I had a blast running NHIS today. It was hot as hell, the Max did very well except for that I needed to run heat to keep it cool after 15 minutes of flat out running. Oh well. I'll try to post video in the next few days so you guys can see what driving NHIS is like.

Oh, there were 2 Protege's there who kept getting past me, so I asked them what they had done to them. It turns out they were testing turbocharged one's for Mazda. Hmmmm. Things could be a little interesting if those make production.

Videos are here:http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=146692

 

Did you experience any of the issues discussed in the thread linked to below? Please ignore the flame wars as irrelevant to the technical content. If it's been locked, you could post your experiences here

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....5&pagenumber=1

Norm

 

Wow, that was a total mud slinging contest. I only read half the thread, but I of course have my own opinions too.

The Maxima is an okay handling car in the stock form up to about 6/10th or so, beyond that it mushes into understeer to protect the idiots on the road out there. That's perfect for the majority of it's target audience, just not the fanatics on this board. With a few minor mods, you can make the car handle very neutral and feel a lot tighter and more stable.

The handling mods on my car are a FSTB, Addco RSB, H&R springs and KYB AGX struts. I use a cheap summer tire on the stock rims in the 215/55/16 size. I tried 225/50/16's, but they're too wide and roll over in track driving. The 215's actually work better. With this setup, the car is night and day different from stock and is quite fast. I run in the advanced groups at the track events I do, and of the all the people driving cars like E36 or E46 M3's, only the really advanced drivers and instructor's can turn faster lap times than I can. I'd like to add that a Maxima is still a Maxima, and no matter what you do, it will never handle like a "race car" or feel as good as cars like a BMW.

The Maxima in particular seems to reward people who drive it with finesse and really punish those who are ham handed. I think Larrfry has probably been picked on enough, but it's pretty clear from his first post in that thread that he is missing the basic knowledge of how and why to drive a car at speed other than to go from point A to point B. At NHIS, which is a tight handling track, starting with my hands at 9 and 3 on the steering wheel, in the turns my right hand doesn't move much past 12 o'clock. The only reason the steering should be at the lock is in a slide/spin recovery, not trying to make the car turn as he posted. I will probably be Fri. or after the weekend before I can post the video's, but those will probably be helpfull to see what I mean.

 

I'd be interested in seeing those videos. Just have to cross my fingers in the hope that they don't make my 56k dial-up choke.

Out of curiosity, is NHIS located at the site previously known as Bryar?

Norm

(been having communication difficulties)

 

I have to upload them on a 56K (I'm in the stone age too), so they should be manageable.

It was AKA Bryar, though I don't know how different the actual track configuration is since those days.

 

you have no idea what you're talking about man, maxima is the greatest handling car ever, I have GC and it handles better then my neighbors Porsche, I drove that and it just sucks, my maxima has juice and I'm going to kick everybody's *** when I autocross or to go the track, I also have a Stillen sway bar, that thing is perfectly adjusted, I got myself 18" rims, so I got power and handling on those tires, I put scoops under the car so my engine bay gets more air, I have secret mods in the engine and the car is making 280 hp, wait till I see you around, I'll beat your car on a cold engine, you'll be breathing my exhaust fuems all the way to the junk yard

 

Someone drank too much last night

The only way I'll be breathing your exhaust fumes would be when your coat hangar breaks and you contaminate the entire east coast

See you there Friday.

 

Apparently we've been graced by the presence of Great Automotive Genius, with the power to make things so just by wishing . . .

Wonder if he's got the directional wheels and tires on the rear of his car straightened out yet . . .

 

He's just messing with everyone. The only "juice" his car has is when there's a bottle of OJ in the cup holder

 

hehe, I thought you'd like that by the way, I fixed exhaust so it's all good now, not falling off even if you wanted too, I reinforced it with double hangers everywhere

 

yeah, I'm messing w/ everyone, I was really refering to the guy that came to autox with us and was telling you about the juice in his car, haha, that was the funnist $hit because my grandma could've beaten him walking

I like OJ, not in my car though, I drink high class stuff, english tea

 

I put the videos up:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=146692

 

man that was cool.. i think i should by some cheap 17x8" wheels for the track, autoXing on my daily driven s03 tires dont' seem like the smartest thing to do.. i'm thinking of the kumho v700 competition tires. anyone have any experience with these tires?

 

Some of the Kumho's are great track tires. Since you'll eat through them rapidly if you do a lot of roadcourse events, the cheapest way to get the most performance out of a tire/wheel package is to use the 16X7.5" wheels off a 300ZX and put 225/50's on them. 17" tires get real expensive when you have to replace them twice each season and there are no cheap 17" wheels that don't weigh a ton.

 

What about 215/55/16 on the ZX rims?

 

The 225's are usually cheaper and you have more options on compounds.

The 215's might be a little narrow for that rim, not positive though.

 

the size for the zx rims is 225/50/16, because that's the oem size for bmw's, mercedes and other brand of tires, you will find variety of tires in that size, that's what I race on