This 28L Airbox Setup Is GENIUS - Nismo's GT300 Z33

- On

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side of the world, it's not very often we see a genuine JGTC race car, but here at World Time Attack, Dale Malone pulled out his Z33 right behind us. To start, and I'm not 100% focused on the details of the JGTC championship, I think

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is a GT300 car, can you tell us a little bit about what that championship is, what the differences between GT300 and 500 are and maybe what kind of cars we have seen compete. - Of course, well, the GT300 was the lower category, still a functional program. The GT500 adds more aerodynamics and more horsepower.

These with the GT300 name are limited to 300 horsepower or so at the wheel and they would balance that as a parity balance throughout the series, but as you can see on this car, it has the GT500 aero and that was a homologation upgrade and so that was carried over from the GT500. - Well, I want to go a little deeper into the aerodynamics and the other elements you've talked about, like balance and performance, but before I do, how does someone in Australia come to own a genuine Nissan JGTC GT300 race car? - I was lucky, I was chasing the previous S15 for a long time and then the problem arose that I was able to buy it and I didn't expect that.

Obviously I had it for a few years and then when we finished restoring the car and got it back to a really good running level, a collector in Europe decided he wanted to buy the car and that gave me the opportunity to look for it. other cars and I tracked the history of this car for a while and it was sitting in Canada and not really used there so we were able to come to a deal and bring the car here and I. We have also managed to buy the entire XWorks parts package, so we have spare body panels, 50 wheels, spare engines, gearboxes, enough to run, control arms, everything, so it makes sense to buy it because it will never be can build. something like this yourself. - That was going to be one of my next questions, how daunting is it to buy a factory built Nismo race car and that's one thing, but the ease of service, the supply of new parts, that could be quite daunting. - They are difficult to maintain, but I have a good knowledge of the previous ones and the team has a good knowledge of the previous S15.

And as many factories tend to do, they maintain a character, especially in design and architecture, of components and engineering, they convey a lot of that, so we already understand those things. I was able to get a lot of service manuals and data from Nismo, so we have maintenance time periods, we have service intervals and service lives and we can monitor that, it's actually very easy to work on the car. Because it's naturally aspirated, we have no oil lines hanging around the engine bay, no turbos, it's a very simple package. It seems complex but yes, it is a very simple package. - Okay, let's talk a little bit about the engine because I was interested to know that it's actually the VQ35DE, which is the previous Z33 350Z engine.

Not normally the option to choose if you want to build a decent 350, the latest HR or even the 370 engine are a more popular option with a bit more power, so why did Nismo go that route? - I think it was due to homologation, so these cars were built and designed around the DE. So the homologation started in 2003 and that was also the FIA ​​homologation. And as you can probably see in the engine bay where everything is mounted, it's mounted at a set drivetrain height, so you have a situation where if they put a higher deck height in there with the headers and stuff , packaging is actually It is difficult to update and redesign a functional program package.

So they stuck with it, it worked. They changed a lot of components inside the engine, Pankl made the entire rotating assembly and the main tunnel is about 5mm larger in diameter. - Is that the crankshaft main bearing tunnel? - The main bearing tunnel and connecting rod journals are also significantly larger. So the whole assembly has expanded, try to address that. Harmonics and resonance are a problem, so we have to be selective about how we're going to rely on them, but the way it's set up, it's pretty shielded, so unless we're doing something stupid, it really We shouldn't have any maintenance. problems with that. - Very good, tell us about the power level, you already mentioned it, GT300 around 300 horsepower at the wheels, have you tested it on a dyno, do you know what it produces? - No, we haven't put it on a test bench, but we know what it's doing thanks to the mapping.

We have all the original engine mapping and dyno records so we know what they are doing on the flywheel and also on their bench system so we can translate it and know what it produces. - An interesting aspect here with this balance of performance between the different manufacturers competing in that GT300 class is the size of the restrictor and we can see that very clearly in the engine compartment, there are two small restrictors. I've seen it has 27.6mm inscribed on it, so is that what you're running? - Yes, that's right, that's what I have with the car and it's on the map right now.

They actually had a range of sizes from 28mm up to 23 and you would probably see the cone there, they change with the length of the cone and with the volume of the plenum, so all of that was used to tune both the ignition and the delivery of power without acceleration and also to try to get a small increase in airspeed resonance so that the different runways in Japan were much narrower. If they were on a low grip circuit they would change the power delivery throughout that corner. And it saved them from having to adjust the camshafts and start the engine and fiddle with timing events and torque delivery. - In terms of changing the restrictor size, is this then a different map required in the ECU or is it mapped so that you can switch between all the different restrictors without having to deal with the electronic side of things? - It's difficult because the mapping system is TPS over RPM with some offsets, so it would be out of place if we changed, it wouldn't be ideal, it could probably be done, but I certainly know.

The program that had very very strict data on this size of the restrictor only goes with this map and it would have to be uploaded to the computer and adapted to each change. - I mean, that's exactly what I would expect when you're not actually monitoring airflow directly but running Alpha N. And I guess the basis of that, if you're running Alpha N, is it fair to assume you're running throttle bodies? individual under that beautiful carbon chamber? - It is, there are two types in this one, so there is a barrel roller that is in this one and there is also a butterfly system.

This one has individual 55mm trumpets on top of the barrels and as you can see the plenum volume is about 28 liters so it's quite large. - So, that volume of the plenary session, as you said, is enormous and visually it is very clear that they have put an enormous volume on it. Is there some kind of advantage in terms of being able to draw atmospheric air into that chamber before the restrictors come in or does it really not work that way? - That's the idea, the restrictors are force fed in the front, so there is positive pressure as the car moves, but when you don't accelerate, that air will build up inside that system as soon as the driver accelerate again. , is essentially an unrestricted engine for a set period. - Until the plenum is emptied and begins to essentially generate a vacuum again. - Correct, yes.

The tapered corridors will also be modified depending on the length of the straights. And the idea behind this was to try to play with the high speed pressure that was building up in the front of the car to try to get a few more miles of horsepower down, equivalent horsepower on the straightaway, but we're talking about 3 , 4 kilometers. - I mean, this is all something that we, at the enthusiast level, would have a hard time testing and validating but of course when you have the resources of a manufacturer, these are those small iterative improvements that can mean the difference between winning and losing , TRUE? - Oh absolutely, I mean the team that looked after the engine package of all these cars, they were not part of Nismo, they were Nismo contractors.

And I know they would have 4 people per car looking after that car, the engine and the mapping side and that was purely their job, so the team didn't have to worry about doing their own mapping or tuning, they would get to the track. , that support was provided, marked and tuned. - Well, in terms of horsepower, can you give us a rough idea and what kind of instantaneous increase in power you get in that situation that you talked about where you have stopped accelerating, the plenum returns to atmospheric pressure and that instant ? before it starts generating vacuum and then do you have any data on what the engine can produce if it were unrestricted? - Surely depending on the RPM limit, without restrictions it would be about 580, the lifespan would be very short, just harmonics and wear. -What kind of RPM are they using to get to that 580 too? - That's 10,500. - It's up there. - Yes, it is not sustainable in the long term, the engine life is very short.

With what is there now, with the plenum volume, we can expect 420, 450 in a short burst, but again it depends on the RPM because the timing of the camshaft and everything that is there is very particular, so if you have the correct gear and If you put it back into the correct gear at the correct highway speed, you will be able to use that and make the most of that increase in torque. But if you are in the wrong gear, it is in vain. - And obviously it lasted very little until the plenum begins to generate vacuum but essentially pushes to become a naturally aspirated engine? - Basically, yes, it's actually fun because the acceleration in the first 3 or 4 gears is phenomenal, we're reaching excessive speeds here between some of the corners, but on the longer straights you can almost have a coffee while you're going down the straight. so yes. - I mean, you've brought a knife to a gunfight here racing in a class where 1000 horsepower is not uncommon, so you definitely have your work cut out for you, particularly with the long length of that frontstretch here at Eastern Creek. but of course the car wasn't built for that, it's great to see it here.

Just talking about the rest of the package, the electronics too in a car like this can be complicated, where you don't necessarily have access to calibration, so what's the situation there? Can you adjust this if necessary? What were the electronics in the car? - The history of these electronic components was a Pectel Cosworth system. And obviously it was developed by the European side and they were working hand in hand with Nismo, so everything was developed for Nissan Motorsport. It's an old school Pectel T6 ECU. But it has a different injector controller mapping, so it has 12 injector controllers but only 3 ignition controllers.

So it's a wasted spark but you know 12... - But you have 6 extra injectors that aren't necessary? - And the injectors in sequential, but the ignition in ignition is wasted, so there are some curious things, but they were using the resources that were there at the time. - So we must remember also, in terms of electronics, this is already a couple of generations old and certainly not state-of-the-art by today's standards. - Well, to actually program it, then the programming software was deskpro. People know this, obviously, but it was created especially for Nissan Motorsport and therefore the only way to communicate using that software is on a laptop running Windows 95.

Because it does, this is quite fun actually, it is not serial so it goes from parallel port to CAN so it is a very early version of CAN and therefore you have to rely on a parallel port for bidirectional data and it is very difficult to get it to work but we can adjust it if we want, but the question then becomes: if we are putting so much energy and effort into remapping the throttle position based on engine RPM, wouldn't it be wiser to protect it? and put what's here in a box, seal it, and update it with a PDM and that kind of thing. - Are there any elements you need to keep in mind with a historic race car with some significance like this in terms of not modifying or altering what's there and keeping it genuine to the way it was originally built? - It is difficult to choose because you want to have all the protections available, when competing we want to have all the protections available, we do not want to risk the car in any way.

The car certainly does run very well like that, but I think from my point of view, if I can maintain and preserve what's there, and even if I put it aside and what I do there it's not going to detract from the value of the car or anything. which can't be replaced or turned off, so doing so would probably be reconnecting the bulkhead connectors using what's there and completely rewiring the car, but without removing anything or damaging anything. - I mean, we have seen many examples in shots in thepast where people have retrofitted a current generation ECU into a big box and basically plugged it into the existing wiring and that's a good solution that's always something that can be done. back to stock so I guess the other aspect is if it ain't broke don't fix it, if it works fine and does what you need maybe it's best to leave it alone. - I think for the moment we are going to do that, these are our first laps in the car at the event and the team is also learning the car, so we are learning a lot about the car and yesterday we did 8 laps. and we'll do a few more today and it works fine as is, but I'm sure over time, as we use the car more and set it up, the demand for more power or, you know, maybe a few more.The controls will be there, especially maybe traction or acceleration and flat shift and the flat shift system on this one is very primitive, there is no load cell and it goes out of the barrel position, so as soon as you see a change in the position of the cannon, it's going to cut.

So you have to be very careful when driving it, it is a bit sensitive in that sense. - Let's talk about that transmission and since you mentioned it, what is it running? - It is a Hewland transmission made especially for Nismo. It is a split shaft design, so the input shaft is lower and the output shaft is higher. The gears are not fixed or solidly machined on either shaft, so they are all replaceable. - So you can change the individual proportions? - Yes, actually I think it's DG9, gear components. So, dog ring, shift forks, anything that's cross-transferable.

Magnesium case with internal oil pump, so that's the only caveat with this case: we have to keep an eye on it for hairline fractures and things like that and also keep corrosion inhibitors on it. - I'm talking about Hewland, a brand we don't hear much about on this side of the world but obviously a European brand that is very well known in motorsport, so definitely no stranger to producing a quality gearbox. Going back to that cut, to clarify, maybe for those who are not very familiar with what we are talking about, today we traditionally have a load cell in the shift knob, so basically that voltage gauge that allows the ECU to know when you are starting to pull the shift lever and then the ECU may trigger a fuel cut or ignition cut or maybe both to unload the dogs and allow the shift to work.

So instead of doing that, they actually do it by detecting the beginning of the shift cylinder movement, correct? - Yeah, that's right, the way they machined the shift cylinder, they basically allowed a small amount of ramp on the cylinder and then the position sensor, it's essentially just a throttle position sensor. As soon as the ECU sees the voltage start to rise it will assume it is in a shift position and throttle the ignition, but it is not consistent. - I was going to ask, how do you find that? Are you using it or are you shifting conventionally with a throttle or a touch of the clutch? - For now, shifting it like a typical H pattern with a bit of a clutch because I have to get familiar with that box and it's a strange feeling when you try to shift and feel like it doesn't fully discharge.

Especially when you're used to modern designs, so it's a little confusing sometimes, but it's something you have to adapt to and it's the way the car should be driven, so you just have to be a little more careful. and will keep him alive. - In terms of driver screens, registration, what do you have at your disposal? Are you using any logs or are you just testing the car at this point because it's early? - Getting some basic data, it's a PI Research record system. And that records all the channels in the car, all the suspension potentiometers and so on.

We have chosen to look at the basics at the moment simply because I want to get used to the car without complicating or chasing myself too much and we have to be careful here this weekend because the track changes every session. I guess if I go too deep into the data, trying to configure a car, I might be chasing something that doesn't exist and I'd rather just sit back and get used to the car and we'll go over all that later. - Obviously the car was never designed for Time Attack and as we mentioned you are woefully underpowered compared to some of the competitors, so what's the bottom line?

Are you ready to go door to door in another kind of racing with this or not? Is it just for display purposes? - Door to door would be great, we have to wait to see the sports sedans, we have to apply for approval because the body work is obviously a little more extravagant than what the rules regulate here, so they may require some changes. but we will review it and see what is needed. Maybe selective GT events because I know they are 3 hours and 4 hours. Which aren't your professional level GT events, they're more gentleman driver type things.

So we'll do that, we'll take the car out and enjoy it, and Time Attack obviously isn't that disciplined and it's like a knife to a gunfight, so here it's just about enjoying the event and people will be able to see the classic GT car from the old school and We got some data and overall it's a good day. -It definitely won't be the fastest car here at World Time Attack, but as you say, I mean it's a car we wouldn't see often in person, so I certainly appreciate the fact that you went to the trouble. to take the car out and hope to see it running, thanks for your time Dale. - Thank you André.

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