13esim

How do I change the title of the thread, this has passed college budget and passed CS lol.


I actually gave the 350Z a break. I took my 300ZX out to take her fair share of cone marks. I'll update here just because it is Z related and I want to compare to the 350Z.

So the 300ZX, whats done to it? It is a 1990 NA model. Last owner owned it for 15 years, its in excellent condition and had a folder filled with Nissan dealer invoices from years ago until I bought it.

There are some tasteful modifications done to her. Magnaflow catback, JWT intake and JWT ECU. KYB AGX shocks and Eibach springs. It had some 2001 specific TSW Thruxtons with 8" wide wheels in the front and 9.5" wide wheels in the rear. They are long gone and the car has 17x9 MB Battles that have some 245 mediocre grade summer tires. Eventually they will be wrapped in a 200 TW 255's. The car is decently sorted for STX.





I didn't expect to be competitive with the faster cars because of the tires, just went for the seat time and to have fun.

One thing I love about this car compared to the 350Z is the steering rack is so much faster. Also, being allowed to take the t-tops off adds a little more fun to it.

Off the bat the car is dogsh*t slow when you go into the powerband (Can you even call it a powerband?) This kinda gives the sense that whatever momentum you did get, you don't want to lose it.

The next thing with the car (and this may be the tires but I didn't notice this trend when I drove my 350Z with my daily tires) is that the car is picky. If you don't pick the right line, or you trail brake too much the car will either understeer or oversteer. But, when you get it right, oh man it feels good. It is extremely rewarding. I feel like it teaches you momentum conservation while also being crucial with your line and other inputs. I feel like some of this can be transfered back over to driving my 350Z.

One thing that was interesting was in the slalom, I could load the car up through one section, coming to a transition I could essentially let the car "self steer through the next one, and continue this. It made the slalom really easy. I'm not sure if my 350Z would be able to get away with this.





She is a cutie thats for sure. I also gave an instructional in this guy:



Right hand drive Nissan Cefiro. This guys is powered by a RB25. It was interesting to drive a RHD and weird to give pointers from the passenger seat (which is usually the driver seat).


This video is pretty family friendly until 7:20. I tried. Fastest run at 9:43

13esim

So these still look good right?




At least one more event.

So racing season is coming to an end here and school season in full swing. I had to get out one last time or else I'd go insane in the engineering lab. NASA was holding there last event this past weekend and I went. The tires looked like that after this weekend, the rear tires were on there last event making the car a little tail happy all day.





Initially a few days before I flushed my brake fluid with fresh DOT 5.1 and changed my oil. Weather forecast was set for 60 degrees being the high of the day so I wasn't too worried about my coolant temps like last time.

Last time was my first time with NASA and I ended the day signed off ready for HPDE 3. First session out and it was about 35 degrees. People have been spinning out and my cars ice mode was on so I took it easy. I got stuck in a train of cars not letting anyone pass. Our instructor talked to the group about this.

Second session out was a little warmer. I got stuck behind a 968 who would not let me pass. I had him on corners but he would pull away at straights which was frustrating. While chasing, I heard what sounded like a wheel bearing squeak when I loaded up on right hand corners. I retired the session to be safe and talked to the Spec Z guys. They said rocks get stuck in the dust shields alot here and to clean it out. Pulled it apart, cleaned everything out. I still had a small noise that when the car was rolling you could hear but no play in the wheel what so ever. I consulted my Spec Z gurus and they told me if there is no play then don't worry. I think a wheel bearing is about to go out after this day.

Third session out was pretty good. I had plenty of clean laps. Enough to find out after about 5 laps I would get brake fade. I would take a cool off lap and then I had a few more laps before they would fade again. For next year I will look into a more aggressive pad compound just for track days like this.

Before my last session I caught the regional director and asked him about going to group 4. He snagged an instructor for me. After this last session he signed me off for group 4! I was happy, a lot of people were telling me the jump from 3 to 4 takes awhile. TT is next!

Video of the event:

13esim

Figured I would update this although not much has happened. I did try my hand at rallycross, not in my Z of course but in a Subaru duh!






Back to the Z, seeing this thread is about my Z. I got an oil cooler from Z1:





I also got an aluminium radiator during the holidays. I got a really good deal on it (Read: Free) but I have no idea what brand it is. It was going into a Spec Z car that never was finished. Should I have a shop pressure test it and if its good send it?

Also rather than starting a thread here, I am looking into the Corbeau FX1 seats, should I use these with a harness? I would prefer to use my OEM 3 point, I only want the seat to hold me in better. If I get a harness I'll need a HANS device and a HANS compatible helmet. This car is street driven also so I'd like to keep the facotry belt. Thoughts?

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

If you're not doing track driving, I wouldn't worry about a 4/5 point harness without a hans. I also would keep using the oem 3 point on the street. I need to get a harness bar and some belts for mine... Eventually.

Pressure testing the rad isn't a bad idea, especially if it's relatively cheap. Trust me, you'd rather find a leak that way rather than in the middle of racing.

I really need to do a rallyx event at some point.

13esim

The seat will be dual purpose I guess, for daily and track. After putting the 275's on I struggle to hold myself in the seat.

No, don't try rallyx, I regret it. You'll end up finding yourself in another expensive hobby haha!

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

You can use an OEM 3-point with a bucket seat AFAIK, just make sure the buckle is situated so it's snug on you as if you're in the OEM seat.

Dude, I struggled to keep myself in the seat of my Z sporting 225/245s on OEM wheels!

I like to shoot things, aka watch $$$ punching holes in paper. I went from owning the iconic 12-gauge (first gun) to now having 5... In the past year. No, I don't have a problem.

13esim

The long winter is coming to an end and I have started to lose hair because of school so you know I'm game for autocross.

I actually signed a deal with Federal Tires for this year to run there RS-RR, anyone who has read through this knows I like the RS-RR. I think I got it because of my combination of events I go to, YouTube, and other social media presence.

So I got my set on the way but FedEx dropped them off the day after the first event

So I ran my street SS595's in STU. I guess it wasn't a bad way to start the year, third in STU being behind first place in a prepped STI by 1.7 seconds. i'll take it. Also 21st out of 87 RAW.

PICTURES:









And always with my events here is a video of some of my runs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGp-...ature=youtu.be

Also, to touch on the deal with Federal, I am able to give people a discount on RS-RR's so if anyone is looking the distributor here in the US sells through www.hotstickytires.com and use code BESIMXCARS when you check out.

As of now tires are mounted and I am just sitting here patiently for the next event.

KRyn

I wish I could say the same. The forecast finally has some good news in store for us up here in the frigid north. Our first event is scheduled for April 15th and I don't even have my car out of storage let alone prepared.

Dang! A tire sponsorship, that is awesome. Congratulations. It will be interesting to hear how you like the RS-RR, I wonder if you will have trouble getting heat into them for auto-x.

13esim

I ran them last year as well, they need a run to get warmed up. For the first run of the session I would be sliding everywhere, after that they would have enough heat to be fast for the session. On the other hand they are great for track sessions. I could do a 20 minute sessions with no issues with the tire.

They are good enough to be competitive with the big brand tires, they aren't faster but they provide enough grip to stay competitive and even beat others in class. I guess it makes you work harder as a driver which can be a good thing in ways.

Desert Z

iTrader: (1)

Cool man. Keep up the good stuff.

What pads are you running? Maybe I missed that in the thread.

13esim

For autocross and daily I am running Stoptech Sport, this year I will run Carbotech XP10 and XP8's for the road course.

13esim

Last week I went to UMC for my first day in HPDE 4. I just got my Carbotech pads on and 25 row oil cooler from Z1 installed. This was also my first time on UMC's east course which is a little more technical so hopefully all of my autocross pays off.




This time I had a garage spot. Having a garage spot is so nice. First session out I just used it to bed in my Carbotech's. I was worried to drive this on the street because of the disclaimer but really, they still do fine when cold. I gues I could have bed them in on the road.




Second session out was where I really got to push the car. I was mixed with Group 4 cars and TTE and TTD cars. This is going to sound cocky but I was passing cars left and right. It was such a thrill to lock on, find an opening and take off. At one point I decided to go three car wide on the straight and get in front of the other two cars. I think the E36 driver was a little mad I did that unil he realized I was making a gap. (Man I sound like a dick). I got that on video, I think its entertaining to watch. After this session running with other cars I think maybe this car is destined for Spec Z one day. I took a cool down lap to play it safe halfway through but I had no temp issues and no brake fade.




Someone mentioned to me HPDE 4 can use transponders so I went to the NASA office and rented one. Later I found out NASA rules say no to this. It was a bit of confusion but the workers let me have it and I told them I am in group 4. Whatever. I set my best of the day I feel, I went to check the live timing and all the times were cleared. Went back to the office and they said I did a 1:52:xx so I am pretty happy with that. That puts with the top of TTD cars. Not bad for some RS-RR's #shamelessplug

I did have some temp issues after a specific lap. I stayed in third gear the whole infield and coming down the back straight I noticed my temps start to climb. I backed off, checked everything. Went back out and shifted to fourth gear in sections I was doing it in before. Still need to dial in my cooling. I have an unknown brand radiator sitting in my garage that I am going to pressure test and send it if it's good.




For my last session I grabbed an instructor for a sign off ride into TT. They were short handed but I managed to find one. I found out his session was right after mine. Oops. Anyway time for some excuses. It was pretty traffic packed and I struggled to find my way by some cars. I also decided to try a more aggressive line to see how that compares. The instructor told me to work on smoothness and next event he will sign me off, for now I am in HPDE 4 still. I was also having more temp issues, it was warmer this session. I did get one good lap in but once I got on the main straight I had to back off to let my car cool. It was a fun lead follow with a Spec Z car though!





I am a little dissapointed in myself that I didn't make it into TT. On the other hand I would be done for in TT4 with my cars current guise. TTC and TTB are no longer. There is a rule that doesn't allow the 350Z in TT5 and I don't think TTD is possible either. (I did see some posts from a few years ago where some people managed to get the car registered for TTD). TT4 is probably where I am destined. At this point we should really take "Budget" of the title of this thread, mods send halp. Any suggestions for where to improve my car for TT4 (Slicks of course) or anyone a bit more familiar with the rules of NASA TT? Maybe I can still go into a lower class?

Oh yea, video as well, check it out!

Blurvision

iTrader: (4)

Great log! Keep them coming.
From an instructor point of view. Someone who I am evaluating if they are hyper focused on moving up / showing how fast they are I usually do not move them. Seems like you have already planned for places you haven't been yet. Show some humility IMO and drive your own drive. You will be faster overall and learn more. Focus on you and make incremental improvements. Before you know it, you'll move up. Adding slicks and other mods would be going backwards for you.

13esim

Yup after this last event I realized to just chill out and work on myself as a driver. See how far I can go with what I have. Anyway, I found I can't go to TTD with the 350Z's base class being is ST this year. Last year I could have swung it. I'll just work on me as a driver and slowly progress my car where I need it. I need a seat. Seat is next.

13esim

Two events in one post update:

Let's see where do I start? I haven't updated in awhile. Our autocross venues have been difficult to schedule with so we only had one in the month of May.

I just installed a bucket seat so I was excited to see how the car would feel with me being able to stay in the seat. I realize now that it had been almost two months since I autocrossed last. It took me a bit to dust off the cobwebs and on top of that the I started to really see VDC kick back in, especially when trailbraking. I left my Carbotech pads on for this event which highlighted VDC coming back on. Before my next event I will wire a switch to the VDC box under the center console. Ironically now that I don't have a heated seat I may tap into that switch as my on and off.

I started to get comfortable with left foot braking. I couldn't snag a clean run though. After our lunch session I was getting ready to commit to first place which was only a few tenths in front of me. It being Utah it started to rain. We only had three runs this afternoon session as well. First run it was soaked. I did a 360 so that was cool. Second run it dried off and I put down a decent run while the tires were still cold. Last run, I had warm tires, I just need the weather to hold off. As I start to grid it begins to sprinkle. I am patiently waiting while it seemed the flagger to was taking his time to send off cars, it was probable me being impatient. I got up to the line and it was still sprinkling. The course felt good for the first half but the rain started to come down and I could feel the course lose its grip. Came in with clean, yet slower run. Boo.

Here's the video of my runs here:


After this event I got around to installing an aluminium radiator. I got it from a Spec Z racer in California who never used it. He couldn't remember what brand it was. I pressure tested it to 20 psi and it held for 10 minutes without a drop in pressure. It does look like a Nismo radiator which would be pretty neat.




I can't believe how thing the OEM one is. This one is massive, so massive that I couldn't use the OEM airbox without a significant amount of trimming, so I opted for a popcharger again.





Honestly, love the sound it makes, so I'm happy.





Next event was recent, I had the opportunity to drift with a local team called Take Luck at a carshow. The car show was called Import Spring Showoff, pretty big one in Utah and it took place at the racetrack. A clothing company called SuperTuner was running the booth for the drift event. We were doing a drift demo and taking show goers for ride alongs. It was extremely fun to take people drifting. It had a lot of attention and I got to drift with some really high level guys. I also was able to tandem with others, which was a learning experience in itself. The best way to describe the day is with this photo:




Yea, pretty sweet.

Video plug:




I am hoping to do more NASA but I paid cash for summer classes so I might wait a bit. Our SCCA is holding track cross at UMC which will be significantly more affordable so maybe I'll hold off of NASA events for a bit. Excited for that!

13esim

The last week of June was extremely eventful! Within one week I drifted the car, autocrossed and tracked the car! That's quite the abuse. I am just going to mash these up into one post in a chronological order.

First was the drift event. Salt City Drift invited me to drift at Streetcar Showdown at Rocky Mountain Raceway. They have a drag strip and a small oval track. This was my first time drifting an oval but I couldn't turn down the opportunity. I was very nervous but after my first run I realized the oval isn't that scary, if anything it wants to pull you into the infield rather than send you to the wall. I got comfortable and even mustered up a third gear entry, to then I realized my tires were already corded after 4 runs. Put on my second pair, hit the oval, corded after one run. Moral of the story: Continental DWS do not make for a good skid tire. I slapped on the best two left and decided to play on the infield. It made for some cool photos:







7000 scene points for getting a shot with 1320.

The following day, Sunday, went to autocross. One thing to note, I had a fresh alignment done before drifting, car drove straight. On the way to autocross the wheel was off to the right a little.

Car had a lot of front grip now and no ABS intervention since I disabled the yaw sensor. Felt great but now I was sliding everywhere. Even my fastest run had a decent amount of countersteer throughout the run. I figured my car has changed so I need to change my driving style. I came third in STU (2nd legally because the C5 in 2nd had R888R's but I could care less to protest) and 1st was a prepped Focus RS. That thing was fast.

On Monday I was helping a friend fix his car at the dealer he works at. They have a roll in alignent check. Basically its a leveled surface with Hunter alignment lasers so you can check your alignment without putting it on a rack. I found out my rear toe moved to .1 degree toe out, when I usually put .08 degree toe in. This is why my car was oversteering so badly at autocross. I'm guessing this happened at the drift event, the harsh transition from the oval to flat messed with it.

The following Friday, SCCA was holding its first TrackCross. I was excited for this because there would be no cones on course. Just a start and stop timer and a full track. I fixed my alignment that morning in a hurry, so the car drove perfectly but my steer ahead was off. I had to mentally remember not to straighten my wheel all the way. Otherwise car felt great, but I have a hard time really going full tilt with the wheel issue but had a blast. I came second in class in T3. The car that won was a DP Miata (FTD reigning champ at solo) who slapped on some BFG's for this event. I think once I get my alignment dialed I might have a chance.




And this is the part where I plug ALL the videos:




Now to give this car a break! She needs a good spa day.

13esim

I haven't updated here for awhile but got some key events to update this journal with. First, I have filled most of my weekends with autocross.

Next, we had our last SCCA Time Trial this summer. I got first in T3 with some serious competition so I am more than happy with the cars performance.


UMC double scheduled the course with the Ford Racing School so we had to wait, in turn we got to run at night for a little, even thought they don't let cars run at night, they felt bad for making us wait. Driving on the track at night is so fun!

Last and most recent key event, Nitro Circus came to UMC for their World Tour. That consisted of FMX competitions and Rallcross with the big boys. I got invited with only a few other drivers to drift there at the show! We were taking show goers for ride along's and even got to meet some cool people in the extreme sports world. Bucky Lasek took a ride with me and Tanner Foust signed my dashboard lol. Here is the video from day one:


I think I'm going to need to make my own thread for my drifting expenditures haha.