Hermann350z Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi all out here When I got my driving licence (in Switzerland, that's where I still live) in 1987, I got a Nissan Bluebird 1982 1.8 litre blue as a gift from my parents. I had no clue about suspensions, power or other technical things and was happy with my car. One year later, I bought the 2 liter Bluebird and felt the increased power, was even feeling like a little hero of the roads using nearly 100 hp ! A colleage (rich) got a VW Golf High Tech 150HP and the acceleration and sound of this car was soooo impressive for me, I could hardly believe... After some more Bluebirds 2.0 of later production series, I bought a brand new Nissan Maxima 3.0V6 nearly 200HP in 1998 which I drove 125tkm without any problem and was pleased all the time. Until I saw some posting about the 200sx S13: 169HP at weight of 1200kg with a small turbo and looking great with the long engine hood and the hidden / moving up beam lights This car really put me a smile on my face every time I drove it. Then I got a ride in a colleague's BMW E34 M5: What the hell, this car was felt like from another world and 2 weeks later, I bought a 3.8 liter E34 M5. A fantastic car, which I still own and feels like an old shoe every time I am sitting in it But after some 100 laps on the Nordschleife with the M5 I found out: This car is too heavy, has not enough power and is not really a sports car. That was the point to try out a 350z. First I took one standard OEM for a week end. It was nice, but the power did not convince me. An other dealer had a 350z novidem SC and after another try over a weekend, I bought that one. Very soon, I found out, that more power is nice, but the brakes should be improved as well to be able to stop the car not only accelerate I have put in a K-Sport 8 pistons on the front where I did not change the brakes on the rear axle. These K-Spors are really very impressive and I am still happy with them. After some more modifications (as KW3, cage,...) I decided in 2010 to buy the update (approx 25'000 Pounds!) to have then another 100 hp. It is still the same SC but with a little bit more pressure and some changed parts inside the motor and the along as well (Nismo clutch,...) The SC has only had a damage on the ball bearing but all the other time, the SC system worked fine and stable. AND: the acceleration is pretty impressive. So even when the price is/was high, I am happy I took this decision; there is a small switch beside the gear box where to turn the SC on/off. In the off-mode, it's has only approx 180 hp due to air blocks, but is still ok to drive in the daily traffic in a fuel saving mode... Some pics can be found in my gallery, if you like. I am still "in love" with the Nordschleife, but it is about a 5 hours drive away and traffic is more and more heavy with a lot of road works which is very annoying, so I hate to drive there and back only for some laps of fun. Maybe, this is good for me or maybe not... Regards Hermann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Welcome to the forum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hermann. I also had a Maxima (QX here) in 3.0 spec. Even though they are not particularly cool, it was very cheap when 5 years old and better than I was expecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewen@Clark Motorsport Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Welcome along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hermann, I'm sure our SC fraternity will be along to chat and swap info at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humpy Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Welcome to the forum, sounds like you love your cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermann350z Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 The reason why I started tuning my 350z was to build a real track capable car that is fast and steady for smaller tracks (e.g.not F1 tracks). I took it to some different tracks as Dijon, Anneau-du-Rhin, Bresse, Tuttlingen (airport) and of course the Nordschleife to find out what has to be done to improve the car. During the 3 years, of course I have had some problems / issues with the setup and I am happy to share my experiences to everybody who also wants to use the 350z on track courses. Themes where (and partially still are): - not enough downforce at domes - overheating in the front wheel gard - damaged balk ring in the 5th gear - 2nd gear too short - clutch not sustainable - individual suspension setup setting for every use - idler pully ball bearing damages - petrol pression loss in long curves - perfect tire pressure to avoid under- and oversteering - tyre size and tyre manufacturer selection - hurt in the left knee The aim was always, to get to a under 8min lap on the Nordschleife, what I finally reached with the last setup. So if you have questions about the themes above (or about the Nordschleife, where I have done about 500 laps by now), do not hesitate to ask. I am not a mechanics, but I had to gather know-how about these themes as it's not possible to just tell your mechanics: I want a fast and save car for the track, so go for it, but you have to give detailed instructions, what you want where and why, otherwise he will build / configure a nonsense setup... Cheers Hermann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Car looks good in the pictures, if you wanted to post pics directly in the thread best advice is to register with photobucket and post up the links. i can see your thread will get a lot of interest from the guys supercharging their cars. Sounds like you have had a lot of fun on those tracks. Been to the ring once, abasolutely amazing place and somewhere you have to go if you are a petrol head. Terrifying too though lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermann350z Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 (edited) Welcome to the forum, sounds like you love your cars Thanks. Yes, but I do not like newer cars (except the 350z) as most of them are under control of software to avoid standard drivers to get off the road; this is only disturbing for real drivers IMO, so that's why I am going to keep my cars ( or most of them) as long as possible (where all of them are driven regularly): - BMW E34 M5 3.8 1992 diamond black - BMW E34 M5 3.8 1992 "fire red" - BMW E34 M5 Touring 3.8 1992 BMW black II - BMW E34 530 V8 1994 manual gear box diamond black - BMW E34 525 R6 1994 manual gear box grey - BMW E38 740 V8 1995 automatic gear box orient blue I know, this looks as if these are a lot cars but in fact, I do not think it's too much Edited October 22, 2013 by Hermann350z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choptop Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 (edited) Welcome Edited October 22, 2013 by choptop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Welcome Hermann. So you like BMW's then. My old man has had loads of them over the years including 740 V8 auto ~ his was gold I remember as a child and was built like a tank but the sound of the engine always made me smile when he put his foot down. Hope you enjoy the 350Z just as much as your other cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryjax Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 different looking Zed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Welcome to the Forum.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Are the pipes for the SC carbon? or a wrap? Also what size is the pipe that enters the throttle body? looks quite small diameter. Nice car btw, what spoiler is that, can't say I have seen one before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermann350z Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Are the pipes for the SC carbon? looks quite small diameter. Nice car btw, what spoiler is that, can't say I have seen one before. made of carbon; this reduces air whirl on the intake or a wrap? no, pure carbon Also what size is the pipe that enters the throttle body? I do not really know, what size it is, but big enough... The rear spoiler has been developed in Switzerland (also pure carbon) in a wind tunnel to create as much downforce as possible. It only weights the same as the original spoiler lip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermann350z Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 More details about the story In 2010, when I decided to upgrade to level II of power setup (again done by novidem.ch), I had to wait from Feb until May to have the updates on the engine completed. Then I booked a track day in Bresse (France). There, it was very, very hot and not only the car needed a break after 20min, but also the driver and co-driver as the heat in the car with the helmets was torrid. I had already a laser analyser to measure the temperature of the tyres, the brakes and the air in the wheel guard as I knew, these could get critical. I used it all the time, whenever I was off the track and everything was hot but worked fine. I did not recognise, that the air brake pipes got too hot and the plastic of the cable coating was not properly put into the cable holders... Some weeks later, I was in Dijon on the track, started with all the setup laps to get rid of tyer overpressure, and on my first fast lap after the long line, driving with approx 255 km/h, just at the hardest breaking point, the air brake pipes slipped off the cable holders on both sides at the front brakes and I lost 100% of the brake power. I was able to go to the 5th gear from the 6th to reduce the speed to about 170 km/h running through the gravel bed before I crashed into the tyre packs on the right side (to avoid the engine entering the driver's cab). I was lifted up by the tyre packs and flew over the hedge doing some roll axis loopings, landed on my roof... As I had very strong passive security options, I survived that horrible crash; I felt bad for about 6 month after they stated some broken ridges. Below, some pics of the car. One before the crash and 2 after. When I remember the situation, I can still hear the crash sound and it's not really a pleasure I can tell you... to be continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Glad you where alright in the end after such a nasty crash Hermann. It look's as if you've dented every single panel on the entire car. Never a nice feeling, that loss of control and knowing the inevitable crash is on it's way. Had a look at your gallery pictures btw and your car looks lovely now. Very jealous of all the lovely carbon fibre in the engine bay too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermann350z Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 After the crash, my 350 was carried home on a trailer and I ordered an expertise about the incident reasons. This guy (who had been advised by another race driver) was very experienced in doing such accident expertises and wrote in his final report (he had been assisted by an special company in Munich to prove his findings), that the plastic material which was the outside of the brake pipes was not correctly mounted and therefore got off the attachment when they got hot in the wheel guard. I then called my lawyer to chase up this story at the importer and after having struggled 18 months, I got some cash in an agreement (about half of the loss). As my mechanics then got my damaged car back (I could keep it, as it had no value anymore for the insurance), we did what was necessary to get the engine on and it was alive! Now: What should I do with this nearly brandnew engine? Sell it? Who would buy it? Probably nobody, or only for a dime... So I decided to buy used 350z in a good condition and to have rebuilt/moved from my crashed car the whole technical tuning stuff. This cost me quite a lot of money and after about 5 months of work at the garage it was accomplished: The "new" old 350z setup (now blue instead of gungrey) was ready again and the engine is still without any problem running. It was worth all the work and money and time to rebuild the car, I do not regret to have it let done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bergwerk06 Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Hermann. Herzlich Willkommen und Sie sind ein Held! Damage to your car at Dijon looks light for the way you described the crash which shows how robust the Z actually is. Good to see a 350 and 'ring fan on the forum. I rented a 350 from Sixt in 2003 and took it around the Nordschleife in the wet and was so impressed that I've eventually bought one. (We won't mention the rental BMW that I overtook Sabine in- she knew the conditions better than me hence my forum name- the BMW looked similar to your 350 after Dijon and the Armco at Bergwerk is very strong!!!!) I met a racer with a race prepared SC 350 and when I asked him for advice he said buy an Exige the 350 is too heavy , so i'm impressed with your commitment to the Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Welcome, was in Switzerland briefly couple of weeks ago, it's a beautiful country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermann350z Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 ...Damage to your car at Dijon looks light for the way you described the crash which shows how robust the Z actually is.... I was also astonished how the 350z has protected myself but on the one side, I had 5 rows of tyres which took a lot of the kinetic energy and on the other side, my cage kept the roof at its place when landing on it and my 4 points belt kept me on my seat. This prevented my head to be compressed or being smashed onto the steering wheel... ...I met a racer with a race prepared SC 350 and when I asked him for advice he said buy an Exige the 350 is too heavy... Hm. As I do not like these Lotus' they will never be an option. It's no longer a real car such a Lotus, more a toy and has no daily usage features, no free space, too narrow inside and not to be used for persons more than 1.85 m of size. Of course, the 350z has to get some race capable parts as brakes, rims, more power and suspensions as well, but then it's possible to configure a fast and reliable car for the Nordschleife that is having neutral behaviour when going to fast into a turn or out of a turn; no oversteering, no understeering, just gliding gently over all 4 wheels which means, very easy to keep under control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Welcome Along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsniss350z Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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