Yesterday and today I attended my first track day, and it happened to be at beautiful Laguna Seca Raceway.

I was there in my Brickyard Performance with my friend and his M3 SMG Vert. I also got to meet a couple fellow my350z members, so that was very cool as well.

Yesterday my friend and I both ran in the beginner group (even though he had been to a few tracks before), and ran a couple sessions with instructors. Later in the day we ran solo and then he rode in my car as a passenger in the last session (he wore out his brake pads).

I was able to get quite a few open laps, and my best time, which came at the end of the day, was 1.56.992.

I went out today in the beginner group as well, but this time I did all four sessions without an instructor. Unfortunately, the Friday runs were significantly more crowded, and I wasn't really able to get any open laps.

During the second session today I managed to spin out of control coming out of turn 4, did a 720 rotation, and ended up five feet from the wall facing the wrong way . This all happened as I was passing one of our fellow 350z members. Too bad he didn't have a camera in his car!! Luckily there was no damage to me, my car, or anyone else, but I was never quite as confident as before. That, coupled with the crowded conditions, means unless a miracle happened during my fourth session (I never got a chance to see those times) I doubt I will get a better time than yesterday.


Other than my crappy driving, the Z performed wonderfully. I was pretty easy on the brakes because I had heard so much about Laguna's ability to eat through pads, but other than that I was going as fast as I could. The Z did understeer most of the time, which makes it very easy to just plant the throttle to floor when coming out of the corners, but I was occasionally able to get a very balanced turn. I think that it is critical in the Z to have a strong turn to keep the car balanced, because if you turn in slow and then try to correct, it doesn't work very well. I would like to get the Stoptech brake kit and try the track again, but maybe I'll just stick to AutoX'ing for a while. I still get nervous when I think of the spinning and the gravel, with the dust and wall smashing. Scary! Oh yeah, I was running with VDC off, BTW.

Anyhow, everybody was extremely nice, I got to ride in my instructor's Viper, which almost made me sick (he was running times in the 1.45 range), and overall I had a wonderful time. I would really like to go back, but I've got to save up for new brakes, tires, and give my poor car a rest. I hear that Thunderhill has lots and lots of runoff room, so maybe that will be my next adventure.

Keep it safe...

-D'oh!


PS. I forgot to mention that Road & Track was there doing some photo shoots of the RX-8, so we all got to check out the car, watch it go barreling around the track, and sit inside. It is very nice, but I still don't like the two back doors. If you see an R&T mag with the RX-8, check for a picture of the 8 with a bunch of older Gen1 RX-7's. Those were some of the people in the race group. I was gonna offer to have my Z in the picture as well, but it was all dirty from running off the track and I didn't want to look like a careless owner (plus I didn't want the Z to embarrass the poor little RX-8, ) I'm joking, I'm joking; having the 8 show up was definitely one of the highlights for me.

-D!


Dammit; one last thing. My buddy got a 1.56.3 (or maybe 1.56.7) in his M3. I think I would have been able to get closer if I had been more aggressive with the braking.

-D!

 

Wish I could have been there! Sounds like Speedventures attempts to encourage more entries by lowering the fees was quite successful. How did your times compare with the other 350Zs? Did the 350Z group get their own marque 'challenge series' group?

 

Yeah, the day was great. Really nice meeting Scott (Do'h) and his friend Griffin with the M3. We were the only 2 Z's there so we need to get more, I think 5 at least, to get our own challenge series. I was pushing about 85% I would say, too many walls at Laguna. I ran a 1:56 flat but if I would have had the tire pressures correct I think there was a low 1:54 high 1:53 in the car without pushing too hard. Oh well. It will be a great benchmark for next time.

So here is my tip for running your Z at the track. Try to get the tires at 38-40 lbs when hot. Depending on the track you will probably need to start with 28lbs or so. I saw up to 48lbs on my TPM readout and was just loosing too much grip. That explained why I ran my fastest lap in the first 3 sessions on the 2nd or 3rd lap of the first session!!! The track was still cool. In the afternoon the track temp was probably 40-50 degrees hotter and I lost almost 3 seconds per lap.

 

Sounds like fun. What did it cost you to do the track day? I live out in AZ, and if they don't charge too much, it might be worth the drive to get to roll around Leguna.

 

D!

Wish we had race tracks here in NJ. Sounds like so much fun-
Turn 4 is that fast-ish right hand turn just after the bridge?
How'd the M3 do?

 

Turn 4 is a fast, increasing-radius right-hander before the bridge. There were a few times I came through it too fast; it's one of the places where it's relatively safe to. Just track out past the rumble strip, run through the dirt for a ways, then pull back on track Grand Turismo style. Did it twice on Friday...

Entering turn 4:

 

wow!!! i cant wait to do that

 

Through the 'Screw:

 

raceboy,
What did it cost you to get on at Laguna? Do you have a link or anything where we can get more info?

 

Acutally, isn't turn 4 just after the bridge? It leads to the long straight down the back, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there is a bridge between 3 and 4. The picture looks like turn 4...isn't that just after the bridge? I don't remember if there is a bridge just before turn 5 as well. Anyway, I've seen a few cars wadded up in turn 3 and turn 4 on the inside wall. The rear end gets out, they didn't get it corrected in time and they head into the inside wall backwards. The one thing that you can't really see on TV that you definitely notice on the track...THERE ARE A LOT OF BLIND APPROACHES!! Over the crest (turn 1), coming into the braking area at turn 6 is blind, approaching the corkscrew in turn 7 is blind, the first 1/2 a second of turn 8a (corkscrew). It's a very intimidating track at speed the first few times around. Great job guys!

 

There's lots of bridges - at turn 1, between 3 and 4, between 4 and 5, between 5 and 6, and at turn 9. The straight between 4 and 5 isn't too long; exiting turn 4 at 86-87 got me up to 105-110 before braking for 5.

Turn 1 isn't really a turn - you move to the inside and back out, but it's flat the whole way. Turn 6 is just a stab of the brakes, and turns 7 and 8 aren't really that bad once you know where to be. The toughest corner on this track is turn 9, but most people are so relieved to have gotten through 8 okay, they forget about it and mess up or go too slowly there.

 

How did the Brembo's hold up?

 

There are actually a couple bridges. There is the tire bridge between turn 3 and 4, and then another bridge between turn 4 and 5.

I spun out as I was accellerating out of turn four, just after the apex (I had a late apex, so I was a little off the line to the inside when the rear started coming around). I was probably twenty to fifty yards ahead of where that S2000 is in the picture above.

BTW, that huge wing on that S2000 is adjustable to two positions: flat for the straights, and angled for the curves. The driver has a switch in the car that he uses to change the wing position during the race. Pretty cool stuff.

The races are pretty expensive (for me anyway) and the two days of lapping with a timer for both days and an instructor for the first day was $460. Next time I'll probably just run a single day (most likely Thursday, since Friday was so much more crowded). I want to get a big brake kit before going back to Laguna, mostly just for the added confidence. We can definitely start a Challenge Series, but it requires a five car minimum. There were three 350Z's over the two days at Laguna, so it might not be too difficult to drum up a couple more. Check out http://www.speedventures.net for more info about the group that organized this specific event.

I also have a picture of me through the corkscrew, but the image is corrupted so I'm working with the photographers to get a working copy. Hopefully I'll be able to post it soon.

-D'oh!

 

The last time I was there I was in my Viper and the speed between 4 and 5 is considerable. I guess I wasn't counting bridges Turn 9 is a *****, Rainey Curve...you thank God every time you blast through it. (off camber, downhill, decreasing radius) But you can gain a lot of time on the field if you get through it quickly...Oh yeah! Turn one is a fun one up in the 150mph range. The car gets light and you're trying to get to the outside and start braking for turn two... Turn 6 is actually a LOT of fun . Turn 8, did you aim at the tree, or the sign on the fence? What times did you turn in the S2000?

 

Had a couple 1:43's on Friday. Stock motor, stock suspension. Was aiming for the checkered trash can to the right of the second oak tree.

 

Trash can? That wasn't there when I ran it last in '99 or '00 with TCCRA. Did you run 1:43's on stock tires? Either way that's some good stuff. I just moved out of San Diego. That's a long haul to Laguna Seca, but well worth it. What times do you run at Willow's big track. Willow and Button Willow are the two tracks where I did most of my tomfoolery! There are sooooo many configurations at Buttonwillow it's too time consuming figuring out a competitive time. (bus stop, magic mountain, clockwise, counter...etc.) Do you run with the S2000 club? I have a couple of friends that have run with the S2000 club out of L.A. and yes I'm done asking questions.

 

Here is what you end up with when it all goes wrong in turn 4, should have used more blue tape:


This one happened exiting the Andretti hairpin (turn 2):


And in my old MR2 Spyder, still the best handling car I have ever driven, 2100 lbs and mid engined:


I am gonna break down and get race tires, as much as I hate to, I am afraid the S2k guys are right, it will be the only way to truly compare.

 

Stock tires? No no no...was running consistent :45s on my stock 16" wheels with Hoosiers, then into the :43's on borrowed 17" Volks shod in Dunlops made in England. Was leaving at least 1-2 seconds on the table in either config, but that's what next time is for...

About 450 miles to Laguna from SD, but it's less than 6 hours if you leave at 10:45pm like I did the night before the event. Must be on crack, as I'm seriously thinking about doing Thunderhill next Saturday....

Haven't run Buttonwillow yet in any config. Mostly I do autocross so my track days are few and far between. Ran a 1:31 at the Streets of Willow in the full config with the bowl last December, with version 1.0 of my BAUW. Doug Hayashi did a good writeup here.

Normally I've heard to look for the second oak tree when coming down the corkscrew, but with the narrowness of the S2000 I found that was leaving me a couple feet off the apex of 8A. The checkered trash can was a bit to the right of the tree and made a better target.

All the track days I've done have been with SpeedVentures, an excellent group.

 

Buttonwillow is more technical and it's a blast. Not a smooth track like Laguna Seca. The last time out at Willow Springs I was running my '01 Integra Type R with Yokohama's track tire. Not the best track tire, but Hoosiers on the Type R probably wouldn't help much. Just with the Yoko's it had so much grip that I would go into turn 2 without braking or lifting and I would scrub about 1,500 rpm off the car (standing on the loud pedal the whole way) just from it's lack of horsepower and abundance of grip. I was running high 1:36's (on the big track) and I wasn't leaving anything on the table (at my ability level anyway) in that little FWD car. That was the most fun car I've owned at the track, not the fastest but definitely the most fun. I know Doug, he was always running the NSX when I was out there. I was on his website a while ago...that's why I thought your car looked familiar. Do you know PMUM?

 

The Mythical Mumford? Why do you ask?