Stupid Question, But I'm Bored
 

I've been getting out on the twisty roads to see what the Z can do, and I have noticed the same issue a couple of times:

In some cases I'm going into a pretty tight turn and want to down-shift to engine break plus break and turn. If I shift down once I've started to turn the wheel I get a loud noise and vibration from front left corner (on right hand turns I notice it). It sound sort of like the front tire is skidding, but louder and more vibrating.

The engine never even gets close to redline and it only lasts a split second.

Could it be the ABS or the traction control that maybe acting up when you atempt this. Also engine breaking is fun at times but cheaper to buy brakes than a new clutch.

I get the noise/vibration sometimes when down-shifting too... can't really tell where it comes from but it's definitely in the front... for me cornering doesn't have anything to do with it. Best way for me to describe it is the sound of a jake brake. I've experienced it since the car was practically new (3 years ago) and it hasn't blown up yet, so whatever.

I suppose that's right about the clutch. I was working on engine braking since it was basically impossible on the old 3 series I had before the Z (because the clutch was really soft and about 75k miles old). I guess I'll move on to inline and trail braking.

VDC kicking in.

Yup , its applying a brake or two or whatever it needs to do, to keep the car in control. If you dont heal toe downshift it can also kick in to keep from putting the rear tires in a slide.

I get the same exact thing and I dont have VDC.

Were you using your brakes at the time you got it? If so, it's ABS which every Z has.

I am thinking it's the ABS cuz when I was making a lot of runs on a test n tune day I heard that noise it seemed whenever I used the brakes hard going into a corner fast.

^ what they said. Now that you know what's going on, you need to learn to drive properly. Learn to heel-toe and rev-match when downshifting and use the brakes to slow the car, not the engine. You brake going into the corner, while simnultaneously blipping the throttle, rev-matching and shifting into the desired gear. You should be at the corner entry speed you desire and in the gear you desire just before you actualy start to turn the car. This will provide a smooth transition into the corner, which you carry the entry speed through the apex, then get on the throttle to accelerate out of the curve. The whole point is to make the process as smooth as possible, so as not to upset the balance of the car, which you are doing, as evidenced by the activation of your ABS and/or VDC. An annoyance for a noob on the street and no harm done, but will get you in a wreck at the limits on the track.

I like a very much Korki Buchek. Bing bong bing-bong-bing clickclick.

Sorry...

I could get away with most of this stuff in other cars I've driven. But the Z is sensitive -- like woman.

The other cars you've drievn probably didn't have anything like VDC and you probably weren't driving near enough to the limit to get yourself into trouble.

Now the question is: who in So. Cal. can watch what I'm doing and tell me why it's wrong?

Sign up for a beginner's track session. An instructor will ride with you and school you good.

There's a hundred places on the net to get basic instruction in heel-toe:

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving..._heeltoe.shtml


You can sign up for a HPDE/track day, but as a beginner they won't be teaching you heel-toe quite yet. You'll have a whole lot more going on to worry about that.

either VDC kicking in or understeer and tire slipping

Hmmmmm

It says not to engine brake at all?

Brake pads are cheaper to replace than an engine. Engine braking is not ideal.