Base Z - Regrets?

FricFrac

A common misconception.... To infer that the ultimate ability in driving is to do it the "old fashioned way" is a narrow perspective of what represents skill. If cars were developed without a clutch from the very begining would racing be missing something? Should we have a cockpit like an aircraft where the lift on each lobe on your cam can be adjusted in real time by the driver to optimize the performance of the vehicle or perhaps being able to change the length or diameter of the exhaust or intake on your engine on the fly?

If you really want to be a purist shouldn't you be adding coal to your steam engine and adjusting the preasure? I don't think we'll see you on the race track with your Model T Ford and its 3 inch wide wooden spoke wheels even though that's real old school racing...

Lets face it - you rely on this technology that is common place (fuel injection, power everything, computer tuned systems, etc, etc, etc) but when something new comes around its cheating or beating the system. Well the whole automobile itself is a piece of technology and what you drive today minus the SMR is more of a far cry from the first automobile than just the SMR technology itself. After a period of time all transmissions will have some form of SMR and we'll forget that we ever had to blip the throttle....

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'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

kannibul

Go back to the early days of automobiles...

You have to adjust the advance/retard of the ignition MANUALLY, you have to adjust the mixture MANUALLY, and the throttle...and there's no such thing as power steering, power brakes, shock absorbers, or even a roof. No synchronizers in the manual-only transmission, so you have to double-clutch just to shift.

FricFrac

Exactly - and who here is racing a vehicle like that? The point is SRM is just another step in the advancement of the automobile - not a cheat. Technology doesn't create laziness - humans do. You can be lazy without technology or extremely busy with it - ever had a problem with your computer and spend hours trying to get it work?

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'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

370Z Purist

I feel cool when I know how do it at least most of it manually. Is that good enough?

I mean, you kinda have to admit that the more fast movements you do, you seem to appear as if you know what you're doing. I've had people tell me they'd get manual and spend hours and days practicing just to look good and esoteric.

Yes, I do think that SRM is a pinnacle of technology, the very first of it's kind, and I agree with blackbird, all the pride of people who have driven manual transmission since the 50s-60s have all that specific skill for doing everything for the car. (No, blackbird, I'm not calling you old, my father has driven manual since the 60s.) I'm sure as hell glad there are synchros and other components that keep manual from becoming a workout though.

I never said it's the old fashioned way (although I suppose it is somewhat). But I think just for now, where SRM is somewhat a rarity in general, that learning heel toe or whatever technique you desire for downshifting would be good, since I can only name DSGs, SMGs, and SRM that have rev matching. All other cars don't have it, and I doubt we'll see it on many cars for quite a while. It's even more likely that just like the 370Z, there will likely be an option to take it off, and will remain deactivate-able for years to come.

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-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

Premo34WV

For those base model people considering and aftermarket LSD like Nismo or Quaife, take this into consideration before buying.
I previously had a base 350z (open differential) and swapped for the Nismo LSD

The 1.5 Nismo LSD definitely improved performance as far as off the line grip, corner entry and exit, maybe acceleration a bit, and for drifters it is a MUST HAVE.

For the everyday street drivers, I would not recommend this type of differential. The chattering and clunking noise is very very bad. Its loud and harsh. When making slow sharp turns, say in a parking lot for instance, the inside wheel would actually spudder and hop leaving rubber behind. I put only 7000 miles on a set of Goodyear F1 GSD3's. I believe mostly contributable to the differential.

I ended up swapping the open differential back into my base due to the very aggressive and nonpractical street nature of the Nismo LSD.

Conclusion:
Nismo, Quaife type LSD I would recommend only to those who track there car often, in which case you will love it

For a streetcar only, it is WAY too aggressive. stick with the viscuous lsd.

For the record: this is all IMHO

sensi09

The quaife should be almost seamless with none of the low speed issues mentioned.

Along with the quaife, the carbonetics and cusco LSDs will be quite good for daily driven cars while also performing at the track.