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Thanks, everyone! Here's a few pics from this weekend to give you an idea of what it was like:
Saturday was such a tease; it rained cats & dogs just before the race, then stopped completely. I didn't try to outguess it and started the race on rains. That was the right call, although I didn't make a good start and lost two spots to more aggressive racers. I settled in and started to find my rhythm for the first half of the race.
This photo shows how wet the course was during the race. This is the last section of Road Atlanta's awesome back straight. You are at WOT for a LONG time and drafting and passing is a big part of racing here. I pushed the braking threshold a bit too much about 3/4 of the way through the race and was fortunate enough to avoid getting stuck in the grass and mud!
Maybe the main thing to remember is how much FUN it is to drive the Z at speed! My T3-spec Z33 isn't blown or have a V8 conversion, most of the magic is in suspension parts, setup and tweaks to help the VQ put the power down. You might be surprised by how close your own car is to the one that's won the ARRC title in back-to-back years. And yeah, racing in the rain is tricky, no doubt about it. But the better you get at driving and walking that fine line between traction and disaster, the more you enjoy it!
So let me see if I get what you're saying, David..... Driving school might ACTUALLY be a good idea??
So let me see if I get what you're saying, David..... Driving school might ACTUALLY be a good idea??
Heh heh........
Good job, buddy, no, wait, great job!
Mic
Thanks again, Mic. And yes, on the topic of driving school, we are in complete agreement! More than any other mod, getting that nut behind the wheel to perform better makes more of a performance difference than anything else. Funny thing is, I still feel like I'm in driver's school even after 30 years of experience. There's always something to learn and apply in motorsports...
Just outside of St. Louis and heading west this morning. After calculating gas mileage for the Titan, it continues to average between 7-8 MPG if the wind isn't fighting the rig. By Tuesday night, a winter storm is predicted to blast into Colorado, so my goal is to beat it back home. The driving adventure continues as this fall sojourn takes me across the very heartland of America today and tomorrow. Oh, and I'd rather be racing at triple digit speeds with people who are AWAKE and AWARE, rather than being severely distracted on the highway.
Thanks again, Mic. And yes, on the topic of driving school, we are in complete agreement! More than any other mod, getting that nut behind the wheel to perform better makes more of a performance difference than anything else. Funny thing is, I still feel like I'm in driver's school even after 30 years of experience. There's always something to learn and apply in motorsports...
And even moreso on the street where the differential between a trained driver and the plebe drivers around you is far greater than with your fellow drivers on the track.
David, we talked about cams, nitrous (no), exhaust, brakes and tires. I forgot to ask about your final drive ratio.
John- Like most of the car, final drive ratio remains stock (3.538), although I do use a NISMO comp LSD. At the ARRC, the aggressive nature of this LSD was not ideal- power delivery was not as smooth as I'd like and there's no easy way to adjust it for the wet.
BTW- any more thoughts after sitting in the race Z and starting it up? It's not an expensive $100K specialty vehicle, but rather a near stock Z that has the requisite safety equipment and mods to the exhaust, suspension and engine software (UpRev tuned).
But racing at events like the ARRC show just how much serious FUN you can STILL have with a lightly modded Z33!
I'm finally seeing the light. I'm keeping my z very stock to comply with SCCA CS rules, maybe a front bar and some shocks. I have a 240sx that is highly modified and constantly working on it and fixing things at the track was starting to drain my love for the hobby.
John- Like most of the car, final drive ratio remains stock (3.538), although I do use a NISMO comp LSD. At the ARRC, the aggressive nature of this LSD was not ideal- power delivery was not as smooth as I'd like and there's no easy way to adjust it for the wet.
BTW- any more thoughts after sitting in the race Z and starting it up? It's not an expensive $100K specialty vehicle, but rather a near stock Z that has the requisite safety equipment and mods to the exhaust, suspension and engine software (UpRev tuned).
Good question, tempted to post that pic haha. A few things come to mind. I found it interesting how the whole interior is laid out exactly to fit you. Steering wheel, seat etc. Amazed at the "cooling suit system" technology. I find it a back-handed complement to the 350Z that you are required to handicap your car with 153 pounds of bolted-in lead to make things equitable.
My favorite part was the 6500rpm exhaust note. Thanks again!
I'll never achieve your level of expertise, but I think I have a date with Skip Barber.
Please do post that pic- give the rest of the board a chance to see your smiling face! As for the interior, one of the biggest advantages to having a roll cage built for you is being able to properly fit the seat so you sit exactly the way you should. My shoulder harnesses won't bind and stretch in the event of a big shunt, and my hands touch the steering wheel and shifter with maximum efficiency. Even my feet touch the brake, clutch and throttle easily, and I can brace myself with the dead pedal.
What wasn't planned was all the ballast that was given to the 350Z to keep it from being an OVERDOG in the T3 class. Sigh- that's just part of the politics of SCCA racing and a part of this twisted game we play!
Here's a few more photos from last week to round out this thread. I paid a local photographer to get some shots, but most of them were from Friday qualifying, when the field spread out. Sorry there aren't other cars in the frame, but those are the breaks. Hope they still hold some interest as they show the diverse character of Road Atlanta from several turns (including captions):
This is a good shot of turn 10 at the end of the backstraight. Hard threshold braking and a 5-to-3 heel/toe downshift to get the Z to the splashy apex.
Splashing through T11 and headed for the bridge turn. The Z felt a bit loose here in the wet, as you're accelerating hard while holding it to the right to set up for the proper entry to T12. I usually shifted up to fourth early, as the turn drops away and any wheelspin is a big no-no.
Dropping into the famous Road Atlanta esses here (just after T4) and even in the wet, hitting a late apex is key to maintaining speed through each of these corners. Even in the wet, you are still at WOT from the top to the bottom of these curves.
As the editor of our local SCCA mag, I put together an article about my adventures at the 2015 ARRC from a driving perspective. Not sure if anyone here is interested, but here's a link (with some of the same pics posted here):
As the editor of our local SCCA mag, I put together an article about my adventures at the 2015 ARRC from a driving perspective. Not sure if anyone here is interested, but here's a link (with some of the same pics posted here):
After spending the morning going through project specifications for the new one I'll be starting for my biggest client after Turkey Day, this is THE most welcome bit of reading EVER! One can only take so much "blah blah, decision tree, blah blah blah, sales forecast, blah blah and blahdy blahdy blah blah" before banging one's head softly against my office wall!
Been meaning to ask, DM.... who took all the pics of you/car at ARRC? Stellar visuals!
Hah- you made me laugh HARD at your descriptions, Mic! Glad this thread and my other article could offer you some relief. As for the photographer, I can't find his card right now, but he was a local photographer with a unique angle. He signed up racers BEFORE taking any shots and got us to commit to a package, so he knew who to look for at each vantage point. Wish I had some shots from the ARRC race itself, but he did a good job during the qualifying sessions.
Thanks again! 
