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I did race and went well. Two prepped cars 4 drivers. I lost it literally on the last day. I was sitting pretty in 4th. 10 total cars and had RL and cones all 4 runs. I wanted to be 5th or higher in the Bsp class and did so I was "ok" with it. Lots to learn.
Busy season and well just busy overall. The season is going OK so far. Noticed a plateau in my driving improvement this year. I'm playing around with different settings on the dampers, tire pressures and changed my driving style to steer with the throttle vs just being smooth. Hit and miss so far, but my consistency is out the window (actually not sure if it was there to begin with).
Met my 2 goals for the year: Win a national event and trophy at Nationals. Ended up 4th behind Heitkotter in the Pro Finale (also for the year) and 7th at Nationals.
It wasn't without its drama however. I believe my drivers side rear axle nut loosened during the Pro finale (still don't know when exactly), giving me dynamic rear toe and camber. Discovered it only the night before nationals, but could explain why the car was so unpredictable especially in slaloms.
Still shaking my head for not disabling my yaw sensor all this time. I unplug it finally 2 weeks before nationals. Then the car immediately when from understeer to oversteer. I couldn't dial it back at nationals and I was messing with the front dampers and somehow lost track of compression settings. My last run on the west course I found my passengers side front was at full compression and drivers side in the middle. Ugh.
After hitting that cone my first run on the west coarse and coning away all my runs last year, I decided to drive super safe and make sure I got on the board day 1. I didn't care if I got the last trophy or second, my goal was a trophy and I would drive away happy at the end of the week.
2018 was suppose to be a light year for autocross, and I was to focus more on the Mazda racecar. However plans change and I'm off to SCCA Nationals and Prosolo Finale soon.
So far the Orange Z is first in points standings Nationally in Prosolo after 2 event wins. This is the only time in my life that I can say I'm ahead of Bryan Heitkotter ; - ) To be honest it's an events attended and points thing.
Finale and Nationals are going to be tough. The boost buggies have about a second lead on me from the start within 60ft which I have to make up on course and the DE engine power and gear lack the competitiveness of the HR and actually all the other cars in STU.
Haven't made any mods to the car since last year. Just went through the car to find all the loose bolts and my rear hub bearing is on the way out, but that will be a winter project. No wait, I fabbed up a new downturn due to the new SCCA rules and it's keeping me sound legal.
From the Oscode Tirerack Prosolo where I finished 1st
Ah, the old wiggly rear wheel. A real confidence builder. Hey if you cant be the fastest, a trophy will do. Looking good and congrats on the results so far.
I'm going to nats, myself, for the first time! I'll be codriving Grimace, the aptly-named 14 STI hatch in Plasma Blue Pearl owned by a friend of mine. Come say hi! STU #52/152.
I'll see you at Nats! I'm co Driving my friend Drew's Z in STU at Nationals, You're parked next to it in one of those pics above, the yellow one. The other Z, yes only 3 z's this year in STU, is our friend Dave Bianchi that has been doing this forever. Recently he made a huge step forward with his driving. So even with low counts for 350s in STU, I'm hoping we represent.
Drew's car is an 05 with only a tune for upped rev limiter, OSGiken Diff, and a catback exhaust, but some really nice MCS Coilovers with proper STU spring rates.
Cool, see you guys there! This will be my 3rd and last nationals. My first nationals (2nd year autoxing) I was just trying to figure out what to do and not to do, it was so new. Last year was all about getting a trophy spot. This year the goal is to chill, enjoy the event / people / cars, and just take it all in. Have fun!
Thanks Bryan! I would offer you a seat for nationals, but it's not adjustable and fits a 6'6" man, also the car is not that competitive. Hope you find a ride, I'm sure you will.
Nissan totally backing out of Autox doesn't help the 350Z numbers. Not sure why STR has such a huge following but STU struggles, oh well.
My best guess is that not enough people understand how awesome these cars (and the others in class) get with STU modifications. There's also the weather/launch performance variance, but it isn't the only class so affected.
While my reply is just a bit late, maybe it will be useful for someone doing research on the 350Z in STU. As Bryan mentioned in the previous post, not enough people understand how awesome these cars can be with a STU build. As a former driver of an STX Civic for the last 4 years, my first autocross in the Z was an eyeopener. Where had the Z been my whole life? Well, my Z was with Bryan and he built one hell of a car. The car just does everything well.
2019 will be a big year for my co-driver and me as we will be hitting quite a few national events with my Z. We hope to see the STU class filled with more Z's this year and doing our best to drive the car like Bryan would...
While my reply is just a bit late, maybe it will be useful for someone doing research on the 350Z in STU. As Bryan mentioned in the previous post, not enough people understand how awesome these cars can be with a STU build. As a former driver of an STX Civic for the last 4 years, my first autocross in the Z was an eyeopener. Where had the Z been my whole life? Well, my Z was with Bryan and he built one hell of a car. The car just does everything well.
2019 will be a big year for my co-driver and me as we will be hitting quite a few national events with my Z. We hope to see the STU class filled with more Z's this year and doing our best to drive the car like Bryan would...
We went to nationals last year with my friend's stock power DE with good suspension. The amount of rain we got on the plane side course really killed it for us. The puddles were so deep you would loose steering altogether for big parts of the course. We needed some actual rain tires but ran on RE71Rs because that is all we brought. On the corn side, it was only damp. We did better but it was quite obvious our lack of power was a problem. Just watching the car launch, it looked light years slower then the boost buggies. Some of those cars are maiking 380ft lbs of torque to the wheels. Eh, we brought a knife to a gun fight. A fully prepped HR motor 350z is going to fare much better. However, it really seems the talk of unlimited boost has scared a lot of the 350Zs away from national competition.
I've already got some high flow cats and cold air intakes for my car (2007 350z GT) . I need to up spring rates a bit still. I'll see how I do locally before commiting to NATs again.
Well Nationals weather made it an event to remember. It was so wet the first day, I jumped into an Evo 10 as a co-driver, just because I didn't feel like fighting the car through rivers of water. I've never driven the EVO before, or a turbo AWD car for that matter. Unfortunately, because I left foot brake, I hit the clutch instead of the brake in the first turn almost going off course which cost me a trophy spot. However I wasn't expecting much, just having fun. The car has amazing power compared to my DE, and can really dig out of corners. The downside: the car is a pig, has poor turn in and the weight really makes it slide.
So 2018 nationals conditions proved excellent for such a car. Even day 2 weather was cool, keeping the tire temps under control. I think if the course flowed more and the conditions hot, the tires would have suffered, compared to a lighter car.
Having said that, if the rumors are true and some people are building FIATs for STU, I believe that will be the dominant car in the class.
2018 was my first Solo Nationals and to get rained on that much definitely was a wake up call for rain tires. With that amount of rain the Z will have a tough time hanging with the AWD cars, so fingers crossed for good weather in 2019. I actually thought about bringing my Z to Solos in 2018, but decided against it as I only had 1 event in it before September.
I think the Z can still be a force in STU but the Fiat will be interesting. I'm not sure it will work out as well as many think. A lot of boost and limitations on how wide of a tire you can fit could produce a spin happy car. I'm sure we will find out.
2018 was my first Solo Nationals and to get rained on that much definitely was a wake up call for rain tires. With that amount of rain the Z will have a tough time hanging with the AWD cars, so fingers crossed for good weather in 2019. I actually thought about bringing my Z to Solos in 2018, but decided against it as I only had 1 event in it before September.
I think the Z can still be a force in STU but the Fiat will be interesting. I'm not sure it will work out as well as many think. A lot of boost and limitations on how wide of a tire you can fit could produce a spin happy car. I'm sure we will find out.
I've been autox nationally for 3 years and can count on one hand where rain tires would have made a difference. So it never made sense to invest in dedicated tire set, unless that is also your daily car tire set. I don't use my Z for anything else then autox. Plus even for nationals, it's a hobby and not a living, so I wasn't too upset. I try to remind myself that I'm not getting signed onto a multiyear racing contract if I win a $10 class trophy. I'm here for a vacation to hang out with like minded people and to have a good time.
I've been autox nationally for 3 years and can count on one hand where rain tires would have made a difference. So it never made sense to invest in dedicated tire set, unless that is also your daily car tire set. I don't use my Z for anything else then autox. Plus even for nationals, it's a hobby and not a living, so I wasn't too upset. I try to remind myself that I'm not getting signed onto a multiyear racing contract if I win a $10 class trophy. I'm here for a vacation to hang out with like minded people and to have a good time.
Well they say you can make a small fortune in racin by starting with a big one...
Great read again. Looking forward to 2019 updates. I am talking with Guy about a Penske setup. Time to swap the clubsports out. Need to start tweaking and stop just driving at our local event.
Hope to make it to a Nationals one year and meet some faces to names.
As far as the Z goes, this year the only change will be a Hotchkis front sway bar. I replaced the rear bearings. I knew the drivers side was trashed when the axle nut loosened during nationals, but as it turned out both were bad. Since I was changing out the hubs, I replaced the wheel studs with ARB. Then just some maintenance items.
This year, I'll be focusing on learning setup changes, keeping a journal. I'll race just one Prosolo and maybe a Tour, otherwise all locals. The primary focus in 2019 will be getting the Mazda ready for NASA TT6.
