New Video-G35 at Spring Mountain and Willow Springs
 

Here is a link to a new short video of a Jim Wolf TT on the VQ35DE, built by VRT, running against Lamborghini, Ferrari, Ford GT 40, Viper, Corvette ZO6, Porsche turbo Carrera, and some other nice cars. These are from the last couple of weeks. I think you will get a reasonably good impression of the acceleration of the car in the 100mph+ range on the track that is what the car is really adept at, as well as the marvelous handling that coming out of Turn 9 at Big Willow....well if you have been there you know just what it means to have it! Perhaps the best part is that the suction cup mounts don't show in the frame anymore.....practice does help a little bit with this video stuff.

http://www.violentracing.com/videos/Spring_Willow.mov

nice vid, love seeing that g walk those supercars like that!

Walk'em down like who's your momma. I guess the VQ is a good engine now. LOL.:icon8:

eagle, i was out there that weekend, but couldnt get to the track until sunday, hate i missed all you guys, Mike Bs car was quite a eye opener tho!

What was the blue car in the video? I couldn't make out what that one was..

lamborghini gallardo

I believe that is a Lamborghini Gallardo, V-10 all wheel drive.

wow... its a great feeling to know that theres a car that used to be just like yours, that passes these super cars like parked ones:) ...too bad its not me:(

nice vid guys. keep up the good work

WINDOWS VERSION
http://www.ViolentRacing.com/Spring_Willow.wmv
Thanks JY!

:)

We are Trying.

So many expensive cars that day

997 TT
Vipers
Multiple Black Whatever Ferraris
Lambo Gs
New ZO6's
Carreras

And BTW, I was running Nittos not Hoosiers. I have made some great suspension upgrades though to handle the power and not chew through the tires in one session. The Nitto - An agressive street tire, but non-the-less a street tire!

Alot of fun...

Better music this time around. Can't go wrong with Tool and Rage! :thumbup:


Oh, and I loved the montage of all those guys giving the pass signal on the straights, although some of them didn't really seem like they were racing very hardcore.

Hadn't seen you passing the baby bull before, very impressive.

Thanks. Thought I would switch it up a bit.

I was there to test Enkei Rims for Enkei, Nitto Tires, and new VRT custom suspension. Trust me. That last corner at Willow is extremely crazy, descending radius....Crazy

I didn't care if they wanted to race or not, if they were in front of my G they weren't for long. Vrooommm...Then all they see is my lil' VRT symbol and say, what the hell was that? It just happened to be an excellent day to capture the other cars on video as well. A bunch of Big $$$ cars last Wednesday with OpenTrack.


M
:)

Here is the track and the last turn (9) I was speaking of before the straight. You have to have a great set-up all the way around, motor, suspension, brakes, tires, and more... and some balls - to take this corner really fast regardless of street tires, race tires, all wheel drive or what-ever. The only places we could pass that day was between 6-7 and the long straight after 9. Fun...
http://violentracing.com/upload/wsir.gif

What are the numbers that G35 is putting down on the video on the dyno? And did I read that boost gauge right?!!!

Actually, you can get closer than you might think, and not with going TT even. This might sound like heresy, and get me in hot water with somebody somewhere, but in most driving situations, and certainly on most tracks, what is going to make the difference in getting around fast more than anything else is 1) Driver skill, 2) handling modifications, and 3) increased horsepower and torque....IN THAT ORDER.

One of the things that is fun with this set up is being able to get out on the track and know that you legitimately BELONG out there with those beautiful cars from a performance standpoint. No way from a prestige or even beauty standpoint is anybody going to argue that the Giugiaro design of a Lambo or Pininfarina design on a Ferrari, etc. deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as a Z or G car. It just is another class all together, both in price and maintenance costs as well. BUT, for lots less dough you can get out there, side by side, and acquit oneself very respectably. Of course someone with a car as expensive as a supercar is going to be less likely to push it to the limits, and understandably so. So be circumspect on whether you are "beating" one of them just because you are faster on the track than they are. On a tight twisty track one is going to see the attributes of the Honda S2k and the Spec Miata step up to the forefront. Not tons of power there. But they sure do zip around. But where it is a flat out game of acceleration side by side, and from 90 to 135mph you pull hard on them......what more do you want, or needs to be said. You got it where it counts in that department.

So, please note what Mike is talking about. It is not "just" the power. Yes he has it in spades and it is fun to see it evidenced in raw form on a very fast track layout that plays to the strong suit of many of the supercars. But what is really setting it up is the suspension tune....the balance of coils, dampers, sways, wheels, tires and control arms, to take this car through the turns and deliver corner exit speeds of real merit...from which the car then launches its furious assault down the straight with the unleashing of that hp and torque. But without the ability to deliver fast corner entry, mid corner, and corner exit speeds, much of that power would be wasted. Without a driver that knows how to manage the adhesion and tire grip limits in those turns, it could not even be applied.

A non FI car with the right balance to its handling is going to scream through those turns at the same speeds as the FI car......and with good driver skills that will be faster than most other cars including some of the "supercars".
The differences in power down the straight will be noted in the favor of the supercars...but if you have the ability to come out of the turns at 5mph faster than they are, you will be very surprised at just how long a straight it takes for them to reacquire advantage. If you have good braking and corner entry technique, you can pick up time at the end of the straight as well. On shorter straights, the advantage of the big boy is neutralized, and in the twisty sections, you have the advantage. Watch the Spec Miata eat up the Viper on a twisty track or section, and that is an example that is now doctrine and not bewilderment, and you have the same lesson.

I think that what VRT is doing right here is that while the power is exhilharating and fun, it is the package and balance that does it. And you can get an amazing amount of performance upgrade without the TT, if you approach it right. And it can be done in discrete phases or steps, so you don't have to throw down $30k. Or even ship the car to El Cajon.

VRT is doing its own phased approach to this so that you can work your way up to TT, without messing up engine warranties and CARB certifications and other stuff, at least in the initial phases, or having to undo or redo mods from one phase to the next. And balance your step up to higher performance without destroying your daily driver civility needs, as you yourself define them. It's a pretty cool concept from guys that know how to take it to the extreme, yet understand that not everybody is a customer for taking their Z or G to the track with the ambition of going around like a lightening bolt.

And good drivers in NA versions of the VRT car with the full handling upgrade have been able to post laptimes on twisty circuits within a couple of seconds of the big boys on TT in VRT cars. Big Willow would be a different story, because the high hp ponies rule there. Same thing for say Road America, with its four substantial straight sections. But for the street, with say a spacer plenum and intake mods, and a good catback....you can grab another 20-25 hp if that matters, and be well over 300 hp, and that is a bunch to have on tap. However the handling mods......that is where it is at.

So, while it is true that the vid shows some awesome passing on high hp cars, bear in mind the G35 TT crawled up their license plate frames in the turns to cause them to give the point by in the straight, having proved the superior speed in the turns to give them no choice as gentlemen enthusiasts but to let him stroll by. THAT is important. You reduce the full on VRT car by the cost of the built motor and the turbo....and you get a heck of a lot of car. It is not cheap to do only the handling mods either, but it sure is more affordable or even a smart first couple of steps before getting in too deep.

Even if you can afford it, it may not be a smart thing to do to put in the full VRT package. In fact, it may not be a smart thing to do for them to sell it to you even if you can afford it and want it. Not every body who can have such a car, should have such a car. There is no rule that says you should have performance driving lessons before you can buy a car with 300+ horsepower....or 400....or 500...or 600...or 700..........but having that much on tap definitely should require some self discipline on the part of the driver. If there is no way to justify that much power in a street only application, and you are not going to take it to the track....you probably should not get it because it is just trouble waiting to happen.

The video is unbelievably sexy stuff, all the more so because it is real. But how it is real is important to understand. The car is not "better" than a so called supercar, they don't ever say that. It is what it is. That is very good, and very unique, in its approach as a daily driver with a harmonized balance of handling and power, from a basic platform that has the potential to deliver those returns. Nobody else is approaching mods to the G and Z platform quite the same way. Other folks sell parts. Or they sell power kits and tunes. But you don't see anybody else go out week after week and throw their cars as a complete power/handling package, into the race tracks with enthusiastic driver/owners and get all the feedback side by side with them and listen carefully to what goes on, and go back and keep refining and tweaking to make it right, and as good as they can get it. I like that. I like seeing the guys that built my car at the track driving and enjoying their cars, and asking about mine. I like their having an open mind to different configurations, to the point of even taking (with my permission) entire suspension configurations off my car and putting them on theirs to get a hard core comparison of performance to evaluate which aspects work better or worse. That way when they suggest something be done, it is because they know it works better because they tried it and they know. Tried it where it matters and shows.

Yes that car at Big Willow is fast. But the TT is only part of the story why.

YOUR CAR, with some careful prior reflection and attention to what you are doing and why, can become amazingly "faster" with a balanced mod program, for much less money than the total built motor TT variant of the VRT car.



Cheers.

VRT:
awesome video!!! I was on the streets of Willow with a friend of mine a few months back, please keep me posted when you'll be there again, I'd like to make a trip out there!

keep the track videos coming, fun to watch, and yes...the choice of music much improved!

Thanks for the compliments.

Calspeedway on the 20th and 21st of May should be an awesome weekend. The event with Speedventures.net is also with the Southern California Porsche Club and I can't wait to see some more Big $$$ SuperCars and have a lot of fun.

BTW, I will turn the boost up to 20 PSI on the Roval straights and Bank (700+ WHP) and then switch back to around 14 PSI on the infield. Should be very interesting and Extremely Dangerous...LOL

Eagle your written communication skills are awesome - write so Well...You must be really smart or something?

:)

I love this video. I love how you are passing fast cars while they are passing other fast cars lol. At least you know that they were 100% on the throttle trying to pass the other car! Can't wait to get my springs back so I can get back out there. It is already getting super hot here in Vegas and that June track day at LVMS with Speed Ventures is looking less and less apealing lol. I will be out there at least Saturday though since that track is almost never run.

I'll be in California that weekend, but Oakland, at my brother's wedding:icon11:
Do you guys know of a guy with a crazy old VW rabbit, wide body, grey, has some of the best track times on the smaller "Streets of Willow course"..., works for Speedventures, I think...


Do you guys have an enclose trailer when you take your g35 out there? or do you drive it? (asking because I'm trying to decide what type of trailer to get, as I want to start traveling to these events from Albuquerque):D

I have an enclosed, yet most of the time My G35 is being driven while we pull a more UNSTREETABLE car. Depending how many cars we are taking. My G still has all of its full interior, AC, leather, everything and makes 525 WHP on 91 pump so it makes for a pretty cool drive to a track.

The only problem with driving is that most of the events are in the desert down rural roads and the cars get Sand Blasted.

Not Sure about a VW. The fastest time I have seen for a street car was Scott (Wa2Good) driving Eagle1's G at Streets for a clean 1:25 for a testing session for Sports Compact Magazine. That is really fast for a street car.

MB, Thanks Man...Make CalSpeedway...Just 1 day!

M
:)