What Car? - 3up, Double Budget, OneLap Ride

Is there enough brake under a Maxima/Altima for track work? One Lap tends to be stupidly hard on brakes because we go out at 105% and use brake to save us from our ambitions. 

In reply to mazdeuce :

my personal opinion is the Accords/Sonata/Optima/Camry are all barely adequate for street use. I'd assume the Maxima/Altima would be similar but I have no experience with them. We always sent them straight to auction rather than investing money into them used.

So big power, room for humans, big brakes...... How about a B6 Passat VR6?

linky

Can't find one in a stick shift right off but they do exist.   Buy that one listed for $2,000 and have budget for suspension upgrades and an ECU reflash to gain 10-20 hp and eliminate that pesky speed limiter that kicks in at 130.

In reply to John Welsh :

For some reason I was under the impression that the the 3L in the Mazda6's had some kind of terminal failure?  Maybe that was an earlier gen of that engine?

mazdeuce said:

Is there enough brake under a Maxima/Altima for track work? One Lap tends to be stupidly hard on brakes because we go out at 105% and use brake to save us from our ambitions. 

So, digging around a bit...  *
The Altima 3.5 runs a rotor  11.65"  that's  0.94"
The Maxima runs a rotor of 12.58"  that's  1.10"
The Base TL runs a rotor of 11.81"   that's  1.10"
The 6spd TL runs a rotor of 12.32"  that's  0.98" 
*rotor = diameter

**The Altima SE's clock in at 3227#s curb weight and 250hp, the TL is 3482#s and 260hp-ish (I estimate the TL ran OneLap2017 at 3370-ish).  The Altima's got another 2.5" of total legroom over the TL, and 15.6cuft vs. 12.5cuft of trunk space.

**specs listed are from cars.com/research/compare

Supposedly the Maxima rotors/calipers swap on... although I suspect I'll have a hard time getting the 17x9 949's I have sitting around making swmbo grumbly to fit.

Anybody have bra removal advice? 
i.e. there seem to be a bunch of Altima's around that... are... {ahem} rough enough around the edges enough to drive down their price, and make me care less about ripping out their headliner/sunroof and pop-riveting in an aluminum cover.... while hopefully having enough mechanical life left to survive OneLap.  They really only lack an LSD... unless I want to hunt down an SE-R (I think)... and I'm not sure I do.

Not that I've decided anything... first step is to reduce the inventory, maybe this weekend... but the Altima has risen up the list a bit for me.   Afterall, G35's are around the same price point.  

edited to add thickness and links for future references

That's the diameter but what's the thickness? Some of the old Elantras ran a decent size diameter but were too thin to effectively dissipate the heat and would turn blue and warp with one hard stop from highway speeds. 

edit: Just checked, thickness:

-Altima 1.03" new, .98 discard

-maxima 1.02" new .97 discard

-TL auto (base) 1.08" new 1.02 discard

-TL-S 1.1" new 1.03" discard

So, if it's altima/Maxima I'd bring a spare set of rotors JIK IMO.

Not this Bra removal advice?  

Strangley, it also makes my pants fall off  

In reply to John Welsh :

You'll get mine off for sure with that method!

Interestingly the 07 Sonata rotor is 11.8" and 1.1" thick.... rears are 11.2 and .4", TL was 11.1" x .36", Alt 11.4" x .35" and Max 12.12 x .63.

Altima with maxima brakes?

seeing as the quest is 4000#s... it's running a 11.42" by 1.1" rotor

?

re:maxima brakes on altima... I'll have to do some digging on if 17's fit, or on cheapish 18x9's 
(and/or keep digging through G35/350/370 parts bins?)

I remembered that Irish44 is the local expert on Maximas so I googled up some threads of his knowledge:  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/maxima-se-vs-altima-se/46237/page1/  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/02-03-gen-55-nissan-maxima-se-yay-or-nay/91744/page1/

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/omg-another-what-car-thread/23404/page1/

!995-2004 subaru legecy or outback wagon. can find failry cheap. easy to upgrade to turbo. good cargo. very nice on long drives. i drove to the 2015 challange and going to be back with it again by the looks of it.

as an interesting data point, I measured the front rotors on my TL, and they read .98"... which lines up with the thickness I found (and :. indicates 0.00" of wear for OneLap)... although it raises some more questions about how the TL-S has the same calipers but has thicker pads and thicker rotors?

All of which is making me consider mathing out how much heat-sink is available for the different diameter and thicknesses.  Hmmm, where'd I put that Thermodynamics book again?

In other news, I found out today that I might have to rethink my calculus for car ownership in the post-August 2018+ regime.  Apparently our garage for 2018 to 2021 will be behind a significant decline, such that Rav4's and Forresters are squeaking in and minivans are having to park on the street.

I wonder if you could convince Brock that a first gen Forester is really an SUV? 

mazdeuce said:

I wonder if you could convince Brock that a first gen Forester is really an SUV? 

probably, if not econo...  as it happens, I know where an '04 XT 5spd is sitting for cheap... only 250kmi and needs either a new engine or new heads.  

They're Lego cars. All of the good bits from everything fit. You can even justify it as a kid hauler. I kind of hate Subarus, but it would probably work. 

mazdeuce said:

They're Lego cars. All of the good bits from everything fit. You can even justify it as a kid hauler. I kind of hate Subarus, but it would probably work. 

I have a general apathy with Subarus.  I dig the way they sound, and I like modded ones... but I keep finding horror stories about oiling killing turbos, and heads needing work... plus I saw one rip out their right rear suspension arms, upright, wheel; the whole shebang; at OneLap 2011...

re:Kid Hauler
We just did a weekend trip for Labor Day (4 days), minus the dog.  Everything packed could have fit in the Clubman.  The six seats of the Mazda5 were nice when we went bombing around with my Aunt and Uncle after getting up to see them.  But we could have done the trip in the Clubman... if only I still liked the way it drives.  

The Big Move will probably happen without the dog, she's getting too old for that kind of trip.  What I really need is some kind of Civic/Mazda3/etc that's four door, manual, can be lifted up an inch on springs and another inch on tires, and lsd'd.  If that car could also be slammed down, stuck on wide tires, and fit 3 and sundry for 10days... all for say $5500  ($4k for OneLap, with $1500 to set it up for TBM)... then I'd probably be golden.

Cue Bob in 3... 2...   

Bobzilla said:

Interestingly the 07 Sonata rotor is 11.8" and 1.1" thick.... rears are 11.2 and .4", TL was 11.1" x .36", Alt 11.4" x .35" and Max 12.12 x .63.

Altima with maxima brakes?

I know we talked offline about your concern that the '06-'10 Sonata V6's transmission is a weak point... but it continues to be an interesting option to me.  It's not helped by the fact that there are frequently multiple 150k/$3 one listed on CL around me.

They're great cars for sure. Comfy as hell too for 3 people and a really large trunk. Normal driving they're easily good for 200k. 

I'm just linking some threads for my own notes, maybe I'll use it later...

Thread the First
Thread the Second
Thread the Third
Capstone Mods Thread

edit:  Suspension Thoughts

Veracruz rotors and two piston XG calipers. I knew there would have to be an OEM bbk out there. Their platforms have so much overlap. 

On the Forte I could have gone to Optima Turbo calipers and rotors for the front but would have required 18" wheels. That would have been a ton of brakes for a car it's size. 

Coyote swapped p71 would be fun but that's probably not in your budget.

I'm still rooting for an LT1 B-body GM option. I know my way around those better than the Koreans.... they were my first love. WEll, non-LT1 versions. Loved me some 9C1's. Hard to believe it's been over 20 years since the last ones were built. 

In reply to Bobzilla :

Yes! 

In reply to Indy-Guy :

that makes my pants tight.