shinkuu, here's a home-made brake ducting kit for ya. it was fabricated by a my350z.com member.

 

yea my other friend had emilio in the car with him and didn't like that experience. the one with the stang is chris. he's super nice and i usually have him go out with me to learn the line.

 

Read "Speed Secrets 1" by Ross Bentley....
then go to the Track, then come back and read it again, and repeat until you get the feel in the seat of your pants for the concepts of the traction circle, weight transfer, "slow in-fast out", and the mysterious "line"

You will be fine with your positive / open attitude to learning to drive!

 

I agree with many others that have posted here. You have a great attitude and you will make a great student and driver if you keep it up. As far as advice, there are a few steps I like to do myself and try to follow when instructing others. These are in order and will allow one to build on the next.

First 1-5 events
1) Attitude – I think you already have a great learning attitude, so that doesn’t need to be addressed. Have fun and leave the ego at home
2) Learn the terminology and track procedures. What is turn in, mid corner, track out. The flags and how to respond to them, and what would you do if you drive off.
3) Car prep – Make sure the car is ready, check the tire pressures, lug nut torque, etc. You will feel much more confident if you know nothing is obviously wrong with the vehicle.
4) Seating and position basics. Make sure you and the right distance from the steering wheel and pedals. Your arms will be bent slightly while your hands will be at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions. You should be able to press the clutch down with out fully extending your leg. Make sure you can press the brake down fully while leaving a good bend in your knee that will allow you to turn the heel of your foot towards the gas pedal (more on that later)
5) First lap – Don’t go out fast, take it slow and look at the track and notice things like where are all the corner worker stations are, marks on the pavement, braking zone markers, and anything else that strikes you. Noticing these things now will help you bring your vision up later. If you have an instructor, he should also be pointing out the “School” line of the track. This will consist of the end of your braking zones, turn in, and track out. He may also talk about how one corner can set up the next if you do XXX. As you do this first slow lap, practice braking in the straight line before the turn, then slowly apply throttle as you turn in. If you have tried it before, use shuffle steering (moving your hands together and part) to make the turn so that your arms never cross. This will also allow greater steering input and quicker response if needed later.
6) Each lap of the session. Build speed slowly. First make sure that your standard techniques like straight line breaking, timely and smooth turn in, and smooth throttle inputs. Brake early but still hard so not to ride the brakes, and then work on the line of the track. Your instructor will help you dial in the line as you go.
7) As your line gets better you can add speed in the corner. Make sure your line is consistent before you change other factors. Remember that your in corner line will change with more speed. You will experience under or over steer and will need to make changes accordingly. Since exit speeds will be higher, your entry speeds into the next corner will also be higher. Every corner affects the next. It is also important to keep your inputs smooth as your speed increases.
8) Talk with your instructor about exit strategies and emergency responses. If you are too hot, where could you go safely?
9) Now you can work on shorting of the braking zones. Do this about 2-3 feet at a time. At the same time your entry speeds will be higher as well since I can bet your exit speeds will getting higher each lap.

As you can see this is plenty for the first few events. It can be overwhelming and can easily send you into input overload. I am also sure I have missed more than a few items in this list. The main thing is to have fun and learn at your own pace. After this you can look at some of the more advance items. It’s a constant process and everyone continues to learn, even the pros.

 

His whole line is good.

 

^^^great tips marty. great instruction always seems like a broken record, but it really is something that has to be driven into you.

 

Practice on the street. You dont need need to drive fast or anything like that, but that's how I learned. My friend basically showed me how to heel-toe and rev-matching and while driving everyday on the street I just practiced. Im not a master or anything but I've gotten much better and comes in handy when it is needed.

 

watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8oD2_Dh5e4

now that u've been at the track it might make more sense watching track videos. when i watch a new track video, it doesn't really hit home till i drive on the track and then watch the video again. also they repaved the track so the burms on the chicane makes it much easier and faster to go thru there.

 

congrats on your first track day...its all about asking questions and keeping an open mind. i was in the beginners class with my spec-v at sow and now that i have the Z ill be in the beginners class again. ill be there may 10. take in all the info you can. adn like everybody says, have fun.

 

i found that vid like a week ago and loved it. if youre there in may, show me how to drive.

 

i'll definately be there. i'm the one with 2 dogs and a blue 350z. my gf will work at registration so you can ask for me there.

 

^^^ i met you before at the track, right? it was at willow springs back in january (speedventures).

 

was it raining on sunday? it was probably me if it was a blue Z NA.

 

ugh, that cursed rain! if we could've driven with our windows up, i wouldn't have minded...but the water was getting EVERYWHERE!

 

Thanks Toan for the video. It does make a lot more sense now. Going to watch it everyday till I memorize it.

Seriously it is a lot of information to take in right now.

My friend also mention I should drive my Z every once in a while. Well at least drive it for a week before going to the track. The thing is, I drive my car like once or twice a month or maybe two month. My daily driver was a Benz sedan and now it is a Toyota Tacoma. and when I jump back in my Z, it is a complete new car to me again. So it does take time getting use to. Does that make any sense at all?

~Robert

 

yes, and you friend made a good suggestion. Especially if you are driving an Auto. You can loose the feeling of the car over time and it's time better spent off track doing that vs on track where you can be learning something else.

 

The only adjustment I'd make is more seat time. I think you wasted your money on modding the car (unless it came like that).

From hearing you talk about learning to heel toe it sounds like you have a long way to go. Leave the car the same - get more seat time.

 

I met you before. i was up there in april once in my white spec-v. i was with JP(maroner) on here. You had your blue Z and then your gf had the rx-8. cant wait to get this car on the SoW. ill be running in beginner again and my friend will be with me in a black SL500.

 

Weight transfer, Nismo, Brembo, K&N...you guys humiliate ignorant old-timers,
such as moi. I'm barely starting to catch on with all those mods mentioned on
these posts. I feel so inadequate. HELP! ( I did drop in a K&N--improvement!)
--Old man from Puerto Rico, IN LOVE AFFAIR W. HIS '04 Tour' Coupe!!!

 

some pictures from the event.

laosifu:

nice d(c)reams:

shinkuu:

me:

?:


shinkuu, are you going to be at buttonwillow in april?
laosifu .. let's go! i'll let you beat me this time. hehe.