sfarrah

iTrader: (4)

Attended my first Drivers Edge DE with the Z Club of Houston on June 4th and 5th of this month with the 350Z. This was my first time at the track with this car and my first time on street tires so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was running Nitto 555's up front 245/40/18 and I had just put on a set of 265/35/18 Falken GRB-FK451's on the back 4 days prior. This was on a set of Fondmetal 9x wheels. I wanted to run my hoosiers and FN01RC's but i don't have enough camber yet and didn't want to wear them out in a single weekend. Luckily the car was very balanced with this set up and the Cusco sway bar set to stiff in the front. The 350 certainly wasn't as fast as my 300, but I was surprised at how well it handled and compared to the other cars out on the track.
The 350 is quite a predictable performer without having to deal with power oversteer coming out of the turns and modulating boost while correcting steering accordingly as is necessary in the 300. The linear powerband is definitely much easier to control although I must admit getting the rear end sideways can be fun (but obviously not the fastest way around the track).

I was concerned with how well the brakes would fare as i've had my share of issues in the past with the 300 and the 350's stock brakes don't have the greatest reputation. I bled the system, added ATE Super Blue and SpeedBleeders and some Hawk Blues up front. Thanks Kuah at SPL Parts for hooking me up last minute with these items. The Blues have amazing bite and the brakes survived the weekend with no fade whatsoever even in 95+ degree weather and repeated stomps at 135mph. The power steering boiled a few times, but never the brakes. They could use more stopping power, but for stock brakes I really can't complain. I also boiled the clutch fluid and would have to pull the pedal from the floor with my toe but luckily this only seemed to happen on up shifts going down the front straight. Guess i'll have to replace it with some higher temp fluid for next time.

I wish I had taken my camera but forgot it wasn't in the bag with the camcorder. I recorded two run sessions in the morning on sunday and then Kuah used it for the afternoon.
The in car camera angle in my car is too low but it's better than nothing. I'll have to adjust it better next time.

Here is a clip from inside Kuah's car Kuah Z32

here is a clip from inside my 350z (no comments necessary about the hideous alum overlay-damn previous owner) Sean Z33

During my 3rd run session on Sunday I had passed a guy in a red corvette and he tailed me the rest of the session. After we finished he found me in the pits and said he had the run on tape from his in car camera. He was wired and said he was having a blast as we flew through the course. I gave him my email and address and about 2 weeks later a CD arrived in the mail with the video. Very cool of him to do for me.
Here is a portion of that run Corvette In Car

My lines are a little sloppy and I still need to grow the stones to take 7 wide open and use all of the track. Seemed tougher to concentrate on the road ahead with a bright red vette bearing down in my rear view mirror. It was a rush to have passed him and keeping him at bay. He'd gain on me in the straights and get on my bumper when we were in traffic and he definitely could out brake me in turn 3. Most of the turns I could put a little distance between us. I asked him later if he wanted me to let him lead and he said he was driving as fast as he could to stay on my tail and he was happy to follow.

Had some mechanical difficulties after a lap and a half of my very first run session sat when my electronic TB went out on me. Tried to reset the ECU and enlisted a few other 350Z owners to see if they knew what was up. We were all stumped so I limped the car to the local nissan dealer and these guys bent over backwards to help me out and get me back to the track asap. The GM has had his share of twin turbo Z's and actually brought his supercharged z06 to the track sunday. Very cool guys and I would definitely recommend them to anyone in the College Station area. Luckily I missed only the first two run sessions on saturday as I could have easily missed the entire weekend.

There were several 350z's there, only Kuah's z32 and a few older 280's and 260's from the Houston club. Met up with the Houston crew for steaks on sat night and had a great time meeting some new Z enthusiasts.

I was surprised how many cars I passed and the speeds I was reaching on the front and back straight. Other than a TB malfunction and a bit of boiled PS fluid, the car worked fgreat and impressed me to say the least. Had quite a few people come up and check out the car in the pits and ask what i had done for mods. I believe the only car to pass me was a 911 twin turbo that I let by me as we were in a train of cars on the front straight yet I stayed on his bumper the rest of the session and hoped he would wave me by. He couldn't have been pushing it too hard as I was even on his bumper on the front straight and his 400hp should easily walk me in the straights I would think. I'm sure being in the Blue group had something to do with it as most cars were running with instructors in them.

Here are a couple pics from the track that Peter Haas(member Audito350Z) sent me. We had lined up with all the other Z's from the houston club but unfortunately I don't have any of the group photos. Maybe someone from the Houston club has them and can post them.







Thanks go out to all the guys at the Nissan dealer in College Station, the Z Club of Houston for inviting the Austin folks, Mr Haas for the pics and a ride along, Jonathan Masin for the in-vette footage and to Kuah at SPL for the brakes, speedbleeders, ATE fluid and all the previous mods. Even with the TB issue, the crazy heat and mixed feelings about running another DE with Drivers Edge all in all it was a great weekend. For you guys that are thinking of trying it, just do it and head to the track. You won't regret it.

Audito350Z

iTrader: (1)

Hey Sean.... good write up... I hope we see you out at TWS again, especially when it's not so dang hot!!!

I will post a link to the other photos from the weekend when I get home this evening.

Cheers,

PeteH

VeeTec

I haven't looked at the others yet, but the video from the C5 is great!

alienx

Excellent!! Looks like a lot of fun!

Vertex350

iTrader: (76)

Glad you had a great time there.

SunsetSunrise

iTrader: (16)

Oh Man, this is great!
I can watch these racing videos all day..
Now I wanna go race too..
Any ideas on a good race track near NYC?

sfarrah

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, i'll be out there again sometime in the fall i'm sure. Maybe we'll be in the same run group and hopefully traffic won't as bad as it was all weekend long! Traffic bothered me a lot more than the heat did.

zillinois

iTrader: (6)

Looks like fun!! Great write up.

DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

Great vids Sean. What kind of top speeds were you able to reach on the track?

sfarrah

iTrader: (4)

I rarely had a clean run down the front straight without having to wait for a wave by but the highest I recall seeing was about 135 or 136. I just make a quick glance as right about then I have to brake then turn down the bank and onto the transition to the infield. I can't remember what I was hitting on the back straight. I was hoping that i would have been able to see it in the in car camera but my camcorder isn't clear enough.