AE Performance 370Z lands another 1st place at Rd.8 Redline Time Attack Finals at Auto Club Speedway.
Recap:
Rd 8 this year took place at Auto Club Speed way here in Southern California running the "ROVAL" config which adds 33% of the high speed Oval to their in-field course.
I've ran the in-field course once before but this was my first time running the high speed ROVAL and after my first session out I had only one word to explain it. Scary!
With entry speeds into turn 1 in the 145-150mph range in the Z I didn't have any other local tracks to relate this experience too.
On Track, the car felt a bit more loose than I would have liked it to be at 145mph on turn 1 but in the in-field at "normal" track speeds the car was right at home. Major changes this round was the switch to 18' wheels and Tires. Ditching the OEM 245/265 set-up for 265/285 Hankook RS3's with Ultra Light Wed's TC105N's not only saved 12lbs over our 19' Volks but added more grip than our dampers were sprung for, making the car feel a bit on the soft side on track. I also did notice a bit of "in-slip" exiting turns telling me the OEM LSD was crying for help from the addition of the new meats.
Another Major change was the addition of our AE Performance Oil Cooler Kit which we built to test at this event, that allowed lapping all day in the SoCal sun not a tick over 220 deg, while maintaining 180deg on the street. (More on this in another thread)
We were also planning on debuting our AE exhuast system but due to time constriants we weren't able to get it on the car in time, leaving us with the choaked up OE system.
Minor changes included a make shift "wicker" on the rear wing to help settle the car a bit coming into turn 1 and allowing me to stay on the gas a bit longer. Second was the pulling of the factory ABS. With much dicussion w/ Mike from DD, turns out the Z doesn't like any sort of trail braking, so a quick pull of a fuse and the car was now on par in the breaking dept. Down side was the dash lit up like a x-mas tree, we lost TC (no biggie), Speedo, and Sport Rev Match (sucked), but in the end was well worth it.
To finish off, I was solo in Stock class in terms of Z competition with Mike from DD and Robi Spec's Z running in street class. But a quick change of plans by the Robi team to run their 29xxlb full Aero Z (not going to lie this car is sweet) in stock class made things more exciting. Even without all the bells and whitsles that some of our competitors were packing we still pulled through with a best time of 1.55.53 which was enough to land 1st place in our class and the fastest Z braggin' rights!
stay tuned for more to come!
