Our Nissan 240SX survived Sebring: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1991-166-240sx/surviving-sebring/
Our Nissan 240SX survived Sebring: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1991-166-240sx/surviving-sebring/
[insert smug comment about datsun and nissans] 
I've seen a few 300k+ E30's making the rounds before.
Impressive.
Scroll down to post http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/360-430/205578-how-many-miles-your-360-a-3.html It's a scan of a UK magazine article about a Ferrari that was retired to track use with 120k miles on the clock.
JoeyM wrote: [insert smug comment about datsun and nissans]
Something about a Toyota 1MZ being unable to do the same thing...
SlickDizzy wrote: I've seen a few 300k+ E30's making the rounds before.
The race car in my avatar had 220k on the chassis when it became a track car. It probably had 240k on it by the time I did the motor swap and cage and it never really had a "fatigue" related problem.
There isn't much E30 left at this point and it is much less reliable for it. The damn thing has yet to finish a race weekend without me spinning wrench to fix something.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: There isn't much E30 left at this point and it is much less reliable for it. The damn thing has yet to finish a race weekend without me spinning wrench to fix something.
The engineers at car companies realize the making the car durable and reliable means that the company won't have to eat the cost of repairs. When racers tweak/modify cars for performance, they often make changes that reduce the reliability of a car. When enough of those changes accumulate, you get a brittle car; one that is fast when it runs, but is often breaking.
I'll also say that maintenance has to help. The 240SX came with a stack of receipts and a spreadsheet covering every service since its initial check-up.
My red 98 neon R/T won an SCCA Rallycross National Championship with 390,000 miles on the odo.
The blue one was playing tag with Boxsters at PCA track days with over 250,000 mile on it.
I money-shifted the integra at around 220k at TGPR. She ran like a top up to that point...and for several thousand miles after...albeit a little noisily.
My track civic has 330,000 plus miles and going strong. I agree It really is all in the maintinence.
By the way, there aren't enough o's in smoooooooooooth to describe that 240SX's transmission.
Also, look for more updates next week. There's three in the queue, and hopefully I'll get some more work done on it this weekend.
JoeyM wrote: When enough of those changes accumulate, you get a brittle car; one that is fast when it runs, but is often breaking.
Brittle is the keyword.
Solid engine, trans and diff mounts. 10 point cage tied into both ends of the car and the body work. Even as smooth as the BMW six is... every bolt on the car has to be checked after every race.
It is in pieces right now getting much more power, vibration isolation and some safety wired fasteners.
GPS, what else has been done to the E30? What engine and suspension are you running? Is it still 4 lug?
David S. Wallens wrote: By the way, there aren't enough o's in smoooooooooooth to describe that 240SX's transmission.
Made me think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKazxGjieD8
You get to the clutch at :13 or so ;)
Grinch337 wrote: GPS, what else has been done to the E30? What engine and suspension are you running? Is it still 4 lug?
Off the top of my head... S54 with motorsport CF airbox and standalone ECU sitting back thru the firewall. Electro-hydraulic power steering from an old Subaru XT. Supersprint long tubes to homemade open exhaust. ZF 5speed w/ 5.5" tilton/clutchmasters clutch to custom driveshaft. 5 lug E36 M3 up front with custom roll and bump correction and E36 M Coupe rear trailing arms with inverted 944 coil overs and custom adjustable pick-ups (motorsport E30 M3 copies). OS Giken LSD with 3.64 final drive. 10 point cage tying it all together at both ends... all glass replaced with lexan... doors skinned and welded...
...what hasn't been done is a lot easier.
The whole motor/ECU package is new for this season but hasn't quite got finished so... that is the goal for August anyway. All the rest is finished and waiting on a shakedown when the engine runs.
MCarp22 wrote:David S. Wallens wrote: By the way, there aren't enough o's in smoooooooooooth to describe that 240SX's transmission.Made me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKazxGjieD8 You get to the clutch at :13 or so ;)
That is smooth.
That is one crazy beast you have there. Hope to see you at the track one day with it. What are the racing plans for it (sanctioning body/class)?
Grinch337 wrote: That is one crazy beast you have there. Hope to see you at the track one day with it. What are the racing plans for it (sanctioning body/class)?
I ran it in BMWCCA Club Racing C-Mod the last two seasons but a little down on power with an S52. It will remain there with the S54 only hopefully a tad more competitive if I can get it finished before the end of the season. I'm running an E36 in I-Sport while I'm building it so... it's possible that it might not see the light of day again until spring.
David: Apologies - I'm really jackin' your thread pretty hard.
I have to figure there are still some high-mileage EG Civic track rats out there.
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