Absolute Zero

240sx
Auto cross is an inexpensive way for people to race their cars legally without investing massive amounts of money into roll cages and complicated safety equipment. Not to mention the significantly lower amount of risk involved (both financial and medical). The course is outlined by cones in an empty parking lot or road and each of the cones will cost the driver two seconds each time one is hit. All that’s required is that the car be street legal with nothing loose in any part of the car and the drivers and passengers must wear SCCA approved crash helmets. Most organizations will even provide helmets as this one did. But before I could race I needed a car.
“Got Rice?” Read the two aftermarket stickers on the rear window of a slightly modified red 1991 Nissan 240sx. I laughed since, given the amount of pride some 240sx owners have gained after the third unnecessary installment of the Fast and the Furious movies (Tokyo Drift), I found the decals refreshingly honest. Evan, the current owner and typical car-oriented youth had decided to show off the upgrades on his Japanese tuner.
Among the list of “alleged” extras that the previous owner had installed, Evan explained, were; a short throw shifter, a performance clutch, springs, shocks, a racing header, and a cold air intake. However, upon opening the hood the cold air intake turned out to be no more than a cone filter and the racing header looked like it had been something from the company infamous for actually slowing cars down, Pace Setter.
So after a quick overview of the dings, dents, and scratches covering the body of the small red automobile, I stepped inside the drivers seat. Evan had been nice enough to let me race his car in exchange for a small number of greenbacks and it was time to take it for a short pre-race drive to make sure everything was in smooth working order before I opened up the throttle on a closed-course.
The clutch, although heavier, was not difficult to work with and actually delivered a satisfying “thump” sound at every shift. The motor was mostly stock and while powerful even at low RPM’s leaves the driver feeling unsatisfied on a smooth country road. The steering is sluggish to respond at best but effective once you learn to anticipate the corner more than you would in a higher-priced performance vehicle. And last, but certainly not least, the modified suspension is what actually made the car tolerable to drive as it delivered good traction for a car that otherwise would have over steered into and out of every maneuver.
The cars interior leaves much to be desired as comfort takes second place to efficiency and cheap cloth seats. As for the back seat, I have sat there once and never will again. The sound from the motor is droning and loud, essentially, just what every teenager dreams their car will sound like. The Pioneer stereo is acceptable and delivers good music without the static of a stock system of the early 90’s. However I wasn’t there to make sure I could listen to the latest pop rock and rap, I was there to race.
7:00 a.m. race day. After a cold shower, two energy drinks, and a cheap doughnut from a gas station on the way, I arrived at the coned road where me and the other drivers would be trying for the fastest times. As the cones were being arranged and outlined with chalk (this was so course workers could tell if the cone had been knocked out of position) Evan popped the hood and we realized there was a problem. The battery was not tied down and the mounting bracket was falling apart. After several short phone calls, some ingenuity, and a blue strap that a Mazda MX-3 driver Daniel Hopkins provided, we were ready to go but had missed the course walk-through. I was the first to run the 240sx and I was about to do it without having seen half the course without a map.
By 10:30 a.m. the course was set up and the first four cars to race were lined up. I was sixth on the starting grid so I was able to leave the 240sx parked and running to keep the motor warm. Soon it was my turn to be in the starting grid and I gently pulled the Nissan into the coned out box. I revved the motor to three grand, waited for the green flag, and launched the car. Almost immediately the tires chirped and the car started to gain speed.
The car had launched surprisingly well, but I quickly found myself fighting with the steering wheel to keep the car in a desired line and the lack of smoothness in the engine was also causing me a reasonable amount of grief. It didn’t matter, the course had a flaw and me and almost every other driver had received a DNF on our first run. More embarrassing was that I actually repeated the mistake on my second run by slaloming instead of driving in a straight line.
So now it came down to my last two runs. On my third run I was beginning to feel more at home in the drivers seat of a foreign designed car. After reaching the end of the run we were required to race back since we apparently didn’t have long enough wires for our accurate to the thousandth of a second timing system to reach a half mile. This made the course nearly a mile long plus the extra time it took to go around all the cones.
Focused I tired to keep the car from breaking traction all the time but after drifting through the figure 8 and looking like a stunt driver from a bad action movie I soon realized that traction while pushing that car was an iffy proposition at best. Muttering how bad street tires were for racing I finished my third run when the announcer exclaimed “Best time, no cones.” My time didn’t stand for long, but given my lack of experience with rear-wheel drive cars I walked away happy.
On my final run, I dropped my time by another two seconds but only came within two seconds of the newest best time set by my friend Daniel Hopkins. By the time all the scores were in the 240sx I had driven wound up around two tenths of a second slower than the only other 240sx. First place went to another friend of mine, Joey Fernandez, an owner of a Subaru WRX station wagon.
After a talk with Evan and advising him on ways to drop his time (one was to stop hitting cones) I parted with the Nissan 240sx and it’s driver for the day. After my experience driving the 240sx I’d say I’d rather buy a more real performance car. But then, if I could afford a real performance car I probably wouldn’t have had to borrow an old Nissan. And, with a suggested retail value of only around three thousand dollars (Kelly Blue Book value) with a moderate amount of miles the car is an excellent choice for any auto crosser or to use a popular phrase “mad tyte” import tuner on a budget.