Any competitive solo2 BSP Zs out there?

[CTR98]

Curious if anyone is still running a competitive solo2 240Z in BSP. I haven't seen any in SCCA national results since Vic Sias quit running his after the 2001 season. Anyone still trying?

[2ManyZs]

Tom Holt and a couple other auto-x'ers frequent the racing forum over on ZDriver.

http://zdriver.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=14

[CTR98]

I just posted the same question at zdriver but Tom is the only one I've seen with autox posts over there. I'm thinking my chances are better over here. :classic:

[2ManyZs]

Well, we've got a few road racers, and few that do open track events and Vintage, but no serious auto-x'ers that I can think of.....

[Zvoiture]

Most (I'll probably get in trouble for that blanket statement) of the Z navigators out there in soloII have gone the FP route--including Mr. Holt. It's not that the C4s and Tigers can't be beat, I think--and part of this is from personal exploration--once you start modifying your Z, it is REALLY HARD to keep it in BSP. There are some serious things the Z needs to be competitive that BSP doesn't allow.

steve(last place BSP [NASA] this year)77

[crayZlair]

I've been running a non-competitive '76 280 since 1982 :stupid:

There was a National Tour event in Toledo this year........I finished about 8 seconds behind ( 2 day event)

Larry

[tholt29]

I thought my ears were burning...

Nobody brought any BSP Z's to Kansas this year, with the exception of the 350, but that doesn't mean they can't be competitive. It's just not as easy as buying a C4 and slapping some huge rubber on it. People just don't "believe" the 1st gen Z's can be competitive, so they don't try. It wasn't that long ago that Vic proved it can be done, but he's a helluva good driver and he spent a bunch of money to get a 30+ year old car to the level it needed to be. I think to have a competitve BSP Z you HAVE to have a 240. The 260's and 280's tend to be too heavy, and since there's no minimum weight you want to start with the lighter frame. Next be ready to replace the whole suspension and flare the fenders to fit the big rubber under it. After that it just takes talent!

FP is certainly no cheaper or easier... but everybody (regardless of make and model) has to go to the same extents to be fast. So, therfore it doesn't seem like it is as difficult to make a Z competitive.

Tom

[2ManyZs]

Hehe, forgot you were a member here Tom.... I usually see you posting over on "Taters" forum....

[CTR98]

First, let me say that this same post over on zdriver.com has only had 15 views to 96 over here and no one has posted over there. I knew this would be a better place. :classic:

I'm guessing that no one is running a competitive BSP Z anymore. Even though I'm in the process of building a BSP 240 I don't think it is in the right class anymore. I know Vic won in 2001 and, IMO, Vic is the only reason the car is still in BSP. I just don't think Zs could be any better than what Vic had and the rest of BSP has moved on. Vic's co-driver told me their new SM M3 is a much better car than his Z, and that car loses to Bob Tunnel's M3 which is basically BSP legal. So, my original question was simply to see if anyone was running competitively as I don't want the SCCA to respond to my request with a letter stating someone is winning in a Z.

What do you guys think about DSP? It is now led by BMW 325s, 330s, and Lexus IS300s. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the input!

George

1971 Blue/blue Series 1 autox machine still under construction

[240Zdragon72]

I'm going to be in the process on building her for solo or autocross. any good pointer to follow? Anything will help. (even not to bother. Make my Wife happy)

[2ManyZs]

George, all I can say is, any class you will be running against the 3 series Bimmer, you might as well be ready to run behind them..... especially in any class where they are able to legally get inside their ECU and modify it... those cars have better brakes, stiffer chassis, and they can put more hp to the wheels than a 240 can put to the crank.:disappoin

The 325's hav pretty much dominated road racing in ITS for the last few years in my region.. in fact, no car other than a 325 has won a race in the last 3 years at Summit Point...

[CTR98]

Brian asked:

I'm going to be in the process on building her for solo or autocross. any good pointer to follow? Anything will help. (even not to bother. Make my Wife happy)

First thing is to decide how you really want to use your car. Is it just going to be an autox car or do you also want it to be a street driver? How competitive do you want it to be? How far do you really want to take the car? Next is, what class do you want to run (ES, BSP, SM2, FP, or maybe ST2 if it is run in your region)? Oh yeah, how much do you want to spend?

E Stock is the easiest and cheapest to prepare for, ST2 is a class some are hoping to make happen and would allow basic street mods, SM2 is for serious but street legal cars, BSP is kind of the first step to FP, and FP is pure racer. I don't think the 240/260/280 is really competitive as currently classed except maybe in FP (Tom would know more about that).

I'm not an expert by any means but I can tell you what I've found that would cover ES, ST2, BSP, and SM2. Tom would probably be willing to help with FP and he all ready has a web page showing what has been done to his car. If you want what I know about a specific class or any of the classes let me know.