Deca 31/07/04
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From: Oz
Deca 31/07/04
I was at DECA (Shepparton) yestereday with the MX5-club again. Though, this time the event was more of a 'driver training', and I went there with my sister in her car ('96 Mazda 323 Protoge). DavidC with his 350Z was there as well. Rest werean assortment of MX5s, one MX5-SE, one Astra Turbo, couple Skylines, Mazda 2, Progon GTi and 180SX.
The weather was awesome ... beautifull spring day (even though it's not spring), so we were comfortable hanging out outside. Also we had the watter going onto skid-pan so it was even more slippery than usual. Morning started with a bit of a lecture, followed by some very basic avoidance exercises ... so reasonably slow. Though, after that it turned into more of a 'cone dodging' affair, and things sped up (as well as became a lot more fun from my own perspective ;-)
I'll let DavidC fill you in how he found it and his 350Z, but I did watch him/car closely as well as went out couple times as a passanger. From an 'observers' point of view DavidC's car looked very secure, grippy and well balanced. The car never looked like it was suffering from understeer when I was watching it from the side of the skid-pan. From inside the car the only understeer I could feel was on the entry to the very tight turns. Though, the entry speed is more responsible for this that anything else. I'd say that DavidC's car with the Nismo suspension did have better balance (ie. more front end grip) than my (suspension stock) car when I was there 4 - 5 months ago.
In the afternoon they pulled out a stop watch (and I had one myself) so we timed most of the cars and their tuns in the afternoon. DavidC had the quickest time in couple of exercises ... not bad at all for a 1st timer ;-) This was not a timed event, so being the quickest was not the purpose as much as learning new skills ... still, quickness shows improvements and skills.
There were about 6 different exercises during the day, and only one was not on the skid-pan .... that was a few laps of the 'handling loop' at the back. I did time some cars there, but it was pointless as the instructurs did not allow people to carry anywhere close to full speed (even on the straight). Exercise #1 was a just a brake avoidance and slalom exercise. The other exersises were some kind of a 'cone dodging' exercise and I got times for those ... they went like this for the cars of interest:
Exercise #2:
Reasonably simple exercise that utilized most of the skid-pan, and had 4 longish (ie. 200m) straights with hairpins at the end. Though, the last straight was not a straight but a tightening bend that finished with a 'gate' where you had to pull up to a complete stop. The Zed looked really good and stable here. It never looked like it stepped out pulling up around the tightening and slippery bend. The times that I cloked were:
- 350Z = 39.40, 38.23, 38.34, 41.24
- MX5s = 40.41, 50.73, 44.77, 48.87, 50.15
- Proton GTi = 55.64, 50.21, 44.78
- 180SX = 43.28, 43.88, 44.58, 46.85
Exercise #4:
This exercise also utilized most of the skid pan, but this one saw you starting with picking up speed into this longing right-hand bend that was floowed by a bit of a straight and a tight hairpin (left). This led into a tight slalon, which led into a little bit of a strech ending with a 360deg circle (about 15m in diameter) and final strech into the stopping 'gate'. The Zed looked good in particluar around the big right-hand bend, and only looked to understeer a bit around the tight stuff. The times that I were clocked here:
- 350Z = 39.28, 35.90, 40.34
- Mazda 323 (me) = 40.13, 40.15, 39.07
- MX5s = 44.31, 40.65
- Skyline GTS = 42.47
- Mazda 2 = 44.18, 42.26
- Mazda 323 (my sis) = 47.44, 44.70, 43.09
- Proton GTi = 44.19, 45.03
- 180SX = 48.88
Exercise #5 ("TopHat"):
This exercise was the tightest of the lot ... it took only about 1/4 - 1/3 of the skidpan and involved very tight corners. Most about 90deg, but 2 were 270deg ones. It was like driving around a pretzel and you never had any chance to pick up speed here as you were just trying to get the car around the cones. The times that were clocked:
- Mazda 323 (me) = 26.60, 26.33
- MX5s = 30.48, 26.83, 48,88, 34,43, 28.38
- Astra Turbo = 27.09, 27.50, 28.65
- 350Z = 29.32, 27.39
- Mazda 323 (my sis) = 32.29, 29.20
- 180SX = 31.09
- Proton GTi = 32.56
Exercise #6 ("Cicrcle"):
The last exercise was pretty simple, but very popular. It is just a giant circle in the middle of the skid-pan and you start from a gate, go around a cone and then go 2x around the circle. You finish by a tight turn around a cone and into a 'gate' where you need to stop. The Zed looked very good and stable here as well, and DaveC got some nice sideways action here. The times that were clocked:
- MX5s = 40.61, 39.51, 40.38, 37.99,39,88, 40.97, 39.70
- Skyline GTS = 38.20, 55.62, 50.10
- Mazda 323 (me) = 39.52, 39.04, 39.50
- Astra Turbo = 39.54, 42.05
- 350Z = 40.44, 52.20
- Mazda 323 (my sis) = 42.10, 41,01, 40.81
- Proton GTi = 54.30, 46.36
- 180SX = 1:04.99, 49.99
So all in all a very fun day, where not only had I fun 'dodging cones' but also spectating and being taken for a spin in a fair few of the cars. Thanks to DavidC for taking me in your Zed a few times.
ps. I only timed the quicker car/runs as a lot of them were just not that fast, or aborted due to too many spins. So you just see the quicker times here.
The weather was awesome ... beautifull spring day (even though it's not spring), so we were comfortable hanging out outside. Also we had the watter going onto skid-pan so it was even more slippery than usual. Morning started with a bit of a lecture, followed by some very basic avoidance exercises ... so reasonably slow. Though, after that it turned into more of a 'cone dodging' affair, and things sped up (as well as became a lot more fun from my own perspective ;-)
I'll let DavidC fill you in how he found it and his 350Z, but I did watch him/car closely as well as went out couple times as a passanger. From an 'observers' point of view DavidC's car looked very secure, grippy and well balanced. The car never looked like it was suffering from understeer when I was watching it from the side of the skid-pan. From inside the car the only understeer I could feel was on the entry to the very tight turns. Though, the entry speed is more responsible for this that anything else. I'd say that DavidC's car with the Nismo suspension did have better balance (ie. more front end grip) than my (suspension stock) car when I was there 4 - 5 months ago.
In the afternoon they pulled out a stop watch (and I had one myself) so we timed most of the cars and their tuns in the afternoon. DavidC had the quickest time in couple of exercises ... not bad at all for a 1st timer ;-) This was not a timed event, so being the quickest was not the purpose as much as learning new skills ... still, quickness shows improvements and skills.
There were about 6 different exercises during the day, and only one was not on the skid-pan .... that was a few laps of the 'handling loop' at the back. I did time some cars there, but it was pointless as the instructurs did not allow people to carry anywhere close to full speed (even on the straight). Exercise #1 was a just a brake avoidance and slalom exercise. The other exersises were some kind of a 'cone dodging' exercise and I got times for those ... they went like this for the cars of interest:
Exercise #2:
Reasonably simple exercise that utilized most of the skid-pan, and had 4 longish (ie. 200m) straights with hairpins at the end. Though, the last straight was not a straight but a tightening bend that finished with a 'gate' where you had to pull up to a complete stop. The Zed looked really good and stable here. It never looked like it stepped out pulling up around the tightening and slippery bend. The times that I cloked were:
- 350Z = 39.40, 38.23, 38.34, 41.24
- MX5s = 40.41, 50.73, 44.77, 48.87, 50.15
- Proton GTi = 55.64, 50.21, 44.78
- 180SX = 43.28, 43.88, 44.58, 46.85
Exercise #4:
This exercise also utilized most of the skid pan, but this one saw you starting with picking up speed into this longing right-hand bend that was floowed by a bit of a straight and a tight hairpin (left). This led into a tight slalon, which led into a little bit of a strech ending with a 360deg circle (about 15m in diameter) and final strech into the stopping 'gate'. The Zed looked good in particluar around the big right-hand bend, and only looked to understeer a bit around the tight stuff. The times that I were clocked here:
- 350Z = 39.28, 35.90, 40.34
- Mazda 323 (me) = 40.13, 40.15, 39.07
- MX5s = 44.31, 40.65
- Skyline GTS = 42.47
- Mazda 2 = 44.18, 42.26
- Mazda 323 (my sis) = 47.44, 44.70, 43.09
- Proton GTi = 44.19, 45.03
- 180SX = 48.88
Exercise #5 ("TopHat"):
This exercise was the tightest of the lot ... it took only about 1/4 - 1/3 of the skidpan and involved very tight corners. Most about 90deg, but 2 were 270deg ones. It was like driving around a pretzel and you never had any chance to pick up speed here as you were just trying to get the car around the cones. The times that were clocked:
- Mazda 323 (me) = 26.60, 26.33
- MX5s = 30.48, 26.83, 48,88, 34,43, 28.38
- Astra Turbo = 27.09, 27.50, 28.65
- 350Z = 29.32, 27.39
- Mazda 323 (my sis) = 32.29, 29.20
- 180SX = 31.09
- Proton GTi = 32.56
Exercise #6 ("Cicrcle"):
The last exercise was pretty simple, but very popular. It is just a giant circle in the middle of the skid-pan and you start from a gate, go around a cone and then go 2x around the circle. You finish by a tight turn around a cone and into a 'gate' where you need to stop. The Zed looked very good and stable here as well, and DaveC got some nice sideways action here. The times that were clocked:
- MX5s = 40.61, 39.51, 40.38, 37.99,39,88, 40.97, 39.70
- Skyline GTS = 38.20, 55.62, 50.10
- Mazda 323 (me) = 39.52, 39.04, 39.50
- Astra Turbo = 39.54, 42.05
- 350Z = 40.44, 52.20
- Mazda 323 (my sis) = 42.10, 41,01, 40.81
- Proton GTi = 54.30, 46.36
- 180SX = 1:04.99, 49.99
So all in all a very fun day, where not only had I fun 'dodging cones' but also spectating and being taken for a spin in a fair few of the cars. Thanks to DavidC for taking me in your Zed a few times.
ps. I only timed the quicker car/runs as a lot of them were just not that fast, or aborted due to too many spins. So you just see the quicker times here.
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From: Oz
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From: Oz
Most look like they are forging rivers half the depth of the car
lol, from that pic is ceryainly looks like a river (a big one too) :-) Though, there were only a few bigger puddles (ie. that splashed) and most of it was just wet instead of under watter.
lol, from that pic is ceryainly looks like a river (a big one too) :-) Though, there were only a few bigger puddles (ie. that splashed) and most of it was just wet instead of under watter.
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From: Oz
I have a couple low-quality videos from the day. They are mostly of me and my sister, but I do have one of DavidC's 350Z. Each file is only about 300 - 500Kb, so if anyone is interested in seeing/hosting them, let me know and I'll e-mail them to you.
ps. The videos do not have sound as they were taken on a digital camera.
ps. The videos do not have sound as they were taken on a digital camera.
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