TravisJB Journal

ChrisSlicks

The CTS-V is pretty quick around a track but it isn't anywhere near as much fun. The weight and long wheel base make it rather sedate. Although if you replaced your Expedition and added a tow hitch to the CTS-V it could be your tow vehicle slash backup car.

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leviathan18

before buying a cayman I would choose the boxter spyder roadster or whatever is called

RCZ

^ agree with lev. I would get a Cayman R too.

What a broad range of cars...

travisjb

Oooh I like the new Cayman R! And of course the boxster would be great in Florida... not sure the wife will like the idea of a 2 seater... I'm going to make this decision after we figure out which house we will be in and therefore how many garage bays I have to work with! lol... Thanks all for your input... more on this topic later

Back to the Z... getting set up for this weekend at Chuckwalla... I will run session 1 on the Nittos just to get my feel for the track again... Session 2+ on the Hoosier slicks... goal is to approach the course record of 1:54... I'll be happy with a 1:57, thrilled with a 1:55... will try to capture vid on canon5dii

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2009 370Z #104
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Equinox

I disdain Boxsters.

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NewYorkJon34

Those new cts-v sedans look soo nice in person, was def impressed

travisjb

Had fun at Chuckwalla yesterday! Vid's here

TravisJB Track Video

Improved my PBT a couple seconds, got to put the pressure on a Ferrari 458 and a Lotus 2-11 and watch him the Lotus spin out of the bowl in front of me, and unfortunately cracked one of my 11" rear wheels that I was using to run big fat 305 Hoosier slicks... All in all, great day at the track

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travisjb

All, I'm laying low for a while... new job, new house etc... will update as soon as I have something to say about the car

In the meantime, I would strongly encourage you guys to read what happened to our Regional Director in the NASA Arizona community... one of the finest amateur racers in the sport... car caught on fire and he barely escaped with his life... some good reminders in here:

Update on Tage - NASA AZ

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ChrisSlicks

Travis, glad to hear your settling into your new home in Sarasota.

That's very scary what happened to your regional director Tage. Did they post up any pictures or video yet?

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travisjb

Thanks

Here are some key posts

NASA AZ - View Single Post - Update on Tage
NASA AZ

Based on his description, he had about 8 seconds to stop the car and get out, coming from over 100 mph... the practice duration is 20 seconds - he said if he had taken that long, he'd surely be a gonner... something for us all to think about as we practice our exit drills and balance the cost of fire safety gear in our budget!

I haven't found the vids yet, I'm sure they'll show up sooner or later

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m4a1mustang

That's wild. Fire is a scary thing. Safety equipment is definitely something you don't want to cheap out on. A fire is one thing in a high dollar professional race car, but for the average weekend warrior it could be even worse depending on their equipment and/or training.

Glad to see that he made it out alive.

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RCZ

^ Eh, I think we would have a much easier time. We don't have roll cages, bucket seats, 5 point harnesses, etc. All we gotta do is stop, unclick seatbelt and get the hell out.

m4a1mustang

I'm talking mainly about a post-impact fire.

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Tage

Hey all, this is Tage Evanson. As many of you know my Civic was severely damaged. I will be slowly rebuilding it but it's going to take some time so in the mean time I found a smoking deal on a 2003 350Z. Travis was another local that I knew had invested a LOT of time/money into his 370Z (I figured they were similar enough) to warrant shooting him an email to ask some questions. He provided this link and it's AWESOME to say the least. It took a while but I've read from start to finish of this post since last night. It was nice learning about 2 years worth of trial and error in just 2 days. Thx Travis!

So here's a few of my comments:

1. Travis, you put WAY too much emphasis on the car and seemingly nothing on the driver. I think your last update mentioned that you picked up 4 seconds per lap at Chuckwalla. I'd bet money that the majority of that time came from YOU driving better/faster, not a 1/4" ride height adjustment, shock setting or new aero device.

For example, my first time to PIR back in 1999 I ran a 1:22 and I thought I was driving "flat out". I made NO CHANGES to the car and did PIR the following month and dropped 4 seconds down to a 1:18! I thought I was hot stuff back then because I was hanging with a Camaro SS in my 145WHP Acura Integra (with full interior). It only had Koni shocks, lowering springs, sway bars and Kumho V700 R-tires. Fast forward to 2009'ish and I thought for $h!t$ and giggles I would take my daily driver commuter (95 Honda Accord 4 door) out for a quick lap just to see how pathetic it would be on my street tires. I pulled a time of 1:18. LOL! The moral of the story is DO NOT UNDER ESTIMATE THE DRIVER!


2. Along the same lines of focus on the car, you have too much emphasis on the power to weight ratio. While being at 8.7:1 in TTS would be ideal, it doesn't mean your car won't be competitive. When my Civic was ~2300 and was NA making 215WHP (only a "10.7" weight to power), I was still running mid/high 1:06's at PIR and that was on 225mm wide Nitto NT-01s!!! Going to a Hoosier only lowered my lap times to a best of 1:06.2xx. It wasn't until I put 275/35-15 Hoosiers on the front of my Civic did I drop down into the low/mid 1:05's. As you know, at the Feb event this year I put the car on R75 Hoosier radial slicks and that's when I dropped times down into the 1:03s. Another example is Clay's green ST2/TTS Porsche. His power to weight was only 10:1 but he was doing low 1:05's in race group with his car. Yes, these are both much lighter cars and all things being equal I think a lighter car will be faster than a heavier one with the same weight/power ratio but the point is, power isn't everything.


3. Oh, BTW, I LOVE the background of your car number. I had no idea I was a "target". Nice!


4. Good move on sticking with the F250 as a tow vehicle. the Cayanee Turbo is an incredible high performance SUV but it is a horrible tow vehicle. It has no torque in the RPM range that you need it.


5. This is my first 350/370Z related thread I have read so far but I'd agree that this is likely the best one EVAR!


6. Contrary to what I preached above in point 1 & 2, I say you supercharge your engine and then tune it for TTS. The last thing you want is a car that makes 325WHP but only 320+ for the last 200 RPM before hitting the rev limiter. What's important for classes that are governed by "peak" HP is getting as much "average" HP as possible. In other words if "325" is your max then do whatever you have to, to produce "325" for as long as possible. My Civic's engine in TTS trim when I ran slicks was detuned to basically make 260-265WHP between 6000-8400RPM. It basically ALWAYS made the max HP allowed by the class. My Civic also handles like a champ too though.


7. I love that you're going extreme with your car. We need more guys like us out there. I love my Civic but the only reason I keep modifying it is because people don't expect it to be fast and are just blown away at what it is capable of. If you stay on the path you're on, you'll get your 370Z there *IF* you put a little more focus on just driving it vs thinking you need a car mod to take it to the next level. You are getting plenty of seat time but when things slow down with your work/family/move it could be worthwhile to invest in a professional racing school. I did the Bonduarant 4 day school and I feel I got more out of that than an equal amount of money spent on the car. The eariler you do it within your racing career the better too. Another eye opening experience could be to hire a personal coach or pro driver. That might be cheaper than a private school. Have them drive your car and then analyze the data on your Traqmate. I think you'll be surprised at the differences in the graph plots and then you'll know exactly where to shave those seconds off your lap times. At the Bondo school when we got into the Formula Mazda's I basically blew the doors off everyone in my class and ran neck and neck with a couple of the instructors, but then they put the top instructor out there to play with me and while it was close, he consistently pulled away from me lap after lap. Yes, I was even humbled... :-)


8. Re: Ford 6.0L diesel motor. I have one too. I love my truck but get an extended warranty if you don't already have one. LOL!


9. In terms of getting out of a burning car quickly, regardless if your car is stock or modified, you should still practice the procedure. Many modern cars will lock the doors when you start the car. You should get into the habit of at least unlocking the doors before heading out on track to ease/increase exit time. When I get out of my Civic (during practice or the real thing) I go out the window because it takes too long to open the door. It takes me 2 seconds to move my hands from the steering wheel, release the harness, drop the window net and exit the vehicle complete and be standing outside my car. This is in a full race suit, HANS, gloves, helmet, etc. I'd be curious how long it takes someone in a stock 370Z to do the same?


10. BTW, I'm looking to compete in my 350Z in TTA (on Hoosier DOT rubber) to see if I can get all the track records in that class here locally and then I'll switch to Hoosier slicks and go for TTS/ST2 (TT and Race Group). My Civic when rebuilt will be lighter and more powerful and be maxed out in TTU/ST1 (the next class up in TT and race group).


One last question so I'm not hijacking Travis' thread here (more than I already have). Is the 350Z similar enough to the 350Z to warrant asking questions here on this site or should I just find a 350Z specific site to do that?

ChrisSlicks

Hi Tage, I hope you are recovering well. Travis told us the story about what happened and it was extremely scary, and you were very brave to jump out of a still quickly moving vehicle. I've been following your recovery thread on the NASA forum.

I would say it is worth hanging out here even if you have a 350, some of the parts are interchangeable, and the general engine/chassis/suspension design is quite similar. There are several folks with 350's and G35/37's on this site just because the site is more active with information and far more friendly. It would be worth registering for one of the 350 sites as well to read through existing information. Some might consider it bad form to post the names of the "competing" sites so I'll just PM you that info.

And yes, Travis was the first person I know to jump head first into building the 370. He started off mild like the rest of us but quickly realized the potential and invested in the car doing a lot of his own R&D along the way.

RE: #10 - Yes the 370 has auto-locks engaged by default but this was one of the first features I turned off. They tell you how to change the setting in the owners manual, very simple. Getting out the window of the 370 might be a little more challenging than a Civic given that the opening is not as tall, it is a tight fit for my helmet and if you have HANS attached to your helmet it is going to be a very tight fit (helmet only fits sideways). Fortunately the doors are easy to open quickly. More difficult is shutting down the engine while moving, it requires a 3-second hold on the start/stop button, although someone said that if you press it 3 times quickly it will also shut down so I have to try that out.

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