My "set-up" involves 5 aftermarket parts:

Hotchkis front swaybar
K&N drop-in filters
AST 5200's
Invidia cat-back exhaust (w/ muffler section removed)
295/30/19 Hoosier A6's

Every other part on the car is OEM. OEM pads, OEM rotors, OEM fluids, OEM lug nuts you get the idea. Aside from getting the shocks it's not hard to "build" a 370Z that will get you well into the trophies at Nationals. It's all about driving it.

NICE! Thanks for posting! What class does this put you in? You can't be in the stock class. BSP? Rims are stock too I assume? What about ride height with the AST's?

C stock.

Wait a minute...You mean they allow exhaust, filters, coilovers, swaybars, and 295 wide hoosiers in C-stock????? On a Z?? No way! :yum:

I thought getting springs takes you out of stock class?


Question: I see autoX uses same size tires on all 4 corners. What are your views concerning staggered and non? Why not run a 295 and 305? I realize the need to have more grip up front just want to know your thoughts.

Square is the way to go. You need all the front end grip you can. Plus you have the nice advantage of easy tire rotation, etc. You could go bigger than 295....the only limiting factor is wheel width, which can't be changed. You can space them out 1/4" on each side.

He doesn't have "coil-overs"...he has DA shocks. You have to retain the relative position on the shock and the stock springs.

My BSP set-up:
Suspension:
Motons with 900/750 hypercoils
Factory A-arms with offset bushings
Hotchkis front bar (full stiff)
SPL Endlinks
No rear sway
Alignment...info to come

Engine:
Pop Charger w/80mm velocity stack
Samco Intake tube
Z1auto 3" MAF
MD 5/16" Spacer
UR Crank Pulley
Z1 2.5" Test Pipes
TurboXS Y-Pipe & Exhaust (only weighs about 19lbs...too my surprise)
Tomei V2 Headers
Tuned Osiris/Uprev by Hills Garage
Will be converted to E85 once we get summer blend in MD (June)

Drivetrain:
Cusco RS at 80% lock
OS Giken Super Single w/Aluminum Pressure Plate (Pretty light....~25lbs for the whole assembly with flywheel)

Brakes:
Stoptech 332mm front BBK (2 piece rotors) and stock rear non brembos
Stoptech lines
Stoptech pads

Wheels/Tires:
ARP Studs
18x10.5 +15 RPF1's
315/30 Hoosier A6's
Will be upgrading at some point in the year to 18x11.5's or 18x12's.

Aero:
Work in Progress.

Weight:
2919 w/no AC or Radio....hoping to get that below 2900 before Nationals.

Also, the big front bar is more for loading the op rear tire (especially with a **** VLSD) than managing front in roll, though it certainly helps in transitions.

Mike. Did I see that you were planning on adding some aero? I have some left over fiberglass cloth and pop rivits:rolleyes:

The UMD FSAE team has been doing the cfd, etc on my aero. Should be on at some point.

They're probably a good team to use for that.
http://www.gotcone.com/pgallery/imag...e/img_5076.jpg
Although I don't think that will be SP legal...

It's nothing special....just a barn door on the rear and a front air dam.

Does aero actually work at autox speed?

10" wing at 60 degrees creates 60-70lbs of downforce at 60mph...depending on shape.

I am not happy with the bounciness of the stock springs. Car drives amazing but those springs gotta go...don't care if I end up in BSP. I was in BSP with the Rx8 before so whatever. BSP it is. :)

Getting Swift springs, Camber kit, and possibly spacers this week. Does anyone know if removing the stock mufler canister and extending the pipes out will yeild any power?? I doubt it. I may do it anyway just to hold me off sound wise till I buy an exhaust.

You think it will be magically less bouncy if you add spring rate? It's a shock issue.

I wouldnt worry about class issue if you run off the shelf springs

Springs are cheaper and it will help. I am not implying this is the solution. I plan on buying Koni yellows in January. That will really bad ***! :eekdance:

I am going to autoX at Fort Devens (Ayer, MA) tomorrow. I am a beginner.

Do you guys ever shift into 1st? I wouldn't think about doing that normally, but with SRM...

What is a good place to get numbers? What kind of number will be able to peel off without harm to paint?

Will a motorcycle helmet work? (SCCA)

Thanks in advance.

Here's my first and only autocross event September 2011 :

http://www.the370z.com/members/eazyd...236308ab-o.jpg

Very slow corners such as hairpins can be 1st gear turns. I've found that my quickest runs of the day are when I throw caution to the wind and start trying various portions in first. Downshifting to first and keeping the RPM has tended to be faster than keeping it in second and trying to lug the RPM back up past 3k after a slow turn.

You can use painters tape (the blue tape in your picture) for numbers. Many events usually have a local guy selling magnets which work great...just not on the doors.

I'll be there right behind you on Sunday!

Unless the corner is super slow and you are bogging down below 3000 rpm I wouldn't bother trying to shift to first. You'll either balk the gear change (even with SRM) or spin the tires and break traction.

SCCA allows M helmets provided they are 2005 or newer (same goes for SA).

Just use tape for your numbers for now. If you get a permanent number and are going to be a regular then buy a set of vinyl numbers.

Aw man, well I couldn't get registered in time before they ran out of spots. I do wish I did that event because this SCCA event has 163 registrants :eek: ... so I'll be lucky to get any seat time at all.

I'm in the novice class up against a GT-R ಠ_ಠ

SCCA event sucks for novices, go find a local club where you can do more runs.

You can grind 1st gear even with the SRM, been there and done that

Too bad you couldn't get in for Sunday with NE-SVT, that is one of the clubs you want to get in on as a novice since you will get 9-10 long-course runs and have access to good instructors. The other two clubs to get in on are BSCC (Bay State Corvette) and TCUSA (Track Club USA) as they are all the same crowd, use the same timing gear and are novice friendly.

There is a BSCC event on the 21st of April but I don't think I'll be able to make that one since I will be going to NHMS on the Monday.

Thanks.

Good to know. If you remember, message me when you are signing up for these things ;)

Maybe it's better I do only 5 runs... less wear on the Z :)

BTW - tire pressure for our car? I have stock Potenzas with only like 3/12 or 4/12 tread left. Sport wheel widths

With 160 people, I don't know how you will be able to do 5 runs. I can't believe their turnout, I guess autox is becoming popular again. Good luck.

I only got into this one because I have an in, otherwise I would have been on the sidelines :) It's spring fever right now, it should die down by the end of the month. I'll let you know the next one.

For the stock tires I would start with 38 front, 35 rear. It's going to be cool out so adjust pressure as you need based on understeer/oversteer response.

Seems to go in cycles. 5 years ago they were selling out months in advance, 2 years ago we were short on people.

SCCA here always has at least 100 people and gets 5-6 runs depending on the turn out. It's a long day with them. With our clubs we're done by 4:30 and have 9-10 runs because we cap it to 55-60 cars. Because of the course layout we can have up to 5 cars on course at a time so things don't really slow down by making the course longer.

Every time I run with them, 3-4 runs seem to be the norm when there are over 120 people. Hopefully they are not as bad as they used to be. Nothing like an event where 5 workers sit in the same corner working.

We have the same issue but it's more like five people itch only one guy actually working and the rest admiring the cars, not paying attention to cones.

If oversteer, would lower pressure or higher pressure help? Not understanding the physics here..

Also I got my numbers on early this year. My first time, I was sticking that tape on in the staging area and missed out on some course walks!

http://img.tapatalk.com/42bd3bbb-af13-850f.jpg


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Why am I still up? I have to leave at 5:15 am. Meeting up with some UMass Motorsport club people for a convoy over to autoX @ The runway track at Fort Devens


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It's going to be my first time @ an autox in a week.

I wouldn't say I'm a beginner as a driver... My friends and I go touge at night often. I never use SynchroRev, practice heel toe just about every stop light... But autox you don't shift lol

I've never been to an autox lol... My question is.. Do you guys keep vdc ON or OFF?

And, my tires were done as in 1/32 left around 14k miles from all the touge lol.. How are my new re760s going to hold up for like 5 or so runs? Thanks!

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You are on the stock tires. It will plow going into the turns and the backend will come out or spin one hard exiting.

If you want to go fast, VDC off. RE760 is going to make tons of noise, you are not going to be very fast.

Remember, full tank is required......

Use shoe polish on the tires to guage tire preasures if you don't have a temp gauge. Mark the tire with the show polish starting at the rim...Accross the side wall until you reach the tread of the tire (about 1 or 2 inches in).

When you do your first lap...if the shoe polish wears out all the way to the sidewall of the tire then you don't have anough air preasure. If it does not wear enough (some tread still has shoe polish) then you will need to take out a little bit of air until you get it just right.

Great idea, Cave.

By the way...... Yesterday, I got first place in the novice class at SCCA (26 novices or so) :)

Yes, remember to turn VDC off - it is too limiting. Turn car on well before to warm it up and to cool your nerves- and turn VDC off. Don't turn your car off until later or you'll forget to turn VDC off again heh


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I was wondering about switching to Tire Class versus regular C-Stock. Would I get a better PAX advantage?

There are three Miatas, two MR2s, and a BMW Z3 in CS and they all run either Hoosier A6s or Kumho race tires. With my current skills the best I have been able to muster up is 4th place. 1st place is a consistent 1.5 to 2 second from my best time.

Any inputs? Racing the Z is great but having close to no chance kinda sucks.

Oh yeah I'm on RE-11s. Securing a set of Hoosiers has its budget constraints along with space (how the heck am I going to get them to events that are 2-3 hours away)

I run the street tire index class. For the most part it does its job. If you are the fastest driver, chances are that you will win 90% of the time. If you are the 4th best, chances are that you will finish around that range. I believe the pax is .98 or .985 between the R and the street tires.

Also congrats on the win

Also any thoughts on Koni yellows, both on and off the course?

I can only tell you my thoughts on them in regards to my old Rx8...Best suspension money I ever spent for that car. HUGE difference in cornering plus confidence. Only affected ride harshness by a small margin.

With that said I've heard others mention the ride is way to harsh on the 370Z when combined with Swift springs.

If you are going to spend that kind of money on only dampers, you might as well buy coilovers. They are nice though.

Since when are koni yellows "that kind of money". They're dirt cheap in the world of motorsport dampers. I'd also disagree heavily that you "might as well buy coilovers."

Just because it's labled a coilover does not mean it is a superior product. I've heard of Koni yellows plus springs with high springs rates out perform more expensive coilovers. This is not to say certain coilovers are not vastily superior but it does prove the point that the Swift (high spring rate) and koni combo is a bargain for the performance yielded.

Not to mentioned they are widely used, tested, praised, and have a lifetime warrantee. Ding fries are done...I hope to have a pair of Koni's.