Ultimate track car challenge 350z

Morning guys,

Does anyone have any info on the 350z that was in the UTCC this year? I would be interested in any info such as owner name, sponsor, or build threads if you know of any.

Thanks.

That's Mike Lane. I'll see if I can get him to pop over here.

Thanks JG. I just want to say....

you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."

Whatcha wanna know?

....or were you interested in the white/green car? That's Savanna's...

Hey there!

I was curious what your engine, suspension, and brake mods were/are. I've got a 2003 350z I'm making into an HPDE/Date car so am curious what you've done to help the car survive the track environment. I'm close to VIR so thought your track changes could be useful for me as well.

Thanks for getting back to me!

Car has since been supercharged and a few other little things to keep it running and stop blowing up axle boots.

Full Parts List at UTCC:

Engine- 3.5" MAF/Intake w/Amsoil Filter w/Custom Velocity Stack, Motordyne 5/16” Spacer, PPE Long Tube Headers, Motordyne MREV2 Plenum, Z1Motorsports 2.5” Test Pipes, Motorydne XYZ Pipe w/Straight Pipe, JIC 3” Full Titanium Exhaust, OEM GTR Injectors, Deatchswerks 255lph Fuel Pump, 2lb Li Battery, HUGE Oil Cooler, Uprev Tuned by Hills Garage.

Suspension: Penske 8300 Remote Reservoir Shocks-True Rear, Big Spring Rates, SPL Front Camber/Caster Arms, SPL Front Compression Rod, Lower Control Arm and Shock Bushings, SPL Front End Links, Hotchkis Front Sway Bar, SPL Rear Traction, Toe and Camber Arms, No Rear Sway Bar, SPL Diff Bushings.

Brakes: Stoptech 332mm Front Brake Kit w/2 Piece Rotors, St43 Raybestos Front Brake pads, OEM Brembo Rear Brakes w/2 Piece Rotors, ST42 Raybestos Rear Brake Pads StopTech Brake Lines.

Drivetrain: OS Giken Super Single Aluminum Clutch, OS Giken 1.5way Diff, Z1Motorsports Diff Cover.

Wheels/Tires: 18x10.5 Enkei RPF1’s – Dry, 275/35/18 Hoosier A7 – TT3, 275/645/18 Pirelli Slick – UTCC, 17x10/11 Forgelines – Wet, 275/35/17 Hoosier H.20 - Wet.

Interior: Piper 8pt Roll Cage, Cobra Seat (Soon to replace with HNR), Scrothe Harness, Sparco Steering Wheel, NRG Quick Release Hub, RacePak IQ3 Digital Dash, Fully Gutted Doors/Dash/Rear Speaker Box.

Exterior: Nismo V3 Front Bumper -soon (Old Bumper for UTCC), Custom DiBond Splitter, Custom Front Fender Extensions, Custom Front Canards - Almost done, not on for UTCC, CWest Vented Hood, Brooks Pro Elite Carbon Rear Wing, Modified Rear Bumper.

Just wanted to chime in here to say that this is the best forum on the planet. Within two weeks of asking about who might own a specific race car, you have a complete recipe to follow.

Mike - I don't know you, but you're a cool guy.

Tuna55, I feel the same way. It's great to get this kind of response to a question on a forum.

This is a great place to hang.

Looks more like this now. Need to make a cover to replace the headlights and redo the front aero so it works with the intercooler.

So now it's supercharged and intercooled? That's pretty awesome. I bet it makes that extractor hood absolutely necessary. Is it still track reliable with the blower?

No idea, will find out in due time. If it goes boom a v8 is going in.

Love this forum. Thanks JG and Mike.

03threefiftyz wrote: No idea, will find out in due time. If it goes boom a v8 is going in.

VK56? That's rad.

Appleseed wrote:

03threefiftyz wrote: No idea, will find out in due time. If it goes boom a v8 is going in.

VK56? That's rad.

ls1, because vks are overpriced overweight and overjunk

Probably LS3....VK56 is bleh.

Did you feel the need to install an expanded oil pan on the car? I noted the HUGE oil cooler. The VQ must get the oil pretty hot if you needed that.

I have a large spacer for the oil pan and a revup oil pump. That spacer and the large oil cooler means the car holds over 7qts instead of 5ish. Yes....they get the oil pretty hot, but not as bad as the 370's.

Figured I would chime and let you know the car is still chugging along with the supercharger, though it does have a fair amount of blow-by at this point.

Car had a bajillion issues at UTCC, not the least of which was the transponder not hitting.  Mainly in keeping it cool.  It runs screaming hot.  That said, even though it was every bit as warm as UTCC the car did dip under 2:00 to a 1:59.5 a few weeks ago at VIR.  Could only do one lap, so the tires and brakes were not up to temp, but working on it bit by bit and have another radiator set-up to try at Summit Point in a 6 weeks along with some additional aero stuff (new fenders, etc)...

Major changes:
Radium fuel surge set-up, big fuel pumps (twin 450lph), 1kcc injectors, fuel return using the built in FPR on the Radium tank (pretty rad), and retuning the car on ethanol.  This car DRINKS fuel.  In fact it takes almost 1.5 gallons to do a single lap at full steam around VIR right now.
Wing raisers, larger end plates, bumper block off and ducting, and some fender venting
Exact dry carbon doors (4lbs a piece!)
HR Seat
Continual tweaks on the suspension, etc
Currently at 391whp (average....around 415 peak) and class min of 3020lbs with fuel and driver

...and yes, the car is built, run, and stored out of a storage unit haha.

Do you have any advice for anyone who would consider picking up one of these maybe even salvage for HPDE and then eventually time trials etc? Does the year really matter if eventually the car gets modded that much?

From a motor perspective, you really want an 07-08.  The HR is by far the best of the breed.  You will probably want to go into it expecting to replace nearly everything since even the newest ones are closing in on 10 years old.  Motor, cooling, etc are pretty solid (the early cars, especially rev-up motors can have some pretty serious oil consumption issues, but most would have been replaced under warranty at this point).  Look for a car with Brembos....they are really very good.  The early 03-04's came with crappy brakes if you opted no brembos.  The 05 (might have been 06) came with larger front brakes than before and can be serviceable in most HPDE environments, but tough on pads.

Downside....parts are pretty expensive relative to cars in a similar price bracket and playing field.

Ah interesting and good to know. What do you put in its playing field? Coming from a miata background it seems they need forced induction or swaps to get to the end of the field your car would be at now, while something like a vette is probably able to get to those speeds a lot more stock?

I like the 350z, but I wouldn't do another one.  Honestly, c5z will take you from HPDE --> W2W and all the steps b/w with the most ease.

Yes, you would need FI to get a miata to my cars level, but it also took FI to get my car to this point haha.

If I had 15-20k to start the C5Z would be the winner for the starting point. Maybe Ill just get something cheap until I can get the C5Z.

To give you an idea....I could very easily have gotten a 997 cup car for the cost of my car to this point.  

IMO, you can have a lot of fun in a 350z for 5-7k in modifications that will last you through HPDE, but the HR 07-08's still command decent money relative to the early cars.