Courtesy of our buddy Boones, we now have a full eight lap video, from a camera mount fabricated by Clint (THX723) and using a Canon GL2. It slipped a little bit left during the session and put the field a bit off center, but it still is reasonable quality. There is text overlay to describe some of what is going on, including some of my mistakes, and since we pass a couple of corvettes, and even lap one of them on the 2.5 mile circuit in just 8 laps, I thought you might get a tickle out of it. The link is now inserted in the body of the article describing the adventure.

For those who are interested, Clint and I will be going to the big track at Willow Springs on June 4th, and courtesy of Clint's generosity, we will swap the mount and each get some footage of that experience, one from his NA sedan and one from my FI coupe. Enjoy!

http://www.g-owners.com/article_read.asp?id=37

 

Great video! Thanks for sharing! Is the 425HP you quote at the wheels? (as in, what psi are you pushing?) What size RA-1s are you running front and back?

 

The 425 is crank, dyno rwhp is 360.
Tires are Toyo RA-1 245/40/18 front and 275/35/18 rear ( equal 25.3" diameters). They give pretty decent "feedback" feel in the steering as you approach the limits of adhesion, and you can pick up some of the squeal in the video as the "talk" to you in some of the corners.

 

How are your RA-1s wearing? How many track miles did you log that weekend? Do you drive to the track with the RA-1s on, or did you swap them on at the track?

 

UsafaRice:
7lbs pulley on the supercharger.

John:
The RA-1s appear to be wearing very well so far. I drive to the track on them, and that was part of my decision for buying them rather than the Hoosiers, which probably are grippier, but may not be as happy with the road.

Sears point is about 420 miles to and another 420 back to Los Angeles. Track miles were about 80, plus a diversion to get some gas, the trip to Perf Nissan before and afterwards etc. So all told about 950 miles. Buttonwillow was about 85 track miles and 250 drive miles. Total it up and roughly 1200 highway and 165 miles track. The wear is very modest actually. There is not much to cruisin down the road in a straight line, so that has not been an issue.

The outside edges of the tires, especially the fronts, do show some wear as would be expected from the cornering loads. The rears show some from drift/slide when you oversteer in the corners.

The objective was to get five or six good track days with them, including driving to and from. I still plan to run Big Willow Springs, Thunderhill, California Speedway and Laguna Seca....assuming they hold up well. Right now it appears that they will make it, but as we get farther into the program I will report back.

 

yes indeed, driver skill is THE mod to do

i realized this a couple track days ago and after investing 1000s into my z. after my kaaz 2-way goes in, thats it for the mods for a while.

have fun at big willow. i really like that track

 

Thanks for the info. RA1s are going to be my next purchase, but I'm going to stick with 245s all around and use them on my OEM track wheels. I'll use the Nismos on the street.

I wish I could check out your video, but I don't have the appropriate compressors here at work...

Most definitely!

 

Thanks a ton! I was just wondering if 425HP would have been overpowering the tires in the corners.

Now, to keep bothering you, have you ever driven on T1-Ss/ care to share some feedback?

 

I have not driven the T1-S so alas I cannot comment on a comparative experience.

The car is pretty heavy at approximately 3300 pounds (I have reduced weight with some of the mods, and then you strip out the spare and tools and mats and trunk liner etc) so you have some significant mass there, and the suspension is modified to help as well. However, if you just stomp the accelerator with FI, especially a supercharger where you get quick response, you will break it free. By "smoothly" and gradually, yet firmly, bringing on power, and braking, the equilibrium of the car's balance is not disrupted as violently and you can keep it stable while still bringing on a considerable amount of power. Steering is the same, smooth movement and not jerky keeps you going the direction you want, as opposed to pointed where you want but headed somewhere else!