After my November test day at Pueblo Motorsports Park (PMI), it's time to get ready for the next test of my RedlineZ track model. Second Creek Raceway (SCR) is a road racing track located just NW of Denver International Airport. The tightly twisting, 1.5 mile circuit will test brakes and the ability to smoothly link turns, but has only two relatively short straights to check out top speeds.

SCR is run by the Colorado Motorsports Council (CMC) and several member clubs contribute to maintaining it. One benefit to this is that between Christmas and New Year's, track time for anyone belonging to one of those clubs is FREE. Yes, you heard me right-FREE! As an SCCA member, you can bet that I'll be taking advantage of this and I'd invite any Colorado 350Z member (especially those that belong to a CMC-affiliated car club) to come out and join the fun!

SCR should test the Z's braking, manuverability and low-speed handling capabilities, but I seriously doubt 5th gear will get used much. I'm looking forward to enjoying the VQ35's torque off the slower turns and the VDC will remain OFF unless there's rain/snow falling.

BTW- despite the publicity and good ski conditions in the mountains, the front range has only had two snow storms with any appreciable snowfall this year. We are fortunate to have the best of both worlds: lots of snow to play in and relatively mild weather to play with our Z's in!

 

It might be fun to pick a day to get together at SCR! PM or e-mail me if interested.

 

It's hard to believe that the FREE track days at SCR are almost here and I've had NO replies to this tread.

C'mon! Where are the Denver/Colorado 350Z owners out there? Slumped over from the eggnog? Even if you are not currently a member of a CMC-affiliated club (and we can get you an SCCA membership cheap), I'm surprised no one wants to take a ride (or two or three laps) around SCR!

I plan to be out on Thursday, Friday of this week and Tuesday of next week. Please e-mail me at: Nissan7gt5@cs.com or PM me for more info.

 

Today I ran between 25-30 laps over several sessions at SCR. As I suspected, it's such a tight track that fourth was the highest gear I used.

I adjusted my track model's tire pressures and ran 34#-F and 37#-R and this did seem to help the understeer (thanks for the suggestion, Raceboy)! One thing to consider is that the Bridgestone 040's are beginning to blister in the center and outer edges (especially the fronts). Wonder if I can make this a warranty issue, LOL.

It was interesting to note that the tight left-handed hairpin and linked double apex turn known as the 'boot' highlighted a unfortunate part of the 350Z's programming. All my sessions were conducted with the VDC turned off, but after braking hard, cleanly turning in, hitting the apex(s) and going to wide open throttle (WOT), there was a consistant delay until the cornering forces subsided. Once the G's dropped, the car came on like gangbusters! The VDC must still be functioning on some level, even with the switch turned off!

Still, it was a fun day- my Z car was the fastest car on the track and this included Porsche Club track cars, Carrera 911s and even some C5's! Even better, I have time to go out tomorrow and run some more! Once again, I offer any 350Z owner the chance to come out and ride for several laps. You don't even have to beat up your brakes or tires!

 

Sounds like a blast. I would've loved to come out this week and check out the car on the track, but I've got in-laws in town and no free time. Oh well, maybe I can make it out to a future track day.

Have fun at the track!

Gary

 

...that the free test days at SCR run through next Tuesday! So Gary- even if your in-laws are in town this week, you can still come out over the next four days and see lots of exotic cars (and some not so-exotic ones as well) and mix it up with them.

Ran a few more laps today and managed to improve on my driving a bit. Faster cars out today, I was definately not the quickest!

 

Well, the SCR ?Christmas break? track days are over. It was a great time and my thanks go out to the CMC for allowing members to fill up what would have been empty track time. Besides New Years Eve, the other two track days I attended were filled with PCA, BMWCCA and even some Z-car club members.

Of interest to this board were the diversity of cars running: BMW M3s (both the current E46 and the previous 3-series model), Porsche 911, 996 and Boxter models, a Mustang Cobra type R, Camaros, Mazda RX-7s, Honda S2000s and various Civics, Preludes and other Acura models, an Audi A4 Sport and even a Ferrari F40! While I recognize that driver experience and ability varied greatly, it was surprising how quick the 350Z continued to be. I ran down and then pulled away from most of the cars in that group! The cars that caught and passed me (with a wave through) were either full-out sports racers or full-out race cars on slicks. On of the high points of the day was running several laps just behind the F40- you gotta love hearing that Ferrari sing from a couple of car lengths back! The day was clear and cool, in the 40?s and I ended up running between 35-40 laps in the afternoon.

My thanks also go to Shogun, who allowed me to sample his Pikes Peak White Enthusiast model and compare it to my Redline track. While I only ran four to five laps (I was having so much fun I lost track) and never pushed the limit too far, it was immediately comfortable and one of the fastest cars on the track as we navigated around a gaggle of Porsches. Both 350Zs remain on the original OEM tires and the 040s had about the same level of grip in either the 17? or 18? sizes. As SCR was run in a clockwise configuration, the left-front tire took a lot of abuse and varying driving techniques (trailbraking deep and then pivoting the car, as an example) or line never altered this.

Comparing the two models back-to-back reinforced how good a value the Enthusiast model is. The standard brakes were easy to modulate and felt similar to the Brembos. The level of grip, at or near the limit, was similar and even the ?tossability? of both models was very close. Reflecting back, I?ve decided that the momentary lack of full throttle when exiting corners is probably due to TCS, rather than VDC. As I mentioned, hitting the VDC switch when you are on a dry track is a GOOD thing, but as the car rotates in a turn, it has a slight bit of wheelspin. My peripheral vision picked up the ?slip? light flashing in several corners and the engine simply would not pick up. Unfortunately, this feature wastes valuable time and prevents better corner exit speeds. Is this a case where the 350Zs technology works against a skilled driver? Or, is it a valuable safety feature to prevent the less skilled from punting their cars into the woods?

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Hawk Performance Plus pads worked well once again. But there was some fade and earlier ABS intervention as the sessions went on, so a different pad will be needed outside of winter testing. Finally, it was very cool to be invited to run some additional laps in the S2000 and gain some additional insight. Worn rear tires on both S2000s I tried prevented a better comparison, but the Honda and Nissan are at opposite ends of the handling spectrum in my view. The S2000 is biased towards oversteer and has that tight, high-revving and peaky motor. The 350Zs understeer and strong, torquey motor were in direct contrast. I must admit, I loved the way the S2000 handled and look forward to future mods to my track model to balance it more in that direction.

 

Thanks for the great write-up. I wasn't able to make it to the track between in-laws (they leave tomorrow) and work, but I hope to get the Z onto a track sometime in the new year. It sounds like I missed a great time at Second Creek.

Happy New Year!

Gary

 

Watching David drive around the course was a real treat to watch. His skill level is really something !! Yes, there were several "faster" vehicles out with him, but, not too many who kept his pace.

Small world, after meeting David, found out he has walked his dog through my complex and we live less than a half-mile from each other. No, it's not an asian community.

David, it was great meeting you and I look forward to meeting Gary and any other locals or not so local people in the future.

Joe

 

Pretty funny how we real track drivers don't have any problems on the inside of the tire. I NEED MORE NEGATIVE CAMBER!!!!