Autocrossing The Q45

[Stoneage_Turbo]

Is it possible to Autocross a Q45a sucessfully?

I know these things are gods of strightline acceleration but how tossible is a 4000+lb car ?

want something safe and confortable on the weekdays , and something fun on the weekends , dont want 2 cars

BTW still in love with a 94 Q45a , its in florida , im in alaska right now so i still cant drive one thats why im trying to get ideas on how well this thing corners

wonder how well it drifts .......

[AZhitman]

Mike - I think sultan has autocrossed his - Do a search.

Th Q is surprisingly nimble and if driven right, it can outrun some lighter cars with its handling.

[Stoneage_Turbo]

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....cross

hehehehhe

A CHALLANGE !!!! with a few events i might be able to launch a assult at a BMW club event..... 5 and 7 sereis here i come

search finnaly works , kick arse

[Q45tech]

Handling G are purely a function of the weight on a tire and the camber angle under load and the amount [ratio] of the actual load to the load index..............assuming the tread compound coefficient of friction is the same.Things like thermal conductivity come into play as the time under load increases........how well the tire sheds heat to keep the optimum 180-200F tread temperature during the run.

Really soft compounds can increase things by 7-10% or more as can finding tires with a higher than OEM [1521 pound] load index [usually gain is 1/2 the ratio of load index increase][1521 vs 1640=7.8% so say 4% more G's possible.

If a stock Q does 0.68-0.7 you can get it up to 0.77G [maybe 0.8] using tires and suspension tweaks...........weight reduction works best.

The problem is really hard to find a +1600 index tire in a soft compound.

Slicks are by far the best tire in dry weather as you end up with 25% more rubber [corrected for void ratio and patch size changes maybe [12% net improvement].

Trying to get the last 5% makes the car very uncomfortable on the street or rough roads......vibrating harsh monster.

Good against Crown Vic police cars and other 4300 pounders and SUV but not even close to 3500 pound cars.

Buy a set [or two or three] of Yok AVS Intermediates before they are all gone 215/225 or the Firestone SZ50 EP in 225/60/15.........not many choices for a summer autocross tire.

[Stoneage_Turbo]

thankx Q tech

[EWT]

Is it possible to Autocross a Q45a sucessfully?

I know these things are gods of strightline acceleration but how tossible is a 4000+lb car ?

want something safe and confortable on the weekdays , and something fun on the weekends , dont want 2 cars

BTW still in love with a 94 Q45a , its in florida , im in alaska right now so i still cant drive one thats why im trying to get ideas on how well this thing corners

wonder how well it drifts .......

It depends on what you mean by "successfully." I took my 93 out for a few laps around the autox course we had setup at a school i was instructing at, and it wouldn't be my first choice of rides at an autox. For a 4,000 lbs. car, it felt pretty good, but it's too big and heavy to really do well at autox, which puts a premium on agility and ability to change directions quickly. If you live in a region where some Impala SSs some out, they would be fun to compete with.

The biggest problem other that size/weight I had with it was that it wouldn't shift back down to first gear when I wanted it to, so I just left the transmission in 1, which should work for most autox courses. If you're looking for something that is competitive, and really suited for autox, I'd look for something smaller and lighter, but if you're just looking to take it out and have fun, you could certainly do that.

[Jberger]

I'd also think that an external transmission cooler and possibly a brake fluid cooler (which could be a simple as a few more loops in the lines) would be a must. The Q is simply underbraked, and the transmission is going to be working hard with little rest.

Might also want to consider adding an oil pressure gauge to make sure the engine isn't starved under the corners. Not sure if the Q has the right kind of baffled oil pan to handle a bunch of twisty bits in low gear.

Not to mention a strut brace to firm up the front end and add crispness.

Let us know how it goes, should be fun!