What an awesome day! Our crew left from ZCG at 6am and were 10-cars strong.
It was great seeing you guys and I cant believe how many Z's were on the track at the same time
Patrick and James thanks for the pizza!




Full album here:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/576862558gJJjRD
I'lll have short youtube clips of front straight drive-bys tomorrow

 

What a fantastic day and a great Z-turnout! Pics and videos to come! I was only flagged for sound twice! Thankfully, the make-shift exhaust that I put together at the 11th hour on Wednesday quieted things down enough for me to run my last 3 sessions.

 

Who's orange Z is that? Loving the vortex generator nubs on the roof + fender lines!

 

Some of the pics I bought from the photographers there:

















Here's a teaser video (now in HD):
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(Plz rate videos & Subscribe for when I upload the full edited version!)

GoPro camera pics:

 

Awesome pics, guys, hope you all had a great time, wish I could have been there, but I just could not get the day off of work.

 

James and Bill you guys rocked!
I need to get one of those GoPro cameras, they make the track look as fast as it is
ps james i'll send you high-res pics tonight, anyone else e-mail me at alvingogi@hotmail.com my home mac doesn't like this site for some reason

Doe James' car remind anyone else of the Amuse 380RS??

 

Thanks Alvin... Not too shabby for my first day on a track ever... Scott was an AWESOME instructor. He seemed to know how fast I should brake and take corners in my car with stock street tires and stock suspension. Even though his car and driving skills are INSANE.

ZCG did an awesome job prepping my car - Motul fluid, Stoptech 309 street pads for my OEM Brembos and re-surfaced rotors. We decided not to track my LE37/PS2 combo and put the stockers back on. I can't believe how well the car handles stock!!

Too bad my clutch pedal started sticking down on my 4th session. ZCG will be putting Motul fluid in the hydraulic clutch lines next time. Wen back out on my 5th session and just kept pulling the clutch pedal up with my foot on the straights.

Good thing I can run almost the whole course in 3rd gear - only need to downshift to second in turn 11 and the shift into 4th at the start/finish line before turn 2. HR gearing FTW at Seca.

James - sick vids!!! I can't wait to see the vids from our last session - by far my fastest laps. I need to pick up two of these cameras...


Here are some pics:

 

Ah was a fun day, until I ran off the track... I'm bummed I couldnt finish all my sessions for the day. But the accident wasn't serious and damages weren't too bad. More on that later.

Here were some pics from my end.

 

On the last lap of my last session I skid off the end of turn two. It felt like the brakes and tires were starting to loose grip. I dont think I was going more than 40 or so and the car just glided off the track. Didnt take any damage until the tow arrived. I did not know about the tow hooks up front and pulled the car out by the left wheel. (could have been useful information, yesterday!)

Anyways, the tow bent my tie rod. Got that replaced today and re-aligned the car. Also unloaded a bucket full of gravel underneath the car. Had to take off the M-brace and all the plastics to clean out everything. Very very annoying.

I was running the stock RE040 street tires (225/235). I cant blame the tires I guess as I shouldve adjusted to their lower threshold, but I think I'm ready for some sport tires...

I did have one question. Rotors were hot! A nice bright orange. The rotors still show a pale orange color now. The pads seem fine but they kindof dug into the rotor. There's a small lip on the edge of the rotors. But no cracks or anything. I'm worried the integrity of the rotors have been weakened. These still safe to drive on?








And here's the rotor. Not best quality pics as these were from the cellphone. But the color is like a pale orange.

 

So long as the rotor isn't cracked, warped, and still within the recommended thickness width then you should be fine on the rotor I think.

I had my Nitto NT05's get slippery on me Thursday as well. I simply lowered the air pressure by 6lbs and they were perfect after that. Maybe you were just running too much air because Bill was running standard street tires as well, and I think he was doing just fine on them. I can see those OEM brakes possibly getting overheated easily though... might want to upgrade those, your tires, and call it a (track) day.

 

I was running the re050a's that came stock on the 07.

My front tires also started feeling greasy by the third session. Scott suggested I check all tire pressure - my fronts (hot) were at 44 PSI so I dropped them to 40. my rears were at 42 PSI so I dropped them to 40 as well. the car felt much more stable after that.

The lesson for the noobs was to torque all wheels after eack session and check pressure after each session.


Speaking of torque - James, are you mising a 7/8'ths deep-well 1/2-inch socket? Anyone? I found one in my tool bag and it's not mine.

 

I was monitoring the tire pressures at about 37-40 peaks during the morning. Didn't have a chance to check them in the afternoon session, but maybe they were running too high. I'll have to keep a better eye on them next time.

Hey James - did you purchase the whole day cd from bluemilk? Looks like I was able to make it into most of their photo sessions. Considering getting the package deal.

 

Yes I bought the CD that has all my photos on it. It doesn't have other cars/Z's on the CD though.

 

I think that rotor is fine. As James said, just ensure it meets the thickness requirements. What brake pads and fluid were you running? Replacement rear rotors are cheap, like $100 for both. Did the brake pedal get soft at all, like at T11?

Tire pressures (and temps) will increase throughout the day as the track warms up and drivers continue to go faster. Tire pressures should be adjusted accordingly. And like you said, wheels should be re-torqued after every session!

You all probably saw me with my notebook - I keep track of everything so that I learn what works and what doesn't rather than find myself a year later asking myself what peak pressure caused the car to get uneasy and not remembering.

You were going faster, so they were likely a bit higher. You could look at the wear arrow on the sides of the tires to see how much they are (or aren't) rolling over, and adjust from there. Sorry I didn't get to ride with you, but NCRC had me tagged with Bill for semi-instruction.