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I always like to read other guys "build" threads, so I thought I'd start my own.
I bought this 2003 Track Edition last spring with the intent of going Spec Z someday. It had just under 35000 miles and appears to be in pretty good shape.
I got my wife started in NASA HPDE two summers ago in her STI. One weekend I went for ride with her instructor and knew right then that this was going to get expensive. NASA is a phenomenal organization and I can't say enough good things about their HPDE program.
Here are some pics from my first weekend with NASA at High Plains Raceway about an hour east of Denver. Colorado weather can be pretty crazy in the spring. But HPR is an incredible track and my favorite by far.
Here you can see the ice pellets falling. The racing line around the track was clear, but there was close to an inch of slush on the rest of the track in the morning. It was butt cold and ice pellets were bouncing all over the interior while on the track.
The second track day was at Pikes Peak International Raceway just south of Colorado Springs. I was really having some issues getting the car to settle down in the corners. It was just a bad day and I was pretty down. When I got home, I was watching the GoPro footage and noticed an odd sound of metal on metal in the corners. I went out to check out the car, and I found the nut holding the front (left) sway bar had come out. So the front sway was pretty much useless. This made me feel a little better about the sections I couldn't get down.
The next track day was back at High Plains. I was by myself and didn't get any pictures. I got signed off for HPDE 2 where you drive without an instructor. I pretty much drove like an idiot and was really pushing too hard. I nearly swapped ends on one corner but saved it. I was really surprised by how well the car handled my pathetic driving. The corner I nearly lost it on, I basically felt like Chris Harris drifting at high speed around the corner (but not on purpose and I'm sure didn't look nearly as cool) . Lesson learned and I parked the car early and slowed down for the rest of the day. My laps times actually got faster.
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. I won't forget that day.
Here's one pic of Pueblo Motorsports Park in Pueblo Colorado. It's a great track and I really enjoy running there.
Another quick pic of the wife's car and mine in Hastings Nebraska. Rocky Mountain NASA and the Central Division meet every year there for a combined weekend. Another great track that I really enjoyed. Although it's a bit unnerving have two cars so far from home with no trailer incase something goes bad. I met a guy who had a 370 and we chased each other around the track all weekend. It was an absolute blast.
Later in the summer, I took the check ride to move up to HPDE 3 at Pueblo and was signed off to run with the faster group. I really enjoyed HPDE 1/2, but once your speed comes up, it can be a bit of a pain running with the newbies in HPDE 1. I plan in running HPDE 3 this summer and maybe moving up to HPDE 4. It's a really great group of guys and I can't wait for the season to start. My wife traded in the STI so her and I will be swapping days in the Z this summer. I'm really looking forward to having her drive it as well.
So far, the only mods I've done is to put on the Kinetix UCA. The tire shop didn't get as much negative camber as I was hoping, but every little bit will help. I just ordered some stainless brake lines and the rebuild kits for the Bremebos. So i'll be working on that this week. I just swapped out the transmission and rear diff fluid yesterday.
So the plan this summer is just to get Spec Z sways (Nissan is out) and perhaps the KW kit if I can afford it. That's it for now. Just thought I'd share in. I've got some great info from the site and hope I can contribute someday. Dkmura has been very helpful and a heck of a nice guy. I've asked some guys some questions in PM and everyone has been great. So I'm very appreciative to those of you who have helped me even if you didn't know it.
Who doesn't like pics. So here are some random ones I've taken.
This is about 3 pounds of mystery wiring I took out the other day. Looks like the previous owner had an alarm and some stereo stuff in the back prior to selling it.
Gotta love losing weight.
Some random racing pics from the Spec Z races in Rocky Mountain NASA.
dkmura at High Plains Raceway during an SCCA weekend.
One more of mine during the SCCA PDX event. Another great program that more people should be taking advantage of. Boring pic.
I was next to you on that snowy day at HPR my dad had the Noble and I was in the blue Z. That was sure an interesting day at the track. I just made the jump to TT but SpecZ looks very fun I hope it continue to grows in the RM region.
I was next to you on that snowy day at HPR my dad had the Noble and I was in the blue Z. That was sure an interesting day at the track. I just made the jump to TT but SpecZ looks very fun I hope it continue to grows in the RM region.
Congrats. What class are you running it? TT sure looks fun. Definitely a whole lot cheaper than Spec Z.
I'm going to try and get a dyno reclass from Greg in TTD. I know a reclass isnt perfect but if I can get something as close as what some other people have posted I can be pretty competitive regionally and there are plenty of people in our region to win tires so that would be a plus.
Great pictorial on your HPDE/PDX season and Spec Z build. Sorry I haven't been in touch on the KW kit, but I still haven't got my Koni 8242 DAs back. In any case, best of luck this season and look forward to seeing you at the track!
Great pictorial on your HPDE/PDX season and Spec Z build. Sorry I haven't been in touch on the KW kit, but I still haven't got my Koni 8242 DAs back. In any case, best of luck this season and look forward to seeing you at the track!
Thanks David. But I can't swing the shocks right now anyways. Probably not for a while. At least with keeping all my gentleman's parts attached.
Can't wait to get out there as well. I hope to do some more SCCA stuff this summer.
I'm going to try and get a dyno reclass from Greg in TTD. I know a reclass isnt perfect but if I can get something as close as what some other people have posted I can be pretty competitive regionally and there are plenty of people in our region to win tires so that would be a plus.
I may have to pick your brain on TT. I know that the "+" really hurts the Z. I thought it would be in C. But D makes a lot more sense for what I've seen running out there.
Post 16 I think does a pretty good job explaining the process of dropping down a class for the Z. I'll report back on where I get classed after I get a dyno done and sent out to Greg.
Well, the wife and I put the Z through it's paces this weekend. She drove on Saturday and had a great time. This was her first time in the Z as she doesn't want to track her 335I. She had a blast. Her last car was an STI and she had more fun in the Z than the Subie. It's much easier to drive as a new person to the track. The STI just seems tightly wound if that makes any sense.
I went out on Sunday in HPDE 3. About halfway through the day, I started to get a pretty hard shimmy under heavy braking. I put new Hawk Blues on, and that fixed the issue. Well until today.
Today I experienced my first "condition brown". I've always thought I knew what it was. But until you slam on the brakes at over 100 MPH and it goes to the floor, well THEN you know what condition brown is. Turn four at High Plains Raceway is the first turn after the long straight. I down shifted and probably got it down to 70 or 80 when I went into the grass. We have had lots of rain lately, so the soft mud and weeds slowed me down nice and easily. I was able to limp it bad to the pits and check everything out. No damage done.
Now, I've always know that the Brembos will change color when they get hot. My rears changed last year sometime, but when I left for the track this morning, the fronts were the normal stock color. After today, well.................
NASA had an enduro this morning and had HPDE/BMW TT run after the race today. The sessions were scheduled pretty close and we only had about half an hour of down time. I've come to the conclusion that the brakes simply never really cooled down. I skipped the third session and drove out on the highway to get some airflow on them and help cool them down, as they were still too hot to touch after 45 minutes. That seemed to do the trick. I had no issues in session four. They were good to go. RBF 600 is the fluid I've been using.
I guess vents are on the short list. Especially after today.
Here's a pic of hiding with a big storm headed towards the track this afternoon.
Nice post and update from HPR. We had some of that wild weather down in Pueblo at the SCCA Majors, but that's to be expected at this time of the year. Glad to hear "condition brown" didn't cause any more damage than it did. I've had brake issues at Mid-Ohio and Road America, but those were primarily ABS faults. In any case, going off at T4 at HPR is still no fun, so congrats on not jerking the wheel and surviving to race another day!
In any case, going off at T4 at HPR is still no fun, so congrats on not jerking the wheel and surviving to race another day!
Thanks DK. I appreciate that coming from someone with so much experience such as yourself.
I forgot to mention. We ran with the BMWCCA Time Trails guys. The started a little before us but we ended up catching a few of them and one of their faster guys caught back up to us. They had unlimited passing, so it was a new experience for us HPDE 3 guys. They gave us point by's, so it worked out really well. Going three wide down the the straight was interesting. It definitely brings your situational awareness up. It was a great lesson in regards to looking at your mirrors more.
Good seeing you out on the track Sunday and sorry we didn't get to chat longer. I would definitely get some higher end pads to combat your brake fade as the hawk blues are not up to the task. I would look at carbotech xp10 front and xp8 rear and if you go up to r compound tires bump it up to xp12 front and xp10 rear. These are what I have fun for years and never had any issues. Also it seems the former owners of carbotech broke off from the company and started a new one called G-Loc and are the exact same pads as carbotech but cheaper you will just have to find out what they call their comparable pads as the numbers are different. There shouldn't be any need for ducts with these pad combos and you will save cutting up your front bumper.
I used to run XP 12s in another car with good success. I went through the XP10s too fast and when I inquired, Carbotech recommended the XP 12s for my driving style/ability.
I switched to Hawk DTC60s for cost and others recommendations. I had the brownbo moment at my last track day as well. Maybe it's time to switch back.
Good seeing you out on the track Sunday and sorry we didn't get to chat longer. I would definitely get some higher end pads to combat your brake fade as the hawk blues are not up to the task. I would look at carbotech xp10 front and xp8 rear and if you go up to r compound tires bump it up to xp12 front and xp10 rear. These are what I have fun for years and never had any issues. Also it seems the former owners of carbotech broke off from the company and started a new one called G-Loc and are the exact same pads as carbotech but cheaper you will just have to find out what they call their comparable pads as the numbers are different. There shouldn't be any need for ducts with these pad combos and you will save cutting up your front bumper.
Jon
Thanks Jon. I think we may have chatted about it, but I'm not sure. I tried the 12's and they worked well. But I had to sand the crap out of the edges to get them to slide in. A LOT!. Kind of a pain. The Hawks slide right in.
I truly think the problem was only having :30 minutes between :25 minute sessions like we did on Monday. Although, I didn't see anybody else having brake issues (but certainly saw lots of other issues in some cars). I think I'll go back the Carbotechs as you recemmended. The Hawk Blues were just fine in the last session after I sat out the third one with a little cooling time. Since this isn't my daily driver, I might as well just put the full race pads in and call it good.
Since this car will eventually be a Spec Z car, I don't have a huge issue with cutting the bumper up. But it certainly is a little disconcerting.
I have xp12 in my car and didn't have that issue so I wonder if they sent you the wrong size pad like for an Sti or evo? Just a thought not sure if they are different or not but definitely go to a full track pad from any of the big name companies as pad choice is a pretty personal preference in my experience some people love hawk and others hate them the, same can be said for every manufacturer out there. I'm going to give the G-Loc a try as I have loved the carbotechs in the past.
02-25-2016, 11:25 AM
My Slow Build to Spec Z. VERY SLOW!!!
