- On this side of the world, it's not that often that we get to see a genuine JGTC racecar
but here at World Time Attack, Dale Malone has brought out his Z33 that's behind us.
So for a start, and I'm not 100% locked in on the details of the JGTC championship,
I believe this is a GT300 car, can you talk to us a little bit about what that championship is,
what the differences between GT300 and 500 are and maybe what sort of cars we've seen
competing.
- For sure, well GT300 was the lower category, still a works back program.
GT500 add more aero, more horsepower.
These by the name, GT300, are limited to 300 horsepower approximately at the wheel and
they would balance it as a balance of parity through the series but as you can see on this
car, it's got the GT500 aero and that was a homologation upgrade and so that was passed
on down from GT500.
- OK so I want to get a little bit deeper into the aero and the other elements that you've
talked about like balance and performance but before we do that, how does someone in
Australia come to own a genuine JGTC GT300 NIssan racecar?
- I got lucky, I was chasing the previous S15 for a fair while and then it came up where I was
able to buy it and that wasn't expected.
I had that for a few years obviously and then after we'd finished restoring the car and getting
it back to a really good running standard, a collector in Europe decided that he wanted
to purchase the car and that gave me the opportunity to look for other cars and I sort
of tracked the history on this car for a little while and it was sitting over in Canada and
wasn't really being used over there so we were able to come to a deal and get the car
over here and I've also managed to purchased all the XWorks spares package so we've got
spare body panels, 50 something wheels, spare engines, gearboxes, enough to run,
control arms, the whole lot so it makes sense to purchase that because you can never build
something like this yourself.
- That was going to be one of my next questions, how daunting is it buying a Nismo factory built
racecar and then that's one thing but the serviceability, the new parts supply, that could
be quite daunting?
- They're tough to service but I've got a good understanding from previously and the crew's
got a good understanding of the previous S15.
And as many factories typically do, they keep a character, especially in design and architecture,
of componentry and engineering, they carry a lot of that through so we already understand
those things.
I was able to get a lot of the service manual and data from Nismo so we've got maintenance
time periods, we've got service intervals and lifespans and we can monitor that, the car's
actually really easy to work on.
Because it's naturally aspirated, we don't have oil lines hanging around the engine bay, no turbos,
it's a very simple package.
It looks complex but yeah it's a very simple package.
- OK let's talk a little bit about the engine in it because I was interested to find out it's
actually the VQ35DE which is the earlier Z33 350Z engine.
Not normally the go to option if you want to build a decent 350, the later HR or even
the 370 engine are a more popular option with a little bit more power so why did Nismo
go that route?
- I think it was down to homologation so these cars were built and designed around the DE.
So homologation started in 2003 and that was also FIA homologation.
And as you can probably see in the engine bay, where everything's mounted it's mounted at a
set drivetrain height so you've got a situation where if they're putting a taller deck height
in there with the heads and what not, packaging is really hard to update and re engineer on a
works program package.
So they stayed with it, it worked.
They changed a lot of the componentry inside the engine, Pankl did all the rotating assembly
for them and the main tunnel's about 5 mm bigger in diameter.
- That's the main bearing tunnel for the crankshaft?
- Main bearing tunnel as well as conrod journals are significantly bigger as well.
So the whole assembly's been enlarged, try and deal with that.
Harmonics and resonance is an issue so we have to be selective on how we're going to really lean
on it but the way it's set up, it's quite protected so unless we're doing something
stupid, we really shouldn't have any maintenance issues with it.
- Alright so, talk to us about the power level, you've already mentioned, GT300 around
300 horsepower at the wheels, have you had it on a dyno, do you know what it's making?
- No haven't had it on a dyno but we know what it's making because of the mapping.
We've got all the original engine mapping and the dyno logs so we know what they're making at
the flywheel and also on their bench system so we can translate that to know what it
produces.
- An interesting aspect here with this balance of performance about the different manufacturers
racing in that GT300 class is the restrictor size and we can see that very clearly in the engine bay,
you're running two tiny restrictors.
I've seen there it's got 27.6 mm inscribed on it so that's what you're running?
- Yeah that's right so that's what I've got with the car and that's on the map at the moment.
They actually had a variety of sizes up to 28 mm all the way down to 23 and you'd probably see
the taper on there, they change with the taper length as well as the plenum volume so that
was all used to tune both on and off throttle power delivery and also to try and get a bit
of a boost in resonance of air speed so different tracks in Japan would be much tighter.
If they were at a low grip circuit they would change the power delivery through that curve.
And it saved them having to tune via camshafts and ripping the engine out and playing with
timing events and torque delivery.
- In terms of changing the restrictor size, is it then a case of a different map required in
the ECU or is it mapped so that you can change among all of the different restrictors
without dealing with the electronic side of things?
- It's a tough one because the mapping system is TPS over RPM with a few compensations so
it would be out of character for the tune if we did change the, it wouldn't be ideal, it probably
could be done but I certainly know in the program that they had very very strict data on this restrictor
size only goes with this map and you would have to upload it to the computer and adapt it for every
change.
- I mean that's exactly what I would expect where you're not actually monitoring airflow
directly but running Alpha N instead.
And I assume the basis of that, if it's running Alpha N, fair to assume that it's
running individual throttle bodies under that beautiful carbon plenum?
- It is, there's two types on this one so there's a barrel roller which is on this one and there's
also a butterfly system.
This one runs 55 mm individual trumpets on top of the barrels and as you can see, the plenum
volume's about 28 litres so it's quite massive.
- So that plenum volume, as you've said, massive there and it's visually very clear that they've put
a huge volume into it.
Is there sort of an advantage in terms of being able to draw the atmospheric air in that plenum before
the restrictors come in or does it not really work like that?
- That's the idea so the restrictors are force fed at the front, so it's positive pressure as the car
is moving but when you're off throttle, that air will build up inside that system so as soon as
the driver gets back on the throttle, it's essentially an unrestricted engine for a
given period.
- Until it empties that plenum and starts drawing essentially a vacuum again.
- Spot on yeah.
The tapered runners will also tweak depending on how long the straights were.
And the idea behind that was to try and play with the high speed pressure that was built
up in the front of the car to try and get them a few more kilometres of horsepower down,
equivalent horsepower down the straight but we're talking 3, 4 kilometres.
- I mean this is all stuff that we at an enthusiast level would struggle to test
and validate but of course when you've got the resources of a manufacturer, these are those
small iterative improvements that can mean the difference between winning and losing correct?
- Oh absolutely I mean the team that looked after the engine package for all these cars, they weren't
a part of Nismo, they were a contractor for Nismo.
And I know that they would have 4 people per car looking after that car and the engine and
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 and
dialled in and tuned.
- OK in terms of horsepower, can you give us some sort of rough idea and what sort of
instantaneous boost in power do you get in that situation you talked about where
you've been off throttle, the plenum's back at atmospheric pressure and that instantaneous
before it starts drawing a vacuum and then do you have any data on what the engine can
produce if it was unrestricted?
- For sure so depending on the RPM limit, unrestricted would be approximately 580,
the lifespan on that would be very short just harmonics and wear and tear.
- What sort of RPM are they running to get to that 580 as well?
- That's at 10,500.
- It's up there.
- Yeah not sustainable long term, it's a very short engine life.
With what's there now, with the plenum volume, we can expect 420, 450 on a short
burst but again it depends on the RPM because the camshaft timing and everything in there
is very particular so if you've got the right gear and you're loaded up in the right gear at the
right road speed, you'll be able to use that and actually get the best usage out of that torque boost.
But if you're in the wrong gear, it's wasted.
- And obviously very short lived until the plenum starts drawing a vacuum but essentially push to
pass for a naturally aspirated engine?
- Essentially yeah it's actually funny because the acceleration of it through the first 3, 4 gears
is phenomenal, we're getting up to excessive speeds here between some of the corners but
on the longer straights it's just, you could almost have a coffee while you're going
down the straight so yeah.
- I mean you've brought a knife to a gun fight here running in a class where 1000 horsepower
is not uncommon so you've definitely got your work cut out for you, particularly with the long
length of that front straight here at Eastern Creek but of course that's not what the car was built
for, it's great to see it out here.
Just talking about the rest of the package, electronics as well on a car like this can
be tricky, where you may not necessarily have access to the calibration so what's
the situation there, can you tune this if needed, what was the electronics in the car?
- The history on these electronics, it was a Pectel Cosworth system.
And it was developed by obviously the European side and they were working in hand with Nismo
and so everything was developed for Nissan Motorsport.
It is a T6 old school Pectel ECU.
But it's got a different injector drive allocation so it's got 12 injector drivers but only 3
ignition drivers.
So it's a wasted spark but you know 12...
- But you've got 6 extra injectors that aren't necessary?
- And injectors on sequential but, ignition on wasted so there's a few funny things but they
were using the resources that were there at the time.
- So we've got to remember as well, in terms of the electronics, this is a couple of generations
old now, certainly not cutting edge by today's standards.
- Well to actually program it, so the programming software was deskpro.
People know that obviously but it was specially made for Nissan Motorsport and so the only
way to communicate using that software is on a Windows 95 based laptop.
Because it does, this is quite funny actually, it's not serial, so it goes from parallel port
to CAN so it's a very early version of CAN and so you've got to rely on a parallel
port to, bi directional data and it's very hard to get it to work but we can tune it if we
want to, but the question then becomes, if we're putting that much energy and effort
to remapping a throttle position over RPM base of engine, would it be not wiser to
protect and keep what's here in a box and seal it up and update it with a PDM and that
sort of thing.
- Is there an element you have to keep in mind with a historic racecar with some
significance like this in terms of not really modifying or messing with what's there and
keeping it genuine in how it was built originally?
- It's a hard thing to pick because you want to have every, competing we want to have every
protection available, we don't want to be risking the car in any way.
The car sure yes runs really well like this but I think from my point of view if I can keep
and preserve what's there and even if I put that aside and what I do retrofit in there is
not going to detract from the car or something that can't be replaced or switched out so to do
that would probably be remating up bulkhead connectors using what's there and completely
rewiring the car but not taking away from anything or damaging anyting.
- I mean there's been plenty of examples we've seen in shot in the past where people have
retrofitted a current generation ECU inside a big box and just basically pinned it out to the
existing wiring and that's a nice solution that's always something that you can return to stock
so I guess the other aspect is if it isn't broken don't fix it, if it's running well and doing what
you need, maybe just as well to leave the thing alone.
- I think for the time being we're going to do that, this is our first laps in the car at the
event and the crew's learning the car as well so we're learning a lot on the car and we did
8 laps yesterday and we'll do a few more today and it works well as it is but I'm sure in time
as we get more use of the car and set up wise, the demand for more power or you know maybe
a few more controls will be there so especially maybe traction or throttle and flat shift and
the flat shift system on this one is very primitive, there's no load cell and it runs off a barrel
position so as soon as it sees a barrel position change it goes to cut so you've got to be very
careful the way you drive it, it's a bit sensitive that way.
- Let's talk about that transmission then seeing as you brought it up so what is it running?
- It's a Hewland transmission specially made for Nismo.
It's a split shaft design so the input shaft is lower and the output shaft is higher.
The gears aren't fixed and solid machined on either of the shafts so they're all replaceable.
- So you can change individual ratios?
- Yeah it's actually DG9 I think it is, gear components.
So dog ring, shift forks all that are cross transferrable.
Internally oil pumped, magnesium housing so that's the only caveat with this box is we've
got to keep an eye on it for hairline fractures and things like that and also keep corrosion
inhibitors up to it.
- I mean Hewland, a brand that we don't hear so much on this side of the world but obviously
European brand that is very well reknowned in motorsport so definitely not strangers to
producing a quality gearbox.
So just coming back to that cut so just to clarify maybe for those who aren't too familiar
with what we're talking about, these days traditionally we'd have a load cell on the
gear knob, so basically that strain gauge that lets the ECU know when you're starting to pull
on the gear lever then the ECU can instigate a fuel or ignition cut or maybe both to unload
the dogs and allow the shift to operate.
So instead of doing that, they're actually doing it through sensing the beginning of the
movement of the shift barrel correct?
- Yeah that's right so the way they've machined the shift barrel, they've allowed basically a small
amount of ramp in the barrel and then the position sensor, it's just a throttle position
sensor essentially.
As soon as the ECU sees that voltage start to creep, it will then assume that you're in a
shifting position and it will ramp out ignition but it's not consistent.
- I was going to ask, how are you finding that or are you using it or are you conventionally
shifting with a throttle lift or a clutch dab?
- For now, shifting it like a typical H pattern with a bit of a clutch hit because I've got to
familiarise myself with that box and it's an uncanny feeling when you're trying to
shift and you feel that it's not unloading completely, especially when you're used to
modern designs so it's a little bit confusing at times but it's something to adapt to and
it's the way the car has to be driven so just takes a bit more care and it'll keep it alive.
- In terms of driver displays, logging, what have you got there at your disposal and are you
using any logging or at the moment are you just feeling the car out because it's early days?
- Doing some basic data, so it's a PI Research logger system.
And that logs all the channels on the car, all the suspension pots and what not.
We've chosen to look at the basics at the moment purely because I want to get used
to the car without over complicating and chasing and we've got to be careful here this weekend
because the track's changing every session.
I guess if I get too deep into the data, trying to set up a car, I could be chasing something that
doesn't exist and I'd much rather just get my seat in and get used to the car and we'll review
all of that later.
- Obviously the car was never designed for Time Attack and as we mentioned, you're woefully underpowered
compared to some of the competition, so what's the ultimate idea, are you prepared to go door to
door in another racing class with this or is it going to be for just exhibition purposes?
- Door to door would be great, we've got a wait on sports sedans to see, we've got to
apply for approval because the body work is obviously a bit more extravagant than what
the rules regulated here so they may require some changes but we'll review that and see
what's needed.
Maybe selective GT events because I know they have 3 hours and 4 hours.
Which aren't your pro level GT events, they're more of your gentleman driver type stuff.
So we'll do that, get the car out and enjoy it and Time Attack is obviously not as disciplined
and it's knife to a gun fight so here is just about enjoying the event and people get to
see classic old school GT car out there and we get a bit of data and all in all it's a good day.
- It's definitely not going to be the fastest car here at World Time Attack but as you
say I mean it's a car that we wouldn't often get to see in the flesh so certainly I appreciate
the fact that you've gone to the trouble of bringing the car out and look forward to seeing
it run, thanks for your time Dale.
- Thanks Andre.
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