A guy showed up at car club tonight outta the blue with a nice looking black accord coupe V6. He was completely stock so I thought even with an extra 2 doors an intake with a nice 69F would make this run pretty even.
We got to our race spot and lined up only I had 1 passenger and he had 0 passengers.
We go to our spot and had a flagger so we launched. I left traction control on.
3,2,1, go I got a nearly perfect launch with only 2 or 3 chirps through 1st gear. He pretty much spun through all of first so I jumped ahead by almost a car. I hit 2nd gear and he's inching up on me he hits 2nd and chirps (again) and starts reeling me in. I slam it up into 3rd and he basically just starts walking past me, at the top of 3rd he's 1 car ahead. I slam it into 4th and he continues to get away from me by about 110mph or the top of 4th he's a good 2 cars ahead of me.
I shut it down.
that coupe's curb weight is about 3500lbs but even though I had a passenger, he was a slim guy and didn't weigh more than 180lbs. Basically I got slaughtered!
I might race him again after I get an exhaust but damn a stock accord can really give it to you if you. Don't underestimate the 3.5L in the accords, I think the VQ has met its match, the top end on that motor kicks ass, that motor is definitely underrated. And to think all that on regular!
thats why i run 93 octane and 93 octane only.
its either you cant drive, or the fuel was holding you back, because ive ran a 6mt V6 accord coupe on the hwy and i was putting lengths on him, so i dont know. maybe something is wrong with your car because that accord is not supposed to put 2 cars on you, unless you had a full tank, and you had over 400lbs excess weight in your car.
My car has never seen the likes of anything lower than 93 octane, either Shell or Sunoco.
I'm a good driver hence why I got a huge launch jump off on him. My shifts are very fast, I don't know you think traction control had something to do with it? It did not blink at all past my initial spin in 1st gear.
I had 1 passenger and a carvac, I have had my spare tire removed already. but maybe there is something wrong with the car, even though it sure does feel as fast as when I first "got on it". I check my Mobil 1 regularly too and its still golden brown and buttery smooth.
I also had under a half a tank, he could have had something on him though, If I see another stock Accord I'll run it.
Good Run! Funny that people think somethings wrong with your car/driver just because you lost, but the fact of the matter is the new V6 accords without VCM are underrated. There is virtually no difference between the 3.5 in the TL Type-S and the J35 in the Accord. There have been dyno test to prove it. The fact is that the new Accords are quicker than everyone would like to believe. Although the J35's with VCM suffer from a large performance loss, almost like 20hp.
Last edited by 3.5AltiV6 : 08-15-2008 at 07:34 AM.
Good Run! Funny that people think somethings wrong with your car/driver just because you lost, but the fact of the matter is the new V6 accords without VCM are underrated. There is virtually no difference between the 3.5 in the TL Type-S and the J35 in the Accord. There have been dyno test to prove it. The fact is that the new Accords are quicker than everyone would like to believe. Although the J35's with VCM suffer from a large performance loss, almost like 20hp.
there is a reason people , myself included , think somethings up and its because the power/weight were almost identical between both cars , dexion got a jump of about 1 car length off the line and in the coarse of the race which ended at 110 , is a little over a 1/4 mile , the accord closed the 1 car lead and put 2 car lengths on top of that . i know the new accord is fast and its a great car , so is the altima , but something seems a little off to me .
i posted a dyno test of an accord and the #'s are similar to a 4th gen altima .
Perhaps what he said about leaving the traction control on affected him on the shift from 1st to 2nd where one usually looses some traction specially shifting hard, i might have cut some power when he shifted to 2nd
on a side note.. a good friend of mine bought a 08 3.5SE with the sport package and CVT. we have done many runs already, he has about 4k miles on it and i must say, i am impressed with that car! from digs i destroy him, but from freeway rolls like 60-70mph rolls, with him in "Manual Mode", even with all my mods ive been only managing to pull about 2- 2 1/2 carlenghts on him by like 120mph.. he defenetly keep up better than from a dig or lower speeds.. I tell him everyday he should have gotten a 6mt!! lol
__________________
02 Alti 3.5 5mt
Mods:every bolt on expect for cams and SSIM.
there is a reason people , myself included , think somethings up and its because the power/weight were almost identical between both cars , dexion got a jump of about 1 car length off the line and in the coarse of the race which ended at 110 , is a little over a 1/4 mile , the accord closed the 1 car lead and put 2 car lengths on top of that . i know the new accord is fast and its a great car , so is the altima , but something seems a little off to me .
i posted a dyno test of an accord and the #'s are similar to a 4th gen altima .
I get what your saying but so many other factors rather than hp and weight. I think we would all agree that the Altima's top-end is a bit lacking and the gearing is definitely geared more towards low end grunt which would explain why he got the jump off the line. The J35 in the Accord is geared/tuned more towards the top-end acceleration.
I think the results of dexion's race were legit. I dont like to quote mag times but in Motortrend test of the Accord vs the Alti, the two cars were virtually identical 0-60, but once the 1/4 mile came the accord was about a 2 tenth's of a second ahead and kept pulling. From 0-100 the Accord was more than four tenths of a second faster. Thats about 2 car lengths. Pretty much dexion described.
I would have to concur, its very fishy that the motor in the VQ is holding its peak power from 6000-6800 while the Accord's drops off after 6400. Its the ECU's in our cars not the motors, the VQ still has more potential than the JA35, look at the 2009 Maxmia's VQ, if Too_Slow_4_U couldn't pull away from a 3600lb car with a torque converter even with his intake than that car is definitely underrated.
Seems to be the trend these days, to underrate engines.
I did dyno 242 WHP with the WAi (Not CAi) and the new accord dynos 239 WHP stock. Not to mention, my dyno numbers were done at 1200 feet above sea level which lowers the numbers.
if I SAE my numbers, its closer to 250 WHP.
I raced a V6 Accord 6mt when I was bone stock and edged him out from a dig and from a roll.
Dexion losing to the Accord shouldn't be too much of a surpised. Maybe Dexion was heat soaked which is common with those fujitas where the Accord was still cool.
I think Vipapower told me that if my track time was at sea level, it would have been 14.001@103 MPH.
The Altima is still quicker, but it all depends how your car is broken in (engine wise). I did the good old race car way, where most people just drive it like sissies until 1000 miles like the factory recommends.
I raced an AUTO Type S TL and I beat him without too much of struggle (I think by 3 cars by 100 MPH from a dig).
Anything can happen on the street and theres a ton of variables that may cost Dexion the race. I personally use Sunoco 94 octane .
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2007 Altima 3.5 SE 6MT Bone Stock! 14.180@100.16 MPH (70F)
I do totally agree that the VQ (at least 07+, and mine in particular) definitely is a little lacking in the high-rpms. Low-end power is where this engine REALLY shines! But, it just seems like from 5500-6800rpms, the hp/torque curve is just FLAT. Good that it doesn't loose power, sure. But bad on a 6MT that keeps the engine at ~4000+rpms with redline shifts. Not peaky at all. Just doesn't leave much room for creativity in driving style.
I, for one, simply can not WAIT until the Racingline y-pipe is out for this car. I will be 1st in line for one and I have a funny suspicion that this anemia in the high-rpms will be much improved.
Next time make sure you turn the TCS off, it slows you down from a stop and when switching gears.
You could have a point, felt like the engine got slightly quieter after a shift only for a half a sec, but the light didn't blink... but maybe the TCS function is still in effect before wheel slip?
I did not baby my car of any sort when I was braking it in. It saw W.O.T. on maybe the first day... saw redline before the end of the week. (Why do people baby cars that were already redlined straight out of the assembly line from the factory...)
As far as being heatsoaked, my car was off for at least 15 minutes before the race. I do have one idea however. Since I took off all the stock air tubing from the car it might be making more drag on the car since the air is coming through the grille and just surging all through out the engine bay instead of being all pointed near the intake. (This is probably why I feel like 2nd gear is my strongest gear, less wind resistance than 3rd? - also he wasn't pulling in 2nd.)
I'll definitely rematch him though, but this time W/O a passenger!
There is definitely nothing wrong with my car because I am VERY sensitive to performance changes, I can tell when a summer day bogs me down, and when a full tank of gas makes it feel slightly heavier.
I do totally agree that the VQ (at least 07+, and mine in particular) definitely is a little lacking in the high-rpms. Low-end power is where this engine REALLY shines! But, it just seems like from 5500-6800rpms, the hp/torque curve is just FLAT. Good that it doesn't loose power, sure. But bad on a 6MT that keeps the engine at ~4000+rpms with redline shifts. Not peaky at all. Just doesn't leave much room for creativity in driving style.
I, for one, simply can not WAIT until the Racingline y-pipe is out for this car. I will be 1st in line for one and I have a funny suspicion that this anemia in the high-rpms will be much improved.
Late,
Trav
You're totally right smack after 6000 its feels completely flat, I think the ECU making the engine pig rich is the culprit. The motor's in our car's need at least 7000 RPM's of reving because the cams don't brake a sweat at 6900 RPM's either where the throttle closes.
When you accelerate from 4000 RPM to 5500 RPM, the horsepower is climbing so you feel that sensation. When the horsepower states constant, you don't feel that sensation.
Your car is actually moving fast, but your brain doesn't feel that sensation so it feels flat.
I didn't dyno my car stock, but I actually pulled away (slowly) from the new accord.
Dexion,
Go get your car dynoed or go to the track and see what kind of trap speeds your getting. That will really let us know if your car is working at optimal.
^I will dyno but I think that its gonna dyno normal because there's no drag.
I am really starting to think I am adding extra drag on my car because I've removed the stock air ducts. I think it was designed pretty nicely to route the air to the intake but for me air is just all around my engine bay probably pushing back my car.
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