Hi all,

Just came back from my first track day event with my Track Z yesterday, it was a blast.
Being my first time driving the Z on the track, I didn't know what tire pressure to start with. I kept them at 35 psi each corner cold, and after each sessions of about 20 minutes, they ran up to about 42 psi on a 29 'c day. Can someone share their choice of tire pressure?
The car has quite a bit of understeering, even after turing the VDC off. which actually helped me gained confident in a brand new car, but then at lots of slower speed corners I wished the rear end can rotate more.
I have the stock brembos, but I felt that towards the end of the session the brakes are definetly going slowly, as the pedal felt softer and softer while the braking distance increases... Any recommendations on brakde fluid/ pad selection for periodic track day use?

Oh, last but not least, the car is fast. I've been passing S2000s and older porsches all day long

Anyway, here is my little report, hopefully I can hear something back from you guys! have a good one.

Gary

 

Congrats on being devirginized of the track experience. The car is definitely a blast to drive, and be forewarned that your wallet will now be thinner as this sport is EXTREMELY addictive.

As for tire pressures, I've found that 35F and 37R cold are good places to start off with. After the first session, I'll usually get the tires up to 41 or 42 (depending on how hot the track surface is), and then I'll bleed out some air before the next session. Beyond 42psi hot (really hot), I find that the RE040s start getting greasy, so be careful.

I can't wait to go to the track again since I finally finished installing my JIC coilovers. Took the car out for some spirited driving on some nice twisty backroads today, and my god the car is a different animal. It simply wants to eat every corner up with confidence, and the car rotates much better. Bye bye understeer problems!

Have fun out there.

 

I try to keep it at 40 or under hot. Most of my track running is done on hot desert tracks so I have to start out at about 28-29lbs cold.

 

Hi Raceboy,

as I can see in your signature you have done some brake mods even you have a track model, can you share with me what you have done and how is the end result?

Gary

 

Tire pressures: I run 35 F and 30 R cold. I'm on my fourth set of tires now and have completely worn down the centers of the rears of every set I've had so far. IMO, the 35 PSI cold recommendation for the rears is wrong and causes the rears to float on the center of the contact patch and wear down prematurely. When I'm done with a set of tires, I still have a LOT of tread depth on the shoulders of the contact patches and I NEVER do standing-start burnouts.

Brake Fluid: Several of us that run on the track are using the Valvoline Syntec DOT 4 brake fluid and have been very happy with it. I haven't had any problems with fluid boil and like Steve, we run on 100+ days here in Texas.

 

Droika, how are you on your 4th set of tires? Damn!
You're also running too low of a psi in the rear... you should be bringing it up to the same as your fronts (if not more).

 

You will definetly want to to SS brake lines as they amke a huge difference.
PFC brake pad work wonders on this car for the track. We are runing the stock rotors and calipers and are much better in the brake zone than the other team running a Z and they have the stopt tech set-up. We have cooling ducts runnig to the front rotors. Brake fluid is also an important key. depends on how much money you want to spend on that department. My rule of thumb for tracking a car............no matter how fast the car is or how well it handles...........it you dont have confidence going into the brake zone............its not good.......escp when you have to be able to drive it home.
Sway bars are a big improvemnet also for tracking.......check out the 350evo adjustable sway bars.
350EVO will also have a camber kit available by the end of this month. Our parts for this will be in this week and going on a car ASAP.
BJ@350evo.com

 

Heh. I hit 41~42 hot just driving 40 miles on the highway. That seems a bit low of a pressure to worry about hot, especially on a track.

 

Will changing the brake pads and fluid affect braking performance on the street? what about the life of the rotors?

I only plan to do track days once in a few months, and I want something that is usuable on the street yet gives slighly better performance on the track.

any ideas?

Gary

 

Changing to SS brake lines will take the "flex" out of the rubber lines. It will help give the brake pedal a more solid feel. Changing the pads will do wonders also.......escp on the track.
The difeerent compounds of pads affect when the brakes really start to come on or the "ramp up". If you get a brake pade that ramps up to fast/to grabbby/ you ll trigger the cars ABS very early on in the braking zone.
If you intend to do a couple of track days a year its worth it.........like I said before there is nothing like not having any confidence going into a brake zone.......
PFC pads are highly recommended and endorsed by Schuitemaker Motorsports.

 

How much are the PFC pads and how do they perform on everyday circumstances?