smart_garrett

I was looking at that as I will be fighting some canbus protocol, but from talking to some others I think I will be able to work it out. If I can’t get this to work I’m starting with Bosch here in a couple months and hoping for some serious company discounts possibly on ecm items where I will be working, if not I’ll probably go with an ecumasters.

Well. This is quite a bit overdue for an update lol.. Recently been finishing up my engineering degree and working out new jobs.. taking most of my time. In some free time I've been working with that race team with the e46 (shown in my first post in this thread). In my spare time I've been picking away at the r32.. Car is still with me and is now getting a vq35hr (let me explain before incoming hate). Very robust engine especially at stock power levels, parts available everywhere here over in the U.S/Canada unlike an rb, lighter, center of mass further back and lower, less complexities compared to a turbo engine, etc etc. The power levels this engine puts out are exactly where I need to be classing wise with weight/power ratios. I've completely stripped the chassis harness and have been building a nice (dtm connectors, tefzel wire, dr-25,etc) chassis harness for the simples. I'm going to be using a stock 350z ecu/ecm paired with an aim dash for now until the rest of the car is sorted. Have got the engine in the bay and pretty much mounted up with some brackets we have made. Lots of things on order (cooling, driveshaft, diff, etc etc). It's coming along pretty well so far, not sure how many vq r32's exist in the world. Got the inspiration from a local racer with a vq37vhr in an s14 who wins lots of races.

M series stuff is always an option… but at that point I might as well have an e36/46. Our 46 that we race has an m54 in it, but man they really struggle to get much race hours out of them before they need full overhauls. There’s a guy local to me with a vq in his s14 that races it, it’s an option but I’ve never really been a fan of the engine to be honest. I’d love to stick with a Nissan straight 6 because if not, a k20/24 would probably be the next easiest option. Honestly, if the engine can last 50 race hours and can put out 220hp n/a then sign me up, it’s all you need to fit into the right class for what I’m doing.

I read online that the neos have just about 200whp from the factory, maybe I read some misinformation. But with some work my thoughts were to maybe get to around 220 whp with it as this would be enough for what I need to do. Again, I’d love an s54 but they’re going for almost 10k usd and that’s a bit crazy I think. Just wanted to try something different I suppose.

Here with a long over due update. Where do I start, well I still have the car and have decided to keep developing. I managed to get just about 52 race hours on this rb20det, and this last weekend it finally got a bit tired and found lots of metal in the oil, suspected bearing failure. The chassis is super sorted at this point and just needs a bit of undertray work. The plans have now changed and will include the following. Engine will be a rb25de neo (yes, naturally asperated). This decision was made after lots of thought. I originally wanted to put an bmw s54 in the car, but after the prices have skyrocketed to over 10k for a long block, I have decided against it and to keep the essence of the car with an rb. The plan is to have a header made for it, and I will make a wet carbon intake box, throw in some kelford cams and some springs along with a possible port (haven't thought about this too much yet). Obviously not looking to move into another turbo engine as this is not ideal for having multiple drivers who have experience with n/a cars, not to mention all the problems associated with a turbo. Looking to see if anyone has done similar with a 25de neo, as I cant find too much info on it online, but would love to hear some tips.

Anything. Limitations are a power to weight figure and a power to weight modifier (ie. a sequential box will add a couple decimals onto the power to weight figure). There are different ratios for the 4 classes ranging from 9.0:1 to 13.0:1 I believe.

Hello back with a bit of an update I suppose. Been to 3-4 test days at different tracks talking with all kinds of people that are in the same series as the aimed one. In the U.S, endurance racing is pretty much DOMINATED by anything bmw. e36 4 doors all the way up to brand new m235ir's. After lots of conversation with many teams, I have realized that the r32 is going to be a hard journey to get it to be where the developed e46 330i's are for example. I'm now stuck in a bit of a hole at the moment with what to do. There are several options that I have been running through my head and am maybe looking for a little motivation. First option is to sell the car and project outright, which would fund the purchase of an already put together and proven car such as this, and then focus on driving and team logistics. The second option is to continue with the skyline project, which will take more $ and time to get it right, but will probably be a lot cooler in the end if it works out. The catch in this is that I would probably end up putting an s52 bmw engine into it. This would make life easier in the sense of way better reliability, easier drivability, and availability of parts here. If I was to keep developing the skyline, I will be in at least another 20-30k USD to get it going to where I want it to be. I'm stuck at the moment with the debate of developing the awesome r32, but struggle for a while to find parts that it needs such as a windshield that is even impossible to find here in the U.S. Or sell it all and move on to a more "bandwagon" car.

Wow, thanks again for all this info I only come from m series bmw motors where people do sumo returns. I can’t get any help over here in the usa with circuit racing rb’s. Can I ask where that hole in the block was drilled? And I assume it just tee’d into the catch system up top from the covers?

Thanks for the info on the sentra diff I will definitely be looking more into this. As far as e85 goes I have to do more fuel calcs to make a decision, but I have some worries being as I will be building a sump return catch can which is a necessity for an enduro car. Since this is going in, e85 is generally a stay away when using a sump return even though I would love to use it, but I don't think its safe. I currently have the car mapped on 91 aki (93 but has same octane level due to the high altitude I live at which is about 1850 meters above sea). I have done some testing with 100aki with no ethanol, but since I'm not running very aggressive timing or boost levels, I didn't really need any more knock resistance.

Oh wow that’s fast, I’ve never been able to get this car that fast it really seems to start to struggling in 5th gear around 5k rpms. I’ll definitely look into that ratio then. Do you have kaaz internals or similar or a whole new case/internals?

Unfortunately can’t run e85 as fuel consumption will be way to high as ideally I need to be able to run 2 hour stints on one tank. Do you know of people with that diff ratio? I wonder what kind of speeds you can push out of that with a 20/25 5 speed as there’s some pretty mean straights on a lot of us/Canadian tracks.

Thanks, yea I have a direct line from the master to the slave right now so I’m not sure what it is, out of town right now so can’t investigate yet. The shorter ratio is definitely something I’ve been thinking about since I’m looking at some 1.5 way options. Camber wise I’m at about 4.5* negative in the front and 2.5* in the rear, definitely a bit aggressive but has been pretty even wear so far with pretty neutral toe.

Pushed the car hard at a more technical track that also has a long straight. I noticed the clutch started to get a bit spongey feeling after about 3 30 min sessions. Didn't help it when the car cooled off so I'm wondering if I boiled over the fluid. Brakes felt very nice the whole time which I think surprises a lot of people being they're not some big fancy kit. DBA rotors with new z32 calipers, steel lines, and porterfield r4 race pads. Will lock the tires up with no fade consistently over a 1.5 hr stint. Haven't been able to get out longer than that but I'm sure they will get a bit tired after a couple hours. One thing that im working on is getting the car to drive like a naturally asperated bmw 6 cyl. The rb20 is right with them once it gets wound up, but before that it really struggles, which you really notice on corner exit. I have adjusted my driving style for the turbo car, which generally involves a tiny bit different apex point and getting on throttle a lot earlier. Even with this, its still a bit sluggish. And no, im not going to put a 25 in it and have it grenade after every 25 race hours, at least not yet hah. Other than that and the clutch issue, this thing has been a tank so far in testing. The next thing on the list is to cut the hood and fit a "gtr style" hood (bonnet) lip. Along with some standard hood vents. Also saw this trailer that I would love to have with that colour, quite a bit different than my pastel white hitch pull.

Have had the car out for a couple test days now. Everything seems to be going great. I've done a lot of data logging and have been reviewing it all. My friend and I made up a livery for the car too which came out pretty good. Obviously the car is still missing all of the aero elements that I'm looking to add as I'm currently playing around with some cfd for a rear airfoil. The empty space up front will be filled mostly with series sponsored logos and the number plates. Another big thing I'm really starting to notice is how over damped/under spring these coilovers i have now are (cusco), especially on slow corners. I've emailed MCA to see if I can work something out with them. If not ill have to get a set of custom penskes.

I mean I don’t think it looks horrible. Plus this is a gtst endurance race car. So 1 I need some good frontal downforce , which this has side elements which is nice, plus the brake ducting molds. I will also be building a splitter/undertray to go underneath it.