Captain Obvious

I was sitting at a light and a 350Z pulled up next to me. About a 3/8 mile in front of us is another traffic light, and then his lane ends a short distance beyond that. If you get in the right lane, it is because you intend to get out in front of the rest of the traffic (as I always had in my 330i).

Well, the light turns green and I gun it and he starts just a hair later. Once I shift to second he starts pulling a little bit but he couldn't even get a car length on me before the light ahead which turned red. So I looked over at him, smiling of course, and I didn't get much reaction out of him.

When the light turned green, he didn't even bother.

Not sure if this guy had an automatic or if he just really sucked at shifting. I'm pretty sure he had an in-transit sticker on the passenger side of the rear window.

This guy HAS to be feeling some pain after his "sports car" couldn't shut out an E320! :p

So even though he was able to pull slightly ahead, I'm calling it a KILL since he couldn't pass my midsize sedan!

reggid

He obviously wasn't really trying :p

Captain Obvious

That doesn't explain why he was starting to pull ahead.

reggid

Just because he was pulling ahead doesn'y mean he was giving it his all!
He has 55hp, 65lbft more and 350lb less weight he definitely wasn't trying for the first half of the race anyway. What speed did you get to?

Captain Obvious

Somewhere in third gear. Not sure where 2nd ends on this car since I haven't had it long and have, up until last night, been careful about breaking it in. If I had to guess I'd say we were between 80 and 90.

Trust me, the guy thought he was going to get around me. I know it sounds ridiculous, which is what made it worth posting. It was totally hillarious. I expected him to hand me my ***, but it didn't happen.

You don't overtake another car that is going faster than you, and at WOT, without trying unless you drive a Viper (or a CBR1100XX). He had to play catch-up.

I feel stupid being forced to theorize how it could have happened since it did, but here it goes: If both cars are launched properly, the 350Z should end up with a 141ft advantage when it crosses the quarter mile mark (assuming 14.6 quarter for 350Z and 15.6s for the E320... I don't have E320 nums so I'm guessing). With a botched launch and bad shifting (or an auto tranny), can't you coceive that the 350Z could get 15 to 15.5 seconds in the quarter mile? And my car should still get sub 16 I think (not sure... not a lot of E320 guys posting timeslips). There are a lot of variables. Maybe his engine was cutting timing. My BMW would be fast and responsive one day, slow the next. And the A/C would really kill it.

I don't know, maybe he was only half throttle for the first few seconds . That isn't the point. He thought he could overtake and get in front of me, and he got owned. That's the funny part.

DslBnz

Maybe his mass air-flow sensor was giving him trouble? Maybe he put regular gas in instead of premium? Maybe his fuel filters are plugged? How much weight did he have in the boot? How much fuel did YOU have in the tank? How much fuel did HE have in his tank?

There are quite a few other variables that I could think of, that I don't have the time to post. All this street racing stuff is mostly based on weight. Weight affects every performance aspect of a car. It creates drag, limits handling, reduces topspeed, reduces torque thrust, etc.

In other words, you could've beaten him by a car length or two if he had enough weight behind him!

People shouldn't hastily jump to conclusions that one is a whackjob just because something seems out of the ordinary.

s0vietbenz

my w140 s500 loses to the 350z by 2 cars at the end of 3rd gear = 110mph. from 20mph. I raced my freinds 320 and beat him by about 4 cars by the time I was at 110 so he didn't rev his engine because he would have spun his tires and the car from a stop is just a beast. damn nissan's

DslBnz

I'd personally rather have a car that hauls keaster at higher speeds than one that spins its wheels off from a dead stop. Enter the 119!

BenzC32

I've raced one in my C32 a few months ago. I killed him by 2CL when i reached 60mph. E320 will get killed easily if the 350Z really gives it's full.

You did very well on your E320!

reggid

I disagree it has more to do with the drivers ability especially if a manual, perhaps he was caught off guard or something or new to the car but anyway...
In fact extra weight causes little extra drag, does not really affect top speed and has no effect on torque at all, it does affect handling though.

DslBnz

So are you saying that a car that weighs 2000 lbs, has a certain gearing, and torque, has 150 hp is everybit as quick as a 4000 lb car with the same specs? I'm not reading you here. Torque IS the force that conquers drag races.

It could very well be driver error. You are correct.

Jon200

IMO the Z definitely wasn't trying, maybe he wasn't expecting you to gun your 320 so he didn't gun his.

reggid

Yes you obviously weren't reading right, i was being a bit sneaky though. The extra weight won't affect torque but it will affect acceleration since mass increases. It will have little affect on top speed more on how long it takes to reach that top speed. :p

DslBnz

Thanks.

Gotcha on that now. I completely agree.