hpimola Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Starting plans to build 2 new spec Z for 2015, what are the pros and cons for each model? how is the parody between the cars? any ideas, comments will help. thanks HP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esr Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I have a car 90% ready if you are interested. 2003 One owner 60k miles. Rafael 925-367-3535 [ quote=hpimola]Starting plans to build 2 new spec Z for 2015, what are the pros and cons for each model? how is the parody between the cars? any ideas, comments will help. thanks HP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Any HR engined car is prefered...the simple fact is that they will always have more HP than the other models... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japelle Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Any HR engined car is prefered...the simple fact is that they will always have more HP than the other models... I'm not quite sure that the HR is the "preferred" model. After having one of each model. I would say the DE or the Revup motor is just as competitive as the Hr if not better. You got to remember the HR gets penalized with a weight of 3400# which is a lot of wear on brakes and tires etc.. making it harder to drive in longer races. As the class evolves I see all three models being just as competitive as the next one. Take for example this past weekend we had an HR, DE, and Revup in the top 3 and each one ran a tight race all within a few hundredths of a second from each other. Plus if you are looking for cost savings on the two builds definitely pickup a later model car versus a 15K donor HR. Just my 2 cents. Jay Pellegrini III Team Pelle Motorsports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 All good points..and you would definitly be the best resource. But If I had to do it again...AND MONEY WAS NO OBJECT...I would go with the strongest motor available And being that Road Atlanta is my home track...HP will win you a few races there. Barber is a good torque/handeling/braking track, so that was a good eqaulizer...so all the cars where pretty equal where equal drivers had the wheel. Even new tires verses old tires didn't seem to make a big difference... *I was actaully surprised that the Z1 Nismo was not quicker in the short striaghts. He didn't pull any of the fast cars at all...I was VERY surprised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpimola Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 so if a good donor can be found for a fair price, the HR would be the one to start with? is one a 5spd vs 6spd? redline difference? looking at the weight and horsepower ratios, it would seem the DE cars would be the one to build, so something needs to be a significant improvement on the HR to justify the significant weight gain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmdirks Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I'm not quite sure that the HR is the "preferred" model. After having one of each model. I would say the DE or the Revup motor is just as competitive as the Hr if not better. You got to remember the HR gets penalized with a weight of 3400# which is a lot of wear on brakes and tires etc.. making it harder to drive in longer races. As the class evolves I see all three models being just as competitive as the next one. I agree with Jay. If I were to start over I would stick with an early model DE car. I think lighter is the way to go. There should never be a "car to have in order to win" in a spec series, especially if the donor is the most expensive model, e.g. the '07-'08 HR-powered cars. Fortunately, this has not shown to be the case with Spec Z. I think it's pretty cool that a base 2003 car with a 90K mile engine can be nationally competitive in this series! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Jay and David at Top tier national level drivers who have the Wins to show for it...these guys get 100% out of a car (I can't ) So I am OFFICIALLY changing my opinion...a well built Lightweight "DE" car is the best price to performance choice, David Dirks actually won the 2013 Spec Z National Championship in a DE car...by a pretty good margin on a high speed track (Miller) so enough said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpimola Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 thanks for the tips. i have raced a spec series for a few years, although parity is the goal, some cars offer an advantage (albeit driver / track specific). so i was looking for opinions, rather then a definitive model. is the track car the only one with the LSD and brembo brakes? any preference of nismo LSD vs Wave? thanks for the input hp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastNotFurious Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 thanks for the tips. i have raced a spec series for a few years, although parity is the goal, some cars offer an advantage (albeit driver / track specific). so i was looking for opinions, rather then a definitive model. is the track car the only one with the LSD and brembo brakes? any preference of nismo LSD vs Wave? thanks for the input hp I'm running an '03 base model (added Brembos for <$1000 and vLSD for <$400) Car is competitive as proven at Barber in straights & brake zones - no HR or DE pulled me for sure. Driver is another question I think starting with ANY manual transmission Z is fine (and base may be a more cost effective starting point) - brake & diff changes are easy. I may move to the WT diff in the future when my vLSD gives out.... but you also need a cooler for those or they will not last - seems OK with the guys who now have coolers & latest WT updates. With HP & weight enforcement the cars are all surprisingly close - if we ever get longer races the HRs will certainly pay a tire/brake penalty due to the extra weight they carry. Last season I would have said (and did say) HR was the ticket.... so far this year I'm glad I have the DE.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 as the series gains popularity the prep level to run up front will also rise - it's one of the few things you can bank on in racing as a general truth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian L. Posted February 25, 2014 Members Share Posted February 25, 2014 as the series gains popularity the prep level to run up front will also rise - it's one of the few things you can bank on in racing as a general truth I agree. I think its really to early to tell. Prep level and driver level make such a huge difference. Until fields get larger across the country it will be hard to know for sure. Track type will also play such a huge roll. Right now I am going 03-04 from a purely cost perspective, until proven otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcazin Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 If I were to do this over again, I'd do an HR Nismo setup. So, if anyone wants a turnkey, DE 2003, log booked, totally done Spec Z - hit me up. I'd be happy to build another car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmdirks Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Right now I am going 03-04 from a purely cost perspective, until proven otherwise. The goal is to not be proven otherwise. So as the class develops and the cars become more refined, we need to pay attention to cars which may have a performance advantage and adjust the rules if necessary. This is critical to maximize the success of a spec series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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