The Official 370Z Autocross Thread

[gomer_110]

Originally Posted by zpower86

It would likely get beaten in FS as well. FS isn't four grades slower than BS, it's just another class. The more the HP friendly the course, the poorer the 370Z would do against the cars in FS, imo of course. Does anyone know if FS and BS ran on the same days and run groups at Nationals?

The limiting factors compared with a C5 Corvette are:

• 200lb heavier or more than C5
• Viscous LSD which doesn't allow the car to accelerate out of corners unless the steering wheel is nearly straight
• Very limited, non-adjustable front camber. (around 1 degree)
• Power/Torque band is great in the 50-63 MPH range (close to redline), but not great digging out of slow corners. This makes it more course dependent.

I ran BS and won our local BS class in 2016 (10 events) ahead of Brian Johns who is a national champion in ES and 3rd and 4th in BS the past two years. Also won Dixie Champ Tour in the 370. But our local courses were better suited for the 370z (more transitiony) and slick sealed asphalt. Beating one good driver is easier than beating 15. ONE of them isn't going to make a mistake while being in a better car. So even if you were perfect, you'll still be slightly off pace.

If your goal is to trophy at nationals or champ tours, you can definitely do that in a 370Z. If your goal is to win or be top 5, it's just not going to happen.

[Brendan]

So performance wise what do you guys think the ideal street class would be?

[gomer_110]

IMHO there isn't one anymore. It was C street prior to the ND Miata.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by gomer_110

IMHO there isn't one anymore. It was C street prior to the ND Miata.

I think what I am asking how far down would it have to go to. DS?

I hear all the criticisms and I think they are valid, but I think that because we know our cars so well we have a tendency to over emphasize their flaws in relation to their competition. If the car is capable of doing well regionally, at tours, and even getting mid trophy spots at nats, I would hardly consider competing in street to not be a worthwhile pursuit for the folks looking to autocross with a relatively minimal investment into a vehicle they may already own.

I think we all can agree it isn't "the car to have" though.

[03threefiftyz]

No chance it moves to DS.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by 03threefiftyz

No chance it moves to DS.

I'm asking how slow do we think this car is.

I think the car is just fine in BS

[gomer_110]

Street classes need to be for "new and shiny" i.e. newer models that people want to own. The 370z just doesn't fit that mold anymore and as such if it's not classed favorably then so be it. There's always STU (hopefully) and ASP.

fwiw sometimes the SAC and SEB do a good job at following this mentality and other times not so much.

[03threefiftyz]

Originally Posted by Brendan

I'm asking how slow do we think this car is.

I think the car is just fine in BS

We're talking about running an M2 in BS next year....I don't see any 370z mounting a serious challenge to the cayman S or M2 from here on out.

[gomer_110]

This months Fastrack is out and it looks like someone finally realized the 370 belongs in BSP and not ASP.

Now to figure out how to go even faster. Stupid Miatas.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by gomer_110

This months Fastrack is out and it looks like someone finally realized the 370 belongs in BSP and not ASP.

Now to figure out how to go even faster. Stupid Miatas.

that's awesome

[gomer_110]

Originally Posted by Brendan

that's awesome

Just to be clear. BSP has been faster than ASP the last 2 years. The MazdaSpeed Miatas are insanely fast.

Also, I had nothing to do with this letter.

[03threefiftyz]

Meh we were faster than SSP/ASP in 2014, too...

...if you build a rulebook 370z....I'll drive it .

[Justint5387]

How much power does a SP-prepped 370z make?

I imagine it would be over 350whp with the plenum, etc?

[03threefiftyz]

350whp is probably about right...maybe a bit more if you run it at the point of explosion on E85 like I did with the DE.

[03threefiftyz]

Although not my intention to **** on anyone here or otherwise...there is no reason a full prep 370 should not run at the front of ASP (excluding most pros). I personally don't think it should move, since it hasn't been proven, too me, that it is not competitive in ASP. Everyone said the same for the 350z in BSP, but that was shown not to be the case. IMO you can't reclass a car with a performance envelope, on paper, that meets or in some cases exceeds the current competitive balance if the class just because no one has built a rule book car yet.

That last 1-2% prep costs a lot of money, time, prep, etc and yes it will also be the point when the car starts to break, a lot, but someone needs to do it. As an example, we did 83 dyno runs alone just testing intake configurations for my DE BSP car. I would bet it had 250 runs on a dyno to maximize it to the SP ruleset. We probably could have gotten within 15-20whp with 10% of those runs, but not the powerband/max power without it. Same goes for suspension. I can't tell you how many times the shocks (Custom Koni, motons, penske all of them in my case) were off the car for revalve...along with any billion different combos of springs, bars, alignment, etc.