Short video (in case you don't feel like reading and looking at all the pictures). James is in the white 350, Bill in the red 350, I'm driving the silver 350 (with the snorts in the hood), and Rob is driving the red 370. The 370 has got some power! (The entire session is later in this post).


It was a fantastic day at Monterey's historic Laguna Seca Raceway a few Thursdays ago with Norcal Racing (ncracing.org).

Our caravan group was 10 cars strong: 6 Z33s, 1 Z34, 1 TT G35, and 1 supercharged challenger.

Silver 350Z #219: Scott (Scotts300)
Silver 350Z #303: John (Solidfish)
White 350Z #007: James (Mcarther101)
Red 350Z #55: Bill (hisnherz)
Orange 350Z #0: Patrick (pchio)
Silver 350Z #67: Alvin (alving)
Red 370Z #5: Rob (Rob@ZCG)
Silver TTG35: Tom D
White turbo510: Kurt H
Orange SC Challenger: Rich

What a beautiful morning (that's my Z with the tire tail with my track gear - usually I have two tires on it, but since I didn't have a passenger on the drive down, I put all 4 tires in the car).









My Z was meatballed twice for breaking the sound limit of a measly 92dB. Thankfully, my MotorDyne exhaust is v-band clamped into sections, so I was able to remove the catback "megaphone" piece (see rocket launcher picture) and install a 3" pipe that we had ginned up at the 11th hour. I packed it with some fiberfrax (silica and alumina fibers), then spot welded a nickel screen over the end and cinched it down with titanium sheet metal. Wa-la! 89dB (and a noticeable loss of power - bah!)







The car was completely new to me, as we had just installed SPL PRO upper arms and front lower arm bushings as well as their rear PRO camber arms. The car was aligned for the new suspension parts and the new R6 285/30/18 Hoosiers for the 18x10 RPF1 wheels I had just acquired from RacerBob. The engineer in me doesn't like all the changes at once, but the driver in me LOVED it! (Plus it's not very cost effective to make one change at a time in this type of situation.)























Violation #2 - time to change out the catback portion and do a sound check:



Megaphone rocket launcher removed (MotorDyne single exhaust):







Bill's Z:


Alvin's 350:



James' 350:



Rob's 370:



My Z on the stockers:



Turbo 510:



TT G35 (wicked!) that our good friend, Tom, drives:



Patrick's Z (pcio):



Group photos:





Two cars had major issues. An S2000 went into the tire barrier at T5, but was able to hose itself off and drive home. This Miata lost it at T9 and wasn't so lucky. The driver had his pride hurt, but that was about it.





Here is the full vid of me and the 370Z in a little lead/follow that James put together on my behalf (I borrowed his GoPro Cam and he put the video together):

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Part 2:

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Another video from Patricks GoPro that culminates with 4 Zs playing around:

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And here are two cool videos that James put together in his session of him and Bill enjoying their Zs on this famous track:

Part 1:
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Part 2:
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Hope to Z y'all at the track sometime! Laguna Seca rules.

 

Very nice!!!

Looks like a fun day at the track.

 

NICE! Can't wait to get home to check out the vids! I'd love to run Laguna, but it's a long ways from Denver.

FYI - Did make it out to the track this Sat. The 17x95 SSR comps were great! Don't want to hijack the tread but will post a new thread later when I get the vids processed.

 

looks like a blast would love to know next time it happens i live about 20 min away from laguna seca maybe post a thread a head of time, would be way funner racing other Z's not vipers.

 

Excellent to hear! I look forward to the thread!

It was an absolute blast. It's more fun with a lot of Z cars for sure. I have posted my last few events up in the NorCal section, so be sure to peek in there every week or so as I won't post it up in the general Autocross/Road forum. Our next Laguna event will likely be 7/8-11, but we're going to T-hill and Buttonwillow before then for sure.

 

Laguna Seca Rocks!!!

Excellent post Scott.

 

Get any times there????

 

Thanks! It is a fantastic track!

I have LOTS of times there! Most of my clear laps were in the 1:48s, though we clipped a few 1:47s as well. It's a horsepower track, which I don't have compared to most of the cars there (it was like a C6 Vette show at the last event). I'm still chasing my best time in my 300ZXTT, which has 2x the HP on the track, at a low 1:46.

 

Not bad times, I was running 1:51's on Falken 615's and then with some more mods and BFG R1's I was able to get into the 45's.. I think with Hoosiers I could get down to the 43's probably but car won't pass sound now, oh well!!

 

Perhaps I missed it, but what is the car/set-up?

 

2003 350Z
APS TT
4.08 gears
Cusco 1.5LSD
Hoosiers
KW V3
AP Brakes
Stillen Sways and Arms
APR wing and canards

Yeah, that is part of my problem - I have to completely lift going up the hill between turns 5 and 6 to balance the sound, and totally lose momentum. Dropping 6s from tires and mods is a LOT. Were you up from SoCal with NCRC or another group? I haven't seen many other 350s there (that I didn't know). Were those times with the TT, because 1:45 (and moving towards a 1:43) would be smashingly fast without the extra power, and I wouldn't think the 350 would have it in it. David Ray set the T2 track record there with a 1:45.219 then beat it with a 1:44.864, which is right there with the ITE cars. If we do an event together there sometime, I'm following your line!

 

Did you make it such that the exhaust had to flow through the fiberfrax? Yeah that would restrict flow for sure.

I suggest using a Gamma or V2 or Nova muffler at the axle back section. No loss in power and a lot quieter for sure.

 

I could only manage low 1:48's there on RA1's a couple weeks ago. I haven't broken in to the 1:47's yet, and I was bummed about that. I've ripped out the rear finishing plastic in the back and removed the spare tire to lighten the car, but that's about all. I'm guessing the car still weighs a little over 3200lbs with my roll bar in place. My Nismo exhaust and hi-flow cats still make sound on a clear day, and I'm very happy about that!

I wish I could make it out there with all the Z's because I was the only one with a Z a few last time. All in all, I could play with some Elises and Boxster S, but all the high HP cars were leaving me in the dust. Man...those drivers in C6 Z06's pass me like I'm standing still!

Are the BFG R1's considered stickier than the Toyo RA1/R888? I've never tried them.

 

Yes much stickier....

 

Kuuuuudos for using Hell March/2 in the last vid. Also love seeing some old school rides like the 510 and TT at that.

 

How's running with the ncracing.org group? I noticed their prices are pretty good and they have some events down in buttonwillow that i want to go to.

 

They are a good group. We were registered for the June 5/6 days at Buttonwillow, but just recently canceled so we can go to Thunderhill on that Friday instead. We try to do a lot of days with them each year given their value.

 

Bumping an old thread with new pictures and video from a recent event. Joy.

vid with me driving:


My friend in his Vortech Z:


Some pics:

 

Nice pics! Going to do my best to do both Laguna Seca and Infineon next year. Decent drive but I hear both are worth it.

 

Absolutely worth the drive to those historic tracks. Try to schedule in a double day event while you're here.