I normally use my Miata set up as a Spec, but it was down and out getting trans replaced. It broke on track 2 weeks ago. So I took my 04 350Z roadster down to the track this past weekend. I was out with PCA at NJMP on Lightning. My Z is a street car. OEM Bridgestones and Hawk HP+ pads and stainless lines.

I run in the advanced/instructor group. Passing permitted anywhere on track-point bys are advised but not required. It's a wild group. My car was the only street car. Every other car was a track only 911 and 1 track only Vette.

Needless to say these guys were all over my ***. What was left of my front pads went during my second session. I did not bring anything with me, no pads, no tools, no nothing. And I was instructing 2 students, so I had no down time. During the lunch brake I ran into town, best pads I could find were Advanced Auto-ceramics. Borrowed tools, jack got some help put new pads on--but when taking off the driver front tire--found a chunk of rubber missing. About 2" long-1"wide. That ended Fri. on the track. I searched for 2 tires, best I could find was a Falken AllWeather 912. Since this is not my track car and the rears are AllWeather I got those at 8am on Sat.

Back on track, slipping, sliding and drifting all over the place. By my 3rd session I was done, out of rear brakes and tires were way to greasy.

It was fun but my street prepped Z was no match for these track prepped Porsches. But, that got me to wondering. I wonder what the Z would be like with the right tires and brakes.

Anyone else here go out with any of the Porsche Clubs? I am curious to know how you think the the Z stacks up to the Porsches.

 

PCA let you run in a non-rollbared Roadster? They usually require one.

 

^ I'm surprised too!!!!!!
I'd love to bring my ZR up there though if it was definitely allowed!

 

I run the NJMP with the PCA but in another car. If I get my Brembo's installed in time, I will be going at the end of this month with the Z.
Last event there was a guy in my run group, intermediate un-instructed, with a black Z who was doing pretty well. Its hard to do a comparison from one kinda car to another because there are so many different skill levels (even in the same run group) and how much risk someone is willing to take with their car. Case in point is that my other car is a '91 SHO and I give the porche guys and bimmer guys a hard time (usually passing them), but that doesn’t necessarily mean my car is better. Sometimes I think I do better because Im ok with totaling the car, not that I want this to happen.
That being said I think the Z should be able to keep up with mostly everything except maybe the GT3's and anything else that is fully track prep'd.

 

That's odd, I posted a reply earlier this afternoon but I guess it did not take.
I started doing track events at the end of summer in '03 (91 300zxTT) which I had sold and was delivering the following week. I put my 350z roadster on the track in '04 with PDA/NASA NorthEast amd SCDA. I know for sure I had the Z at Pocono and Watkins Glen, I think at Lime Rock but not sure.

The 350z roadster is set up pretty much the same as the Boxster (factory roll-over protection system)and I see plenty of Boxsters on track with PCA. As an instructor I don't have to go through the normal tech procedure. We self tech and turn in the completed form. Not going through tech eliminates a possible problem. I did get hasseled slightly by the NJMP people for having the top down with no arm-restraints on track. So, I put the top up and they were OK with that.

 

NJSHO,
Which PCA group do you run with? I go with Reisentoter and Schattenbaum. Have not seen any SHO's out there. Last year I was at The Glen with CMR-Phoenix. There were a few SHO's out there with them.

The risk quotient is definitely a factor. I run much more aggressively in my Miata then my Z. But, I've got a track built Miata with probably 60+ track days under my belt vs. maybe 10 track days 4 years ago in a street ZR.

Last time I was at The Glen we were driving in a monsoon with very limited visibility due more to fog than the rain. Eventually, it was called due to the fog. Very few cars went out. But, I was 1 of them. I was moving along pretty well when I spotted some dim lights getting brighter and brighter and coming up on me faster. When it went by it was a beater VW GTI. The car was worth maybe a buck 3.80. When I saw the guy in the garage I kidded him the only reason he was so fast in the rain/fog was because his car was worth about $100. He said that was part of it but, the other part was his skill and tires.

But, when I'm out with PCA and NASA in the instructor groups, there are some very expensive cars and these guys are pushing the limits. They are not holding back no matter what the value of their cars.

 

The PCA groups I have delt with would only allow Boxsters that had the hoop extenders and 996 Cabs because the front and rear roll over protection is above the drivers head (The Broomstick test). All others had to have aftermarket rollover protection. The 350ZR doesn't have that option available so they wouldn't let them run. I personally don't instruct in cars that don't have above the head rollover protection. It's good I can fit in most spec miatas though.

As far as PCA groups I have run with First Settlers, Shenandoah, Peachtree, and Hurricane. They are good group to run with.

 

Marty,
My guess is the PCA Clubs are not really that familiar with the 350Z and since I did not take it through tech it was not really scrutinized re:height of the hoops behind the driver. Once I have my tech sticker on the windshield no one is paying any attention to the height of the hoops behind me. It sounds like you are taller than I am. I'm 5"11 so it does not look like I am towering above the hoops.

Years ago when I was taking my ZR on a more regular basis no one at all questioned the height of the hoops. At that time I went out with 3 different clubs. I was always the only ZR there except once there was a guy with my identical color ZR.

My next track date is not till July 21 with the Miata Club, by that time my Miata will be up & running and hopefully will be issue free through the rest of the track season. I replaced my rear pads on my ZR yesterday--I put back the oem pads I had removed years ago for the Hawks. The level of my driving now vs. 4 years ago when I was using the ZR is way beyond the capabilities of my current brakes and tire set up. I would only take the ZR out again if I had no other alternative. Last week was an expensive 2 days.
Having to replace my front pads, 2 tires, motel, fuel, food etc. and paying to have the Miata back on the road. Financially I want to support only 1 track car, that's why I drive the Miata. The cost of maintaining it is relatively inexpensive compared to other cars.

 

yeah, PCA regions are pretty autonomous and some are a lot more leaniant than others. Then there are some like area Viper days where they let anything run. Got a seat belt, then your ok. It's only one of two clubs where I had to ask the student to make a couple of changes before I ran in the car.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I was running a Miata like you. They really do make great track rats. Consumables are cheap, the cars are dead reliable, and they can hustle pretty well around the track. I had a 93 NA in spec form (except the JR s/C on it) and it was a blast. What year/type is yours? Are you running the 700/400 or the 600/350 spec springs?

 

njsho I was the guy in the black Z

 

Marty,
Why are you no longer running the Miata?
My set up sounds like yours. 93 with Spec suspension, not sure which springs. My buddy is a Spec Racer and builds cars in his shop. He set mine up like his. I also have the JRSC. Up until the trans problem the only problems I've had on track were all related to the SC.

My 93 had ac/ps. Took the AC out last year. The belts kept jumping off because the idler tensioner bracket was flexing. Replaced it with the Moss enhanced tensioner bracket. It broke 2nd day on track. They sent me a new one. That was OK till 2 weeks ago when it broke. Got rid of the p/s pump, depowered the steering per the FM method. Ran without the SC but then the trans broke. We are now trying to configure a new idler-belt tensioner set up to run without ps/ac.

Does/did yours have ac/ps and how is your set up configured?
Morris

 

Because of this:
https://my350z.com/forum/other-vehic...track-rat.html


I had the PS/AC set up. The key really seems to be the alignment of the tensioner. If it is off just a hair, the belt will slowly walk off the pulleys, or worse, torque the pulley until either the shaft or the bracket breaks. Did you also upgrade to the 6 rib pulleys and crank? That helps quite a bit to keep the belts in place.

 

Yup,
Have 6 rib pulley and crank but still had problems.
Looking to replace the PS pulley with a 6 rib pulley bolted into the space where the ac was. And if possible replace the idler pulleys with ribbed pulleys, if we can't use the old bracket we will make 1.

 

Yup,
Have 6 rib pulley and crank but still had problems.
Looking to replace the PS pulley with a 6 rib pulley bolted into the space where the ac was. And if possible replace the idler pulleys with ribbed pulleys, if we can't use the old bracket we will make 1.

 

I would check the PS/AC pulley alignment with the crank. The stock factory settings leave a lot of tolorence gaps because it's not that critical, but once you add the extra tension and the longer belts and such that gap will cause the belt to walk. It took a little bit to get mine right by a shop that had a laser alignment machine measure, but once it was I never had a belt problem again. Ran it 5 years with no belt failures.

 

I saw you running Sat when I ran in the rain and you were pretty fast.