350Z Streets of Willow Springs results.
08-04-2003, 09:05 PM
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350Z Streets of Willow Springs results.
First let me thank Speedventures for putting on another great event. It was nice to finally see some other Z's getting their feet wet on the track (although one was a rental!!!
).
Well, here are the results. Just click the link and then click submit, you will be taken to the results by class. Click the laptime at the top of the page and you can see the overall results:
Event Results Streets of Willow 8/3 CCW
Well, I won T6 and if I get bumped to T5 (which might happen) I would be second to Richard (RL). My car is really more in between these two classes though, obviously pretty fast for T6, but not really fair to put me in T5 where Richard's S2K has a $4K suspension on it!! But if they bump me, I just have to spend more money!! It was really nice though to be at the top of the timesheets being 6th overall.
This was my first time out on the Toyo RA-1 race rubber. What a great tire. It may not be the fastest, but damn is it consistant. It's not slow either as it knocked a whopping 5.3 seconds off my previous time out in this track configuration. I ran half of my 34 timed laps in the 34's with my FTOTD being a 34.0. The RA-1 really didn't feel like anything other than a sticky street tire because it was very progressive at the limit and did nothing strange.
The Z ran really well, but not perfect. Understeer was the word of the day. I am gonna die if I don't get some more negative camber into my front wheels because nothing else is gonna cure the understeer, damn Nissan for watering down the Z for the masses. Look at this pic of my front tire wear:
The outside edge is on the right of the picture. Notice how every tread band is worn down at an angle with more wear on the outside than the inside. Really strange looking. This is why I think there are so many feathering issues also. I am looking into every possible source right now to get front camber adjustment ASAP.
Next, the S-Tune suspension, while great for street tires, is overwhelmed by the higher grip of the RA-1's. To be fair, it's not what the S-Tune was designed for anyway. Time to find something a LOT more race oriented for me.
Next was the heat. The temp meter went up fairly high, but not close to overheating. It was about 100 degrees out to be fair and with a newly repaved nice black track surface, I am sure the track temps were a good bit higher than that. It was nothing that running a half lap at 7/10ths speed couldn't cure though.
Brakes were marginal. That is probably my fault. While the Hawk HP+ pad is more than enough pad for street tires, you need to go up another level when running R tires. The fluid wasn't boiling as the pedal remained nice and hard, it was the pad that was fading. Six laps or so into a session and I couldn't even get the ABS to actuate at the end of the straight now matter how hard I pushed. I have also noticed (and you can see in my pick) that the paint on my front calipers has turned a nice brown color from the gold. That is not dirt folks, that is the paint baking. The rears looked fine as did the rear pads. I will have different pads for the next event as well as some brake ducting in place hopefully.
Lastly, the tranny felt like crap on the 3rd to 2nd downshifts. Nice crunch every time. I'll take another please.
Hopefully I will see some more of you guys out at Buttonwillow on the 23rd.
).Well, here are the results. Just click the link and then click submit, you will be taken to the results by class. Click the laptime at the top of the page and you can see the overall results:
Event Results Streets of Willow 8/3 CCW
Well, I won T6 and if I get bumped to T5 (which might happen) I would be second to Richard (RL). My car is really more in between these two classes though, obviously pretty fast for T6, but not really fair to put me in T5 where Richard's S2K has a $4K suspension on it!! But if they bump me, I just have to spend more money!! It was really nice though to be at the top of the timesheets being 6th overall.
This was my first time out on the Toyo RA-1 race rubber. What a great tire. It may not be the fastest, but damn is it consistant. It's not slow either as it knocked a whopping 5.3 seconds off my previous time out in this track configuration. I ran half of my 34 timed laps in the 34's with my FTOTD being a 34.0. The RA-1 really didn't feel like anything other than a sticky street tire because it was very progressive at the limit and did nothing strange.
The Z ran really well, but not perfect. Understeer was the word of the day. I am gonna die if I don't get some more negative camber into my front wheels because nothing else is gonna cure the understeer, damn Nissan for watering down the Z for the masses. Look at this pic of my front tire wear:
The outside edge is on the right of the picture. Notice how every tread band is worn down at an angle with more wear on the outside than the inside. Really strange looking. This is why I think there are so many feathering issues also. I am looking into every possible source right now to get front camber adjustment ASAP.
Next, the S-Tune suspension, while great for street tires, is overwhelmed by the higher grip of the RA-1's. To be fair, it's not what the S-Tune was designed for anyway. Time to find something a LOT more race oriented for me.
Next was the heat. The temp meter went up fairly high, but not close to overheating. It was about 100 degrees out to be fair and with a newly repaved nice black track surface, I am sure the track temps were a good bit higher than that. It was nothing that running a half lap at 7/10ths speed couldn't cure though.
Brakes were marginal. That is probably my fault. While the Hawk HP+ pad is more than enough pad for street tires, you need to go up another level when running R tires. The fluid wasn't boiling as the pedal remained nice and hard, it was the pad that was fading. Six laps or so into a session and I couldn't even get the ABS to actuate at the end of the straight now matter how hard I pushed. I have also noticed (and you can see in my pick) that the paint on my front calipers has turned a nice brown color from the gold. That is not dirt folks, that is the paint baking. The rears looked fine as did the rear pads. I will have different pads for the next event as well as some brake ducting in place hopefully.
Lastly, the tranny felt like crap on the 3rd to 2nd downshifts. Nice crunch every time. I'll take another please.
Hopefully I will see some more of you guys out at Buttonwillow on the 23rd.
Last edited by raceboy; 08-04-2003 at 09:14 PM.
08-05-2003, 03:20 AM
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option to Hawk HP+
I've been very satisfied with my Carbotech XP pads in the front and Carbotech Panther Plus in the back. I have Goodridge SS lines in the front only (so far). Also, I switched from the Valvoline SynPower to Motul 600... big difference.
I was running the 1.8 mile short course at Texas World Speedway this past weekend... two spots with heavy braking, from 130 to 50 and from 100 to 50, then 4 other spots with light application. We were running sessions every 25 minutes, so not much time to cool down. And, it was 100 degrees at the track. No pad fade and no overheated fluid.
Brakes performed very well... very happy with them. Give them a try.
PeteH
I was running the 1.8 mile short course at Texas World Speedway this past weekend... two spots with heavy braking, from 130 to 50 and from 100 to 50, then 4 other spots with light application. We were running sessions every 25 minutes, so not much time to cool down. And, it was 100 degrees at the track. No pad fade and no overheated fluid.
Brakes performed very well... very happy with them. Give them a try.
PeteH
08-12-2003, 02:31 PM
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Do you run the XP's on the street? I spoke with Carbotech and they recommended those for my M5 (I have to have them custom made as my pads are a Euro spec). I am running the stock Textars and they do okay but sometimes they deposit residue on the rotors. At the same time, my rotors are $185 each so I don't want to have a real harsh pad.
08-12-2003, 02:46 PM
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If you want an incredible pad, go for the Cobalt GT-R spec.VR pads...
"the Cobalt product line was developed around feedback from professional and semi-pro race teams and drivers, who overwhelmingly voiced a preference for a very direct pedal pressure to braking torque relationship, or in other words, a linear torque curve." -Andie Lin
I know people who've run the Carbotech XPs, and they're good pads, but definitely don't hold up as well at higher temps as the GT-R spec.VR.
"the Cobalt product line was developed around feedback from professional and semi-pro race teams and drivers, who overwhelmingly voiced a preference for a very direct pedal pressure to braking torque relationship, or in other words, a linear torque curve." -Andie Lin
I know people who've run the Carbotech XPs, and they're good pads, but definitely don't hold up as well at higher temps as the GT-R spec.VR.
08-17-2003, 09:29 PM
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Thanks Raceboy!
Your challenge on this site got me off my butt and out to Willow Springs on Saturday 8/2. I was the only Z on Saturday. Had a blast, learned a lot and met some great people. I passed a lot of cars but my times still sucked, so I guess I'll have to come back for more.
Thanks
Thanks
09-06-2003, 05:44 PM
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I know people who've run the Carbotech XPs, and they're good pads, but definitely don't hold up as well at higher temps
Don't mind me, I'll just be over here in NC, counting the number of national championships won with Panther XP9s at Mid Ohio in 2 weeks....
09-06-2003, 08:11 PM
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If you look in my other thread about the Buttonwillow results (where I won my class on R compound tires) after switching to the XPs, you will see that the brakes performed flawlessly without a bit of fade.
I have nothing but praise for the XP pads and I think that anyone that has a problem with them probably only has themselves to blame. I think it all come down to true and proper bed in procedure. I followed Larry from Carbotech's advice to a T and never had an issue.
I have nothing but praise for the XP pads and I think that anyone that has a problem with them probably only has themselves to blame. I think it all come down to true and proper bed in procedure. I followed Larry from Carbotech's advice to a T and never had an issue.
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