Recap: 8/15/03 FATT Summit Run
08-15-2003, 03:17 PM
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Recap: 8/15/03 FATT Summit Run
Where to start?
It was, in no short terms, a complete and utter blast. I haven't had that much fun since going on my first roller coaster when I was a kid, and in this scenario I was the one controlling the adventure.
I saw some old people from other Z meets and met some new ones. Noahbuddy and his wife were there, sharing their Z so that they could each run. Andy was there, thanks to him for explaining what FATT was all about and being the deciding factor to sign up for this event. Commasense, great seeing you again. If anything Mrs. Noahbuddy said, we have a LONG way to go before we can get to your level. There were about 8 or 9 350 Z's there, which was a great turn out. Met Matt in his Silverstone, very cool guy. Unfortunatley, I forgot the name of the other gentlemen who was running a Z as well.
First off, I run a Performance with no performance modifications to it. I was also quite scared and very nervous coming to this event. Hauling my 32K car to drive around quickly had me worried about crashing, flying off the course, and whatever else that could possibly happen.
So, I arrive at Summit Point at 8am and hook into the paddock. For those of you who may be a severe novice at this as I am the paddock is just a big parking lot with huge spaces. I registered and was number 107 in group 1a. Then had to head back to the car and take out all the loose items before taking it to get it tech inspected.
TIP: Take the junk from your cubby holes, glove box, paper, carpet, etc.. all out at home. That way you won't have this huge pile of crap sitting in the parking lot all day long.
TIP: Bring tools with you. For our cars they required we take off our front license plate and put in the tow hook.
TIP: Bring a cooler and as much water as possible. Either that as much money as possible. Bottled water costs $1.25 from the vending machine.
After creating a little moutain of carpet and junk I headed to the tech inspection. They had me remove the front plate and put in the tow hook. Once this was done and the car approved, off we went to the Novice driver's meeting.
If I was afraid and nervous before coming to this event, I was absolutely terrified when leaving the driver's meeting. There's a lot of information to absorb and even more so for the novice driver are the thoughts that go through his/her mind:
"When do I brake? When do I accelerate? That line looks really hard to follow! I hope my instructor is gentle. Gravel! Grass! Wall! 35 cars running at once!"
We all had 4 track sessions through the day, each lasting 20 minutes. We also had a 30 minute skid pad session (this was too fun).
All first novice track sessions, your instructor takes your car around the track for 2 or 3 laps. It lets you know when to brake, when to turn, when to accelerate, what the proper line is, where the flag posts are, etc. When I took hold of my car I decided to take it real easy. My down shifting has much, MUCH to be desired. So I pretty much stayed in 4th gear throughout my first session. It was a tall gear, each time I exited a corner I had no power and I didn't get the acceleration to get fast laps. I was perfectly happy though, as I was spotting the cones and the flag stations and trying to stay on the line.
My second session through my last session I stayed mostly in 3rd gear, and around 5K to 6K rpm most of the time. I shifted to 4th when coming out of turn 10. I could have shifted to 4th after turn 9 but it wasn't long enough before the turn for me with my down shifting skill to get it back to 3rd gear.
Initially all the turns were my hardest, with turn 5 through 7 being the most difficult. This was because I was missing the line once in a while. Turn 1 was hard for me initially because of the downshifting to 3rd since we're coming down from some insane speeds. Turn 10 was initially hard because I kept turning too quickly.
On my 3rd run I was able to get turns 5 through 7 almost presentable. If I would go around it 10 times, I would miss the line twice. Turn 1 was still hard. And once I figured out where to actually start turning on turn 10 it was no longer that difficult. Also during this 3rd run I was hitting the turns at 83 mph and maintaining the high 70's. I was also able to plow down the main straight to turn 1 at 110mph.
My 4th and final run was more fluid and consistent. The session was shortened because of a pretty big accident. A cobra went into the forest at turn 3 I think. Hopefully no one was hurt.
All in all, it was a great day. Adrenaline and humility were the things I walked away with. The sessions went well mainly because our 350Z were built so well from factory. The car would hug the road as you would a new girl friend. This was with stock tires.
During the last few laps of my 3rd session I started smelling burnt rubber and burning brakes. Even so, the brakes never faded.
I'll be signing up for the next available FATT thank you very much.
Commasense, Matt, Noahbuddy took photos and videos. I'll leave it to them to post them.
It was, in no short terms, a complete and utter blast. I haven't had that much fun since going on my first roller coaster when I was a kid, and in this scenario I was the one controlling the adventure.
I saw some old people from other Z meets and met some new ones. Noahbuddy and his wife were there, sharing their Z so that they could each run. Andy was there, thanks to him for explaining what FATT was all about and being the deciding factor to sign up for this event. Commasense, great seeing you again. If anything Mrs. Noahbuddy said, we have a LONG way to go before we can get to your level. There were about 8 or 9 350 Z's there, which was a great turn out. Met Matt in his Silverstone, very cool guy. Unfortunatley, I forgot the name of the other gentlemen who was running a Z as well.
First off, I run a Performance with no performance modifications to it. I was also quite scared and very nervous coming to this event. Hauling my 32K car to drive around quickly had me worried about crashing, flying off the course, and whatever else that could possibly happen.
So, I arrive at Summit Point at 8am and hook into the paddock. For those of you who may be a severe novice at this as I am the paddock is just a big parking lot with huge spaces. I registered and was number 107 in group 1a. Then had to head back to the car and take out all the loose items before taking it to get it tech inspected.
TIP: Take the junk from your cubby holes, glove box, paper, carpet, etc.. all out at home. That way you won't have this huge pile of crap sitting in the parking lot all day long.
TIP: Bring tools with you. For our cars they required we take off our front license plate and put in the tow hook.
TIP: Bring a cooler and as much water as possible. Either that as much money as possible. Bottled water costs $1.25 from the vending machine.
After creating a little moutain of carpet and junk I headed to the tech inspection. They had me remove the front plate and put in the tow hook. Once this was done and the car approved, off we went to the Novice driver's meeting.
If I was afraid and nervous before coming to this event, I was absolutely terrified when leaving the driver's meeting. There's a lot of information to absorb and even more so for the novice driver are the thoughts that go through his/her mind:
"When do I brake? When do I accelerate? That line looks really hard to follow! I hope my instructor is gentle. Gravel! Grass! Wall! 35 cars running at once!"
We all had 4 track sessions through the day, each lasting 20 minutes. We also had a 30 minute skid pad session (this was too fun).
All first novice track sessions, your instructor takes your car around the track for 2 or 3 laps. It lets you know when to brake, when to turn, when to accelerate, what the proper line is, where the flag posts are, etc. When I took hold of my car I decided to take it real easy. My down shifting has much, MUCH to be desired. So I pretty much stayed in 4th gear throughout my first session. It was a tall gear, each time I exited a corner I had no power and I didn't get the acceleration to get fast laps. I was perfectly happy though, as I was spotting the cones and the flag stations and trying to stay on the line.
My second session through my last session I stayed mostly in 3rd gear, and around 5K to 6K rpm most of the time. I shifted to 4th when coming out of turn 10. I could have shifted to 4th after turn 9 but it wasn't long enough before the turn for me with my down shifting skill to get it back to 3rd gear.
Initially all the turns were my hardest, with turn 5 through 7 being the most difficult. This was because I was missing the line once in a while. Turn 1 was hard for me initially because of the downshifting to 3rd since we're coming down from some insane speeds. Turn 10 was initially hard because I kept turning too quickly.
On my 3rd run I was able to get turns 5 through 7 almost presentable. If I would go around it 10 times, I would miss the line twice. Turn 1 was still hard. And once I figured out where to actually start turning on turn 10 it was no longer that difficult. Also during this 3rd run I was hitting the turns at 83 mph and maintaining the high 70's. I was also able to plow down the main straight to turn 1 at 110mph.
My 4th and final run was more fluid and consistent. The session was shortened because of a pretty big accident. A cobra went into the forest at turn 3 I think. Hopefully no one was hurt.
All in all, it was a great day. Adrenaline and humility were the things I walked away with. The sessions went well mainly because our 350Z were built so well from factory. The car would hug the road as you would a new girl friend. This was with stock tires.
During the last few laps of my 3rd session I started smelling burnt rubber and burning brakes. Even so, the brakes never faded.
I'll be signing up for the next available FATT thank you very much.
Commasense, Matt, Noahbuddy took photos and videos. I'll leave it to them to post them.
08-16-2003, 10:31 AM
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I was there as well and it was a great time. This was also my first time on a road course and I was also nervous going out there. There was a lot to absorb your first two runs out, but after that I was able to get an idea of how hard I could push it and how much the car could take.
The track time made me appreciate how good of a car the Z is from the factory. The Brembo brakes are awesome. It is hard trying to make yourself totally trust the brakes, especially going towards turn 1 at 120 mph, but they took the abuse like it was nothing. The instructors also commented on how impressed they were with the car.
I definitely plan on coming again next year, it was a really good time!
The track time made me appreciate how good of a car the Z is from the factory. The Brembo brakes are awesome. It is hard trying to make yourself totally trust the brakes, especially going towards turn 1 at 120 mph, but they took the abuse like it was nothing. The instructors also commented on how impressed they were with the car.
I definitely plan on coming again next year, it was a really good time!
08-17-2003, 08:54 AM
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Nice write up Gaseous. It reminds me of how I felt my first time out. I'm a lot more relaxed about driving on the track now than I was my first few times, and your post brings back some of that fear and excitement of the early days.
Of course, it's still pretty exciting, which is why we keep doing it. My biggest issue is consistency. I want to be able to brake, turn in, accellerate at the same points, every turn, every lap. It's a lot easier to go from novice to intermediate than it is to go from intermediate to expert.
It was great to meet all of you (some of you again). I showed up expecting the three or four other Z owners who had posted in my other thread : Gaseous, BigBadBuford, and Noahbuddy. So I was surprised to arrive and find a total of nine! Including one instructor! Here's who was here (I apologize if I've gotten anyone's name wrong):
BY, Bill (instructor)
BY, #107, Thai (Gaseous)
BY Track, #152, Ivan
CS, #150, Andy (Andymr1)
LS, Jim
LS Track, #242, James (Commasense)
SB, #103, #126, Christine, Steve (Noahbuddy)
SB Track, #135, John (BigBadBuford)
SS, #112, Matt
Also present was BigBadBuford's brother in his Trans Am. (Sorry, I forgot to get pix of you.)
One thing Gaseous didn't mention in his report was the heat and humidity. It was over 90 degrees the whole day, which I found made the day much more exhausting than usual. After the third stint I was so tired that I almost decided to give up on the last session. But I managed to recover and the last session went great.
Here are some pix. I have over 100 shots. If any of the participants would like a CD with high-res shots, please PM or e-mail me with your postal address.
Matt (notice his instructor's thumbs up):
Of course, it's still pretty exciting, which is why we keep doing it. My biggest issue is consistency. I want to be able to brake, turn in, accellerate at the same points, every turn, every lap. It's a lot easier to go from novice to intermediate than it is to go from intermediate to expert.
It was great to meet all of you (some of you again). I showed up expecting the three or four other Z owners who had posted in my other thread : Gaseous, BigBadBuford, and Noahbuddy. So I was surprised to arrive and find a total of nine! Including one instructor! Here's who was here (I apologize if I've gotten anyone's name wrong):
BY, Bill (instructor)
BY, #107, Thai (Gaseous)
BY Track, #152, Ivan
CS, #150, Andy (Andymr1)
LS, Jim
LS Track, #242, James (Commasense)
SB, #103, #126, Christine, Steve (Noahbuddy)
SB Track, #135, John (BigBadBuford)
SS, #112, Matt
Also present was BigBadBuford's brother in his Trans Am. (Sorry, I forgot to get pix of you.)
One thing Gaseous didn't mention in his report was the heat and humidity. It was over 90 degrees the whole day, which I found made the day much more exhausting than usual. After the third stint I was so tired that I almost decided to give up on the last session. But I managed to recover and the last session went great.
Here are some pix. I have over 100 shots. If any of the participants would like a CD with high-res shots, please PM or e-mail me with your postal address.
Matt (notice his instructor's thumbs up):
Last edited by commasense; 08-17-2003 at 08:56 AM.
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08-17-2003, 09:54 PM
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I was there too in group 2 solo... I liked watching that black 350Z with the wing pulling away from the NSX lap after lap.... I was really impressed how the 350 Z performed against the NSX.