Competitive in Autocross?
 

Hi everyone!
I'm trying to decide between a BMW 330i with performance package vs. a 2005 G35 sedan 6MT. My heart is already in the 330 but the less expensive and more powerful G35 keeps tugging at my sleeve with its factory LSD.

The 330 is very competitive in its B Stock class. How does the heavier G35 do? Anyone here active in their local Auto-X. I remember seeing one G a year ago but didn't pay attention to the run. I think I was eyeing the 911 that was in staging. :D

Thanks,
-Erik

Get a Miata for an autocross/track car. They are cheap to race and mod.

Yes... those little tic-tacs with wheels do wonders around those cones. I remember first seeing them on the track in '93. Very impressive.. :eek:

But a second car isn't an option at this point. I'm not planning on being very competitive with the G. It is a bit on the heavy side, after all. But I was just wondering if anyone else out there is active with their G.

Side note.. I just drove a 2005 G35 AT today. Great brakes! The 330 can't hold a candle to it. Also acceleration wasn't half bad for an Auto. The 6MT Sedans will be in at the end of the month. Can't wait to test drive one and make up my mind already! :)

-Erik

-"little tic-tacs with wheels"

LOL!
I am active with my RX-7 on road tracks, the G35 is somewhat heavy but any car is fun to drive and you will learn throttle modulation, weight transfer, cornering technique and car control. You will become a better driver.

BTW: 5 At's can be shifted from 1st to 4th gears.

For some reason, the white ones always reminded me of a tic-tac. :D

I've been autocorssing my little VW Golf 1.8t on and off for the past 4 years. It's been a great little car. Going to a few schools really helped my track performance and well worth the money.

Actually, I have to wait until the end of the month before I can test drive an '05 6MT Sedan since the dealers down here haven't gotten them yet. That will be the deciding factor but for now I'm just doing the research. ;)

Are there any other good G35 forums around? I've searched a bit but haven't found anything where the members are really active.

Thanks,
-Erik

I once had an '84 Golf GTI, that was a fun car! They got bigger and heavier since.

Get a BMW. They dont call it the Ultimate driving machine for nothing. G35's are not track cars.Its a freakin Infinit for god sakes. BMW'son the other hand are.

G35 Competitive!
 

I have run my G35 coupe for the past year in BS. None of the 350Z's have matched my times, yet. Depending upon the driver, I can beat the RX-8's. I have not yet been able to compete with the M-Coupes or the RX-8 with a good driver. The S2000 was killing all of us until it got moved into AS. No one in this area has run the 330 in BS, so I don't know how I would fare against it. I routinely place in the top 1/3 of the times in a 200+ car field. Not the fastest car by any means, but very competitive. With a better driver, I think the G35 is very competitive on a local level. Lots of fun. From what I have seen, BMW's are very fast when modified, but not all that special stock, unless they have that extra 'M' in their name.

I have a 03 sedan with 6 speed and no lsd. last year in phoenix, we ran in a small lot with lots of tight corners, so the open diff hurt me, we have street tire classes, i wound up 2nd in a best 3 of 4 event series, not bad, paxing around 940 on average with a DS index:

1 DS ST2 Jay Balducci 2002 Subaru Wrx 0 930 952 950 0 2832
2 DS ST2 Chad Mizner 2003 Infiniti G35 Sedan 917 917 947 950 917 2814
3 DS ST2 Dolf Strom 2004 Audi S4 Wagon 879 881 932 963 879 2776
4 GS ST2 Brad Owen 2001 Nissan Sentra 910 0 941 913 0 2764
5 GS/HS ST2 Scott Meyers 2002 Acura Rsx-S / 1991 Toyota GTS 0 920 916 919 0 2755
6 GS ST2 Ryan Yantzer 1993 Nissan 240Sx 921 921 909 0 0 2751
7 HS ST2 Jason Miller 1998 Volkswagen Golf 912 931 889 0 0 2732
8 GS ST2 Frank Bertola 2002 Mini Cooper S 889 901 908 0 0 2698
9 DS ST2 Will Esker 2003 Mazda Protege 0 917 897 881 0 2695
10 GS ST2 Bill Kersbergen 1999 Volkswagen Gti 876 877 907 875 875 2660
11 DS ST2 Mike Driscoll 2000 Audi Tt Quattro Coupe 0 860 897 887 0 2644


I'm not the best driver, I've had one of the better phx drivers take a spin or 2 and he's usually around a second faster on a 40-50 sec course and 2-3 sec faster on a 90 sec course, so thats pretty damn good PAX for street tires.

The 05 wheels are 18x7.5 that's a half inch wider than my 03 17x7, that will help

there are some 18 inch hoosier A3SO4s, i'd go with 245/40/18 ($250 from tire rack), they are 2.3% shorter, but that should be fine, the shorter gearing will help...

the vlsd will help too, i bet you'd do ok in DS open, go for it, the bmw is probably a better car, but not when you factor in the $$$, plus i like the shifter better on the G (drove 3 series back to back with G when I was shopping), some have had issues with the G 6spd, but I haven't and I don't know if they've made fixes on the 05s, hopefully...

I'd say GO G!

In case you didn't catch this, the sedan is in DS, not BS like the coupe, so you wouldn't be competing directly with the 330i zhp...


I'm going to STX in my 03, got an lsd, some shocks, 8 inch wheels, good start, but need to lower and work on alignment...

this sounds a lot like perception vs. real world facts/experience...

Thanks for the comments everyone!
The G looks like a good contender when the $$ is factored in. It really is a lot of car for the money. Can't wait to test drive the 6 Speed. :D

-Erik

I've got a novel idea for you: get a G35 & a Racing Kart -you will have the time of your life! I've seen some shifter karts racing and it is intense!

I've raced BS (B-Stock) for some time now. The G does pretty good. I regularly beat up on the Boxsters BMW's. There's one guy in a bone stock 350z(runs hoosiers) that comes in 1st or 2nd every time. That's overall!! Out of normally 80-100 cars. He beats the s200, wrx's, souped-up Miata's, just about every thing out there.

That's not a bad idea Pedro. I've driven a friend's competition Rotax go-cart a few times during practice runs at a track we have down here. The thing really moves! Doing ~50mph down a straight and drifting through a sweeping right-hander sure gets your heart pumping! :D And the shifter carts are even faster. :cool:

Alas, I fear my financial advisor (read:wife) wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea. ;)

-Erik

Well, you get to keep a nice car while you rip the track with the kart. You go get your speed fix. Karts are the cheapest form of racing, it's safe, and you will be saving her a lot of $$$ as compared to auto racing.