Criticise my driving and help me make the car faster
 

Hi everyone,

I have just completed my first track day and the bug is well and truly dug in. This event had been planned on my calendar for quite some time and I had always intended to track the car.

My best lap time was a 65.** with a fuel starve event (which I mistakenly thought was the car hitting the limiter, and shifted up). I am told the car will do a 60 flat (stock) with an experienced driver, which I am not.

Here is a helmet shot of my 65sec.

https://onedrive.live.com/download?c...HgotuT6cIh3UnU

Yes my driving is ****, I'm aware.

My short term goal (by year end) is to break 60sec, which shouldn't be hard, as I don't intend to stay stock.

I was told by others at the event that the car will definitely not get anywhere near 55sec so THE GAUNTLET HAS BEEN THROWN DOWN.

I have an Ark Grip cat-back and I am running Kumho PS91's in stock size on stock rims. Everything else is a stock 2014 sport 7AT. My brakes were also near the end of their lives, which probably negated any benefit from the exhaust.

The next event is in August. It's a sprint event (if you can't tell from the video), so I'm not concerned with engine heat (30 mins between sprints) or brake fade. I stripped the hatch before this event and next event I intend to pull the passenger seat as well.

Parts that will be arriving soon.

* High Flow Cats
* Stoptech rotors and sport pads

I am thinking about replacing the intakes and getting re-tuned on E85 (easily available here), but I'm unsure if just throwing more horses at the problem will get the results I want.

There is no opportunity for driver training where I live so I will need to learn on the track, at the event.

I will run with semi-slicks at the next event but I'm still unsure on what wheels\sizes. There appears to be no restrictions on what I can do to the car apart from adding boost (which changes my class) or running full slicks.

I'm happy pulling stuff out of the car for the event if it's worth the time but it needs to be put back in.

Help me make the Z go faster!!

Most important mod is the nut behind the wheel.

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I would say you don't need more power, it is more about seat time and getting higher speeds in turns. I think what you can start with is front upper control arm, it will give you much better response and turn-in as well as a balanced handling.

An experienced driver can send the car around the track 5 seconds faster than me (which is half-way towards my ultimate goal) so I'm very aware of that fact, however, I have no way to train, other than at the event. There are no permanent tracks here or track driving schools.

So between now and the next event I can only make car upgrades and get third party advice on driving style and mistakes I'm making.

There are 6 more track days left in the year and that is all I have to work with.

Definitely seat time will help. I was no-where near the limits of grip and just kept the throttle steady when I started to feel the car getting light through the long turns. Bigger balls are required.

The steering felt heavy and I think even a pair of gloves would have helped.

Do you have a product in mind? Will these require a special race alignment after installation? Or just a general wheel alignment?

SPL FUCAs :twocents:

JAR, legitimate question, I know SPL FUCAs are the best in the market, but are they really worth the $800? I've been struggling with that for some time.

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move steering wheel to the other side and you will see track better :icon23:

Short answer, yes. Voodoo or SPL are pretty much the only ones that are worth anything on the track. For street driving, the SPC or Z1 or Kinetix will probably be fine, but don't expect them to be able to handle the stress on the track (plenty of failures of each have been documented).

Jar said it, I have all spl arms, with no issues, some of them were on the car for over 3 years of track usage . No issues except one of the locking bolts on fuca broke for over tightening, alignment shop mistake.

For the track. They are worth it. :tup: Every bushing in my Z has been replaced with SPL bearing, or parts. I'm a rolling catalog for them. The SPL arms will hold the alignment spec and not move.

OP, you have to learn how to hit the apexes. You could be a little smoother with your inputs. Don't jump on the brakes, easy on to them. Easy off of them. Too hard on, and too quick off will up-set the car.

With the SPL uca. Set your front alignment to -2 camber, +6 caster, toe just a hair in. The rear, -1.75 camber, and toe just a hair in. This will be your baseline. This will work on the street too. Later on. You can add more camber.

You also need a good LSD in the diff.

Look into getting sway bar for the front.

You have the base brakes or the Sport brakes?

When you feel the steering wheel get light, it's on the edge of grip.

It's the sport brakes.

Looking at the price of the SPL FUCA's, plus import taxes, plus installation and tuning costs it doesn't look like I will get them in before August. And the next 6 race days will be compacted into just 2 months and I still need to go semi-slicks and spare wheels.

So I'm hoping the HFC's, new brakes, retune, semi-slicks plus more seat time will allow me to drop 5+ seconds off my time over 6 track days.

I'm sold on the FUCA's though.

That is a lot of shifting you did and I don’t hear any tire noise. The tire wall is a little scary.