Sydneykid

Not me, I hate the understeer. Cheers Gary

I think you missed the point guys, he was talking about race engines, not daily driver road engines. I don't know about others but my race engines are in good condition, they don't have blow, well not for for very long anyway. I fix it, I sure as hell don't keep on changing the oil because of contamination from blow by. The competition is too hot to survive with a down on power engine. Cheer Gary

Contamination, from what? Condensed water vapour? It boils off with the right oil temperature. Dust? I have a filter on my catch can breather. Ditrty cacth can? I don't think so. So what contamination are they talking about? BTW I don't change engine oil after every race meeting. I used to many years ago, but then I sent samples to Castrol Technical for testing and they came back with perfect reports after 1, 2 and 3 race meetings. Especailly now that I'm using ethanol which, with its lower vapourisation temperature, doesn't contaminate the oil like petrol does. As per above, water boils off, so if the engine is in good condition, which I confirm with regular leak down tests, there is no need to waste 10 litres of oil 8 times a year. Cheers Gary

It depends on whether or not you want some understeer or oversteer. My guess is the Dumlops will have more grip than the Toyos, but if they are past it then that may not be the case. Cheers Gary

Your terminology is OK, it's the common use meaning The pad operating temperature has a noticeable effect on the feel, if they are not hot enough and/or too hot then the pedal feel will be compromised. That's why back to back with the same pad compound is the only true test. A simplistic Mu at one single temperature tells you nothing about how a pad performs at all temperatures Personal feel is realy too imprecise and often affected by placebo, "they cost a lot so they must be good". My testing process is simple measurement, measure the spread of the calliper when braking force is applied to the pedal. I've carried out that sort of comparison a number of times and the standard Sumitomo calliper comes out very well against all sorts of opposition. It's not until I get to the serious race callipers from AP etc that there is any difference that would be revealed by a simple pedal feel test. The nest test is pad wear rates, if the pads are wearing unevenly then that is a sign of flexing callipers and.or mounts. I have easily had 30 plus sets of pads through numerous standard callipers and never once had any noticeable pad taper or any other symptom of calliper flex. When chasing pedal feel in an R32/33/34 the first thing needed is a master cylinder brace, then braided lines, then pad compound, that's where the big gains are to be had. Chasing pedal feel with a calliper upgrade is not good value for money I didn't say it was, note the wording (ie; "is it") and question mark at the end of the sentence I was asking a question and the answer would appear to be no, it doesn't use an off the shelf common pad because you have to modify them. Some people have had problems and some haven't, we have run DBA rotors for the last 3 Bathurst 12 Hour races, class 1st and 2nd this year, and not had a problem. If there was design flaw then it most surely would have shown up with that sort of treatment. For me the fact is we know how to treat rotors and we don't have problems, so I can draw no other conclusion than they crack when mistreated. Cheers Gary

You shoudn't have to gap the plugs down. Cheers

Nope, I just enjoy educating the unwashed How are you going to change the damper curves to match the spring changes? Simplistic adjustment only changes the rate of damping not the shape of the curve. Any kind of car running on road radials, they quite simply don't like effective spring rates much over that. Even using R type tyres doesn't extend that by much. Ever thought of asking a tyre engineer how much spring rate his tyres like? After all, the tyres are the most important item in handling, braking and accelerating. Enough said, be a sheep if you like, it's your choice. But at least you should learn the alternatives. Some people have no idea how suspension works. Ask youself why use that high a springs rate when the tyres don't like it and it's quite simply not necessary? Roll? That's controlled by the anti roll bars? Dive? That's controlled by the anti dive geometry. Squat? Controlled by the anti squat. Turn in? Caster. Tyre contact patch? Camber. Their are a lots of tools at your disposal instead of using a blunt instrument like spring rates. I assume you mean Fulcrum and revalving. Valving is irrelevant, the fact is it's illegal to run height adjustment on any car not fitted with it standard. Absolutely we should do it more often, you actually might learn something. Cheers Gary

So much imprecision, too hard to answer without the facts. What is the height, front and rear, centre of wheel to guard? Cheers Gary

I have seen pressure relief valves in one hole and normal tyre valves in the other. Unfortunately CAMS doesn't allow pressure reliefs, for some obscure reason, they would solve so many problems. Cheers Gary

Let's get past the absolute pressure versus above/below atmospheric pressure (boost/vacuum) that most people talk about. When I say 2 psi positive that's above atmospheric, or if you prefer 16.7 psi absolute. I have 3 air inlets to the sealed airbox, 2 ducted & 1 not. The pressure sensor is located behind the AFM in the airbox, hence shielded from direct airflow. The temp sensor is actually located on the POD filter element such that it actually measures the temperature of the air going in the engine. I specifically designed the air inlet to ensure that it would provide 65 lbs per minuite of airflow into the airbox and hence the engine, at any speed over 160 kph. This means that at 275 kph (my example) the air inlets are providing more air than the engine can swallow. Hence there is a small positive pressure inside the airbox even when the throttle is fully open (0.5 to 1.0 psi). Once I close the throttle, back off for the kink in my example, the positive pressure inside the airbox increases (1 to 2 psi). Obviously, same airflow in + engine swallowing less = more pressure. The 17 psi (absolute) is enough reason not to vent via the airbox, but on it's own the possibility of drowning the filter, AFM, turbo inlet, compressor etc in oil from a failed engine would stop me. Cleaning up a catch can is bad enough, an airbox with all that's inside it and flows from it would be a righ royal pain in the ass. Cheers Gary

Most pedal feel comes from the brake fluid condition and the pad compound, very little from the caliper itself. So the obvious question, where you using the same pad compund in both sets of calipers? If not, then the pedal feel comparison is meaningless. But is it a unique shape where high quality pads aren't available? That's the advantage of the Sumitomo caliper, there is pretty much every pad compound ever made available for them from every major pad manufacturer. Mostly rears from memory. I use 5000 Series on the front for their lighter weight and superior ventilation provided by the separate alloy hats. But I still have 4000 Series on the rear and I haven't cracked a set in over 10 years of using them on all sorts of cars. Cheers Gary

I have been using nitrogen in race car tyres for many years, this is what I have found; 1. 100% nitrogen expands less than air, not a lot, maybe 1 psi in 35 psi. What that means is we can run 1 psi higher pressure for the start of the race and know the tyres won’t go over pressure by the end of the race. The best chances for overtaking occurs off the grid so it’s a big advantage to have tyres closer to their optimum operating pressure on lap 1. 2. Humidity makes a lot of difference, the higher the humidity the more the air expands as the tyres warm up. This is exacerbated by compressors without filters and those that aren’t emptied of water regularly. Obviously bottled nitrogen has none of those issues, it’s consistent no matter what the weather and the compressor. This can make another 1 to 1.5 psi difference. 3. The tyres we use have very narrow pressure requirements, 1 or 2 psi away from that and their performance and life are compromised. So its important to keep them in their optimum pressure range at all times. 4. We always carry bottled air for the power tools, so it’s no big deal to make one of them nitrogen. It can be used for tyres or power tools and doesn’t cost much more than air. 5. The tyres are fitted up using compressor air, we then immediately pop the valves and let the air out. Replacing it with bottled nitrogen to 65 psi or so, then we pop the valves again and refill the tyres to the desired presures. All top ups from then on are done with bottled nitrogen. In summary, running nitrogen is only worthwhile if you are on the competitive edge, know your tyres requirements and have the capacity to monitor and optimize their pressures. Cheers Gary

No problem Good idea, the coupe stuff doesn't work all that well in the 4doors let alone the waggons. Auto or manual doesn't matter at the front, what matters is 2WD versus 4WD. The 4WD shocks are shorter to fit in the drive shafts, plus they have higher bump (compression) damping levels to control the extra weight. Don't get too carried away with lowering, they don't have a lot of suspension travel standard plus the geometry turns to shyte outside their normal operating height. Cheers Gary

On the R33GTST I have a set of UAS caliper adaptors with 324mm DBA 5000 series rotors. For the road I use Hawk HPS pads and for the track Hawk HT10's. It also has a pair of UAS air deflectors on the radius rods. No fade, no noise and easily out brakes the tyres, road or track (R type). Cheers Gary

Couple of psi, more than enough to push back against a good condition engine breathing. Cheers Gary

Manual or auto? Manual = Fork lower mount - R33/34GTR,Stagea 260RS, R34GTT Auto = Bush lower mount - R33GTST/R34GT, S14/15, Stagea S1 auto, R33/34GTS4 They will fit, but only the other Stagea ones are realy suitable as they have spring and damper rates for a waggon. Cheers Gary

Cheaper than Teins So why are you looking at spring rates that are too high even for a track car? I have Bilsteins on my Stagea and I tow my race car with it, a good shock is a good shock no matter what you use it for. No they don't, the spring rate is still the spring rate. You just get used to the harsh ride and don't notice it as much. Not true, the spring rate is still the spring rate. A 6kg/mm spring always needs 6kg to compress it 1mm, no matter how much preload you put on it. The law also doesn't allow you to have height adjustment. At least if you use the 4 x 2 you will have saved some money to pay the fines. Cheers Gary

Repco are the largest retailers of Nolathane in the country, even their dumbest counter jockey should know that. BTW it's polyurethane not urethane. Cheers Gary

I agree hub corrosion is pretty unikely, but that doesn't mean it's not a hub alignment issue. An example of the shyte that happens. I did a brake upgrade on a GTR a while back and it was fantastic for the first race meeting, but the next race meeting it had brake shudder. I got a desparation phone call for help so I suggested cleaning the hub to hat contact area, that was dismissed as the hubs were clean two weeks ago and the hats were new. So I jump in the car and go out to Oran Park and look at it myself. What do I find? When the guys were changing the tyres and checking the brake pads the front rotors had flopped over and a lump of brake pad dust had fallen down between the hat and the hub. When the wheel was put back on the lump of brake pad dust caused the hat not to seat properly on the hub. The result was rotor run out and brake shudder. Rule #1, don't assume that just because it was OK yesterday, that it's OK today. Cheers Gary

No there isn't, not in my airbox anyway and I know because I log the pressure (and the temperature) to make sure I have enough cold air feed. Go back and reread what I posted "what happens at 275 kph when I back off the throttle. not close it, just lift a little, for say the kink into the chase at Bathurst?" I'll tell you what happens, there is positive pressure inside the airbox. Because the throttle is partially closed and so the engine isn't injesting as much air but the car is still doing 275 kph and the cold air feed is very efficient at 275 kph let me tell you. I designed it that way so that it reduces the lag (ambient air temp plus positive pressure) when I get back on the throttle, for the short straight to the actual chase. There is positive pressure inside the airbox and the PCV valve is still closed, so the engine has nowhere to breath. It's in fact worse than that as the crankcase is copping the positive pressure from the airbox. That's why I run an open to atmosphere catch can, so the engine can breath no matter what the throttle position. Cheers Gary

Yep, I even have one "looking" through tinted glass. Cheers Gary

Too low, it won't "see" over the pit wall. The side rear window my usual spot, off the rear of the roll cage main hoop. Cheers Gary

From memory Nissan do their base weight with a full tank of fuel and the driver. So the 275 kgs increase to GVM is for 4 passengers and luggage, say 60 kgs each plus say 35 kgs of luggage. Cheers Gary

Simple, just stick a piece of 4 x 2 in there, totally stiff, infinitely adjustable height, just trim it with the cross cut saw to the height you want, cheap at about $30, readily available from you local Bunnings or 'udson Timber. Cheers Gary

No problems Frank, questions are always welcome; From the same web site; 314 = 260 427 = 107 260 + 107 = 367 70 + 30 = 100 Not bad (70/30) for a 350Z (2 seater) but a bit light on for rear spring rate in a 4 seater with a longer wheelbase. I should mention that I haven't had a V35 on the corner weight scales, so the 60/40 was a guess based on 350Z's. All I was attemtping to point out was; 1. Comparing front and rear spring rates without knowing the movement and leverage ratios is a waste of time 2. The current aftermarket springs for V35's are not terribly suitable for V35's as they appear to have been designed for 350Z total weight and weight distribution. Understandable considering the comparative numbers of 350Z's and their sporting bias. 3. Nissan set up the V35 to understeer, hence the lower than ideal (for handling) standard rear spring and swaybar rates. 4. If you are interested in handling then the V35 rear spring and swaybar rates are more in need of upgrading than the front spring and swaybar rates. #2 is the important one for this discussion. Cheers Gary