NotoriousREV

Anyone want to talk me out of buying one of these beasties? I loved them when they first came out and they seem very cheap nowadays (unfashionable, I guess).

Anyone know of any knowledgeable sites for these or any really good reasons I shouldn't swap my MY93 WRX for one?

Bubba po

Go to the bottom of the class, Master Rev. See me after school.

Jamz3k

my mate bought one which turned out to be a complete lemon, costing him over 10k to put right, but in his mind its money well spent cus he always wanted one, he loves working on it every day he has off work

Muffleman

I know what you mean, I fancied one too. Just be very careful, there is a reason they're cheap - they cost a lot to fix ! Oh, and there's next to naff all space in the engine bay for working on it.

ScoobyJawa

They are rubbish. Look dated, go wrong often, unreliable and cost loads to work on.

Buy a MKIV Supra TT - pisses all over it

Dilbrain

Poopra can cost 4 times as much , a sorted Z is still a great car , poopra is as ugly as ya *****'s crackers.....
http://300zx.co.uk is a great site btw.

Cosworth427

Alot of MKIV owners make the mistake of discounting the 300ZX in the States, seems pretty much a trend coming along in here too.

VG30DETT is a pretty good engine, the only real disadvantage to the home enthusiast is the V6 takes alot of the room you would have had with a straight-6. As long as everything is within manufacturer tolerance, it will last. The twin T02 turbochargers can supply a maximum of 400 hp at the wheels.

Interior design is suprisingly good for a 15 year old car. Very similar to the Honda NSX if anyone pays attention.

As with *any* japanese car after 15 years in service, they can go wrong. The MKIV isn't exactly trouble free, they will squeak and rattle, they will heatsoak, they will overheat and some of them have already. Plus you would save alot of money going for a good ZX no matter what happens.

NotoriousREV

Having slept on it, I feel it may be out of my system

I will go and lurk on that website for a while, though, just to be sure

EDIT: are they any more costly than putting a bad Scooby right? Impreza's ain't exactly cheap to run.

JayPSC

Yes, especially engine work because room is so tight it's a cvnt to work on. Saying that though you can get parts pretty cheap as there are several people breaking Zs on a regular basis.

They have Garrett T25 turbos as stock & your looking at about 350-360 @ flywheel max on them. No way 400 at the wheels lol, they start running out of puff at about 15-16psi (9psi stock).

Jay

RB5_245

IMHO they look dated (if you like the fair play I won't argue).

But they're big heavy and slow for the amount of power they put out. I think the mitsi GTO has aged better yet still sufferes from being lardy, and very expensive to run.

Dave

CC

I had one a while back. i regret selling it, didn't realise how lucky i was having a manual 300 in good condition with all the toys.

the nissan cost not alot, was fun to drive being rwd (if u like that sort of thing), rare.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=230262

if u find a good one at a good price i'd jump at it i know i would.

Cosworth427

Here's a tech link to the standard turbos for the 300 ZX. They are TB02s technically, but use the T25 turbine housings.

http://www.ztechz.net/id4.html

400 rwhp is the out right maximum, provided there is supporting modifications for it. Plenty of ZX's making 360 - 380 rwhp with the stock twins. A friend of mine runs on the drag strip trapping constantly at 118 - 120 mph at the end of the run, with time slips to prove.

The compressor maps of the stock twins show a combined air mass flow perfectly capable to supplying for that kind of power. No one said it was easy, just said it was the maximum you can push out.

Cosworth427

All Imprezas (including the big-boy P1) are too heavy and slow for the power they make, but does it stop people from modifying them to make them faster?

Consider this...

610 + kg per litre = Classic shape Impreza ( 1235 kg / 2 litres)
520 kg per litre = 300 zx ( 1560 kg / 3 litres)

JayPSC

Got any links? No way 380 at the wheels on stock turbos, maybe at the flywheel but to hit that at the wheels you'd have to be running about 25psi

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Thats what I thought. That would equate to around 480bhp at the flywheel! Many people seem to get their 'at the wheels' and 'at the flywheel' figures mixed up. In their favour normally!

SteA

300zx's can be awesome cars, after you've been in a well sorted one you will be very pleasantly surprised and possibly slightly stunned

As many have already said, if you do decide to buy, make sure you get a good one, very important

You are also quite close to CS Woods in Astley (manchester ish) where a nice bloke called Phil resides who has been working on 300 zx's (very successfully) for many years, he also has very good friends who break 300's so can be useful on many fronts.

john banks

Traps of 118-120mph do indeed support that level of power IMHO.

Best terminal on my car with only 10% more WHP/ton and AWD was 121 on the 6 speed at the strip, and a 125 on an AP22 on the 5 speed with one less gearchange.

A 3.0 engine shouldn't need 25 PSI to hit 420 flywheel (typical 10% losses for 2WD on a Bosch or Dastek dyno) I don't think. 70 BHP/NA litre isn't usually too difficult on a turbo motor with good breathing, given that a stock JDM STi manages about this. 420 @ 25PSI on a 3.0 is about 52 BHP/NA litre.

I very much doubt Cos427 is mixing up his flywheels and wheels

Dark Blue Mark

I hate them, they really are ****.

MB

Dilbrain

They probably feel the same about you

eldudereno

There's a nice black one round the corner from me, it looks great with tinted windows, nice wheels and a rather tasty exhaust...bloody nice car!

Jeff Wiltshire

I had one outdrag me from the lights when I had my Impreza.....until he got to left hand corner 200 yds later (which is why I was braking !) completely lost control and spun it across 3 lanes of traffic and hit the kerb and wall on the other side of the road....driver was fine but the car looked very 2nd hand.

ZIPPY

Dave, no more to fix than that 12 year old thing you drive now, i have a gallon of petrol and some matches if you need the silver thing removing, LOL.

Zippy

NotoriousREV

It's not 12 years old!

It's 11 years and 4 months

I hope that's a gallon of Optimax, it is an import, after all

ZIPPY

Class Dave, only you could come up with that comment that made me giggle.

Hows the new arrival doing, mine arrives on March the 2nd and its a boy.

How do i know the date, because Mr's Zippy is too Posh to Push and thats when the 'C' section is booked for.

C U Soon

NotoriousREV

Has she had a C-section before? Get her to talk to MrsREV if not, she's found it a bit unpleasant (4-6 weeks without driving, no hoovering, no lifting). Actually, if I'm honest, it's me thats found it unpleasant, LOL

Congrats on the imminent arrival! Don't call him Dylan, though

ZIPPY

By your comments above it looks like my Mr's has had a C section all her life, she never drives,lifts anything and she would never know what a hoover is.

Zippy

Cosworth427

They're not so easy to find, but http://www.twinturbo.net is your best bet. Unlike the Supra community, most members don't really brag too much online about how much power they make.

And psi shouldn't be compared at face value like that, psi vs horsepower varies with compressor air mass flow and the air consumption of the engine itself, obviously a larger 3 litre engine requires less psi than 2 litres at a given rpm.

Cosworth427

Here's 1 dyno graph of a 407 rwhp on the stock twin turbos, 21 psi peak, 17 psi held untill red line.

http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg...ock%3a%3atwins

RB5_245

Engine size vs weight is a novel way of measuring performance

Regardless of engine size 1500kgs is too much for any performance car imho, particularly one of ony 280bhp. I consider 1280kgs quite heavy, and want to get rid of as much of that as possible.

Dave

Cosworth427

If that is the case, high performance Mercedes and BMW saloons should use 1.8 litre engines with 25 psi of boost. You are forgetting one important thing when it comes to engine size and the car's weight ... low RPM torque at any throttle position and any gear. A small budget performance-saloons have to make do without it, drop down 2 gears and WOT for any reasonable torque - pretty much like all Imprezas are.

You are unhappy with the weight of an Impreza, yet you still buy the car. So why can't the same be said for the 300 ZX?

You can easily make more power from the ZX without too much work which easily offsets the extra weight. In fact the performance of an Impreza is no where in the ZX's league once they are running higher than stock boost levels. They were only detuned to 300 HP for noise and emissions reasons.