Let me set up the story. Back in march or so I went to the local 1/8th mile, and the best I could muster was a 9.2xx@79.xx. I couldn't launch for crap. Massive wheel hop. I had the ztube, k&n, mrev, and the stillen exhaust. It was roughly 45 degrees, according to the in-car temp.

About a month ago I put my cats back on, and I've been anxious to get back to the track to see the impact on the times. I have also since added the makeshift catch can. I'm not going to make and statements about it's effect on power, but I have been pinging a lot less.

We went back to the same track again tonight. My car thermometer showed 97 degrees when we got there, but registered 96 degrees for my first 5 runs or so. In similar conditions late last august, at the same track, the car put down 74's and 75's. At the time, it had the ztube, k&n, and a 350z midpipe.

So - almost 50 degrees warmer in a cloudless sky than the last time. Now everybody likes to comment about conditions, and how x degrees = x mph, hp, or whatever metric you can imagine. So what do you guys think I ran?

My first run was against an 04 6MT copper z. Original owner, somewhere around 30k miles. But it was his first time at the track. He had nismo cai, nismo exhaust, and nismo headers. He ran a 9.6@76 to my 9.4@78(doing this from memory, timeslips are in the car). We both cut 2.4 60 foots(I was running 44psi in the rears!). I out-trapped the guy by 2mph. Sure, it was his first time down the strip, and I know my first trip was aweful. But this dude's best run of the night was a 9.2@77.

I had a few runs where I missed the 1>2 shift. I lost to a teg that way. But overall, when I didn't have a passenger, I was putting down consistent 9.3's and 9.2's, all at 78.xx mph. My best of the night was a 9.197@78.8mph. On that run I cut a 2.126 sixty foot, spinning the tires in first all the way till redline.

Overall I'm quite pleased with my car's performance. 50 degrees of additional heat should have dropped my traps by more than 1mph. Period. So the combination of the cats, catch can, and my other mods, seem to be performing well. Seeing as though I normally gain around 22mph in the last 1/8th, that would be good for traps of 100 to 101 in the 1/4, the same speeds I was trapping in 35 degree weather last November.

The observant might be asking why I had such high ET's considering my traps and launches(I had mid to low 2.1's for all my 9.2 and 9.3 runs). After all, in my own car a 78mph trap + low 2.1 sixty has given me high 8.9's or low 9.0's. Well, after 1 year of ownership, 25k *hard* miles, 3 autox events, 20 dynos, and 110 some-odd runs down the drag strip, my clutch started slipping tonight. It would slip from 1st > 2nd, and again from 2nd > 3rd. I never smelled any clutch burn, but it was definitely slipping. It was slipping for a good half-second during each shift. Some power was being transferred during the slippage, but by no means all. A friend who was watching(drag racer of 15+ years of experience) told me that the combination of slippage and crazy wheel hop between shifts is robbing me of 2 tenths and 2mph. Of course that's bold speculation. Take it for what you will.

Yeah, I'm happy. Running low nines at 78mph in nearly 100 degree heat isn't too bad. Especially when a 200lb+ lighter z with headers was trapping 1 to 2mph less than me. The car is definitely running strong. Now I just need to save up for a new clutch...


Can you say "revup"???

 

One quick question Trey, why were you running 44lbs
in your rear tires? You mentioned that you were
spinning big time, try droping rears to 35 or 37lbs
so you can hook up and leave your fronts at 44lbs.

 

Sorry for the confusion. Around town I try to run 40psi cold. In this heat, right after my first run, it resulted in 44psi hot. So I dropped down both rears to 31.5 psi hot before my second run.

 

while people including me are bragging about dyno #s, u are just doing real world tests. GJ keep it up. I wish we had a decent 1/4 mile dragstrip here in LA.

 

Sounds pretty Trey. Are you seeing any oil accumulating in the catch can yet?

It's always good to see people like yourself testing thier cars to gauge gains/losses from mods.

Not to take anything away from beating the Z, but it was his first time out there and his mods typically don't add much power on the dyno. Most of us were typically .2-.5 seconds and 2-4mph slower our first few times out at the track because our shifting, launch, and shift points were crappy. Weren't you running 14.5-14.6@96-97mph when you first started racing? I'd bet this Z is leaving a lot on the table right now. Wouldn't you agree?

 

I totally agree. I think he had plenty of room for improvement. But like you've said yourself many times, it's hard to mess up trap speeds. He was shifting fine, and he got his launches into the 2.1's later in the night. His best trap of the night was a 77, and I just don't see him improving that until it cools down.

When I first started at the 1/4 mile, I was trapping 94 and 95. At the 1/8th, I was trapping 72 and 73. When I got my 1>2 shift down, I got it up to 74 to 75. But no matter what, I couldn't break 75 until the temps cooled.

I had a neighbor join us in his wrx. He'd never been to the drag strip before. His traps varied from 68 to 72, a range of 5mph. That's indicative of a new racer/driver. The z on the other hand, was consistently within 1mph. His car going as fast as it was going to go. Plus, he's got over 200lb's on my car.

I'm not getting on your case Dave, but will counter. You can't have it both ways. You've said many times that individual components in my mods do nothing(exhaust, cats). Then you say this z's mods(cai, exhaust, headers) don't add power. There's no way my fat-*** car is going to be competitive with him stock. So my the combination of my mods are doing something. And if my clutch weren't slipping so badly, I would have been trapping at least another 1mph greater.

For comparison, there was an 06 benz C55 AMG(automatic). He did 3 runs. All of them were 8.9@80mph(low 80's, like 80.1). There were a few mustang gt's(every gt in the world has to at least have an exhaust right?) there, the two that I saw personally run were putting down 9.6's and 9.7's, at about 74mph. There was a volvo s60r, 6 speed, putting down 9.3's at 77mph. He was stock.

All in all, I have to say my car stacked up well.

 

Yes. I quite surprised when I saw immediate accumulation after only 16 miles. I have had it on for maybe 300 miles altogether now. I can see accumulation every time I open the hood, but the rate of accumulation isn't scary. I originally had a clear hose between the filter and the plenum, and I could plainly see that a certain amount of oil was getting past the filter. But there's no doubt that it's more effective than nothing at all. As I said in the other thread, pinging was a daily occurence for me every since I bought the car. While I still experience mild knock, it's much, *much* less frequent. I'm not going to claim that it makes power, but I can feel a difference in how much power is being pulled, so to speak.

 

Thanks man. Take a trip somewhere and go to a real track. I'm very keen on seeing your numbers. And from that video of you and the 350z, I know you can drive.

 

Quick picture:

 

Small note in regards to the catch can. We have been unable to locate true vacuum hose around here (but still looking) and I know from my experience with my catch can that the hose we are using IS NOT doing the exact right thing. The hose is collapsing and it is definitely affecting how the cars run. I actually took my catch can OFF after about 4 runs because when I got on it hard the car would just bog down to nothing. I attribute that 100% to the hose collapsing. Seeing as Trey has the exact same hose that I do there is going to be some minor effects there as well. It's a great mod and from what I can see it is doing exactly what it should but we have to find the proper hoses to see the full benefit.

Just my 2 cents.

 

i wouldnt worry about the catch can, i would fully bypass them and put filters on the valve covers. there is no need to suck hot air into your plenum.


we have been doing this for years and years...

also you will want to take out the lower plenum and remove the brass looking cover and clean out ALL that oil outta there.


you can see where my filters sit, one is right on the valve cover and the other is right on the end of a hose that comes off the valve cover, then you have to make sure the vacuum lines going into the plenum are plugged up...

 

You're right, trap speed varies very little when when you're using the close to the correct shift points. It's just been my experience that doing people's first drag racing experience, they usually shift too early or don't stay on the gas through the finish. Both of these things can have an impact on trap speed anywhere from 1-3 mph in the 1/8 mile. I don't know how many times I've read about people on this site and my350Z saying they were shifting at 6200rpms because that's where peak power is. With these cars you basically want to taking it to the rev limiter without actually hitting it. Letting the 5AT shift itself (indicated 6100-6300rpms) on the 2-3 and 3-4 nets in .2 and 2mph slower times. At least in my car.


Everything I've seen on this site and my350z suggests that the Nismo CAI and Nismo exhaust are a waste and only a few HP is gained which is scattered around the powerband. The Nismo exhaust is just an enlarged OEM exhaust with some higher flow components. It's not a TD set up. The Nismo headers have been consistently shown to gain about 5whp. Also about the CAI, if the FM VQ35 performs anything like the Altima/Maxima VQ35 and VQ30, a CAI tends to choke the motor. I know that running a CAI on my VQ30 sucked out about .2 and 2mph. On the same day, I put my hacked stock airbox on and my traps and ETs improved instantly. I went back to the CAI and it was back to running slower. The VQ actually felt better (more torquey) with the CAI, but my slips strongly disagreed with my butt dyno. VQ350 Altima/Maxima owners often report the same exact thing. The CAI feels good, sounds wicked, but the 1/4 mile improvement is not there. Apparently adding an extra 6" to 8" of intake piping length negatively impacts the laminar flow characterstics of the VQ intake tract.

I remember reading an article in SCC magazine with a comparison of a stock Track 350Z, a 350Z with the Nismo I/E, and a 350Z with the Nismo I/E/H/Cams. On the same day and same dyno, the I/E 350Z showed about 5whp over the Track and the I/E/H/Cams 350Z showed a mere 20whp advantage over the Track. On the strip all the cars were within .15 and 1mph with the bone stock Track Z taking 2nd in the 1/4 mile. I'd say at best, that Z you raced was probably making about 7-10whp over stock.

You mods, specifically the MREV and Stillen exhaust do show solid gains and the powerband (at least on most dynos) is improved and should result in 1/4 mile improvement. The cats are questionable, but they do remove about 20lbs in weight. I don't find it shocking that your modded sedan 6MT was outrunning that 350Z considering your mods and your experience compared to his ill choosen mods and most importantly, lack of experience. I'm certain the Z would be fractionally quicker than your G with you behind the wheel of the Z.

 

You have NAPA auto parts in your area don't you? If so, they should have hose. I think the best type of hose to use would be fuel hose because it is interally braided, resistes collasping, and is made for extreme temps.

 

Nice info Trey! Question. Have you been experiencing oil consumption? I seem to use up to 1 QT inbetween oil changes of 3-4k. And have you had your timing advanced to 17 Deg? I'm trying to understand the pinging thing. If the ecu is detecting ping, it should be retarding the timing way back. If you can avoid it, I bet your car might run even better. ie.. catch can or even reverting back to stock timing (if it's been advanced) or below stock timing.

 

I've not noticed any abnormal oil consumption. I must admit that I don't change my own oil, but I always ask how much is removed. Nothing abnormal so far. And I have the oil changed about every 7-8k.

I also have not touched my timing. I don't know if the base timing is different in the revup or not, but pinging seems to be a more common complaint with revup owners. At first I thought it was weather related(got the car originally in June of last year), but it never stopped even when the weather got cooler. It even pinged when the temps were in the 20's locally. I've tried different brands of gas, and injector cleaner. When I had the techtom, I did notice that the ecu would back off timing when I pinged, but it wasn't immediate. It seemed to tolerate a bit of ping, but if it did it more than a few times, the timing was pulled.