[wctouring#7]

Thought some of you would enjoy a couple of pics of one of our race cars that we brought to the National Runoffs in Topeka. Nothing like spending 8 days in Kansas at a lousy track and only getting less than 40 laps the whole week... but I shouldn't complain too much, it beats work.

 

[Grant]

How is the Z working out for you? A bit heavy, yeah? What are the weaknesses of the car? Strengths?

 

[wctouring#7]

It is a fun car, pretty bullit proof, handles and stops awesome but is a little heavy. We won the west coast/Nor-Pac championship with it and broke the track records for the class at all the west coast events. If it weren't for the GM Performance guys buying themselves a championship, we could have won at the Runoffs. Instead we finished 5th, the highest placing car that was not a Pontiac. GM showed up with a version of the Solstice GXP that is not even available to the public and really did not fit the rules of our class but good ole SCCA let them have there way and they kicked everyones butt without even trying. Yes I am bitter and we will not be going back... We will stick to the pro-racing stuff for the $ and vintage racing for the fun.

 

[Echo Leader]

What version of the Solstice is that? The Z0K? A guy I autox with has one of those...wicked quick.

Love the Z, btw. What lead you to choose that as your platform?

 

[wctouring#7]

The Solstice was a car that GM Performance built out of their parts catalogue, they may have started with a Z0K but it was not one when they were done. Bigger turbo, carbon roof, lexan window, no sound deadening, ect... Our class runs under a version of show room stock that allows mods in only certain areas, but the car needs to be a car that anyone can buy off the showroom floor of a dealership. Its just unfortunate that SCCA does not have the right people in the right spots policing this stuff. A friend that we were racing against showed up with a Lotus and when he saw that it was not the "car to have" he made a deal on the spot and bought one of the Solstice's from GM Performance... He filled us in on all the reasons why the car should not be racing in T2. We race the 350Z because Nissan gave us the car and gives us support (mainly parts) to run it. They want to win and they choose us to help them do that.

 

[Echo Leader]

Wow, that's fantastic that Nissan was involved, trying to help SCCA competitors! Was it at the corporate level or a specific dealership? Is the new NISMO Z eligible? I hear the stitch welding really firms up the chassis...

 

[wctouring#7]

We deal with Nissan USA directly, they gave us the car (well, actually they sold it to us for a dollar) and the parts come from them through our contact in the Motorsports dept. We are hoping to put together a deal to get a new car from them... probably something to run in Grand-Am.

 

[gt601]

Can I have the old one when you are done?
I'll even give you TWO bucks for it. Where else but the BB can you double an investment in such a short time?
Nice car

Paul

 

[Echo Leader]

I think gt601 and I will end up in a bidding war. In all seriousness though....what happens to that car when you're done with it? Does Nissan reposses? I'd love to buy a race ready 350z!

What class are you contemplating in Grand-Am? Koni Challenge? GT? DP???

 

[wctouring#7]

The 350Z stays with us and will probably become a rental for west coast SCCA regional events. We have done World Challenge Touring car in the past and more recently Grand-Am ST and some Rolex GT... my partner is working on a deal for a full season of Rolex GT next year.
Our contract with Nissan states we keep the Z or return it to be destroyed... can't sell, can't use it on the street.

 

[Grant]

Why would they have to destroy the car? No space??

 

[wctouring#7]

You would be shocked to see the cars the manufacturer's crush... most because they are pre-production cars or test mules and it is not cost effective to get them DOT certified. Each and every part needs to be DOT certified and a this usually happens after a "run" of cars have been made. Early cars usually become magazine test cars, photo cars, test mules, ect... Our car is the 38th 350z built for the US and started life as a red automatic. It was lent to Clarion who had it painted silver and used it as a demo car (went to SEMA and other shows), then after the audio gear was removed it was returned to Nissan. The car is still shown on their website as a demo car. We got it from Nissan and I then proceeded to convert it to a manual trans. More recently I updated to the 06 spec "Rev Up" engine and ecu/harness. A funny side note, one of our fellow competitors races a 350Z that had the roof removed It was used for interior photos for the brochures... Needless to say, it was easier to install the cage in that one. The roof was welded back on afterwards.

 

[Grant]

Very cool! Thanks for those stories! So why can't Nissan just sell the car as a race car, rather than crush it? Worried it will ry to be converted to street use?