Oil:

At 7500 mi, I changed to Mobil 1 synthetic oil. The engine seems smoother.

Drivetrain:

A couple days ago, I drove a track Z and found the clutch much lighter. I'm wondering if this is an adjustment issue or a problem. Shifter seemed a little notchy today, not sure why.

Tires:

The rear RE40s are losing their traction. I had one slip on Angeles Crest after a downshift that wouldn't have happened a few thousand miles ago. I bet that by 12k-15k mi, these tires are gone.

VDC saved my *** today. Going down Topanga Canyon road, I was travelling 50 mph or so taking tight curves. A big, honking Ford truck, you know, the kind with owners with big bald heads, was slowed up in front of me. Rather than brake, I down shifted and felt the whole backside slide out from underneath me.

My foot touched the brake pedal but I didn't brake. I felt the recognizable vibration of ABS kick in and steered into the slide. I pulled out of gear (probably a mistake if I needed to power out) and felt the engine and brakes work to slow me down. A moment later, I was straighted out, behind the slow Ford and fairly calm after almost whacking my Z against a rock wall.

One thing for certain, that extra expense for the VDC is worth every penny. For those of you considering Enthusiast over Performance, this is the one reason you should upgrade.

Interior:

I've developed a rattle on the passenger side that I haven't isolated. Dang window streaks.

Exterior:

The paint needs a protectant coat. Chip on the door and on the hood. Window flecked with rock chips.

Wow factor:

Still get a lot of looks. Ride is still quite amazing and fun.

Conclusion:

Next upgrade, new tires. These RE40s wear and lose traction much too quickly. Toyo T1-S before I kill myself in the canyons. Will have to talk with the dealer about the heavy clutch, the rattle and the window streaks.

 

Umm... did you rev match on that downshift there, chief or just slam it into gear in the middle of a curve?

 

I'm switching to M1 @ the 3000 mark next weekend. Do you think thats too early?

Interesting. I've always felt like my clutch is too light. Maybe we can swap rides for a drive @ the next meet.

I hate these tires. I was taking the 110 towards downtown from the 5 south and they were screaming the whole time through the curves. They're too wussified for the Z. Looking to get S03's at the 10k mark (if they make it that far)

I've got a window streak on the driver side too. And the rattle in my center console is begging me to take it apart (and pop in a Alpine 7894 HU while i'm at it.) The creaking sound seems to be coming from directly under the multi-gauge display on the left side. I can make it squeak if I press on it.

 

Technical tire question. As long as you are only driving in dry conditions, does the lack of tread really hurt traction? I mean slicks have no tread at all, and have the most traction right? I don't plan on driving in the rain if at all possible thanks to a second vehicle.

 

below the tread I think the compound isnt very good... I believe slicks are made from a different material.

but if Im wrong, then yeah in dry driving, and clean clear roads, slicks=more surface area=better grip.

tho just sorta thinkin about it... most roads are far from smooth, and more weight on less area would cause the rubber to push into the little groves in concrete, which would give better traction then to just run over the tops of the ridges.

race cars with slicks are run on that smooth pavement, a different surface than streets.

 

You guessed it. It was a tight curve and I didn't expect the truck to be there at that moment. I dropped the clutch into second at the apex instead of finessing it out because the bumper was coming up fast. Had I more time, I'd have let out the clutch slower but not having the time, the quick dump kicked the rears out from under me.

At least I didn't brake. But, definitely not the highlight of my driving ability.

I'm no authority on oil but I've read posts that recommend not changing to synthetic until 7000-7500. The reason, synthetics will not wear the engine as much as natural mineral oil and therefore, you might not complete your break-in.

Sounds good. It sounds like yours is like Alpines. I wonder if that's typical of track versions since he has a track model too.

 

Question - If you pulled out of gear, how could the engine [breaking] slow you down?

Also, for the VDC you would be considering the Performance over the Enthusiast, not vice versa.

Good report though.
Thanks,
WayneTN

 

Gotta learn heal/toe. Or as it is for me in the Z, ball/edge. I've just started heal/toe'ing in the past couple weeks, and I've gotten quite good at it so far. Although I tend to put a little too much pressure on the brake sometimes.

 

Good question. It happened very fast. I definitely noticed engine braking. That means, the engine braked while it was still in gear, then I popped it out.

And, yes, I have a Performance and I'd recommend it over an Enthusiast. I'd check to see if I misspoke but it's late, and I've had lots to drink.

 

I heal/toe all the time. In this case, droidekaus called it correctly. It was quite simply bad driving on my part. I never should have dumped the clutch as quickly as I did at that speed.

The point is, I made a driving error, VDC corrected. I'm not a perfect driver but I'm not bad either. Driving as fast as I usually do, having that extra margin of saftey from VDC makes it a great feature when you get a little sloppy.

 

doing my syn. oil swap today at 8500 miles.

now i read somewhere that somebody used an engine something to make sure that all the dyno oil was pushed out of the engine. don't have one. is it even necessary? i'm just going to let it drain and then add the syn. how did you guys go about swapping?

 

Was going for an oil change yesterday - manual recommends no synthetic. Also - weight 10/40 for my climate. Check it out.

 

get to the track man. i wouldn't want to be the cyclist in front of you guys trying to rally on a public canyon road.

you obviously know this by now but you should have braked and stayed in the same gear instead of downshifting.

 

Yes, and if you happen to meet someone as you round that curve that was passing too close to it - you will likely be history also!

 

Yes, VDC is a great help. As others have said, in an emergency trust your ABS. I heard it said once that one big problem is that people instinctively pump brakes, when that is totally unnecessary these days.

The rattle may be the little cover over the wires coming from the rear-view mirror. There's a TSB; they put felt strips between the cover and the glass.