Spent Tuesday at VIR with Mike Skeen, professional race driver who is pretty well known here on the east coast.
We each drove my car, then he downloaded and superimposed our Traqmate data. He then spent the day with me teaching me how to "close the gap" on our data for each segment of the track.
My previous best time was 2.35 (yes, I know I'm slow!!!!!). By the end of the day, I was consistently running 2.24 - an 11 second improvement!!!!!!
Best $$$ I have ever spent on my car
Anyway, this is a clip of him turning laps at around 2.15. Pretty amazing with a stock 350Z motor while driving in traffic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjrJ8NaXxNM

 

Mike's a good guy and a hellofa driver. He's also one of the better private coaches around. His dad is a great guy too.

I really hope he gets the exposure he deserves in Trans AM this year.

Can I call it a claim to fame that I have passed him before? Of course this was back in his Spec E30 days.

 

Those are very good times for the VIR full course, imo. And it definitely shows that the most effective performance part is the driver. Money well spent.

I've driven the full course (only about 17 laps, in a bone-stock 2011 GT500, street tires) and only managed to get in the low 3:00s. Of course, that's with a standing start from the pits and out lap/in lap. Would have been maybe ~20 seconds quicker on a full flying lap.

But I didn't want to ball up a brand new car that I didn't own. Pussyfooted it quite a bit. The full course has some scary spots at speed in a heavy car on street tires. And of course, the Z handles better than the GT500 at the limit. Not to mention being about 1,000lbs lighter stock--and probably closer to 1,200lbs lighter as you have yours prepped.

Great video!

 

Very smooth...

 

What do you have for side windows (sorry if I've asked you this before) since I see you have the doors gutted. Any "progress" pics of your gutting, and have you weighed it along the way? Mine was at 2920 before I put the roll bar in.

Also - is that a GoPro wide angle HD camera?

 

Scott
I have Lexan side windows which slot into position. You cant drive with them, but they keep the rain out when the car is parked.
No "progress pics" of the gutting process, but the car weighs 2900 lbs with the Autopower roll bar and 1/2 tank of gas (mine may be lighter than yours because I have a Seibon hatch and Lexan rear window).
The camera was Mike's, so I don't know what type he uses.

 

Thanks for the info. I'd like to learn more about the side windows because I need them for precisely the reason that you state and nothing more. If you were at 2900 with the roll bar and 1/2 tank of gas, then you are >100# lighter than me, as I'm at 2980 with ~1/4 tank of gas. I suspect I can get 8-10 more from each door with the Lexan. I'm also about to pull the trigger on some used Sparcos, so will drop maybe another 30# total there. Do you have any pics of how you have the the Lexan slotted in and how the door operates? Sorry for the OT, we can take to PM if you'd rather.

Not sure if you saw this, but while I was scrolling through your posts looking for more info, I revived this one: https://my350z.com/forum/tuning/465479-100-octane.html

 

That is some money well spent. Good stuff!

 

Damn I want to get into that sooooo badly... Looks insane.

 

That wide angle lens makes your steering wheel look like the size of a Ritz cracker. Amazing video! really good stuff.

 

^lol! It really does look small.

 

diggin it.

 

mike is a good driver i dont know him personally but i've seen him drive. do you have any pics of your car i would love to see your full setup and also how much does your car weight now with all the panel removal. I'm trying to get my car to be sub 3000 range with my roll cage im sitting at 3020 right now still =(