Third trackday! All is good!

travisjb

Okay, so the second trackday never really happened ! but I don't want to revisit that old thread and figured I'd start a new one ! So here we go:

location: PIR in phoenix, az
Phoenix International Raceway - Trackpedia
conditions: sunny, 94f
event: nasa hpde4... 4 runs about 20 mins each

Just got home - first, this car is SOOOO much fun to drive when you don't have to worry about overheating ! Lots of control, feels very stable whether I was hanging it out occasionally in the carousel or blasting through the nascar turns on my way to ~120 in nascar straight ! I gained a lot of time going fast through bendies and deceleration zones b/c the car gave me the confidence to hold speed... acceleration was prob less than average for the group I was running with, lots of cars with weight / power ratios in the 6-10 lbs/hp range, but this car held it's own...

First three sessions I only saw max of 255F oil temp, last session I did see 260F... I think I'm going to upgrade to a bigger core than what stillen included in the kit - would like to see them offer two variants, one with an even bigger core and perhaps longer lines so it can be mounted drivers side... which is similar to the technosquare kit i believe

Stillen sway bars performed well, I could feel that the left and right were tied together... I ran firmest setting in the rear, and it wasn't tight enough... Recommend that anyone going with the Stillen sway bars select the tightest fitment for rear for sure... I look forward to getting my bc racing coilovers from DDM - I think I lost some time accelerating in transitions due to body roll... I could also tell the tires were taking abuse with the stock camber settings, they were def rolling over and getting excessively hot on the outside...

The engine performed well... others have complained about the vibration, but to me that's just another form of feedback from the car that tells me where my RPMs are at... I'm happy ! The stillen bolt on parts helped with the power and I could accelerate some in 4th on the big straight... I still want another ~15-20% in power/weight... I owe everyone an updated dyno, but I'm guessing based on where others are at with the same mods that I'm putting down about 305 right now... If I can get to 330 and lose 100 or so lbs on the car and my fat ***, then I should be in the sweet-spot for this chassis and my driving skills

Sound of the car!!!!!! don't know what to say other than WOW... I really love the way it sounds with the full Stillen kit, and I think folks standing around the track enjoyed it too !

People have talked about getting a different final gear, but for this track, gears seemed to be PERFECTLY matched and I was shifting in all the right points... I think I'll pass

I am very frustrated with the mass/momentum of the flywheel... I'm convinced this is the source of my overrevving situation on upshifts... I've managed to get my timing down to where that's minimized, but it is still there even if I dump the accerlator 100% before pressing the clutch... lightweight flywheel will be added to my list

LSD... breakaway is predictable and controllable, but I think it can be better... new mech LSD remains on my list, but not a high priority

Tires held up okay... I've always been a fan of these since I ran them on my old boxster, but it's time to upgrade to some real track tires... if DDM can get those forgestar guys moving, I hope to have a set of 18s + R888s next time out (prob July)

Lots of folks coming up to the car for looks and discussion... and here's the best part ! I think I got a lot of attention in the fourth and final session when I hung with a GTR for two laps and then PASSED IT ! Corner workers were clearly pleased... I managed to get about 10 car lengths ahead before the session ended... woohoo... I think I may have pulled a time in the 1:15s in this session, but I'm not certain - didn't have anyone timing... earlier sessions I was clocking consistently between 1:16 and 1:17... here are some of the top times at this track NASA Time Trial

No video from me guys - sorry... I have a chasecam and traqmate on order through Shariff, but those won't be hear for a week or two... There will be videos and pics that other people take, and I will post them here and in my gallery once that happens TravisJB Journal

All for now

drmike

Yes, I think the oil temp still sounds too high. On my various past racing cars, I tried to keep the oil temp below 230F, and I really preferred it to stay below 200F, though that's not always a reasonable expectation.

Anyway, congrats on a great rack weekend!

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travisjb

Thanks ! Fully agree on the temps, I'm def getting a bigger core

imag

Great writeup... so nice to hear about a trouble-free trackday.

When I drove the Z (still waiting to get mine), my biggest problem with it was that flywheel. It almost feels like there's something electronic going on - it really drove me crazy. I thought I might get used to it owning the car, but it sounds like something to add to my list.

ChrisSlicks

Great results Travis.

How were the brakes holding up? (What pads?) I still can't get mine to behave correctly when hot.

travisjb

Sometimes in a low torque car (like an rx-7/8) OEMs use a very heavy flywheel to keep momentum and torque... for this car, plenty of torque on tap, so there's no excuse for it IMO... I find that even when casually up shifting on the street, the car is too slow revving down by the time I'm in the next gear the revs are higher than they should be when I let out the clutch - if that makes sense... JWT flywheel will resolve the matter

Redlinewins

All sounds great Travis. Now get it back to my shop for everything else!

Cheers,
Robert

travisjb

I think you're right... How could I have forgotten to talk about the brakes ! hp+ pads

Thing 1... I could almost swear I'm getting a variation in stopping force from left to right... may just be that I'm trail braking and feeling it step out ever so slightly... but just didn't feel entirely balanced... could be related to thing 2

Thing 2... When they were at lower temps, they stopped really really well and predictably... but later in my sessions I was getting MAJOR fade to the point that ABS was kicking in and I was grinding to a halt going into turn 9, which is a 100+ degree left hand transition from infield road course to nascar circuit... I commented earlier that the stock rotors are fine, but now I don't think so... not at all... NEED SLOTTED ROTORS !

travisjb

Robert, great job with the car !

Folks, let me introduce Robert Boreham, proprietor of Redline Motorsports in Tempe, AZ... Robert is a former Porsche Motorsports NA mechanic and a fellow enthusiast! He will be looking after my car going forward. Welcome to the board !

And yes, I will have it back tomorrow night !

miguez

Great report Travis, glad you had so much fun!

On the oil cooler, do you know which of these ships with the Stillen kit?

Thanks,

travisjb

thanks Miguez... read some of these
Oil Cooler Install Thread
RCZ's 370Z Journal.
Stillen OIL COOLER, Headers, Catback and Light Weight Pulley (Pictures A-plenty)
wstar's Journal

half way down the third you can see it is 11x6

miguez

Thanks Travis, I subscribe to all those threads, but my question was, more specifically, how many rows does the Stillen kit cooler have? If you look at the link I sent you, the Series 6 Setrab coolers vary from 10 to 34 rows. There is also a Series 9 25 Rows cooler for sale at that site.

I was wondering how many rows, since it is possible you might keep the same core size, by buying a core with more rows. If you notice on that site, all Series 6 cores have the same dimensions, even though they vary tremendously in the number of rows.

Diversion

One thing I wonder about.. If we swap in a light flywheel, do you think there would be adverse effects to the SynchroRev function? Over compensation on it's part maybe?

I think Nissan went with such a heavy flywheel to let people grandpa-shift.. Nissan will still unfortunately cater to the majority crowd over the racing crowd.

travisjb

I'd have to go and research it... going to let you do that ! or someone else can answer

This has been discussed in other threads a lot... consensus seems to be, 'should be fine' b/c SRM is really targeting an RPM and will do its darndest to get there one way or another regardless of conditions in the powertrain... but proof will be when one of us does it ! you're right re Nissan's design target, unfortunately not us !

miguez

LOL, got it. Maybe Josh (Stillen) can help out?