Racing your Roadster?

crash1369

Does anybody race your Roadster, or am I the only ******* crazy enough to try it?

I have been trying to get a definitive answer on whether or not I will be able to race my damn car but nobody's gotten back to me yet. Are any of you guys racing yous and does the OEM roll bar pass tech?
If not does anybody make one that I can add or would it need to be something custom?

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LuckyJinx

I've never seen a roadster in a race, in any car for that matter. People buy it strictly for the amusing drive with the top down. I've seen a roadster with a Nismo spoiler and it looked slick!

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crash1369

That doesn't surprise me, I don't really expect the average Z Roadster owner to be taking it to the track but that doesn't mean it can't. If they can track miatas why not a Z, there is no question which of the two is better.

But looking at some pics I see the roll bars on the Z appear to stick up further then the viper so hopefully they will be good enough, and it seems the miata didn't even come with them originally (I thought that was a federal regulation?)

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Kirkster

I too am looking at tracking the roadster. Have not been able to get any info out of Nissan North America on whether or not the roll bars are considered roll over protection or not...

Have already done my coilovers and am looking to get sways soon.

Post up if you get an answer...

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Powertrain Warranty voided on 5/14/2011
Mod List:GTM Supercharger,SmartTop module, Oil Cooler, GT-R Start button, Nismo Exhaust, BC Racing ER Coilovers, Backup Camara
For eastwest:

crash1369

I'm trying, and let me know what you find

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sarmyth

If your talking about racing, it'd depend on the series...I've seen a boxter spyder in a proper race but he had a full cage welded in.

If you're just taking about track days the though I don't have any official answer from nissan, I'd say absolutely those bars are functional. All you have to do is pop the top's tonneau lid and look at the substantial steel bars going into the plastic to know that they're not a joke.

The factory service manual also shows the structure when describing how to disassemble the interior.

sarmyth

And yes I am tracking my roadster across california this year. The only surprise that I've encountered is that some clubs require arm restraints if you plan on tracking the car with the top down

crash1369

Good call looking in the roof area, mines frozen so I hadn't thought of that. I was hoping to find something in the service manual but I had just thought of it and haven't gotten home yet.

I did call Nissan though and talked to a lady who put me on hold for awhilethen came back and confidently told me "Absolutly, they are a functioning safety device" but when I asked her to send me the documentation showing that she said her supervisor told her

But I think I should be able to gather plenty of evidence though now if I need it

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crash1369

I just talked to the regional director at NASA who has apparently been working on Z's since the 70's and is very familiar with them. He says he's pretty sure he'll get me on the track one way or another but is waiting to hear back from the regional office. He didn't have any question about the roll bars or anything, said their about as strong as you could ever want... so I just pried my roof open in the snow for nothing

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spearfish25

Many track day groups only allow a handful of roadsters (miatas, S2ks). You'll have to ask around on a case by case basis, but I'm sure there will be a good number that turn you away.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

crash1369

Well I guess I'll know next week but he seems pretty sure I'll be racing this summer

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crash1369

Well, it's not looking good. Apparently Nissan says the roll bar is only for side or rear impact protection what the **** is is a roll bar going to do in a side impact, or even a rear end collision. I guess I won't need to worry about finding a helmet then.

Isn't it a federal regulation now that convertibles have to have functional roll bars to protect the occupants encase of a rollover? Or should I just be expecting them to fold up and crush my head, at least I wouldn't have to deal with insurance then

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sarmyth

If that's true someone better tell nearly every Nissan dealership out there... do a google search for

370z roadster occupant rollover protection

and see how many dealership websites list

Convertible rollover protection: fixed hoop
or
Integrated roll-over protection

Ask whoever you talked to about that... see what they say =p

I don't see any mention of the hoops in the owners manual however which is somewhat disconcerning. =/

crash1369

You're right, and that is the hand I intend to play when I talk to Nissan. I don't know where the other guy got his information from but he says the car has no roll over protection and so it is not allowed on the track.
The only thing I could find on the internet was oddly worded but it said car has "Zero Lift Aerodynamics" rather then roll bars. Supposedly that is supposed to be good enough, of course we know that's BS. Besides the car has roll bars and they wouldn't have put them on if they didn't need them. That same site also made it sound like the roll bars were functional though in different parts of the article.
I've also seen pop up roll bars mentioned, but I don't know why.

Anyway I am going to try and contact Nissan again and get more detailed information, and something in writing. But they told me before the bars were functional, if they tell me now that their not, or are for side/ rear protection or any other nonsense like that then I'm calling shenanigans!

If the bars are in fact really not functional then that means we are risking our lives every time we drive it and were mislead into thinking these cars were equipped with a level of protection which is apparently only cosmetic!

I wonder how Nissan will respond to the safety card. That's my story and I'm sticking to it... Until I get fed up enough to sell the car.

In related news, the Dodge Viper is of course on the list of pre-approved raceable cars. As it should be, but the roll bars on that car are tiny, don't stick up very far at all, and don't look like they would actually offer any protection. The roll bars on the Z are much beefier and stick up well above the seat, if they don't actually work I would be surprised.

I'm sure it's just Nissan's attempt at dodging liability but their gonna have to admit to either tricking me into buying an unsafe car or commit to the fact that the roll bars do in fact offer protection and provide documentation to support that.

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sarmyth

Well I went out with Hooked on Driving last weekend at Thunderhill and had no problems at all. A roadster on the track is a beautiful thing if you have a oil cooler... I saw 220 on the gauge on a 50 degree day with a 34 row setrab hanging off the front.

Have nismo bracing in hand and gtspec bracing on the way... we'll see if it makes a difference at Laguna in April =)