California Speedway big track
 

Well I took the Z to the Cal Speedway "Roval" big track with Speed Ventures on Friday the 20th. Soooo much fun!

A quick rundown...

I had never run on this track and this was my first track day with my Z. (Former track days were at Streets of Willow in my Evo IX). So I wanted to take it sort of easy and ease into things since I hadn't been to this track before and hadn't "raced" a rwd car before.

A quick rundown of my cars setup:
-Stillen Gen III intakes
-Stillen HFC's
-Stillen CBE
-JWT lightweight flywheel
-JWT clutch
-C Spec SS brake lines
-Technosquare ECU tune
-Technosquare oil cooler
-B&M short shifter
-Stillen sway bars
-Tanabe GF210 springs
-Axis Super Hiro 19" wheels

I also just did a an oil change. I run Mobil 1. I had put on Hawk HP Plus brake pads on the front and Motul RBF600 brake fluid in the day prior. I also added Redline Water Wetter and topped off the tank with 98 octane at the track.

TRACTION CONTROL:
A MAJOR NOTE that I will point out right now is that I ran laps with both the traction control ON at first and then OFF. Traction control ROBS you blind in turns on exit... period. If you go to the track do yourself a favor and turn it off. I am certain that I gained at least 4-5 seconds with it OFF.

TEMPS:
Air temps that day were in the low to mid 70's and my oil temp's never got above 230 degrees at any point. Engine temps never budged off normal.

BRAKES:
The combination of my SS brake lines, Hawk HP Plus brake pads and Motul RBF600 brake fluid made for a winning combination. Never once did I experience ANY little bit of brake fade or mushy pedal or loss of brake pressure. It was the one thing throughout the day that I felt the absolute most confident in.

SUSPENTION/TRACTION:
I personally felt like the Stillen sway bars definitely added stiffness that I could feel even on the street under normal driving. On the track the car felt level but still a bit too loose for my taste. Plus I could have definitely benefitted from running some R compound tires. The stock Bridgestone's held up very well and at the end of the day were a bit gritty but nowhere near "shot" and I could run another 2 or 3 track days with them probably. I think I will head towards adjustable coilovers and R compounds for another track day. (And a different seat with a 5 point harness)

Okie dokie... onto the vids.


A few laps around the track (not my fastest.. these were earlier in the day and kinda sloppy :icon17:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h800kfMsH4



Just a very short clip of my running down the front straight... hitting 140mph :eekdance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F58zl_c00Q


All in all it was too much fun. I started with a lousy lap time of 2:16.037 and finished the day with a 2:06.263. I could have shaved off some more with another session but I'm happy with that for now. Oh and I got it up to a solid 140 mph at the end of the front straight before I had to let off for turn 1 and 2. Fun :p

Looks fun. :D

fantastic videos Mike. Thank you for sharing. Looks like you had a ton of fun at the track. The downshifts are so awesome! :tup:

^^ Thanks. Yeah... absolutely my idea of heaven.

I should note a couple other things that weren't mentioned above. One is that I never at any point experienced any "fuel starvation" of any sort. I did make it a point to keep at lease 3/4 tank at all times so that's probably why but I just didn't want to test it. Also, I obviously never went into any "limp mode" but like I noted above, my oil temps never went north of 230.

Oh yeah... Cannot beat those downshifts!! SRM FTW! I was dropping it into 2nd and hitting like 5,000 + rpms.

sounds like you had a great outing!

Yeah it was definitely a great outing and you know something... my car almost needed it as it seems to be running better now than ever. Seemed to unlock it's true potential.

:eek: NICE! :tup:

Looks like a fun track. Great video. Sounds like you had a similar experience tracking the 370Z as I did (I use to track a modded 05 STi). Going from AWD to RWD is a bit of a change.

Yuup.. so easy (and kinda fun) to get sideways out of a turn in 2nd and even 3rd with traction control off. Nowhere near as "scary" as I had thought it was going to be.. I actually prefer it and never felt out of control.

Nice run - I would love to try that track.

One thing to remember is that R compounds could actually cause the problems you managed to avoid. Two in particular are brake problems and fuel starvation - increasing tire traction would greatly increase the likelihood that you issues with either one or both.

Thanks for posting this - it definitely looks fun. And 140 - I have yet to get there yet...

That track looks fun! Thanks for shooting the vid:tup:

Wow! that Video was pretty Cool. :tup:

Hey Mike, What camera mount did you use? did you use the DIY in our forum or it's a different mount. I know you're professional photographer so I am tempted to see your mount! :tup:

Man I want to go to a track.

*So* worth it. I've done four track days on this car in the last two months, and I love it.

I find it even mellows me out. After getting on the track and being completely focused, I end up very Zen afterward. It's nice just driving home with the sunset, knowing you did the day right....