Hi guys. As the topic states I am preparing my Z for HPDE next month, March 17th. The NASA event is March 16-18. This will be my first time on a road course. I usually do drag racing. I have been reading up on the NASA and have been lurking in their forums to get more info. Unfortunately, I have not seen a Z owner there that would be able to help me in setting up the car.

@ this time, what I have on the car are the following:

suspension and tires:
Eibach prokit
SPC camber kits front and rear
255/35/19 front Toyo T1R
275/35/19 rear Toyo T1R
Factory Brembo brakes

engine:
UTEC
test pipes
DC headers
HKS Hipower Exhaust
Motordyne MREV 2
Motordyne 5/16"
Eibach Prokit

my car: you will see that the camber is set for tire longevity. didnt really change the handling characteristics of the car. Although if it did I did not notice any.


I am a new NASA member and have been only watching track racing @ buttonwillow and at the speedway. Now is my time to actually participate in an HPDE. Because I have no experience @ all, I registered for HPDE1 (with instructor). I do not have any plans on driving towards a wall or anything because of driving way beyond my control. I am looking forward to learn alot that time. I am extremely excited .

Here are my questions for you track experts hehehe
I am upgrading my suspension this week.

My plans:
HKS Hipermax 2
Cusco sway bar kit.

should I do the upgrade or do Eibach prokit with Koni yellows? I am leaning towards upgrading it though since I've heard the eibach+koni are pretty soft. Unless someone here has a strong suggestion then I may just keep my current setup.

I understand I would need some 18" rims and better tires, but at this time I want to test out the set up I have with different suspension obviously. By the time I am done running with 19s I will then go hit up Buttonwillow with 18s with AT LEAST 3 Speedventures events.

Plans for tires/rims:
Enkei RP03 18x9.5, 265/35/18 Advan A048
Enkei RP03 18x10, 295/30/18 Advan A048
should I go non staggered setup? both 265/35/18 to relieve the car of understeer? I am leaning towards staggered setup since, honestly, I like the looks

I do not want to go twin turbo yet since I want to make sure I can handle the car myself and not the car handle me! I think on a road course since I am a noobie with a twin turbo Z... I may end up on a wall which I do not want to happen. At this time I want to push the Z and have fun. Hopefully in 6-8 months time I will be able to participate in a Redline Time Attack. That is my goal this year

Sorry for the long post!
Thanks in advance for your tips!

 

glad you want to enjoy the Z more.. i think you'll enjoy HPDEs more than drag racing...
as far as mods go: start slow, see how the car handles and then re-adjust/add parts when you feel you are ready. i.e drive it as is.

with the current suspension mods you got, it should handle fairly well, do you know what specs (camber?) you're at now?

you'll definately have enough power mods for Buttonwillow to have a good time.

i've tracked with 19"s before and its actually not that bad- but 18s definately better feel / acceleration..

i had coilovers before sway bars, it felt OK.. not spectacular over the stock Z suspension, but wow. when i added switched to Cusco sway bars the car felt great.

have fun. and have the instructor drive first watch what he does. and you'll learn in no time.

 

I can only find the rear camber settings since I got the fronts installed on different days. this is what it states on the receipt

rear camber: -7/8
rear toe: 3/16 in

thanks. My friends told me the same as well, to keep the current set up and change it later on after the HPDE. At least I wont be spending any money hehehe. Thanks again.

 

If you don't already have high temp brake fluid, you will need some. Replace the existing fluid and put in the good stuff- Valvoline has pretty cheap synthetic fluid that works fine, unless you want to use Motul. I don't know much about Brembo's OEM pads, but track pads would be a big help. You can call Porterfield http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/ and get a recommendation. If nothing else, this will save your street pads for the street. You might want to consider a harness bar (Sparco) and 4 pt. harness, since that setup will work with stock seats and only required drilling one hole. If you don't have an SA2000 or SA2005 helmet, it would be wise to get one. Buttonwillow is a blast!

 

I woulnt worry so much about changing you suspension and wheel, tire etc.

Get some good race pads for your brembos and bleed in new synthetic fluid. As long as you have good reliable brakes, you will have fun.

I have the HKS's and they are great. The Koni's were nice also, but I prefer the HKS's ride and handaling characteristics.

As far as wheels, I would suggest getting some 17x9 or better yet 9.5's and some 275 tires of your choice. If you want to run street tires while your learning, which is highly recommended, look at Azenis or Kumho MX's.

 

It brings a smile to my face to hear about another converted drag racer bringing out their Z to where it was meant to be raced, a road course (a real road course not a coned off parking lot) I have a few suggestions that might save you in the long run....... PM sent.

 

thanks for the pointers everyone! I am so excited for the event. Its a good thing I posted on here because most of the info I get @ the Nasa forums are pretty general, although very helpful they are mostly not too specific for the 350z. I will definitely do the brake fluid change and brake pads a few days prior to my big day. Thanks!

 

Paulie:
Are you going to be running the infield course only at Cal Speedway, or are they throwing in the ROVAL?
Good advice above. Run it as you have it, with a change in brake fluid to a good DOT-4 syn such as ATE Super Blue or Motul 600RBF. If you continue with track days, spend the couple hundred bucks and put in braided stainless brake lines as well. A set of race pads, not high performance street pads, is also a recommendation that I second (or third) here.
For the track I would strongly consider the Enkei NT03+M wheel...it is light and strong and you can go 10.5 in the rear, 9.5 in the front, if you want to keep stagger, or 9.5 all around on 275/35/18 tires.
For your first suspension mod, the sway bars are the best performance return for the dollar you can make. Just do your mods one at a time so you can feel the difference and learn what each does, and does not, do for the car handling.
Definitely use an instructor, and listen listen listen and understand what they are saying. If you don't understand for sure, ask questions and do not worry about looking stupid. You are only stupid if you don't ask. I love students that ask. Students that don't ask questions scare the wits out of me.
Speedventures is a good crew. They run well organized and safe events in my experience with them, and they have some long time participants with great cars and great experience. There are quite a few people with 350z and G35 cars that show up to their events, so you will probably find somebody going that has one and you can compare driving and car set up notes on.
Have a great day!

 

Hey Eagle1 thanks for the advice. I saw some of your vids and, I must say you have some great driving skills. I hope I can be on the passenger seat when you run in the near future if you dont mind.

For the NASA HPDE, which will be my first day, they will hold the ROVAL course which will include part of the big oval track and then go into the infield. I watch in-car videos of HPDE and NASA drivers of the track so I can get a feel of how it is. I also watch your video too

For the speedventures event on the 24th, they will hold just the infield course which is the same track they used for the recent redline time attack.

What type of race pads would you recommend? I have the OEM Brembos.
Thanks for the tips. I really appreciate it. Im so anxious already and it's not even March yet! Wonder how I would be the day before the event?!?

 

Pads can be a very personal choice because of driving style and feel and braking technique, so until you get yourself going on tracks it is hard to know what to recommend. EBC, Porterfield, Hawk, Carbotech......lots of fine choices out there and many with die hard supporters as well as critics. I would say you want to go with a race pad for something as tough as the Cal Speedway is on brakes, but not the most aggressive available. Instead, something one step up from the high performance street level.

As for being nervous. I get butterflies every single time I strap in. But the second you pull out....they are gone. The emotional quotient is all left behind and it is clinical and cool.........until you pull in and shut it down. Then it comes rushing over you. Pretty neat, actually.

Be careful what you eat for breakfast. Not too much and not too hard to digest or you might wind up wearing it. If you really have a tight stomach, lay off the coffee and donuts and orange juice sausage and yogurt stuff. Maybe one egg and a piece of toast. Bananas are good. They are soft, easy to digest...and have one overwhelming attribute that should be considered....they taste the same coming up as they do going down.

See you out there soon.

 

If you are gonna be using street tires and dont want to spend to much $$$, try Carbotech XP 8's front and rear. I run them with no problems, and remember you dont want to use to aggresive of a pad that will over power you street tires.

 

You've been getting good advice about not worrying too much about spending more money on your car until you get a feel for driving it on the track. Pads and brake fluid would be smart changes if only to provide you with some additional peace of mind. Only when you are comfortably able to push your Z will you really know what to change in order to suit your driving style.

Relax, have fun, listen, have fun, don't hit sh*t, have fun and learn a few things in the process!

 

To get ready for a HPDE, you need to focus on ensuring the car will be reliable and safe and not on performance. NASA's does have a good check list of items to check before you get to track to ensure it is safe and reliable, so follow it. http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/preparing.html
Other than what the check list tell you, what it doesn't tell you is you need to have a goal(s) before you get to the track. Take the time to sit down before you go and really think about what you want out of the money you spend. And I always say that one of goals should always be in HPDE to have fun! Make sure you talk with your instructor about your goal(s) before the first time you get in the car and they will focus on making sure at then end you have achieved at least most of your goals.
Here is one persons write up on the first HPDE experience that will help:
http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/firstday.html

 

brakes and tires are the most important thing and then weight.

some groups won't let you run a 4 point harness so i'd get a 5 point one if you are going that route. make sure everything is fia approved.

theres some good tips in here already so i'll throw this one in cause its pretty important. driving shoes. forget upgrading your suspension, you want to get a feel for your car and a stiff suspension will make that job harder. if you don't plan to upgrade to a different bbk, then i would also sugguest getting 17x9 or wider wheels. they are usually lighter and tires are not as expensive in this size.

btw, are you going to horse thief mile the weekend before?

 

Thanks for all your advices, Chebosto, 12autox Mooddude, Scott Webb, Axelerate, and shinkuu. Eagle1, your post is very inspiring as well as informative @ the same time a little comical (with the banana tidbit). Thank you and I really appreciate it. Enkeis are great track rims.

I was thinking of either getting the NT03, or the RP03 or the RPF1. The RP03 is the one I really like but it only comes in 18x10 max while the other 2 are 18x10.5. Unless I spend > 2200 on Volks TE/CE

UPDATE:
Well, as I have mentioned on my first post, I bought the Cusco sways (front and rear). Im picking them up tomorrow. I put the HKS Hipermax on hold. The guy who is selling it to me said it takes about a month. I will go with what you guys have told me to keep current settings (but with sway bars on) and go with some good brake kit.

Im getting some Motul brake fluid, Hawk pads, and put on steel braided lines on the OEM Brembos. The brakes will be in in 2 weeks.

Also I got a black Pyrotect full face helmet SA2005 and black OMP challenger gloves coming via UPS this week.

I am getting all this done now since the event I am actually registered in is on the 17th and on the 24th is the speedventures event. Although I have not registered for the speedventures Cali Speedway event yet, I am getting my car all set for that now in case I do register (which is a 95% chance that I will). The 5% chance is that if something comes up and/or the fact that it is a back to back weekend of pushing the car too much
Its gonna be a fast paced/expensive month for me. Especially that the first day of March is my bday.
wooohooo!

Thanks again for the tips everyone!

 

With the exception of the few people telling you to get harnesses (c'mon people, its his first two events!) you have gotten some good advice here.

I'll add to go into the experience with an OPEN MIND!!! You will quickly find out that you don't know half of what you think you know, and thats OK. You'll find that you have some habits that you'll need to re-learn, probably the biggest for you is that the gas and the brake are not on/off switches.

Don't follow anyone too closely out there so you don't mess up your paint (it can be tough on enclosed circuits like rovals).

Have fun... let us know how it goes!

 

Full face helmet with the shield is a good idea.

Pop the extra couple bucks and get a nomex balaclava (head sock), you can get it from saferacer.com, etc. It helps to keep too much sweat getting into the padding of your helmet and making it rank.....but it also helps your unprotected neck and throat area.

I did not use one until one warm day at Willow Springs on the big track, and coming up on a Corvette to pass....took a marble from his left rear tire. It was about the size of a grape, a near molten rubber glob from tire rubber, and it smacked the left or driver side rear view mirror case and ricochetted into the cabin.....into my neck just to the left of the adams apple, above the collar of my fire suit and below the helmet. Being molten it just splatted into my skin and seared itself there instantly with a steaming noise. Hurt like heck. But you cannot take your hands off the wheel or silly stuff like that, so you just gut it out...it stops hurting in a couple of seconds, and then when you finally pull into the pits you slowly peel it off. But in the face or eye it would be much worse. A balaclava would have protected my skin totally from that.

 

the pyrotect helmet I got comes with a free helmet bag and a free balaclava

Im looking forward to learn alot from the instructors and have fun as well. Hope not to get into any drama at the track.

 

A Fog City anti-fog overlay is also a good thing to add to your face shield. It lets you run with the face shield down to keep nasty things (like fire) out of your face. Ear plugs are also a good thing and on hot days a Cryo-Core cool collar helps a bunch. Buy a helmet bag and make sure your helmet is always in it when its not on your head.

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I just went to the NASA web site and it says all the HPDE classes are sold, out so if you aren't already registered you are SOL.