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Thanks for the comments, and yes, last weekend was frustrating. But the reason I fought so hard on Saturday was the Majors title being so close. It was winner take all, and I wasn't going down without trying everything I could! But looking back, Bob had the advantage of having a professional engine builder work on his HR. He's spent thousands more on both the construction of his Z and the building of his engine in the past, while I've mostly relied on my own meager skills and those of some outside specialists.
But I'm still happy to have the ability to compete at this level of racing, and if the season title comes down to the last few races, than that's where I want to be. It's racing that means something and the kind of serious fun worth pursuing in a Z.
Can you guys please get GoPro's and post some quality Z footage.
Im tired of only coming across stance Z's and wide body kits on street queens cut edited with hip hop or dub step.
THESE are the Z's I wanna see. Properly built and used Z's!!
I have one of the early Go Pro models, but the batteries don't seem to want to charge any longer and the footage remains grainy (non HD unit). But even if I had the time this last race, the footage would have been useless. The description of what happened is hopefully more interesting than watching (hearing) me re-key the ignition and watching racecars flash past.
Yea I hear you, as awesome as GoPro's are they do have their MAJOR limitations. My Hero3 has short battery life issues as well.
But Im all about the write ups and pictures. I just would like to see some more action in the video side. Like I said the Z videos out there right now are weak at best, aside from a limited few posters. Some of the content you guys could bring up would be awesome for the Z community video side.
I would say I'll be there soon, but I already know I don't have the time or money to race on most of your levels and dedication. So for now, I will just have to live vicariously through you guys
I have one of the early Go Pro models, but the batteries don't seem to want to charge any longer and the footage remains grainy (non HD unit). But even if I had the time this last race, the footage would have been useless. The description of what happened is hopefully more interesting than watching (hearing) me re-key the ignition and watching racecars flash past.
In all honesty, I would have totally wanted to watch that. It sucks, but sometimes seeing the other struggles in racing and how well people work around it is interesting. Plus I want to see how fast you got at doing the re-key clear that many times
But yeah, having video to accompany the writeups would be awesome, plus its nice to actually see other peoples driving, especially those at your level. I know that you can get some of the old HD go pros for like 25$ with all the accessories around here on craigslist/facebook. If you ever felt like getting into it.
Getting ready for another race in the SCCA Rocky Mountain Division series. Heading down to Pueblo Motorsports Park in southern Colorado this weekend. Triple digit temps with dual layer Nomex suits, helmets and one HOT Z should be a good time. The cool suit is sure to get a workout this weekend!
I've also got those 1/4" spacers for use with the 40 mm restrictors this weekend. No interference with the butterfly mechanism when fitted, but we'll see how they do on the track!
This past weekend was successful, even if the nut behind the wheel almost melted! July weather at the 2.2-mile high desert circuit was about six degrees short of hell! Pueblo was triple digit heat for Saturday's races and even the cool suit helped only so much. At least the spacers worked and kept the Z out of limp mode. But the 40 mm restrictors really were effective and resulted in a 20% reduction in power and torque from the HR. Combined with the 245-40-18 tires, it made the Z somewhat ponderous to drive- a 3300# momentum racer!
For Sunday, I switched over to T1 trim and pulled the restrictors and spacers. On old tires, the car was 2.5 sec faster in comparable conditions and much more satisfying to drive! Left the track with max points in both T1 and T3, but I was a sweaty mess all weekend. Ah well, while it tested my cardiovascular cooling capacity, SERIOUS FUN means waking up Monday morning knowing you met the challenge!
Back to running #7 in our Rocky Mountain Division SCCA finale this weekend. Pulled the restrictors and saving the 245-40-18 BFGs while running T1 for these races. Let's see how the Z does against cars like the Ford FR500 for competition.
Back to running #7 in our Rocky Mountain Division SCCA finale this weekend. Pulled the restrictors and saving the 245-40-18 BFGs while running T1 for these races. Let's see how the Z does against cars like the Ford FR500 for competition.
Good luck this weekend, Dave!!! And more at the Runoffs!! Yeeeehaaaaaa!!
I'm sure most of you know this but Dave seriously R-E-P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S for us!!
Yes good luck DK ! Runoffs are back at Mid Ohio - should be fun times for the Z from China Beach all the way to start finish.
CK_32 - It's not the same but there are a fair few autocross Zs on this forum as well, with videos posted from time to time. Some of them are pretty nicely built for the job. Here's my channel in case you're bored: https://www.youtube.com/user/bryanmr2/videos
Thanks for the encouragement, guys! Before we go on to talking about the Runoffs, let's just take a moment and go over the great weekend adventure at High Plains Raceway. This was the final race in the Rocky Mountain Division SCCA series and was well-attended. My first race didn't start off so well- after qualifying third behind a GT3 Porsche 911 and T2 BMW E92, I suffered ABS failure at the high-speed T4 off the back straight. This was the result:
I put up a big cloud of tire smoke as I gathered it up, but surprisingly, I held position and the Z remained drivable. Not that I recommend it- but I nursed that poor, flat-spotted tire over the rest of the race, but had a STU Lotus Exige on my six the entire time. Hard to believe, but I held him off after some good dicing on the last lap and finished in third overall.
Couldn't believe the damage when I got back to my pits, but that BFG R1-S was a tough SOB. It was very tricky modulating the brakes that race, and I made it my first priority to get ABS back on-line for the second race! The Saturday afternoon race went much better and I quickly put the Exige away with FOUR good tires and ABS in good working order.
Sunday morning I started from the rear of the field as I hadn't arrived to do any qualifying and had a great time. The trick is to look for the right opening, get alongside the other car under braking, or use VQ power/torque where needed! After blasting through the ITC, ITS, FP and EP field, my goal was to catch that same Lotus Exige, which was now 15 seconds ahead in a 20 min race. The Z was in T1 trim with no ballast or air restrictors and was game to try! Lap-after-lap, I lopped away at the lead, until I could draft past on the back straight. Now that was a long cool drink of serious FUN!
The last race on Sunday saw our lap times fall off due to the 90 degree heat. I ended up finishing second overall to the T2 BMW who was practically untouchable all weekend. As it was the last race of the season, it's worth recounting the results: six weekends, 16 races with 15 finishes- the only DNF due to a mid-season rules change and untested air restrictors. The Z once again showed incredible durability and took both the T1 and T3 titles in RMDiv racing. I still need to figure out the source of my C1109 ABS code, which continues to crop up at times. I don't want anymore of this (different angle):
Thanks for another great race report, Dave! Appreciated very much. Since I blew my '16 "plans" to get back to the track (thanks to Euro vacation and work schedule shifting about), great to read about your track antics!
And now that I've adopted another stray car, well, think that's going to take more away from any track stuff.... heh heh.
Hey Mic- thanks for the kudos. You are one member of this board who knows first-hand how much of an adventure and serious fun is to be had at a regional SCCA weekend! Now if they would just STOP sending those stray cars to your doorstep, we could get you back out onto the track...
We've got a few weeks to get ready for the Runoffs, and I'll try to post up a few pics/stories about the preparations here. There will be a Nissan tent at Mid-Ohio this year and I'll look forward to being part of a small, but proud group representing at this race!
Hey Mic- thanks for the kudos. You are one member of this board who knows first-hand how much of an adventure and serious fun is to be had at a regional SCCA weekend! Now if they would just STOP sending those stray cars to your doorstep, we could get you back out onto the track...
We've got a few weeks to get ready for the Runoffs, and I'll try to post up a few pics/stories about the preparations here. There will be a Nissan tent at Mid-Ohio this year and I'll look forward to being part of a small, but proud group representing at this race!
You mean like one dese tents?
These were taken at '14 Runoffs when SCCA did that traveling roadshow of the Runoffs and came out West to Laguna Seca. THAT... was a treat for an amateur road race junkie like me. I'd only been to the Runoffs twice before that (once in official Datsun capacity, the other as a spectator).
I find it amusing that you or someone mentioned the Runoffs were "back at Mid-Ohio". Uhhh, for my entire life involved with cars, "the Runoffs" was (and still is in my prehistoric mind) synonymous with "Road Atlanta". And yes, I know they left there over 20 years ago.... but that's about how old my kids are; causing me to forget all about "SCCA". Laff....
Yep- exactly like one of THOSE tents! Interesting to see all those shots, as I know most of the cars and drivers, including the GT3 S13s from Colin Jackson and Dave Humphries (sp?) from BC and the GT2 Z33 of Jim Goughary in the red/yellow/white livery that's won several Runoff titles as well.
Funny you should mention the Mid-Ohio Runoffs connection, as that's exactly where they went after their stint at Road Atlanta. I raced at the Road Atlanta Runoffs from '89-93 and continued on to qualify and race at the Mid-Ohio Runoffs from '94-03. I remember when SCCA signed a new contract to bring the Runoffs to Mid-Ohio and how sad most of the Road Atlanta folks were back in '93. Glad I was able to get back to Road Atlanta for the ARRC the past two years, as it remains one of my favorite tracks!
While it's still over a week away from the SCCA Runoffs, preparation on the T3 Z are nearly complete. The 40 mm air restrictors and spacers have been reinstalled, and wheels and tires were remounted. Those last subjects deserve a bit more explanation: when SCCA's comp board mandated the 350Z use a max tire size of 245 (35-40) 18, I wasn't a fan.
After running a BFG R1S in the June Majors and July RMDiv races, I took those tires off after a few heat cycles and stored them in the basement until this past week. Mounting them on 18 X 9.0" Enkei RPF-1 and PF-01 front wheels was the best I could do. After all, the 18 X 10.0" rears are too large for those small tires, so those get left at home for this race.
But looking at those used 245s next to a set of much more used 275-40-18s made me realize my fears had been realized. While tire wear is always variable--with track layout, temperature and other factors in play--there's no doubt these 245 BFGs were well-worn. With a minimum weight of 3,300 pounds (in impound) the T3 Z really pounds those tires. They had twice as much wear after two weekends as the 275s did. I'll use these tires for the first practice/qualifying sessions at the Runoffs, but hope to buy only one new set at Mid-Ohio. There's little doubt the Hoosier R7 competitors who have 4-5 sets of tires will have an even more marked advantage during Runoffs week.
07-06-2016, 11:07 AM
