I had to log on after getting home late tonight, having finally run into a 350Z willing to run a sedan. I was on my way home and came upon a couple of guys in a 350Z (manual), and made my intentions apparent, and we made a couple of runs from about 40 in 2nd gear. The first time, I wound up hitting it first, and the second time, he did. In both instances, whichver car hit it first managed to pull and keep pulling (I think I let off both times at about 65 or 70...). After pulling up next to each other at a stoplight just before getting on the highway, we excahnged nicities about each others' cars, and we rolled out onto the highway and managed to get a fair run in 3rd at 60mph.

This time, we managed to roll into it at the same time, and I inched on him VERY SLOWLY until about 95, at which point, I MIGHT have been 3/4 car ahead. My car is stock, with the exception of an Injen CAI, and is a 6MT, and I was alone, while the Z had a passenger. I realize that without the passenger, he would have pulled on me AT LEAST as hard as I did on him with his extra passenger, but I was quite pleased with how well the TL did. The guy was really cool as we made our separate ways, but his passenger was yelling out stuff like "Is that my Mom's car?" He looked drunk. Anyway, I hope this might be of interest to some of you here wondering about the 350's. Again, I'm sure with even baggage, I'm sure it's faster, but the TL did one hell of a job!

 

nice job...

 

Sweet run! Glad to see you held your own. 6MT Tl's are soooo sweet, a 14.0 - 14.2 second quarter-miler according to several mags. You did a nice job shifting too! 150-200lbs doesn't really make much difference in how much harder a car pulls when you consider the situation. It does on the track, as is the case in my experience, but not necessarily on the road. You dun good!

 

That's good to know about the 350Z. I love how it looks, and HP is nice, but I ruled it out once I saw its weight. 4133 lbs. is ridiculous for a roadster. The TL is almost 600 lbs lighter at 3582.

For comparison to what a roadster should be, the S2000 is 2835 lbs.

The engine in the 350Z must be made of cast iron.

 

In my experience, an extra person in the car for two evenly-matched cars makes a significant difference. I had a buddy with a Firebird which was set up just like my LT-1 Z28, and when one of us would have a passenger, and the other was witout one, whichever was by himself would always walk away. It wasn't a HUGE difference, but it was enough to have mattered in this race, I'm sure.

 

I don't know where you read that... Maybe that was a wet weight. Nissan's dry weight figures for the 350Z range from 3,188#'s - 3,247#'s. They are definitely a lighter car than the TL. Vette's are about 3,100 and I figure that's a decently light weight. Those S2000's are unusually light compared to two door sports cars like the 350 or a Vette.

 

Well, they certainly should be lighter. I was pretty much shocked when I saw it. I got teh figure off of Edmunds (Click Here). They have a Goss Weight and a Curb Weight - I didn't see it. What is Gross Weight anyway?

 

Ah, I just realized you are talking about the convertible, right? I read that it is 3,428#'s, which is definitely heavier than the coupe. I'm guessing the gross is a wet weight, as opposed to the dry weights the manufacturers use. The Z I raced was a hard-top coupe.

The link you posted didn't work for me, by teh way.

 

what the hell is "wet weight"??

 

Wet weight is as the name implies. It's full of all the fluids the car needs to run including gas, fluids and oils. Dry weight is without any such fluids. Of course, it's silly to report dry weight since you can't run a car that way.

dsc888

 

I don't know how cars compare to bikes, but my Honda 954RR's dry weight is about 15% lower than its wet weight.

 

Gross weight is when there are 2 500 lb people in the car