Just completed my first track day and I gotta say, everyone was spot on when they said leave it stock and learn to drive it. I got passed by a Jetta on the first session as I learned the track. I was hovering around 4 minutes per lap, my fastest lap by the end of the day was 3:18. Driver mod= almost 1 minute faster in my case

No one likes to hear it, but it is definitely the way to go. The car had plenty more left in it that I couldn't handle yet

 

Thank you.

 

in other news, a big floating object was just spotted over northern cali


oh, thats just mic's head.

 

Yes, with the everyday expansion of my already vast gray matter, occasionally some hot air gets in and causes gravity defying stratospheric floatation.

Glad you didn't mention the "gas bag" aspect of my being.

Now, going back to the original topic, cole mentions "No one likes to hear it...."

Hmmmm, is that true? If so, guess I'll just have to keep that bit of gas in the bag.

 

Did you grow a sixth finger, yet?

 

No, in my case added a few inches.








In height, you pervs. (The statement above would be wishful thinking otherwise.)

 

I wish I listen to my local Autox buddies to leave it stock. Invest in the driver mod then add mods you need... I try my hardest to tell friends wanting to get into "actual" driving to learn the car first.

Reason the nismo is staying stock for the first event. I need to be a better driver.

Chris

 

i am sure we all could use driver mod tbh

 

Not to toot my horn of "driver first" redundancy any louder than normal but the first and foremost thing the improved driver gains (besides lower lap times and enhanced safety) is a better understanding of what the car is doing and WHY.

At that point, one can make better equipment decisions based on what the driver NEEDS it to be doing "better" (or "less" or "more").

I'm NOT judging here and saying mods are useless without the driving skills but it saves a LOT of money, time, and agonizing work underneath the car only to find out something made it worse and you have to do it all over again or buy more parts...

Trust me, I spent a LOT of money and time learning this lesson.

 

If I had to do it all again, I would of just did tires and brakes. The RS3's are awesome and kept me out of trouble, even though I didn't have a clue what I was doing.

My stock brakes leave a lot to be desired as far as stopping power, but they didn't cause any problems. I'll probably get the 370z kit and drive it like that for awhile.

 

That's what I like to read.

 

Yes, I always use the analogy of why invest in a set of custom made Pings before you even play a game of golf.

 

Meh....my car has lots of mods and like 'em .

 

You also have the driver mod... So I heard

Chris

 

^^^ So THIS! Hahahaha!

 

I would challenge this approach. Ok so I did a bit of simracing and a few 15 minute real driving experiences in hired cars before I got this car but I would say that I am a pretty inexperienced driver when it comes to driving cars on tracks.
After only two track day events ( first one straight after buying my 350z) I can say for sure that there is no need to drive this car stock more than that to learn it.
Actually, you should start with some mods like brake air ducts, oil cooler, dot 4 brake/clutch fluids, esp/tc delete, semislick tires and a proper camber/toe track setting before you try to drive this car on track for the first time. With the VLSD and stock weight it's so safe that you realy need to be a donkey to crash it or even spin it out. And street tires on a track in this car is just a waste of time and money.
After a couple of full day events with this set up, think about adding sway bars and then lighter/wider wheels and coilovers. Then it's up to how deep your wallet is

 

None of those things are necessary for a beginner except upgraded brake fluid and pads.

Everyone should learn on street tires. Semi slicks for a beginner is just going to hamper their learning. They mask bad habits. Plus, 200tw tires are pretty amazing right now and you will get more seat time out of a set.

All of the things you mentioned are good things to do however, if you show up with everything done, how will you learn what helped? Doing one thing at a time teaches car setup. Car setup is an important part of being fast.

Heck, I'm ten years + into this hobby and my Z has koni yellow shocks, and an upgraded front swaybar. I do have brake ducts and race pads for track days. They come off for day to day.

 

It's not like the car spontaniously combusts if driven by an inexperienced driver.....it just won't get around a track as fast.

Seat time will cut more time around a track than bolt-ons.

 

But it can find the wall with the VDC turned off. As long as you keep that on I don't see how you can get in trouble, it cuts in so quickly I'd feel safe putting my wife on the track with it.

I think I got passed by a Focus ST my first time out My average lap on my first track day (back in '13) was a 2:12 on Homestead. My current best time is 1:52 and the only mods are brakes (Akebono + EBC Blues + Motul) and recently tires (Hankook RS3). HMS is a short track at only 2.3 miles with basically 4 straights connected by a few tight turns, so taking big chucks of time off aren't really possible.

On my first day I thought the turn in was awesome and the brakes were great, then after more track days I realized it understeers and the brake suck... badly. I still far away from the car's limits but I only drive at 8/10ths since I rather have fun and not do anything stupid. As the guy who runs our group likes to say: the reason people crash is they run out of talent. I know I'm not *that* talented despite the fact that I instruct others.

I actually like the way the car handles, I feel it only needs sway bars. And of course more power would just make it more entertaining.

 

If the rain stays away today, I'm going to add more seat time to the Z. It's been a while since I've been on a track.