TravisJB Journal

travisjb

picture a scraped up silver fascia with silver duct tape! lol... the good news is that there was no damage beyond the fascia itself... on an airplane using gogo right now, so no pics

hey redline time attack just announced their new schedule... very much a western us thing this year... firebird is 10 mins from my house... not sure my car is compatible with any of the new series rules but I'll be sure to check it out

Willow Springs Raceway March 5th-6th
Firebird International Raceway April 9th – 10th
Auto Club Speedway May 28th – 29th
Thunderhill Raceway June 18th & 19th
Willow Springs Raceway July 2nd – 3rd
Buttonwillow Raceway July 23rd – 24th
Miller Motorsports Park August 27th & 28th
Portland International Raceway September 23rd – 25th
Auto Club Speedway October 8th & 9th
Las Vegas Motor Speedway November 5th – 6th

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

travisjb

I seem to comply with these rules
Latest Draft of the Rules - MotoIQ - MotoIQ - Forums - Motorsports (No lame *** street racing stories) - MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship

in fact, the rules seem to fit my car to a tee! I can't find a single modification I'd need to make except would just need to get some 245/275 tires to run it... I would have to ballast about 250 pounds to meet the "TU" weight/power ratio of 12:1... there'd be no way I could get down to the 8:1 ratio of "TO"

scratch that... this one may be an issue

"The suspension cross members cannot be replaced, repositioned or altered beyond the scope of these rules."

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

travisjb

Big thanks to Pete at BC Racing! He's hooking me up with a new set of 16kg rear swift springs that will allow me to drop down the rear ride height and hopefully get control of the ABS ice mode situation... also received new F3R and Mintex Xtreme pads from the boys at Stillen! Hope to have all these installed for this weekend's event at Inde Motorsports Ranch in Wilcox, AZ http://www.indemotorsports.com/site/

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

ilive2win

very nice!

zzdudaka

I stumbled across this post and have spent the last week reading it. Wow! Thanks for sharing this was incredible!

zzdudaka

Question. In your search for power to weight ratio what is the hesitation to forced induction. For me I see a big price tag, but with what you probably have in this I am curious as to your reasoning?

travisjb

Appreciate you reading it all!

To sum it up, one of my main goals with this car is to have a reliable racer that I can use to learn on, and have a shot at being competitive, and to progress with the car at a steady pace / with my own skills. I'm nearly there at the amateur levels of time trial... forced induction is sexy and would allow me flexibility to move up into higher classes, but has drawbacks... first is reliability - my racing mentors tell me that I would need to keep a spare motor and plan to use it within a season if running a TT setup. I'm not interested in spending $10K per year on motors. second, maturity... the TT and SC setups will continue to be refined and some folks are already blazing the trail of testing them at the track... there are kinks being worked out in the tuning software, fuel systems, etc... third, respecting my limits... I think a lot of amateur drivers jump too quickly into high HP cars b/c they want to go faster... but the reality is higher HP doesn't make you a better driver... bottom line, I'm not ready for a 500 whp and <3,000lb racecar! it's fine on GT5, not yet in real life

One final note, I'm usually running with NASA... my car just barely fits into the "TTA" class... it's a good spot to be in and I plan to tweak the living --- out of the car until it can win there... eventually, will move into "TTS" which has no limitations on aero or other mods (basically) except a power/weight cap that should allow me to run ~325whp and ~3,100 lbs with driver, on race slicks. I'm at 300whp now - I believe I can get to 325whp without FI.

My mind is not entirely made up, but you can see where my head is at right now

Happy holidays all!

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

zzdudaka

Thanks. I hope to be getting into amateur driving this year myself. Though staying way more stock than you. Not planning on being real competitive just something to enjoy a few times a year at local events. I don't really know the classes but have picked up some things from this thread.
Good luck to you!

travisjb

good... you've got the right idea - first couple years at the track focus on learning and fun... and as you suggest, this car is fine stock plus add oil cooler, brake pads, high temp brake fluid, and at some point you might think about having a dedicated set of wheels/tires for track - otherwise you're ready to roll! have fun!

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

travisjb

Had a few sessions at Phoenix Intl Raceway over the weekend... changes for this weekend were

- lowered 0.5 inches front and 1.25 inches rear to try and shift balance rearwards (and help with ABS icing issue)
- switched pads... less aggressive mintex xtreme in rear, again to help with ABS icing
- unfortunately also in the process of first two, ended up with malfunctioned ABS and so did my sessions with no ABS!
- ran in TTA trim - no aero except rear wing

I ended up a second off my pace from the last visit to same track... without ABS, I was driving just a bit more conservatively... but times were consistent, fast laps in each session were all within 0.2 seconds



Next steps... I found a mechanic I trust that is going to go through the car meticulously and shave weight off the car - I can take about 125 pounds off the car and still make class... I also need to continue working through the fuel starvation issue - need to continue to work this with richard at nohotwire... I had to carry 8+ gallons the whole time and got starvation near end of every session... may also try tweaking alignment and suspension setup a bit... other than that, I'm running out of ideas to make this car go faster in "NASA TTA trim"!

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

travisjb

okay so not really "hot journal action" but here's some hot virtual racing action!



this is "iRACING" and I just realized that they have my "home track" of phoenix international raceway... may have to try this out! any of you our there using iRACING - would appreciate if you'd chip in your thoughts

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2009 370Z #104
*For Sale*

ChrisSlicks

I use iRacing to learn tracks and even to refine my skills at a given track. The tracks are incredibly accurate, but the problem is there isn't much in the way of production race cars. I like driving the C6.R around, that thing is such a beast. The steering feedback is a little lacking, they could do better in this department given that in a simulator it is one of your primary senses.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

RCZ

I use GTR2 sometimes. iRacing is fun too though.

ChrisSlicks

I race in a GTR2 league which is a lot of fun. GTR2 has better car choices but mostly international tracks, not as many accurate US tracks to learn from.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

m4a1mustang

Nice to see some fellow iRacers in here. I'm one of the poor souls in the 100% Club.

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- Steve

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