The Q sees more track time! Also a review on my suspension setup on the track.

[elwesso]

Races this weekend

Thought Id post this up... Overall, I have to say that I did pretty good, and of course the Q performed pretty good. Me and former Q owner Evan (gniknave) went up. he had his VW GTI.

Overall results- I got 40th out of 89. Take a look at the cars that were there, not bad! Dont ask me what I was thinking on the first 4 runs, I dont know what was going on... I still pulled off a good run the last one.

http://fwscca.com/Solo/Events/...o.htm

Out of the classes. I am in class STX. I am not sure if the guy who got 1st in my class was that good of a driver or if his car was out classed.

http://fwscca.com/Solo/Events/...c.htm

Considering that this car weighs about as much as any 2 other cars combined and is a good foot longer, i cant complain. There were 2 turns that Q struggled to make because of its size. One turn was a super tight S and I had to make that going about 5MPH and had to turn the wheel FULL LOCK... The second turn was a chicane that would take you in a circle, fire you off to the right and then slam you back left. I couldnt whip the car around fast enough to get on the gas... I have a video of that and Ill post it here in a bit, as soon as I get the link from Evan, as well as a couple pics.

The only places the Q had problems was when you had to go slow, and the only places where you had to go slow is because the car is too damn big, not due to lack of grip.. There was a long slalom on the back stretch and the Q dominated that thing. I really think HICAS helped on that one.

The next step is to take the Q on a road course becaues I think if I could take corners at about 50 or more it would do a lot better than taking them at 20.

Suspension review

So as a partial review on my suspension setup, here are some thoughts. Ive been on the track i think 4 times now with my current suspension setup, so Ive got a pretty good idea on how it works... There is the good and bad...

First let me share my current suspension and brake setup.

1994 Q45t with HICAS

- 300ZX 30mm brakes with Brembo rotors and hawk pads, steel lines.- SPL Front and rear upper links, tension rods, subframe spacers- Stillen front strut brace- 28mm front bar (rubber frame bushings and end links), 20mm rear (rubber frame bushigns and poly end links)- Tokico blues shocks with California custom springs.-OZ Racing F1 wheels with Dunlop 9000 tires.- Alignment: Camber= -1.5F, -1.0R, Caster= 5*, Toe=0

The actual suspension feels ROCK SOLID. the solid links give awesome feel under agressive driving and really do not add that much harshness to the overall package. I think ive grown used to it but others ride in my car and I dont think its jarring for them, no one has mentioned anything to me.

The bad part about the suspension is the springs and shocks. The car is definitely under-damped for high performance driving. I also think that for smooth high performance driving you have to have LINEAR springs, not progressive. I think what happens is sort of like a slingshot which makes the car a bear to drive... When you get the suspension loaded going into a corner and then cut it the other way, since the dampers dont have enough power to stop the springs it just shoots the body roll instead of letting up nicely... It doesnt really change the handling but making smooth transitions is almost impossible. Needless the car is a workout but very rewarding.

however the car still rides very nice (i wouldnt say stock but its very nice), so like I say this setup is still great for pretty much everyone.

The cali custom springs are great for 99% of driving. However I do not think progressive springs are the way to go unless you have some dampers that can handle them at the maximum stiffness... I think overall itd be a better idea to have linear springs all around.. Really I need a set of springs that are about 30% stiffer than OEM and a matching set of shocks.. Certainly, progressive springs have their benefits and they make a car ride great and still stiffen up nicely under compression. For the track, they just dont work IMO.

I wonder how the ACTIVE would handle under these conditions... I need to get ross to let me drive his active Q on an auto-X track so I can see how that compares.

Regardless, when it comes time to replace these shocks I will probably ditch the tokicos and fit some coilovers... I think I could find some that would ride pretty nice but would at least give me a more linear handling experience. Of course, that assumes that I cant find an active Q. IT may be easier and more rewarding to find an active Q and transfer all my mods.

Hope you guys enjoy reading this.

[Ozzie]

So you have been drawn to the allure of the active suspension?!

giggidy!

[maxnix]

Really I need a set of springs that are about 30% stiffer than OEM and a matching set of shocks.

Kind of what I concluded with just street driving. Not sure if it is the progressive wind or the shock rebound rate that is causing your problems. But no drop on the springs for me.

Wish the large 7 series wasn't a MacPherson strut up front as I would look at adapting some Bilsteins when I had the time.

Not sure if active will recycle fast enough and then there is the extra weight.

Thanks for the post.

[Mym Mars]

i just want a set of tien adjustable coilovers. my dad has a 94 green q45t that was modded before he got it, im gonna go over one day and get a list of mods that he has and see what works and what doesnt. so far, other than a failing transmision, he says that the car is quicker and has better a better suspention than his 85 iroc z28 camero. and it also has better fuel economy (17mpg) than his camero (10mpg :P) making it his damned dailey driver, and i was hoping to buy it off of him and do a manual swap (i hate transmission gremlins even more than i hate automatic transmissions)

[NOR*CAL 916]

tahts great elwesso, i had tokico blues and eibachs, i thought they were to soft, so i now got the JIC coilovers, i think you would LOVE them you should take a look at them.

[maxnix]

....he says that the car is quicker and has better a better suspention than his 85 iroc z28 camero. and it also has better fuel economy (17mpg) than his camero (10mpg :P) making it his damned dailey driver....

IRS vs. solid cast iron rear axle, all alloy DOHC 4 valve vs. cast iron pushrod two valve, totally different levels or engineering and execution.

[elwesso]

What kind of adjustability does the JIC give you? Those would be worth looking in for if they could be had for a reasonable price. Also, can they be rebuilt?

[cabal1024]

[quote=""Class Score Page""]94 infinite 245 green[/quote]I would have them fix that...

[Jeff Williams]

Nice job, Wes.

Yes, you need a larger track to let the Q breathe.

Of course then the brakes will come into play much more.

I would try to get adjustable shocks for the Z32 car, and fit them on there. Crank those puppys down to their highest setting.

You could always go back to the stock springs and just cut a coil or two off, then use aluminum spacers for the ride height. Take them to a spring place. They can give you a load rating on them as stock, then once you cut them off, they can give you a load rating again. You can get the load rating you want, then use spacers to get the ride height you want.

[elwesso]

The Q springs are different than the Z's, and the Z's mounting hats are different than the Qs so I dont think ill be using Z32. I dont want to compromise. Im gonna look into the coilovers for the Q or some for an R32 since apparently those should work.

[gniknave]

Yeah I've already tried the Z32 to Q Strut/Shock/Spring thing. Z32 Struts are a bit too short in the front, but the rears are close to being identical. It's been a few years since I tried it and I forget what it was about the rear that kept it from being identical, but I don't think it was anything anything a small bit of modification couldn't fix. Not to say that it couldn't be the same case for the front, but I'm sure if you put that short of a strut on a Q, you're going to have to change a whole lot of other things with the suspension as well. Of course Wes, with you having so many thing's adjustable, you might make the perfect guinea pig.

Oh, and Wes is holding one thing back guys

The "Fun Run"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MM5m_mf_uA

and the aftermath...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QePWbqo7oo

[Rex]

The Q springs are different than the Z's, and the Z's mounting hats are different than the Qs so I dont think ill be using Z32. I dont want to compromise. Im gonna look into the coilovers for the Q or some for an R32 since apparently those should work.

Wes didn't someone put Z32 coilovers on a Q?

I know where a set of fronts are for sale.

[elwesso]

Wes didn't someone put Z32 coilovers on a Q?

I know where a set of fronts are for sale.

yeah but I recall he had to have custom mounting hats made....

[Rex]

I thought it was just drilling out the bottom mounting point/hole.

[elwesso]

I guess your right.

zer...age=2

The question is if he's talking about mounting holes for the studs on the top or the big hole where the hat goes into?

[Rex]

I guess your right.

zer...age=2

The question is if he's talking about mounting holes for the studs on the top or the big hole where the hat goes into?

Actually, I was wrong. I thought he had to enlargen the lower mounting point, like if you're trying to put 90-93 struts on a 94-96. From re-reading that, it appears he had to make the bolt holes bigger at the top of the assembly. I may toss the guy an offer and see if I can get some Z32 camber plates to go with them .

[AZhitman]

One word, Wes:

R-compound tires.

[elwesso]

Greg, heres my philosophy.

The Q, especially my Q, was never made to be a track car, it is made to be a street car, and I made it a street car that can on the track.

With that said, IMO the car is no good if it cannot perform on the street *exactly* how it can perform on the track. If you can turn out some mad times with some R compounds but the car is still a fat-arse on the street, then who cares. However if the car can turn out some pretty decent times and I can drive it to the track, race it and drive it home all on the same trim, then thats more important to me.

If I was going to go all out id take a Q and strip it with all solid suspension components and make it a race car... But then IMO it wouldnt be a Q anymore, itd be a racecar that rides on a Q chassis. Without the driveability and long distance trek-ability, a Q isnt a Q. Not to say it woudlnt be bad-arse to make Track Q. I will still do that someday, because I think itd make a great roadcourse car.

If youre going to build a racecar, fine do it. But I would hate to have a car that I couldnt drive all the time and enjoy under any circumstances. I want to be that guy with a bad-arse car who parks in walmart or you see fillin up at the gas station.

[Mym Mars]

elwesso aka the wallyworld Q