My first track...The Ring
 

Hey guys, Yesterday was my first time tracking the Z and it was at the Nurburgring. I did my reseatch here in the forum without asking stupid questions and this is the set up I ran at the track.

BC BR type coils
Einbach Sways: Stiff front and rear
White line rear end links
GT Spec 4 points front and 2 points rear under brace
EBC Red Stuff brake pads
Goodridge SS Lines
DOT 4 brake fluid
SPL Rear camber arm( got alingment done and running 0 camber all around)
Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Stillen Gen 3
ARK Performance HFC
Stillen 19 row oil cooler

I had 0 issues at the track since it was my first time I reached my limit as a driver before I reached the limits of the car plus is a little hard to concentrate when Porche GT3RS's are screaming by. I'm hooked on the track any recommendations or improvements for the next track day in September?http://touribilder.de/galerie/displa..._display_media

Change out your clutch fluid with something high temp. Change out your diff fluid as well. You will want some negative front camber.

Sounds like it was a great time. You started at one of the ultimate tracks! You just need seat time...your car is set for now. Clutch fluid isn't a necessity but easy to swap if you want. All the mods in the world won't make you faster until your driving improves (we all have room to improve). I was all into mods but then realized the only thing holding me back from 'faster' was my driving. Focusing on the driving alone has made faster progress and has been much less expensive :).

To be honest, my main concern whith the mods was to make sure that the car could take the punishment and for me not to end on the wall like 3 of my friends did. 2 STI's and 1 R6. I don't care much about power, my may concern is suspension, I felt some G's on some of the turns and the tires were never screaming so I'm sure I could go faster thru some of them.

Wow sounds fun as hell. That's my dream track for one summer. Although I'm afraid I'll never be able to drive there myself due to their financial troubles now :(

Why did you run 0 camber though? Our cars are around -1.2-1.7 from the factory. Was it primarily to save tire or because of the track?

Once I lowered it with coils I took it to the get the alingment done and that is what they suggested plus save some tire life. What would be a good camber setting? That way I can do it for the next track day. Also for general information, I only ran one lap at the time and my oil never passed 230. I let the car cool off with the hood open heat running on no E-brake. Am I missing anything else? I had the stock rotors, they worked with no issues at all.

Lucky dog!

0 camber is a bit weird, on track you'll burn up tires really fast on the outside edges this way. The only time 0 works best is driving in a straight line. You can run 0 toe and this will reduce tire wear.

A conservative camber with street tires I would say is -1.0F, -1.4R, no less. More aggressive would be -1.8F, 1.6R, the front camber in particular helps reduce turn in under-steer. On race tires I run -3.5F, -2.0R and I still cook the outside edges of the front tires before anything else.

Was this Nordschleife? I hope to get to run there some day. Definitely a very high speed circuit with some challenging corners thrown in. On the circuits with more time in corners than straights I'm usually the one hounding the GT3's :)

I did a few laps there a few years ago, it felt fast in a Peugoat diesel. I can't imagine what it would be like in a 300HP Z. Not a lot of runoffs!

@ cossie1600, it was awesome man you can feel the G's on some of the turns and the fact that there are a bunch of exoctics flying by you makes everything an unforgetable expirience. @ChrisSlicks, do you think the stock rotors are up for the challenge or are there better options? I read a lot here about over kill and all that stuff so I don't want to over do it. Are 2 piece rotors really necessary?

The stock rotors (on the sport) are a beefy 30lbs each, that's a pretty massive heat sink and they don't seem to have any trouble. Heat build up becomes a problem in longer sessions and that is where brake ducting becomes useful, but yes, 2-piece rotors are overkill for most people. 2-piece rotors are actually more prone to overheating without thermal management since they have 30% less mass. Their advantage is that they have more freedom of expansion independent of the rotor hat, so less prone to distortion.

That makes sence ChrisSlicks. I will adjust my camber with the aggressive set up that you recommended. I'm not to concern witht thread wear since the Z will go into indoor storage October 1st. Seems I will need a front camber kit to be able to adjusted the front camber. Only thing is, it takes me 4 hours to get to the ring.

Hmm, how did you get 0 front camber without a front camber kit, especially if lowered? It doesn't seem like that would normally be possible.

If you have a lot of highway miles in-between then go with something in the middle setup wise. You won't be able to take full advantage of the extra camber anyway until you get a bit more confident in the corners. Remember, a squealing tire is a happy tire :tup:

How the the BC Coils feel, Im thinking about getting some soon.

@ ChrisSlicks, I have the printout from the alingment, I'll put up the numbers after I get out of class. Aren't the tires loosing grip when they are squealing? @ VDC, they feel great, I haven't figured out the pre-load quite yet. I like the fact that I can set up the dampening between the road and the track this weekend on the fly via the extenders in the rear. Chris, from what I read here, no spacers for track correct? I bought 20mm's a while back but haven't install them yet.

No, a squealing tire is just a warning sign that you are reaching the limit of traction, but yes they will squeal louder if you break traction. The large treadblock street tires such as RE-11 don't really squeal all that much anyway unless really hot. You'll learn to understand your tires communication in time.

Spacers: up to you. I tried them but had issues and so stopped using them. The better choice is just to get wheels of a lower offset if so inclined.

Where you at in Germany? Military? I'll be headed to Spangdahlem this weekend from Beglium for their MotorWeekend.

I'm in Vilseck, Army. I'm heading to Reisbrennen, you should come and checlk it out.

REISBRENNEN TRAILER | BY FORMAT67.NET - YouTube

I am not all to familiar with tracking the Z and what most people run in regards to camber and toe. But from the other car I have built up I run -3 up front and -3.5 in the rear and slightly toe out for turn in response. But regarding the toe out if you are on a higher speed track it makes it very darty. On the streets same camber but toe set to 0 to reduce inside wear. I have logged over 20k on some R1r's and they are even across the tire with no abnormal wear inside or out and I drive those tires way harder than the Z. Most people assume that the inner wear is from camber but it is actually from the toe and people cheaping out on getting their car aligned after making ANY suspension mods or changes.

Chris, what set up do you have on your coils? I was running mine full hard at the ring. Also here are the numbers from my alingment.

Before

F/L: -1.35
F/R: -1.45
R/L: -2.36
R/R: -2.36

After

Front: +0.4
Rear: +0.19

Thanks for the info Jay. That seems like a lot of camber, maybe when I get better at the track I can try something like that.

My Z at the Ring
 

Guys here is a pic of my first track day at the Nurburgring.

I would recommend the camber also. I haven't raced officially but I have taken my z (and many other cars) through some serious turning and steering at some pretty high speeds. I have been on the nordschleife a couple times also so I know the track personally. The cambe helps with under steer. As far as saving tires. If you track your car your going to be buying tires and other wearable parts on a regular basis. This will help save them a bit. The biggest thing that will save them is knowing the racing line around the ring or any other track. Also know that a tuned z, which is what you have, will want you to thrown the *** out on the big turns and keep the throttle around 4-5k depending on the turn. You'll want to break hard and then throttle out quickly in order to keep balance through most of the turns. The thing that make nbr way different from all other tracks is that there are a couple straights where you can get the car maxed out top end. Just know there the next turn is. Have fun!!!


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I want to know how the heck they changed your front camber! LOL Maybe those after numbers are total toe?

I have the stiffer springs on my BC's, 12K front, 10K rear. On street tires I usually run them in about the middle (15 clicks from full soft), I only run full hard for slicks. Having the suspension move a little bit is useful, makes the car more communicative.

I am thinking those are the front and rear toe numbers. And that seems to be right. For most all manufactors have the factory toe set slightly positive. Each tire pushes ever so slightly against each other so it stays straight easier for joe snuffy that buys 99% of the vehicles for simply a commuter. Like I said you can run slightly toe out but better for low speed courses and autox. Dont want to DD with toe out, will destroy tires. 0* is the best all around, but when in semi ruts it wants to drag the drag around.

I am not sure if the Z can adjust the caster but if you can you can run the tire out a little farther forwards in regards to the fender wheel to help with high speed stability.


Diagram:
http://www.pfadtracing.com/photos/da...diagram-01.jpg

There is no factory caster or camber adjustments up front. The SPC front arms have +/- 2.5 degrees of camber (in reality a lot more - than +) and +/- 1.0 degrees caster adjustment. I agree though, those do look like standard toe numbers at the bottom.

Just curious, but what are the few guys on here that have pretty much turned it into a dedicated track running as to toe, caster,and camber? Corner balancing numbers?

Yeah, that's a pretty good questions Jay. Also do they change set up from track to street and vice versa?