This car sees tons of track time. In fact it pretty much only sees track time, and like most track cars, after awhile things need to be refreshed. In this case the StopTech Big Brake Kit was in need of a few new parts to prepare it for the Norcal UFO trackday the following weekend.
As you can see from the pictures, the hats for the two-piece rotors have seen some massive heat. Enough in fact to destroy the original black anodizing. These parts, while discolored, are still perfectly functional. The rotors on the other hand had seen better days and were replaced with new ones.
The other part of this rebuild comes in the form of replacing the main seals for the four pistons in each caliper. From the pictures you can see that the old ones were covered in debris and brake dust and were starting to weep, not a good thing when a race car relies on repeatable pedal pressures for optimum performance.
The seals were replaced with the new gray pieces and the entire system was reassembled and given back to the owner just in time to thrash on it at the Thunderhill Raceway. Pics of the track event are still to come and are well worth the wait.
See all the photos of the entire rebuild after the read more (there are 30 or so)
If you were wondering where the 350z that you have seen lapping Thunderhill, Laguna Seca (twice), and which received a MotorDyne single exhaust has gone….. it blew up! This car has seen HARD use at the track since the first day of his life and the engine finally let go. It looks like the crown above the rings on cylinder five had just had enough and decided to bounce around the chamber for awhile.
A “new” VQ35DE was sourced and swapped in with all the goodies that were taken off the old engine. We then went off to the dyno and we seemed to have found seven more horsepower and eight ft-lbs of torque at the wheels. Unfortunately the track-day season is mostly over but keep your eyes peeled for this car in your mirrors at the first events on the calendar next year. DOOT!!
Filed under: 350z,Performance
by Forbes @ 3:32 pm on July 6, 2009
On the 23rd of last month I put up a the most recent track video featuring our good friend Scott and his 350z. The car had received the new MotorDyne Shockwave single exhaust the day before the track event so here are the dyno results, videos, and my impressions.
I normally shy away from favoring any sort of single exhaust on the 350z but this may be the system that has changes my mind. From the moment it was unwrapped it was easy to notice that the quality was there, and then we came to the exhaust tip. MEGAPHONE!! Here at Z Car Garage we have a special place in our hearts for the megaphone tip, as they are currently installed on Rob’s 240z and 510 as well as Alvin’s Roadster. The MotorDyne system comes with one from the factory, sweet.
The exhaust was installed without hassle thanks to the simplicity of the included V-band clamps. As soon as the car fired up we were all impressed. Rasp was virtually non-existent (this car still runs stock cats) and the sound was extremely crisp. While it’s not overly-loud, and passed the decibel meter at Thunderhill, there may be a sound limit issue at some of the super-strict tracks like Laguna Seca.
On to the dyno!!
We made a few baseline runs just prior to the install and came out with a hair under 252 rear-wheel horsepower (rwhp.) After the exhaust switch we made two more runs while carefully monitoring all critical temps as well as the air/fuel ration with an Innovate wide-band 02 sensor. The number we came out with was sort of a let down: 251rwhp, a one hp loss. Before simply marking it up as a loss we pulled out the laptop to check the timing in the U-tech piggyback computer. After pulling a couple degrees of timing we were happy to see the number climb to 259rwhp, a very nice gain for a normally aspirated car.
Unfortunately this isn’t a true comparison because we can’t be sure of how the NISMO system would have performed with the reduced timing, on the sound alone I would recommend this exhaust. Make sure you check out all the videos and photos after the ‘read more.’
Filed under: 350z,Events
by Forbes @ 9:38 am on June 23, 2009
Our friend Scott was nice enough to get some footage for the latest installment of our summer track event posts while he was at Thunderhill Raceway last Friday. Please find a reputable track event organizer, like Hooked On Driving, and get your car out on the track to have some fun!
This video shows what a well set up Z can do in the right hands, and I especially love all the little comments he added about all the cars he passes, wicked. Also, if this car sounds different to you than in previous posts then give yourself a high-five. It received a new Motordyne “Shockwave” single exhaust. I will have photos, dyno numbers, and more info on the new exhaust this week. Enjoy!
