Well everyone, we had our first track day here in Colorado. All I can say is I LOVE this car! The low-end torque makes it an absolute blast to drive at all speeds through the twisties.

I would like to thank David for coordinating the day at PMI everyone had a great time.



Dennis

 

Start of the day. Preparing to warmup the cars

 

down the strait.

 

Break for lunch in Pueblo.

 

Stopping for more gas on the way back to the track

 

Last one.... Sorry I don't have more "action" pics but I was trying to get in as much track time as possible.

Can you blame me?

 

Awesome pics; nice work!

Nothing like a line of Zs travelling together, whether on roads or the track.

 

Thanks for posting the pics, Dennis. Those turned out great!

I had a great time at the track. It was good to learn some high performance driving techniques from a pro like David. That definitely added a lot to the experience, and it's already made a change to my street driving (I found myself actually looking for places on my commute today to work on heel-toe downshifting.) Now if I could just find a place to work on treshold braking before a turn...

I got the same impression that Joe mentioned in his earlier post in the other thread...once I gained confidence in what the car could do, I was able to push it a lot harder and constantly get closer and closer to my (and it's) limit. For the first few laps around the track, I was really unsure of how hard I could push the car in the corners, but after I built up some confidence I was feeling some real solid G's through the turns. It's a great feeling to be able to hear the tires working through a turn and feel totally in control while you're pushing them that hard.

I'll look forward to the next track day to push it a little more, now that I've got a better idea of what the Z is capable of. Coming up on the car's built-in understeer was frustrating a few times, but I think that also makes for a more enjoyable first experience on the track, as you don't have to constantly worry about the back of the car coming around and biting you. I can tell that after some more time on the track I'll be looking for a suspension upgrade to help dial in some oversteer!

I thought that PMI was a great track for the Z. The fact that the whole twisty section was drivable in third gear, but that the front straight was long enough to get up into triple digits allowed us to experience a little bit of everything. I'll look forward to going back there and getting to the point of working a couple more gear changes into each lap and carrying a little more speed through the corners.

For what it's worth, my personal choice for favorite turn is a toss-up between turn 6 and turn 10. Turn 6 because of it's right-hander double apex, it's semi-blind entry, and it's immediate transition (and all the weight transfer that goes with it) into turn 7 to the left at the turn 6 exit. And turn 10 because bouncing over the drag strip launch area in a 90 degree turn approaching 70 mph while heading onto the front straight was a definite rush. For least favorite turn, I'd have to go with turn 7. I don't think I got that second-gear hairpin right all day. I'm curious to hear others' impressions of the track.

It was great to see everyone out at PMI, and thanks again to David for setting this up and showing us the ropes. Hopefully we'll be able to do it again soon!

Gary

 

Dennis-

Thanks for the great photos documenting the first all-350Z track meet anywhere in North America! While PMI is not the best road racing facility in the country, I think all of the participants will agree that the 2.2 mile course is quite challenging. With several high speed corners, decent-sized straights, blind exits with interconnected turns and elevation changes to add character- PMI was both good AND affordable for our group.

My congratulations to all who attended- it was pleasure to work with 350Z owners who are interested in high-performance driving. Who knows? If one accident is avoided or one iota of additional driving pleasure is derived from the lessons, than the day wil have additional meaning.

Looks like SportZ magazine will have some additional coverage of the event and I may have to ask bluz03 to contribute his photos to the cause!

P.S. quallabone- what are you thinkin' of with that photo!?

 

Dennis thanx for the great pics.

The experience on the track was awesome. Just as rewarding was the company involved. I'm looking forward to another track day or beer/coffee day as well.

I have to go with turn six as my fave. Turn seven and tcs did not agree with each other a few times for me.

David-- Thanks again and did you see the post regarding the tail light mod?

If anyone can recall my fondness for the "dancing passenger" in the Mitsubishi commercial, it was not, I repeat, NOT the dancing girl I saw in the Mitsubishi ad viewed last night for the first time.

Where's Bob??

Joe

 

Congrats on the track day. They are fun but I found they get boring after about the 3rd one and you try to overdrive the car to spur excitement. You then find yourself in a tire barrier. Oh whoops thats just me not everyone. Anyway. If your on a track and you have to rely on bottom end torque your in the wrong gear. Shift Down.

 

They get boring after the third one? I must have over 50 days on track and am not even close to bored (Thunderhill, Buttonwillow, Laguna Seca and Sears Point). You can always improve and always get faster without risking the car. I am safer now than I was on my 3rd track day and am driving much faster.

 

Yep!


Great pics. Invasion of the Zs!

 

 

Dennis,

Great photos, thankfully yours turned out. You may recall that I was having some troubles with my digital camera and, as such, did not have any success with the images taken.

BTW, very good to see all the 350Z guys again and it was a pleasure to meet Rob and Dennis for the first time.

Dennis, if I can't get any of my shots to look good, would you donate one of yours for the Home Page of our www?

 

I have 5 years of autoxing 3 weekends a month. IMHO taking the same 17 corners gets boring quickly. Tracks often don't envolve the non-stop transitions certain autox courses do. They also don't encourage you to overstep your car the way you can saftey on an autox. There is just something different about taking a 3rd gear salom in a parking lot with nothing to hit vs doing it on a track. In the parking lot you can get the car in to more shapes then playdou and spin on occasion to learn. Where as on a track if you do the same spin your being towed home, so you attack it with a different kinda mentality. I found after 2 years of track days the only enjoyment I recieved was seeing exactly how sideways I could get the car and see if I could do it right infront of the course workers. (show boating) Then I realized I get it that sideways for a hell of alot cheaper with nothing to hit everytime I autox. Haven't done a track day since. But have thought many many times about taking up Rallying.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dkmura
[B]Dennis-


Looks like SportZ magazine will have some additional coverage of the event and I may have to ask bluz03 to contribute his photos to the cause!

David,

I'll look over my shots again, but I'm pretty sure all my action shots were a disaster. I know, if all else fails, read the manual.

As many of "our 350Z gang" already know, David has agreed to write some articles for Sport Z Magazine beginning with the Summer 2003 issue. I wish we could have met earlier in the year, being a bit greedy here, so that everyone could start enjoying your writing in the spring issue. Oh well!

On a personal note--David, it's hard to put into words how impressed I was with you and how you were able to give us some of the racing knowledge you possess. I had a blast and promise we can experience U2 to-the-max at our next meet.

Oh yeah, thanks for not revealing my full experience for all to see when I was your passenger in two of our our rip-arounds.

 

Hmmmm, you shouldn't be sideways if you are trying to turn a quick laptime. Did you have a hotlap timer when you did these track events? Maybe the tracks in Florida are no fun. Autox is fun because you can pitch the car around but waiting all day for 3-4 runs is not something that is an efficient use of my limited car weekends.

I will agree that if you just love being sideways autox or rally is a better place to be. However, I am sure cars get bent more on a rally than a roadcourse.

As for using lowend torque out of a corner, most cars need one more gear somewhere on a track. If you go to 2cnd you are revving to high and the car is unsettled and if you are in 3rd you won't quite have the pull you want. The best solution is to leave it in 3rd and just get quicker in the corner so your rpms are up. Newer cars with variable everything are usually able to stay in third more than I can.

 

For the autocross vs. track controversy, it's clear that both forms of motorsport are valid and challenging formats. I started in and progressed from Solo II (autocross) events to Solo I (SCCA time trial events) to road racing and enjoyed them all! At this point in my own skill development, it's simply more fun to be testing my 350Z at higher speeds. IMHO it's hard to believe that turning laps can get very boring. At PMI I have turned literally hundereds of laps and I'm still amazingly pleased when every detail comes together and you turn a sublime lap (and yes, I've held 3 track records in different SCCA classes). But it seems that motorsports hold different attractions for different people- some love a straight line, some are oval specialists and then there are the solo, rally and road racing challenges.

If only we all had the time and money to pursue them all! I feel lucky to be able to pursue road racing and track days.

Bob- Once again, thanks for the great lunch at the Cactus Flower. As I stated before, it was truly a great time and it was a pleasure to take you for a few laps around PMI. I am also looking forward to listening to your 350Z's stereo/multimedia setup. Whether it's U2 or any of my other rock favs, I expect to have an ear-opening experience.

 

Looks like it was a great time guys...congrats!
I don't think I could EVER be bored on a roadcourse...my heart and mind are pumping the entire time...no greater 1/2 hour constant adrenaline rush IMO!