Hey y'all,

A group of 350Zs and other Nissans are going to the Bremerton Raceway to see what our cars can do. Hope to see and meet new friends...

 

I'm planning on going. Are you going to run? Hope to see ya there,
Gary

 

Just completed my 1 day race driver school with a company called "Pro-Formance Race School' at 'Pacific Raceways' or better known a few years back as Seattle International Raceway' (http://www.ProFormanceRaceSchool.com)

Cost was just over $500 using my car .

We started with some basic classroom stuff then onto cone drills that taught us about vision, braking/stopping, weight distribution, steering, etc etc.

Started at 8:00 am and by noon I was driving with an instructor getting the map for the race course. Then went for four 20-30 minute lapping sessions up till 5:00 pm.

On the few occassions I dared look at the speedometer while concentrating on the course I think the fastest I got was about 115 mph going into turn 1, and that was only in 5th gear . To help concentrate on execution I spent most of the time in only 3rd & 4th gear. There was just so much to concentrate on. I just dreaded going onto turns 3A & B. Of the tread I lost, 50% was due to these two corners.

I was amazed at what this car is capable of doing and realized that performance at this time is totally limited by my abilities/ inexperience of proper handling. Guess that is my goal now, to be able to feel like I have pushed the car to it's limits, and that may take some time.

I was so FRIKKEN tired and mentally drained at about 8:00 pm that I crashed and went to bed.

You should have felt my tires (like hot chewing gum) and seen the brake dust from my pads at end of day. Glad I chose a big brake kit that will fit both my future custom wheels and current stock wheels cuz no way would I take my nice wheels lapping.

Plan on one more session with limited instruction and then I will be able to lap solo from thereon out.

What a rush of adrenaline, fear and fun all rolled into one. Not sure how I could ever look forward to driving on the freeway again after experiencing this. Driving 150 mph on a straight run of freeway is a piece of cake compared to pushing limits on a race course. It was all about total concentration.

Anybody else done this and had same experience?????

Put car back in shop to get all mods completed by end of month so I will miss the raceway but it sounds really fun. I will say however that a little education in driving techniques will really make your experience more fun and much safer.

 

Glad to see you had fun Lonnie. I need to get some new tires and brakes before I want to get on the track. But next year hopefully it'll happen. What else is going on your car?

Jeff

 

Gary,

Do you have any idea what time they start letting cars through? Yes, we want to time our cars. I hope the track will stay dry. I'm not sure if I can score a helmet though... It'll be great to see and hear your car

Nilo

 

Hey Jeff,
Had 4K on the stock tires and brakes and they seemed to hold up just fine. Car is back in shop awaiting new Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (275x30x20 Front & 295x25x20 Rear) tires wrapped on R1-RS4 (20" x 9" front & 20" x 10" rears) rims plus will be adding the Wilwood BBK (6 piston cal front & 4 piston cal rear) by middle of this month. Also just finished installing the EDFC for the Tein Flex System that is molded into the center console. Still trying to obtain the stock orange leather so I can complete my interior package. Holding off on all engine, exhaust and drivetrain mods until next year. Right now the car offers much more than I can handle on a race course so time to elevate to a level where I need more car.

Have fun at the track but I would strongly encourage you to look into the race school so you can take full advantage of what your car can deliver.

Hopefully I can make one of your meets in late August when my car will be done...... for now.

 

Nilo,

They start letting cars in at 3:00. However the racing does not start till 4:00 normally.
It depends on the person at tech if they let you run (13.99 or less). They seem to be hit or miss with it. We need to set up a dyno soon also, I'm sure it'd be a good time.
Gary

 

Gary,

Hey, thanks for the info, let me know about when you want want to dyno. I have a coworker or 2 that would do it See ya at the track!

 

Gary,

I'm not sure if you drove there but, I called them and the lady said they were open but, not running cars down the track due to the rain. She said the next date was 8/20. Do you go to any of the other tracks? Let me know

Nilo

 

I haven't been over to PIR yet, they run on wed. I'll be at the next one on the 20th at Bremerton. The Alfa club is having a lapping day on Sep 10th at PIR i'm going to try to get to. Think you'd be interested?
Gary

 

Gary,

I sure would! Their track looks like the real thing. It seems as though they schedule the street legals the same as Bremerton. Let me know. Btw,do you have a helmet yet???

Nilo