7.jpg

After the event I noticed a bunch of grease inside my rear tire. Taking off the wheel I saw that the tire cords were completely wrapped around my suspension arms choking them. Had to cut through them with a knife. Then I noticed a torn boot. Had to order a new boot and replace it myself. Ill be making a DIY on this shortly.

http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaw...0a1d0325_7.jpg

So here is what I learned.

1. Buy good tires, next event I will try Kenda Tires which people say last long, have good grip and are cheap.
2. I need camber arms in the rear to adjust my degree to zero. Im waisting good tire which is probably why I spin out too easy and not making enough smoke.
3. I need a way to adjust camber in the front. Stewart told me he runs a negative 5 degrees of camber on the front which I thought was crazy until I saw my front tires after this event. They actually wore on the outside even though my car is dropped.
4. Bring scissors just in case your tires start cording, you dont want to mess up your axle boot.
5. I need to get some modified knuckles for more steering angle. This will help me adjust in a time when my car has too much angle I can use the extra steering to prevent me from spinning out.

In more news.....

I sold my Advan RS-D's that I used for daily driving and carshows and bought some base 18's from Zeus who is awesome...Thanks Zeus!! I plan on sticking with one brand of wheels instead of having 3 different sets at home. I would like a set of 8 similar wheels in 18" no thinner than 9.5" for the future. I have decided on the new Gramlight 57DR made by Rays.

http://www.evasivemotorsports.com/mm...glossblack.jpg

But until I have the money to spend on that I will rock these:

http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws...0a1d0105_7.jpg

So what did I do with the money I got..well I bought these:

http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaw...0a9e2923_7.jpg

and had this done:

http://distilleryimage3.s3.amazonaws...0a1f90e8_7.jpg

So now this is how my car looks:

http://distilleryimage4.s3.amazonaws...0a1fbca9_7.jpg

Im going to paint these black but first I would like to find a second set because I want to run a square setup of 9.5's all the way around. I test fit the rears on the front and they fit perfect, almost stick out a tiny bit but clear the caliper with a huge gap. The rest of the money I have is going to redo my restroom with new tile. There is another drift event in November but I dont think I will enter unless the tire fairy pays me a visit soon because I am out.

i always wanted to throw my stripes back on my car after the fender mod..... but i wasnt quite sure if it would look good... looks good to me bro :tup:

Thanks simota, I have to clean my pants eveytime I see your sig.

Great updates! Its fun to see what our cars can do, because I wont drive mine like this haha

Yeah 3 events and I've already managed to damage a fender, a wheel, a rotor, a brake caliper and now an axle boot. But that's the price of learning.

Nice updates, JTran has DeNofas drift car @ the shop, thing is beast!

Good stuff man, keep at it