What's this about?
 

Last weeknend i was driving around with 3 other people in the car,when this 350z pulled up next to me,long story short,we did several runs from the line and driving,and we were dead even every time,unless i stepped on it before him.
Anyway,the next day i'm driving home with only 1 other person in the car,when this 99+ gt mustang starts chasing me,i downshift to fourth and pull away from him,so then he catches up later,and steps on it,and i try to catch up,but i can't pull on him,we were pretty much equally fast,just like with the 350z.
Anyway the guy sais his stang is stock,how could he be that fast if he's stock?I got 3.73 gears,diablo chip,magnaflow catback,and a steeda tri-ax shifter.
His exhaust smoked alittle at one time when he shifted,don't know if that's got anything to do with it.

How can i beat a car that has more HP and is way lighter then mime,but can't beat a car that is only slightly lighter then mine,but less HP? :(

Well I think there is enough variation between cars and the driver skill level (not saying you're a bad driver) to account for the differences. Your car is not making that much power than a stock 99+ GT, with your mods. Although the gears should help, maybe he was just faster :confused: I mean there are members here that have pushed there BONE STOCK cars to run mid 13's (while others get mid to low 14's).

On the other hand, buddy could have some juice, but I would think that even a 75 shot on a stock 99+ GT would be enough to put you away. Who Knows :confused:

Then again, on the street, there is no telling what can and will happen :cool:

So are you saying a stock 99+ gt mustang is faster then a stock 350z?

Between those 2 cars it should come down to driving. Also, the 350Z is not appreciably lighter than a Stang anyways and you may only be making a couple horsepower more than stock.

i was just wondering how fast you were going when you down shifted into 4th gear when the stang was with you. if you were only going 55 or so and downshifted to 4th then you arent going anywhere with 373's. i downshift to 3rd gear all the way up to 65 or around there and then quickly into fourth and this seems to get the best jump. just wondering? i could be doing it wrong, i dont know?

Of course i was noticably lighter then the 350,i had 3 other people in the car. LOL,

I was driving about 80,i downshifted to see if he wanted to race,he tried catching up but couldn't.So i waited,and when he passed me the first time he also downshifted and started pulling on me,so i did too,to 3rd that time(Like i always do at that speed),and when my clutch finally bit,he was ahead but couldn't pull anymore,but neather could i.

When you are going from a roll driver skill doesnt have alot to do with it. Whoever has the better HP to weight ratio is gonna pull away.

Maybe the 350Z was an auto and the 99GT was a 5 speed.

A 99GT should be as fast as you IMO,

I do think the 350 z was an automatic.I really don't understang why they make automatics here in america,and i even less understang why people buy them.Oh well,their loss.

my cars stock also

gas humidity lots of weird little factors that can change things for both of you.

well as far as the auto question there making them better every year .

as far as buying an auto my running around car has one cause I'll never race it and drive in traffic to much.
:D

But the most fun i'm having while driving my car,is in traffic where i get to shift as much as possible.I know when i'm driving on a highway i sometimes downshift to 4th for no reason,and then back to fifth later on,i don't know why but i just can't get enough of it.I drove an automatic for a few weeks,and it was boring,gas and break,that's it.And yes they do make em better every year,it's just not as fun. :)

But my AOD will outshift you every day of the week and twice at the track on Saturday night as far as reliability and speed of shifting. When manually shifted, it's a blast (gotta love those Lentech VB's). And when you run squeeze, it's just one long SPRAAAAAAAAAAAAAY (as opposed to SPRAY *shift* SPRAY *shift* SPRAY *shift*). You just haven't driven the right automatic yet.

:)

'Course, it does eat more HP.

--nathan

Alot of people say that,but i haven't seen an automatic that could outshift me yet(I haven't been at the track eather though).It takes me about a quater of a second maybe even less to shift from first to second,and from third to fourth.Second to third is about half a second,the tri ax shifter makes second to third alottle easier,but i'm still having some problems.But i don't mind,my clutch doesn't bite at all,so fast shifting doesn't really do me much.BTW.Squeezing as you call it takes so little you can't even see it.

I can bang through the gears with the best of them but the auto is more consistent and you dont miss gears.

I prefer the 5 speed cause I am a control freak:D

Exactly,no way do i want the car to do the shifting for me,i have to have controll over everything too.

Autos
 

I use an auto mostly by default. That's what my car came with and I didn't want to convert. The C-4 in my car uses a 2500+ TCI stall converter. I have a B&M shift kit that helps shifts.

Running an auto means running a trans oil pump as well as the converter and all that uses up some power. Does one want to use up that power for more uniformity? Only the owner of the car knows the answer to that question.

On the shifting question, nobody beats the speed of the actual shift in an auto. Notice I said "actual shift". Most stock autos lock the tranny in two gears at the same time for the functional shift. The OEM engineers do this to ensure a "smooth" shift. In actuality, they are forcing the clutches to slip during the gear translation. They also use devices to slow the action of the clutches (more like feathering than dumping in a standard).

Shift kits make the auto tranny pop the clutch more like one would do during a hard run. No locking in two gears to "smooth' out the shifts either. The oil pump still sucks power and the rotating mass of the tranny is still more.

Bottom line is, will you trade a power loss for uniformity of function? Only one person can decide that.

Rev

Re: Autos
 

I agree,it's up to the drivers to decide,but how many times have we all heard this phrease before in one way or another?

"Yeah you beat me,but only because mine's an automatic"

Damn good point