As detailed in this thread over at GRM...
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/ ... 374/page1/

My team partner and I will enter this 90's-tastic Q45 into the 2014 Grassroots Motorsports (GRM) $2014 Challenge.

More pics: http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/pimpm ... t=3&page=1


If you are not familiar with the GRM Challenge, it is in its 15th year. The annual event is put on by the magazine itself and covered extensively in the mag.
The competition is:
Autocross
Drag
Concourse
with one underlying rule. You are limited to a budget of $2014
Full rules: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events ... nge-rules/

Details of last years event with links to results:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articl ... enge-pres/
For the past couple years, I have been part of the team that finished 10th last year with a fox body mustang.
My partner on the Q45 competed last year and took 16th with a '93 SE-R.

This years event takes place Oct. 24-25 in Gainsville, FL (where it is always held)
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/2014-challenge/

The car was bought last week in FL and the plan was just hatched. That now gives us about 3 months to learn all we need to know and get ready to compete.
What I am looking for here is extensive knowledge on Q45's. I hope this is the place. If not, please direct me to where.

As the car sits now, we have about $1,300 into it and it runs/drives well.
The rules will allow us to have 4 new tires (not part of the $2014 budget.) I feel that we should allocate two of these to rear drag tires.
I would like to source two used autocross tires (bought out of the remaining budget) and get two new ones to go with.

What am I missing????
I know nothing of Q45's other than cool as hell in a baller sort of way.

What 'cha got????
Going forward, we will be looking to buy some parts. The spirit of the rules discourages getting items for free but paying dirt cheap is better. At the competition, a full portfolio and budget breakdown must be presented to the judges with additional copies for the other competitors to scrutinize.

We will need some theme ideas too. I am impressed with the name Q-zilla and playing off "President" is good too. What else is being overlooked?

I will finish this with some fun photos of last years competitors, from wild to mild:

The q45 should do pretty decent in the drags, we are thinking of maybe $100.00 shot and some interior removal.

A set of Hoosiers should go along way to improving the autocross performance.

Here are some pics from last year..

What are you doing with my car? LOL

You need to get a rear anti-sway bar from a Q45a and some struts or coil-overs to keep it on the road during AutoX.



Though it looks better today than it did 4 years ago.

If you can, replace those front seats. They weight roughly 85lbs a piece, or at least just the driver seat. Are there any noise restrictions? The rear muffler weights about 35 to 45lbs and both resonators are about the same. Its not to to loud like this but you could just replace it with a single.

Suspension is all basically 300zx so any aftermarket adjustable arms as well as poly bushings are the same. Like OwnerCS said you definitely need a rear sway bar, from either a Q45t or an Q45a will work, preferably an active.

So as far as suspension your best bet is:

300zx poly tension rod bushings
300zx poly lower control arm bushings
poly sway bar end link bushings both front and rear

If you have anything left over try:
300zx rear sub frame spacers

Now brakes, they are very good up to a point. If you push them hard you will get fade no matter what pads you put on the car. I dont know how important brakes are in this competition but when I took mine to Laguna Seca the brakes were the only let down. My problem was mostly brake fluid, I used cheap stuff when I changed it last year so it boiled. The pads I use are Axxis metal master pads, they seem to be just as good as the hawk pads I have now. You can get them from rock auto for $24(p/n: 0881448M ) for the front and $18 (p/n: 0881483M ) for the rears under beck arnley. Just as good as the OEM on the street but can handle higher heat.

There is a lot more but your budget is limited.

Hey -

Studebaker made a car named "The Dictator" until they changed the name to "The Commander" in 1938. I guess Dictators started becoming unfashionable about that time so they had to drop the name.

It was a sportier version of Studebaker's top of the line President at the time.

The car is a "t" with HICAS, how big is the rear bar compared with a Q45a? It had busted upper bushings when we got it, I already changed the front with adjustable ones from ebay.

Thanks for the lead on the brakes that is for sure within the budget. What is the best ecu for a 100 shot of nitrous. I have a nismotronic for my track car's ve and if I remember it was atound $150.00. Do they make one for a Q45?

Duh, I should have read the title more closely. The t sway bar is 15.9mm where the 'a' is 20mm.

As for the ECU you'll want to talk to Wes Stinson who sells ECU's. I think I remember he was running nitrous at one point, so he may have a tune for that or know more.

[email protected]
http://www.q45.org/vhpower/parts.shtml

All great stuff!

Lets talk wheels. What other factory wheels will fit on the Q45?
I assume all similar age Nissan rwd car rims will fit.
Will fwd like Maxima fit?
What other rims from other makes will fit?
I ask because we will need to source another set of wheels. Often, oem rims can be the cheapest. We are not going for beauty in the second wheels (we have beauty in gold BBS rims.) What is needed are cheap. Function over fashion. If they are real bad, we will spray bomb them.

Just like the wheels, we are looking for any used parts that may improve the performance.

I have a line on a set of Z32 Twin Turbo rims under $50 each. These are the staggered size of 16"x7.5 front and 16x8.5 rear.
I am not sure if they are the right backspacing.
Can anyone confirm or deny if these will fit onto the '91 Q45?

This style:


Is 16" even the right answer?
Should I be thinking 17" or larger for better tire choices?

Those 17 inch hoosiers aren't going to cut it they are ancient and rock hard. The 300zx wheels should work but 200 for a set is pricey, plus we need to get them here. Those 16x7.5 gs300 wheels I found for 80.00 is a better deal even considering the shanked lugs that cost 27.00. I agree 17 inch race tires are probably easier to find.

Lose the slicks. NICO ECU is the killer. Auxiliary ATF cooler is good insurance along with new fluids. Rear J30 or FGY33 vented rotor will help on track.

Other suspension modifications as noted.

Oh, I have some new BBS RGR 18x9 wheels you could pair with either 255/40-18 or 245/45-18 PSS to really kill it. They might notice the adjustable upper links, but setting camber may help.

Front "a" model bar best with rear "a" model bar to allow a little better rotation.

jrw1621 wrote:I have a line on a set of Z32 Twin Turbo rims under $50 each. These are the staggered size of 16"x7.5 front and 16x8.5 rear.
I am not sure if they are the right backspacing.
Can anyone confirm or deny if these will fit onto the '91 Q45?

This style:


Is 16" even the right answer?
Should I be thinking 17" or larger for better tire choices?

No, 16" is tough for top performance tires. If you go with the turbo wheels, you want the rear ones all around. Some of the later forged Rays wheels on the Z33 will also work.

SanCarlosQ45 wrote:If you can, replace those front seats. They weight roughly 85lbs a piece, or at least just the driver seat.

Do you know of any other Nissan/Infiniti seats that bolt in? I imagine just going to a manual seat would save a ton of weight.

According the fuel calculator on http://www.rceng.com/technical.aspx, you could get by with 150 shot of nitrous with stock injectors and fuel pressure. However, I would suggest some colder plugs and timing retard or running some NOS octane booster with premium.

If you wanted some insurance for enough fuel, you can hook up an adjustable fuel regulator and air pump to crank up the fuel pressure when you hit the button! (you could just run the adjustable fuel regulator at higher pressure also and crank up the pressure some just for drag racing and turn it down for autocrossing)

I dont know any OEM seats but Corbeau makes seat brackets/rails for theses cars. Just the driver seat alone dropped the weight by 45 lbs. You will have to cut off one of the mounts and weld it back on about an inch inward to the seat. If you go with a lighter fixed back seat the weight savings will be much higher. The total for the just the driver side was about $450 for the seat and rail.

This company also makes a seat bracket, just add your own slides and seat:
http://www.xcessivemanufacturing.com/ON ... =4&pid=333

Nissan/Infiniti seats that bolt in? I

I don't know for sure, but IF any do - some cloth 3rd gen maxima seats (89-94)... can save some $ and get them from a bone yard. They are comparable in weight to racing seats.

I feel a bit remiss for having not written anything recently.
This is mostly because I have been busy but I want y'all to know, I have been checking here regularly and very much appreciating your wisdom.

Brakes and tires have been ordered.
I followed SanCarlos' advise and ordered exactly as he recommended.
Though these brake pads do not affect the budget, they seemed very well priced and very well recommended.

Tires too are outside the budget as we are allowed 4 new tires.
What I have ordered is 225/50/16 hankook rs3 version 2, $108 each. A good price and a good tire that will do very well in the autox portion as well as should be all we need for the drag race portion.

Budget spent so far is $1,236.00 subtracted from the $2,014 leaves $778 to spend.

I have made inquiry to Wes for a NICO ECU which could set us back $250 but for 40hp, it seems good.

I am not sure if the car has a trans cooler (checking soon) but if it does not, we will have to factor in for that. Does anyone have insight of instruction of installing a trans cooler on a Q45?
Oil cooler needed?

I would love to have NOS on the car but, I really have no NOS experience and not sure if it can be done for less than $500.
Any NOS on Q45 insights?

Any recommendations for shocks?

Remember that tires are the only thing that touches both the car and the road...............

I really don't think slicks will gain you anything in a drag race. The Q can barely spin the tires off the line.

Honestly, for an auto-X and drag race, I think a good start would be the 4.08 diff (there's even a way to do a 4.36 diff, which would be wicked fun). IF it were me, I wouldn't waste money on the suspension bushings, they're good things to do but probably wont affect your times at all if you're a good driver and know how to handle the car at its limits. The subframe spacers however will do really well for the drag racing as it really helps for wheel hop.

Brakes are good stock, biggest thing is pads.

Conveniently, most of what will help you with drag racing will also help you with auto-cross. With a NICO ECU, you should be able to break into the 14s pretty easily. The Q45a rear sway bar will help tremendously too. Best to use poly in the rear, and rubber in the front to make the car as neutral as possible.

I would seriously look if the knock sensors work, that can be 50HP by itself.

For autocross, your biggest battle is going to be understeer and just the sheer mass of the car. While the car is very capable at high speeds, it's very clunky at low speeds and hard to toss around like you would a miata or 240sx. You're gonna have to really man-handle the car around an autocross track, and your lines are gonna need to be pretty good because some courses you'll simply not have enough room to make turns since the car is so big haha.

This is pretty cool stuff, my phone number is on the contact page of www.q45.org. Shoot me a call or text, I'd be happy to bounce ideas around.

The z32 bushings, links, and spacers are worth it for us street goers. I think the Q45a sway bar and front strut bars are a must over those. Along with the ECU. Especially for the inexpensive cost. 2k is really a tough mark with this car. Can't wait for results

elwesso wrote:Remember that tires are the only thing that touches both the car and the road...............

I really don't think slicks will gain you anything in a drag race. The Q can barely spin the tires off the line.
Slicks are out of the budget now. We chose to go with 4 new 16" Hankooks that will be run on the gold-tastic BBS rims. These will be our only tires.

Honestly, for an auto-X and drag race, I think a good start would be the 4.08 diff (there's even a way to do a 4.36 diff, which would be wicked fun). Interesting! do tell more!

IF it were me, I wouldn't waste money on the suspension bushings, they're good things to do but probably wont affect your times at all if you're a good driver and know how to handle the car at its limits. The subframe spacers however will do really well for the drag racing as it really helps for wheel hop.
Suspension work is unlikely. Better shocks would be nice but not likely on-budget. Interesting info on subframe spacers. This could be possible.

Brakes are good stock, biggest thing is pads.
Axxis pads bought as recommended earlier. The rules allow for fresh pads outside of the budget but this does not mean you can add a big-brake kit and not have to count it. We have fresh Q45 pads.

Conveniently, most of what will help you with drag racing will also help you with auto-cross. With a NICO ECU, you should be able to break into the 14s pretty easily.
Agreed

The Q45a rear sway bar will help tremendously too. Best to use poly in the rear, and rubber in the front to make the car as neutral as possible.
Since this is a "t" model, we do have the smaller rear bar. I am hoping this is better than no bar. We would need a great price to justify the larger bar.

I would seriously look if the knock sensors work, that can be 50HP by itself.
Interesting

For autocross, your biggest battle is going to be understeer and just the sheer mass of the car. While the car is very capable at high speeds, it's very clunky at low speeds and hard to toss around like you would a miata or 240sx. You're gonna have to really man-handle the car around an autocross track, and your lines are gonna need to be pretty good because some courses you'll simply not have enough room to make turns since the car is so big haha.
The format is such that Professional drivers and Autox National Champs are brought in to also take a hand at putting down great times in the cars. Along with your own runs, you have a choice of 4-5 pros that you can hand pick to try their hand at your car. The course layout is typically wide to be kind to high HP and likely heavy cars.

This is pretty cool stuff
it is amazing stuff. The level of competition is top notch. Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and some other schools field teams filled with mostly engineer students. The MGB in the first posting photos is last years Georgia Tech car/team photo.

my phone number is on the contact page of http://www.q45.org. Shoot me a call or text, I'd be happy to bounce ideas around.
I will be open and easily reached most of 10am-2pm EST tomorrow. I'll reach out to you.

If your not busy Oct 24th, join us in Gainsville!

Budget spent so far is $1,236.00 subtracted from the $2,014 leaves $778 to spend.

Still needed:
$50 for trans cooler
$250 for ECU
$100 for used lightweight race seat and fab'ed seat bracket (remove heavy upholstered seats for competitions but have upholstery in for concourse portion)

That is $400 leaving $378 that I wish could be spent on Nitrous.

This should give us a clean, neat car that is on good rubber and good pads along with giggle juice.

The subframe spacers sandwich the original silicone filled subframe bushings so you dont have to replace them. When I put mine on I had almost ~1/4 to 3/8" of slop in the bushings. When I did loose traction I could feel some wheel hop because the sub frame was moving more than it should. Once I did that the back end felt much more connected to the car.

http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=1374

You could probably find cheaper ones on ebay, but these are the ones I put on the car. Took about a half an hour to put on because you just loosen the bolts on one side enough to get them in, then tighten up.

Hey jrw1621,

Do you plan on putting the car on a lift? If so can you pull a few measurements? PM please.

Infinitiguy19 wrote:Hey jrw1621,

Do you plan on putting the car on a lift? If so can you pull a few measurements? PM please.

I have owned the car for 3 weeks but I have never seen it in-person. The car is in Florida with my partner Jeremy(pimpm3), I am in Ohio. The plan is to compete with the car nearly two months from now on Friday Oct 24. I will see the car for the first time Oct 23.
Between now and then, Jeremy may be able to get you the measurements you want. I certainly can get them after. As luck would have it, the car was on a rack just earlier today as it was fitted for fresh autox rubber.

Today is a big day!
All this talk of ECU and today, Jeremy went in and looked at the existing ECU. It looks like this:



So, some change of direction. Going to stay with just the existing JWT and skip the NOS all together.
We'll drop the idea of a race seat as well as back off on a couple other plans and leave off other items already bought to keep the Q45 down in the $1,007 Class (half budget) where we should be very, very competitive!!!!


Wes,
Thanks so much for taking my call the other day. I think I'll save the special weapons for next years competition which will give much more "hands-on" time with the Q and the ability to get it sorted out.

That's a heck of a find getting a JWT ECU already in the car! My ECU does give you a bit more power than JWT (maybe 10-15HP), but it's not night and day difference.

So knowing all that, I wonder if you could find a set of coilovers cheap enough? That would be a great upgrade, because especially on the autocross the Q has so much body lean to it, it's hard to throw around so abruptly at such low speeds due to the weight transfer... It's a handful, but the nice thing is that you don't have to shift gears (just leave it in 1st the entire time, you'll never top out). You can modify/hack Z32 coilovers to fit the Q, but you'll be quite a bit lower which means you'll have to mess with the alignment.

Congrats on a great finish! Here are the results: https://classicmotorsports.net/media/im ... CORING.pdf
They actually ran a 15.3 in the quarter mile, but he did not have the time slip. Also they did it for $1007! An extra $1007 could have got some sticky tires and nitrous!