350z vs. 3.5 altima

[z33nismo12]

Okay there is this kid who wants to race me with his 2003 3.5 altima, he has boltons and wants to do it for 200$. All i have is an intake. He just put headers on his car and is convinced he can beat me now.. What do you guys know about 3.5 alitmas gaining power with headers, and im sure this is a easy 200. just checking before
Modified by z33nismo12 at 4:32 PM 4/22/2009

[maximus108]

GO FOR IT!!!

The V6 Altima has a 0 to 60 of 6.4. http://www.motortrend.com/road....html

The 350z does its 0 to 60 in atleast one second quicker.

Make sure you do this race at a track or something.Doing it illegally can cost you way more than the $200 that you're going to steal from your friend.

Good luck with it.

[kuhan]

stick or auto?

if your is a stick and know how to drive then you should be able to take him.

[raremotive]

You have the initial weight transfer advantage... FWD loses weight on at the front tires when all weight is shifted back.

FWD FTL...

[K03sport]

Personally, I wouldn't race him (on a track). The only reason he wants to challenge you is because he wants to prove to himself that the money he's spent on his parts are actually worth something. No matter what this guy offers, don't honor his wish to race (on a track). It will irritate him to all ends.

If he's man enough, he'll drop it. If he's immature, he will keep bugging you and bugging you and try different ways to make you race him (on a track). He will even result to verbally slamming you to make you feel less than worthy. This is to, again, build up his "coolness" because he has something to prove. You do not.

Just be confident that you have the superior car and walk away knowing he wished he had what you have.

Que the race scene from "Heaven can wait", the tractor scene from "Footloose", and my personally fave', the the openning race in "F&F3: Tokyo Drift".

It's not worth it.

[my08350z]

what this guy said.. racing this altima would be a waste of timethe z can take most cars and this altima nothing can match us.. so dont do it

[snwbrdr435]

^ Kinda cocky are we

[xjmxstac]

Personally, I wouldn't race him (on a track). The only reason he wants to challenge you is because he wants to prove to himself that the money he's spent on his parts are actually worth something. No matter what this guy offers, don't honor his wish to race (on a track). It will irritate him to all ends.

If he's man enough, he'll drop it. If he's immature, he will keep bugging you and bugging you and try different ways to make you race him (on a track). He will even result to verbally slamming you to make you feel less than worthy. This is to, again, build up his "coolness" because he has something to prove. You do not.

Just be confident that you have the superior car and walk away knowing he wished he had what you have.

Que the race scene from "Heaven can wait", the tractor scene from "Footloose", and my personally fave', the the openning race in "F&F3: Tokyo Drift".

It's not worth it.

I disagree completely. I say shut this Altima up ON THE TRACK (Coz otherwise would be illegal)! Bench racing is for cowards. If you are a car enthusiast and believe that your Z could give that altima an a** whooping, the only way to find out is to go out there and do it.

[my08350z]

hes got a point 200 bucks is a lota money for gas.

[ldstang50]

I don't drag race my car. But an easy $200 is hard to pass up. Drop the rear tire pressures a bit, and smoke the bastard

[audtatious]

I would not assume anything against the Altima. Headers alone could be worth +25whp on it.

[1stoptuner]

True. The new altimas are pretty fast. One was on my a** and I was trying to lose him but I couldn't! Stupid guy was tailgating the s*** out of me when I wasn't even trying to race so it made me pissed!

[bmike818]

To race or not to race, that is the question.

....if you loose to the Altima you will be banned from the 350Z section

[audtatious]

Greg lost to a Altima 3.5 in his G35. Won't now that it's SC'd

[xjmxstac]

2003 altima with headers only...not much gain. There will still be considerable restriction through the cats, y-pipe and cat-back (not to mention stock intake). Weight distribution would be a key factor because the altima is a FWD. Upon acceleration most of the weight is transferred to the rear, thus limiting traction on the front side.

[audtatious]

Don't know about that. We had a 2k2 Maxima owner here who dyno'd +30whp with headers alone. I doubt the Altima exhaust is more restrictive as a quasi-dual setup than the Maxima.

[xjmxstac]

I can't imagine where 30 whp comes from if intake and most of the exhaust is restricted. I always thought that engine horsepower was gain by, ultimately, getting more air in and out of the system.

[audtatious]

True, depending on where the restriction is. The headers for the 2k2+ actually removed pre-cats on the Maxima which was one of the main problems. I would assume the Altima has similar issues.

[spitalul2bad]

what this guy said.. racing this altima would be a waste of timethe z can take most cars and this altima nothing can match us.. so dont do it

depends on what you call "most cars". maybe ever day average saloons, but sports cars? not quite.

[ldstang50]

I have a 2000 Maxima, 3.0 V6. There's 4 cats on the car.Everything I've read and heard, doing catback is decent gains, but doing headers, hi flows and cat back, can gain up to 30whp. There's four cats on the car which as we know are huge restrictions.If the guy has just headers but still stock exhaust from there back....he pretty much still has a stock exhaust because he has all the restrictions down pipe.If you're going to race him, go out on a discrete street and practice launching and your 1-2 shift. If you can launch, you should beat him. If you screw the launch, the race is over.

[rmezz13]

I have a 2000 Maxima, 3.0 V6. There's 4 cats on the car.Everything I've read and heard, doing catback is decent gains, but doing headers, hi flows and cat back, can gain up to 30whp. There's four cats on the car which as we know are huge restrictions.If the guy has just headers but still stock exhaust from there back....he pretty much still has a stock exhaust because he has all the restrictions down pipe.If you're going to race him, go out on a discrete street and practice launching and your 1-2 shift. If you can launch, you should beat him. If you screw the launch, the race is over.

Go get tha guap! LOL i would try talking him into a "roll" race. From like 20-"65" .... Then you wouldn't have to worry about a launch. If the cars are evenly matched off the line you should get him up top with better aero (less resistance). Factor in he probbably has a crap load of wheel hop from the launch, and probably no LSD... odds are against him unless he is a driver and you are not.... Remember this, he already thinks he can win, which is why he is betting $200 (or he just knows you wont do it), and ask yourself "am i willing to lose $200 if i get owned by an altima"? And then if you do lose, i want $200 also, just to keep my mouth shut

[audtatious]

Realize that both cars have the VQ35 in various versions of tune. Being a 2003 he is a 5sp or using the 4AT auto. Per the OP the Altima has "bolt on's" and just put on a header, which I take as the car having more than just headers (I/H/E).

I have not seen wheel hop from the Maxi/Altima, just torque steer. If he has suspension upgrades then that won't be an issue either.

Finally, I have heard of at least one 2k2 Maxima with only bolt on's, doing high 12's and this was at a time when I was seeing the 2k3 Altimas, with somewhat less tune, doing low 13's.

[ldstang50]

the 00-04 max's both the 3.0 and 3.5 get nasty real quickall (MT) max's and altimas came with open diffs, with too much wheel spin, then axel hop. There were some limited edition Max's that came with the VLSD and some people have done swaps from the I30 which had the VSLD standard and is a direct bolt onto the maxima.The autos I'm not 100% sure about. OP, check the Altima boards and see what those guys have to say.

[audtatious]

The 2k2 6mt Maxima had a HLSD (RS6F51H) while the 2k2+ Altima with 5sp manual had the RS5F51A which is open diff. The Maxima HLSD can be a direct bolt on for the Altima although I believe you have to attach the 5sp speed sensor to it.

[bmike818]

Greg lost to a Altima 3.5 in his G35. Won't now that it's SC'd

<-I have been waiting forever to use that

OP any updates?

[sampsonJ]

ill bet 200 on my car.

Id cover your 200 if you are a decent driver.

[sampsonJ]

depends on what you call "most cars". maybe ever day average saloons, but sports cars? not quite.

lol /truth

[gbear]

Beware of racing anyone for money. If they are suggesting a money race, it is usually because they know they will win, due to having several up grades that you do not know about. My son in law has a 1996 Mustang GT that he claims has only headers and intake, but it runs in the 12's. He has many friends that have the same mind set...namely find suckers to race for money so that they can pay for their major internal upgrades that you cannot see. Also beware of hidden nitros.

[2002AltimateV6]

An Altima 3.5 5MT with I/H/E is definitely no slouch. My Altima with just I/H/E was able to pace a couple 300HP 350Zs (most races ended with me a half car ahead to dead-even) with varying modifications. Now my experiences with 350Z in my older 4AT Altima were different since the race would be close up until around 70-80MPH where the top-end on the 350Z would take over. If he ONLY has I/H/E and your 350Z is the 287HP version then I expect it to be REALLY close from a roll-race with the edge going to the Altima. From a dig you will have the obvious edge because of your RWD. That is assuming you know how to drive since with drag radials (stealthily mounted on stock 17s might I add ) I was able to out-launch 75% of all the RWD cars I raced. Don't under-estimate it! Seriously! With my current modifications I am able to beat most bolt-on 350Zs upwards to the HR. Even a tuned 350Z w/ headers (along with the rest of his bolt-ons) was only able to take me by a fender. With all of my current modifications I'm only $1.5-$2k in.
Modified by 2002AltimateV6 at 3:36 PM 5/1/2009

[NFSP 350]

Keep in mind most FWD drivetrains experiance less Hp loss to the wheels. And the driver is 50% of the race. I had a built TRD S/C TC that would run 14.0 in the 1/4 on cheep street tires. But I was a great driver, my reaction times where 0.010, rarely redlight. My 60ft was at times faster that STI, EVO, SRT4 (slicks). Not saying you cant beat him, but it might not be as easyas you thought.Note: Wheel hop is a big factor on FWD, check and see if he has a engine torque damper, helpped the TC ALOT. Dont do a roll start.