Lost my sword, got a pair of scalpels
 

I lost my beloved 350Z STU beast when my friend totaled it (and almost himself) at ZdayZ this year. I loved that car and hated to lose her, but cars can be replaced, people can't.

The story of that day could fill its own thread, but THIS thread is for the "other vehicle(s)".

I get to drive countless cars at the track so I had a short list of favorites once I started considering my next car. I ultimately went with a new FRS because it has great driving dynamics and it's classed well in the SCCA.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psdlatgmum.jpg


My wife was the one "due" for a new car since I drive a company vehicle to work, and her Sebring had 140k miles. She insisted that I get the new car and get back on track. (figuratively and literally)

After closing the deal on my new 2016 FRS, we started looking at what her old car needed to make it a couple more years. That process got us thinking about one of the cars that we rejected out of hand when searching for my new vehicle. One of the dealers had a new 2015 automatic listed as a manual on their website. When we learned of the typo we said "no thanks" and moved on....but not before the dealer told us that they were willing to heavily discount the car because it was a languishing 2015 still on the lot with the 2017 models due soon. It turned out that they were seriously willing to deal, so now we have, well....


Twins:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psdvscwjho.png

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps85chdsbs.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps0i4wp6bn.jpg

The parts for the CS street prep are starting to come in. The Borla exhaust is on the car. TRD springs/Sways and Koni shocks are in the garage. My Strano FSB should ship Friday. Tire rack said I should have my RPF1's with mounted Rival S tires in a few weeks.

Already tinted the windows and my new numbers came in:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psfuvztmwq.jpg


The parts seem to be going on in reverse order of importance, but the stuff that really makes a difference on the track is just taking longer to get, and get on the car.



TL; DR: Best. Wife. Ever.

Glad to see you will be back on the track! Nice that you both got one also!

dats cool. im not much of a subaru guy, but it's really only nissan and subaru (maybe mazda) dat makes fun cars these days from jland.

congrats.

Thanks guys. I'm glad my wife has a car that we both like. I'm not a fan of automatics, but I have driven a few twin autos at the track and it is my favorite slush box. With trans in sport and the nannies turned off, it basically does what I would have done 95% of the time.

:wtf2:

:ugh2: Red :tup:

-Clifford :tiphat:

does the gearbox lock 2nd - 5th after it shifts out of 1st?

It was great meeting you, I was the big guy with the gun and "àsshole" written on his shirt...

You own a FRZ now, we can't talk anymore... See you at the next ZDayZ!!! Lol

:icon18:

Cute car.... enjoy.

Oh frs.. Thought u got the subaru


:ugh2:








;)

I don't think I have tried to go from 2nd to 5th. I will give it a try next time I drive and let you know.

Enjoy it and go beat some folks with it. That will make you feel even better. Don't give away my dang couch for next year...LOL I should be feeling much better by then. I had neck surgery on June 20th. Neck is 10 times better, I just can't eat for ****. Mouth, tongue, and throat are black and blue. It took me 1 hr to eat two BLT's (YumYum) last night. Only got choked 5 times in the process. I hope the other Mike is getting better that
made the BoBo.

The couch is still yours man. Glad you got your neck taken care of.

Michael had surgery on his shoulder recently. He has a long road ahead of him, but he's making progress.

I was able to go from 2nd to 5th yesterday. Doesn't appear to be locked out.

nono, wat im asking is if all the gears have a torque lockup feature on each gear besides 1st like on the 370Z's AT.

Oh you were asking about the auto...

I'm not sure how the feature operates in the 370Z, so I will just tell you what I know about my Wife's car from normal driving and other auto Twins from the track. (have not tracked my wife's FRS...yet)

In normal auto mode, it seems like it's programmed for fuel economy. (It grabs the next gear ASAP under low to moderate throttle)

In sport mode using "D", it holds each gear until it gets to redline unless you coast for a looooong time...then it will shift to the next gear up. Under braking, it will hold the gear it's in and use engine braking until it starts to fall out of the power band...then it will go down a gear and rev match when it does so.

I don't use the shifter padals, so I can't comment on their behavior.

Cool deal. Tell him to hang in there, it will get better. Here is a speedy recovery wish coming his way.

Just waiting on the wheels and tires (and a lot of suspension tuning) now....

A friend of mine did the suspension last week and we did the alignment Monday.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psoy7exbsc.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...pscha0xjrl.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps8b3xjxhn.jpg

We also checked the corner weights and, as I feared, the car is balanced well without me in it. Once I get in it, the LF wheel gets about 80lbs more than the RF. (with zero FSB preload) Easy to fix with coilovers but not so much in street class.

I think I may have just found an excuse to get the 26lb JL audio stealthbox that mounts in the RR corner of the car. lol

nice which wheels u getting?

ohhh, those breaks are so cute....and is that exhaust 1 inch?

yah, for us MT guys difficult maybe to understand wat im asking. the question is how responsive is the throttle while holding a gear (besides 1st) doing a quick throttle in/out. most torque converters loose pressure once u let off the throttle and becomes disconnected from the wheels, unless it has a lockup feature. from wat ive read, 370z's AT gearbox locks the drivetrain in the gears (except 1st) and feels like a electronic clutch gearbox.

RPF1's. They have an almost perfect offset for this application.

In sport mode it feels like it's is locked in. In regular mode, not so much.

They are ~the same size as the brakes I had on my STU-prepped 350Z and they have 500lbs less weight to stop. So, there's that.

It's actually 2.5" that splits into two 2" pipes. I had to look it up since the pipe diameter had nothing to do with my decision to buy it. It shaved 10lbs off the car, and it sounds good.

Prepped for CS:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps56ursnh4.jpg[/URL]

still waiting for subaru to put a wrx engine in dere...

Small update. The car feels great in CS trim:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/442/31...b75b6f7f_h.jpgIMG_2494 Philip Petrie


https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/307/32...d195945b_h.jpgIMG_2496 by Philip Petrie

It'll be good to have you lead the pack again at Zdayz. Too much work for me!

The new car looks great!

Thanks. I'm still unsure about what kind of pace it will run compared to the Z. My best guess is that it will be slower...but not much. Less power, but better tires, and almost identical brakes with a lot less weight to manage.

great addition,

would like to hear story/ see footage of what happened to your z33.

I remember when you gave me a ride in it during autocross, definitely felt faster than my s2000 at that time.

Nice choice(es)!
The Toyota 86 was on our shopping list - in fact, the Nissan was only an after-thought when I saw the one which eventually became ours come up on Auto Trader. Nissan dealer was literally right beside the Toyota store, so I thought we'd check it out first. And the rest is history. I would have liked to test a manual FRS (only driven the auto one, and only very briefly). How would you compare the Toyota vs Nissan transmissions and clutches?

Enjoy these in good health (and yours with some speed!)

The FRS clutch is lighter, but also a bit vague compared to the Z. (The 86 forums have a thread for removing a spring that fixes the vague part but makes the clutch heavier)

FWIW, I think the powertrian stuff is Subaru-sourced.

Two National events in two weeks!

50HP worth of stickers:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psbg5kael0.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psl04gk5x8.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psaa4iytvq.jpg



Managed to win C street at the Ft Myers Pro Solo on BFG's (Rival 1.5's) and the Dixie Champ Tour on Bridgestones. (RE-71R's)

(Picks from turtlesharkshooter.com and https://www.flickr.com/photos/133057342@N05/)

Nice!

Cool deal. Still kicking butt and taking names behind the wheel I see.