A&Q about 350Z
Q:
own 03 350z w/ 5sp auto trans.
my research suggests 3.7 final gear mated w/nismo lsd will work.
thoughts, comments ?
thanks
tim
A:
Several people have gone with the 3.55 final drive from the 6MT in the 5sp auto. That set up seems to work well in the automatic. I haven't heard of anyone using a 3.7 in an automatic, but it will probably work. I have the 3.917 in my 6MT and love it. Best bang for the buck for a 350Z as far as I am concerned.
A friend of mine just gave away his 3.55 ring and pinion to another guy here locally who has an 05 auto. Now all he has to do is pay to have it installed.
As I understand it the Nismo LSD is not the greatest setup for the street, although it is excellent on the track. I hear it is noisy. Does the auto come with the viscous LSD? If so I would stick with it and save your money. I kept my stock viscous LSD when I changed to the 3.9 and it works fine.
03 Daytona Blue MT
Injen CAI
Borla TD Exhaust
Crawford Plenum, Cats, Headers and Strut Bar
Nismo Suspension, LMGT4 wheels, clutch and flywheel and cams
StopTech BBK, 332mm front and 328mm rear
Technosquare ECU Reflash
3.9 FD
Emerald City Z Club
Post Edited (Oct 4, 8:01am)
A:
3.917 in your 350Z 6 speed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't 1st gear go by so fast that it would almost be useless? you could almost start from 2nd gear off the line. Once again I am not an expert, but with the standard gearing in my 350Z I am out of 1st in a flash before upshifting to 2nd.
A:
Going from a 3.54 to a 3.91 is only a 10% drop, so time in gear would be just slightly less.
- John
A:
John is right it is only about a 10% difference. First gear is shorter but still very usable. With the 350Zs torque you can actually start out in 2nd if you want to but it still lags some. Most of the time I only use first when I am starting from a dead stop and second if I am rolling at all.
The 3.9 just makes the car pull harder. The gears coupled with cams makes the car a lot more fun than the stock 350Z.
03 Daytona Blue MT
Injen CAI
Borla TD Exhaust
Crawford Plenum, Cats, Headers and Strut Bar
Nismo Suspension, LMGT4 wheels, clutch and flywheel and cams
StopTech BBK, 332mm front and 328mm rear
Technosquare ECU Reflash
3.9 FD
Emerald City Z Club
A:
Actually I was wondering if you ever tried to run the 1/4 mile starting out in second and then compare it to a normal run starting out in first?
A:
I haven't tried that although I have thought about it. I think starting in second would be slower since you don't have the same punch off the line even though you'd eliminate a shift. Some of it would also depend what kind of lauch you could get in either gear. The 3.9 makes first gear more difficult to launch hard without excessive wheelspin. Getting a good hard lauch in second would be difficult too and likely not very good on the drivetrain.
From a five or ten mph roll no question in my mind that starting in second would be faster. Of course the 3.9 for the 350Z was developed for road racing not drag racing and that is where it really shines.
03 Daytona Blue MT
Injen CAI
Borla TD Exhaust
Crawford Plenum, Cats, Headers and Strut Bar
Nismo Suspension, LMGT4 wheels, clutch and flywheel and cams
StopTech BBK, 332mm front and 328mm rear
Technosquare ECU Reflash
3.9 FD
Emerald City Z Club
Post Edited (Oct 4, 10:37am)
A:
Hey ZPirate, where does the 350 sense it's speed from? When you switched to the 3.9 did you need to flash the CPU to correct the speed?