I was thinkin about it and saying man I am spending my money on suspension mods left and right (I deff got bit hard by the modification bug) and I dont even know how much improvement I am gaining in skidpad lateral grip. Has anyone with a modified suspension checked, using a G-tech pro or some other method, how much difference the suspension mods actually made on their car. I am lookin to get my car to pull at least .90G on the skidpad. But I have no idea where I am right now in relation to that number. Stock the I35 pulls .80 on the skidpad.

I know the I35 is a big heavy car so I dont think I am going to be able to make it very nimble but I do think I could bring grip levels pretty high in long sweepers.

 

i dont know if anyone has used that kind of testing but there are huge impovements. myself and irish autocross and we can tell a huge diffirence in handing and most importantly times after suspension mods

 

I tested my fstb. There's this ramp I take every day, and before the FSTB the fastest I could push it on that ramp was like 38-39 mph. Now I can take that ramp going 43.

 

and the FSTB has the least amount of improvment (i didnt see any)
there is a huge diffirence when you lower the car and add a RSB and SFC

 

Yeah I just got my FSTB and RSB in and within the next week I will be bringing my car in for custom SFCs. From there I will do LTB and if the SFCs really helped the ride I might run a slightly stiffer spring like H & R or Maxspeeds with an adjustable strut, but I think thats all I will ever do to the car suspension wise. I checked and the stillen SMX max had a rear sway bar a set of pretty sticky tires and a slightly stiffer spring and they achieved
.90g on the skidpad, So I am hoping to do a little better. If I could hit .95 on sticky street tires while maintaining a nearly stock ride I would be estatic. Hell the bmw 6 series pulls .90g or better from the factory, as well as some of their 3 series and those arent even their performance models.

Actualy sooner fan I am going to have almost the exact same setup as you. I just got the otto FSTB and the Progress RSB as well as the toyo proxes 4, and I am also planning on getting the energy suspension bushings. Too bad to hear that the otto bar didnt give you any noticible difference.

 

Well yes, but those are also BMW's...we own Nissans...not exactly the same thing...that's one of the many better things you're paying for when you get one of those...my dad got his new 330xi the other day (3rd 3 series in a row) and it, just like all the others right out of the factory totally stock, handles better and more solid than any maxima i've ever ridden in (ones with LTB, FSTB, RSB, Coilovers)...that along with the lack of a good navigation system, projectors that turn as your wheels turn, and the other countless features are what makes the nissan the poor man's bmw

 

well damn thats awfully discouraging, but I think what you meen is the max cant touch the BMWs handling balance and feel, which is true I am aware of that and accept it because we have a fwd 4 door sedan and thats not going to change no matter what mods you do. On the other hand I think we should be able to match the BMW in lateral grip, which is what I'm lookin for so I can attack some long sweepers and off ramps.

 

I'm sure that some combo must be able to get that done...let us know how it works out for you.

 

as far as I remember the previous gen of 330i could only pull .84g. I also know for sure that 5.0 gen SE pulls .85 stock

 

skidpad numbers really don't mean much, though, since skidpads don't take into account real-world (or real-track) handling situations (effects of braking and accelleration through turns, etc). The tires on a car have an effect on skidpad grip too...cars are usually tested with their stock tires - in our case the PATHETIC RE92's...

 

well skidpad numbers dont mean much for autocross but I have an auto so autocross is out of the question for me anyway. In long sweeping turns though skidpad numbers are important, and knowing that my car will probably never be nimble enough to dance through cones or mountain switchbacks I would rather take it down a nice curvy road with long sweepers where the car needs to hold sustained lateral G forces which is what the skidpad measures. If I could get it to boogie around cones that would be sick too but this is a max not a mini

 

You can always manual shift or keep it in 2 or something.

Don't think ya wanna get into that discussion... many people here have proven that a Max CAN "boogie around cones" and do well in it. Its not gonna be a world beater, but it can hold its own with the right set-up and driver.

 

sciff obviously hasn't seen my videos, where the maxima is boogie-ing around cones in less time than, say, Jason's Miata For autocross, you could put it in 2 and leave it there. most courses I stay in MT 2nd gear for the entire run....no shifting required unless it's either a "really fast" (might need 3rd) or "really slow" (maybe 1st) course....plenty of AT's autocross IMO

 

football analogy:

Maxima is kind of like T.O....big, strong, and fairly fast.
A sporstcar is more like Marvin Harrison...small, quick, and very fast.

both run great routes, and both can make cuts with the best of them, even though TO is way bigger than Harrison. Is one better than the other? I doubt you could make the distinction (ignoring attitude, of course)

The point: it's all about your footing and planting your feet...Analogy: it's all about how sticky your tires are and how responsive the car is.

I'll tell you one place my maxima can OWN any (rwd, at least) BMW out there: snow FWD

 

Just out of curiosity , is that the ramp on the right side going to Lilly pond road, after you cross Verrazano bridge into staten island? Sign is posted 20 mph.

 

Well Irsish not all of us have your skillz in the boogie-ing department but I sure would love to work on it and if I can do it in my auto I would be stoked. On the other hand road racing interests me a lot more than Auto X but I dont feel good putting that much stress on my car and again.. no manual and in a road course I would need to shift.. although if NRH is still making shiftronic kits for the auto trannies I might do it and it wont be as good as a manual but I'm not racing for prize money I'm racing for fun so it would be fine for me.

 

Yah, the 330xi (all wheel drive) is pretty damn good in the snow.

 

Even if you're doing it for fun, be prepared to spend some serious cash.

 

He did state RWD BMWs so the 330xi doesnt count

 

Yah thats another reason I am kinda not into racing in general. I love to enjoy my suspension and I love attacking a curvy road on a sunny day and racing is fun and all but too expensive and I feel like I'm kickin the crap out of my baby.

 

I like to think of it as "letting my baby realize as much potential as possible" and not so much as "kickin the crap out" of her.

 

Every winter I swap back to my stock suspension for snow and oh man is it different. Back comes the roll, the dive, the lack of launching power, etc. Huge difference.

Various auto-x and car clubs run test & tunes throughout the year. That's a good chance to get skidpad and slalom figures to compare with the car mags and stuff.

That Car & Driver competition thing also had a skidpad portion but that series got cut short due to lack of interest.

Oh, automatics are fine for auto-x. One of our local top B14's was an auto.

 

Hmm.. My first gear goes to around 40 and my second year goes to around 70-75. I have never done auto X so how fast do you go in the fastest parts and how slow do you go in the slowest parts?

 

Depends on the course and the curves... it is always different. The ones I've seen around here are typically between 20-60.

 

Nah, I drove there only a couple of times. The ramp I’m talking about is exit 29b of the BQE in downtown Brooklyn. (the second exit after Brooklyn Bridge going from Staten Island)

 

haha my post count has almost doubled in no time at all... damn I have no life when my car is in the shop. I should go make some more money so I can buy more cool stuff.

I have been bitten by the bug WAY hard!



I am goin without my car

 

haha i kno what you mean

 

I know, that's what I stated "yah" at the beginning of my sentence...and further emphasized my point of posting again by basically agreeing with his unwritten statement about the all wheel drive models which he was referring to when he said (RWD at least)