I just wanted to share my experience yesterday at Summit Point Raceway, WV. I had the chance to take my 370Z and participate in a classroom setting for some basic introduction to track driving and then along with a great instructor spend 25 of some of the most exciting minutes driving my Z!
Before I went to the track I invested in an oil cooler (19 row Setrab) with a Mocal thermoplate sandwhich adapter which is a must in my opinion in order to avoid oil temperature problems which result in limp mode setting in after after a few laps. The temperature at 1PM when I went onto the track was 92F. I also invested in a set of Hawk HPS brakepads and Motul racing brake fluid to ensure my stopping power was not going to be impacted by the heavy braking I would be using in the turns at Summit Point. Those two mods set me up for a great driving experience.
None of the group of 15 who were entered into the Hyperdrive had driven on the track before. Among the group were a couple of GTRs, a 5.0 Mustang, Porsche Cayman, Volkswagon GTI, etc. As we started out of the pit onto the track we accelerated and before I knew it I was coming up on turn one and the first time I missed the mark and didn't brake in time and overshot my turn in and at that speed it was obvious because I wound up way off line as I accelerated out and trying to line up for turn two which was a left turn followed by a right climbing turn which I managed much better. It was amazing to me the amount of braking you need to use because when you've only driven on the street you have no comparison. It took me a few laps to realize that I needed to BRAKE HARD into a turn and then feeling the way the wheel feels as you unwind. I've got so much to learn and need to repeat this about a million times to get it right. Top speed for me coming down the straight was 120mph but honestly I was not looking at the speedometer. I was trying to keep my eyes up looking ahead and not down right in front of me. Trying to get the shifting right at the same time braking hard and finding the line in to the turn takes alot of concentration but I know when I have some more experience it will be more fluid.
I must have been pased by about half a dozen cars but I did manage to get to pass one car so that was fun. One thing that I was disappointed about was that I had my camera all set for recording and started it just before we headed onto the track. However, I forgot to delete all the stuff I already had on there and it was full so all I got was about ten seconds of me sitting in the car with the instructor waiting to head onto the track. Lesson learned!
In summary, I'd recommend this to anyone who really wants to drive their Z in the manner it was built for and to also do it in a safe manner. I am now going back to Virginia Intl Raceway in October to begin my HPDE series of classes and driving!
Here is a link to some pics taken yesterday at Summit Point.
Nissan 370Z Forum - ZCarMan's Album: Summit Point Raceway August 21st 2010