View Full Version : Z32 TT (300ZX) vs. S52 Roadster


M Roady
06-18-2004, 10:56 PM
Tonight I'm cruising the car around looking for trouble. Not satisfied with a dead VW. I keep going.

Sitting at a light I notice a 90s 300ZX with a fairly modest body kit sitting a few cars back. Traffic moves. I noticed a Tampa Police car pull out onto our lane. I'd kind of forgot about the Z. After a little bit of putting along watching this cop a ways up ahead the 300ZX comes flying up behind me in the right lane, cuts across the center lane (where I am), and zooms past me in the left lane making some squeeking sizzling noises. He gets back in the center lane, followed by another car, and me and we get stopped at a light with the cop sitting at the pole position in the right lane. At the light I notice a Caprice rolling on dubs in the left lane (we'll see this car again).

At the next light the cop leading the way makes a right turn. We get stopped with the Z 1st in line and me sitting right behind him. After a little bit I hear him bring up his revs, I assume he is going to go. I'm ready. It takes a while and when the light changes he doesn't launch but gets on it shortly after taking off with an ///M stuck to his ass. He isn't going anywhere and as soon as I engage second gear I grab the left lane. Near the top of second my front bumper is at his rear wheel. I shift into third and continue crawling past him. In third gear I pull even with him and I hit my brakes hard because we are about to run over the traffic that was leaving the light that was in front of us. It was actually closer in his lane, but I didn't want to risk a stranger running into the back of someone in a street race. I'd call this ///M: 1 Z32:0

We exchange thumbs up. He appears to want more. But traffic comes up and he falls back. He stays back for a bit so I figure it is over and start to take the exit onto another large road going south. He quickly works his way around traffic and gets in the lane next to me and says something. I couldn't understand. I decide to skip the south exit and go north and signal him to get into the exit lane in front of me and slow down. (I was on Hillsborough East getting on Dale Mabry for any locals).

We take the clover leaf and come out onto a virtually empty road (big road). I take the far left lane, he pulls into the center and we line up. We are doing about 15 and start talking. I give him my standard "those are fast". He responds with an accent (Greek? Italian? Arab?), I couldn't hear him then realize I have the stereo blairing and turn it down. Me, "What?" Him, "I'm building a turbo for an M3." Me, "Really?" That's about it and we get some traffic coming up on us, some car was in the far right lane and had passed us. I look over, he's ready. From a slow roll (15ish) we go. Neither of us is going anywhere, I shift into second and it stays about the same for a bit then I start inching ahead and shift into third and I continue inching on him a good distance into third. His front bumber is somewhere around the front of my passenger door. Then his car makes some nasty noises and drops anchor. This was definitely a win for the ///M, but I never found out what happened. :dunno

I thought for a little bit maybe he had detonated the engine or something. He stays way back, then that Caprice pulls up in the far right lane the driver and passengers are going nuts! I guess they'd watched the first run and the second. They were of the impression the 300ZX got owned. Not so much myself. I was just inching ahead on the second run. I wasn't going to argue though.

The 300ZX pulls back up and we discuss M3 turbos some more. Then the guys in the Caprice start talking to us and we are a rolling road block and I pull ahead then decide I'm satisfied get into a left turning lane honk the horn throw a thumbs up and head back south.

Good clean fun with a friendly 300ZX driver. I wish I could have had a cleaner win, but he didn't even seem interested in our runs afterwards and just wanted to talk about ///Ms. :buttrock

As for the 300ZX, it appeared to have a stock exhaust but it definitely had a BOV venting to the atmosphere which I suspect isn't a stock feature.

FateMaker
06-18-2004, 11:01 PM
Those 300ZX are pretty heavy aren't they?

M Roady
06-18-2004, 11:35 PM
Those 300ZX are pretty heavy aren't they?
I just looked it up. 3,500ish. So now I feel like I should have done better. :(

BabyM
06-18-2004, 11:45 PM
zooms past me in the left lane making some squeeking sizzling noises

:confused: His 'Mr. Fusion' was out of whack?

Nice kill with an audience!

M Roady
06-19-2004, 12:04 AM
:confused: His 'Mr. Fusion' was out of whack?
:stickoutt BOV, Baby!

BabyM
06-19-2004, 12:06 AM
:stickoutt BOV, Baby!


I need one of those myself :devillook .....I'm going for a drive, maybe I'll find that S4 again!

slickav
06-19-2004, 01:01 PM
Hmm.... I thought they were slower than that :az:

MGregski
06-19-2004, 03:32 PM
Stock they're on par with a e36 M. But an intake, exhaust and Stillen chip boosts the power from 300 to close to 400 at the flywheel.

Stock exhaust and a BOV? Idiot :D

Good kills.

M Roady
06-19-2004, 11:46 PM
I think it was a stock exhaust. Some guys just like the pop and sizzle. I ran with a guy at the strip who had a SRT-4 that had only a BOV.

I was afraid I'd get blown away. The 300ZX TTs can run 11s on the stock turbos.

DTM Driven
06-20-2004, 10:27 PM
you sure he was racing or u think he was racing cause my brother has a TT 92' and it hauls ass, with all due respect, no way an m can take him, he must not have been trieng.

M Roady
06-20-2004, 11:23 PM
you sure he was racing
Yes.

BimmerBoyZ3
06-21-2004, 12:15 AM
you sure he was racing or u think he was racing cause my brother has a TT 92' and it hauls ass, with all due respect, no way an m can take him, he must not have been trieng.


WRONG!

Ive tuned one of this with my stepdad for a while now. About 3 years. Stock, these things are boats with an anchor dragging being. They can move with some tuning and can produce HUGE #s (my project, which is for sale by the way is pushing some serious #s, expecting to be between 700-800 rwhp with the racing heads on it). But weight is there biggest problem. I easily seeing an m coupe running with one of these things stock.

And the reason people put a BOV on first is because lag is a big thing on the stock cars.

And the reason srt guys dont change the exhaust is because its THAT damn good.

All and all, good kill in the name of roadsters. Find that guy and tell him to help me fab a boost kit for the m44.

M Roady
06-21-2004, 12:46 AM
And the reason people put a BOV on first is because lag is a big thing on the stock cars.

All and all, good kill in the name of roadsters. Find that guy and tell him to help me fab a boost kit for the m44.
The ZX doesn't have a BOV stock? No wonder! The SRT-4 guy just vented his to the atmosphere, I'm pretty sure they have one stock.

I don't know, he said his Turbo was costing $20k. I assume he isn't making it for himself at that price, unless he is doing something pretty extreme. He wasn't a native English speaker, and all our conversation was rolling so it was difficult to communicate.

Low to mid 14's is what I found when looking up the stock 300ZXs.

SilverStreak
06-21-2004, 10:12 AM
Nice run, Curt. They can be modded to be pretty damn fast, but OEM they weren't much to worry about...