So I know it's a bit early, but I can't wait for this year.

I'm planning to go to more track days this year than last year......Which won't be hard since I went to ZERO last year lol. Autocross was fun, but track days are so much more fun! Plus I'm planning on using my iphone to record lap times so I'll know how I do.

I need to finish prepping my car, which includes Osiris tune (to get the AFR safe), Rotors (for the new Carbotechs I bought in the beginning of 09' I'm finally going to put in), and swap/flush the brake fluid.

My plan is to hit up waterford first to get back in the groove. Then hit either gingerman or grattan, and finally finish the year at Mid-Ohio

Who else is going this year? Deepu? Steve? Lee?

I'll update this post to include a schedule of track events this year once they're posted.

Schedule (Updated 1/29)

April 9-11 | Mid-Ohio | NASA
April 10-11 | Putnam Park | MVP Track Time
April 10 | Gingerman | 3Balls Racing
May 10 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
May 13 | Waterford | SEMPCA
May 15-16 | Putnam Park | NASA
May 24 | Mid-Ohio | 3Balls Racing
May 24 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
May 31-1 | Mid-Ohio | Chin Motorsports
June 7 | Autobahn | MVP Track Time
June 7 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
June 10 | Waterford | SEMPCA
June 21 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
June 26-27 | BeaveRun | NASA
July 12 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
July 23-25 | Mid-Ohio | NASA
July 26 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
August 9 | Autobahn | MVP Track Time
August 9 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
August 12 | Waterford | SEMPCA
August 13-15 | Mid-Ohio | NASA
August 23 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
September 9 | Waterford | SEMPCA
Sept 11-12 | Autobahn | NASA
September 13 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
September 27 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports
Oct 9-12 | Putnam Park | NASA
Oct 11 | Gingerman | CGI Motorsports

OMG I'm Awesome

Update the following link with your attendance plans (Don't forget to save and close after you're done):

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?...xR0FLWVE&hl=en

 

I know I'll hit the track(s).. but too early to set plans for me.

I think I will stay away from very fast tracks like mid-ohio until I get a roll-bar/harness bar and restraints. I know I could just as easily roll or get killed at any other track.. but anything beyond the straight at Grattan (redlining 4th) seems extreme.. I know...we've probably all gone faster than that 'elsewhere' cough, cough.. but needing to brake hard and negotiate turns at extreme speed screams MORE SAFETY FEATURES to me.

I need to budget and determine what it'll take to make that happen - and keep it a street car too. Not a high prioirty for me now - I am definitely not tired of Waterford, Gingerman (to be revised), and Grattan (only 1 visit) yet. They still 'do it' for me when it comes to a all day adrenalin rush of driving.

I still have tread on my OEM wheels/tires. So I need to wear those out.. I will be doing my Brembo swap first thing this Spring... and some other exhaust work. I think I blew out a HFC at the end of the season 09 -and I need to find a solution to the Shockwave (too loud). Motordyne is releasing a revised shockwave that may do the trick for me...

needs - Brake swap, exhaust, re-etune.

wants - oil temp gauge, oil catch can, rebuild Forgeline wheels, brake ducting (if still fading after Brembo swap), oil cooler if temps are too high.

dreams - Rollbar/harness bar, seats/restraints, coilovers, camber/toe

I look forward to tracking with you again Rob. Always nice to see more Z's out there and share experience of passing Vettes, Porsches, Ferraris..

 

I definitely want to do a couple of track days this year. I've read some very scary things about the 370's stock brakes though.

Car and Driver's Nismo 370Z had a sudden brake failure after a few laps and they hit a wall at very high speed. Nissan's response was essentially "Who tracks a car with OEM pads?" In the thread about that 2-3 other guys said they had a similar issue that was solved by upgrading pads/fluid.

 

Just curious, are convertibles allowed at track events?

 

Yes, Convertibles are allowed at most of the track days organized by the local clubs.

 

I am really looking forward to this season then. It will be fun if you guys can participate in the track days. I do not plan to do any upgrades except for Stainless steel brake lines. Most of money will go to just doing the track days and replacing the worn out tires and pads. I might try slicks this season.

I will go with one more set of Carbotechs and then upgrade the pads. I can't say I totally dig them but I don't want to come to a conclusion until after I am through with the another set.

@Wheel Sale
I am going to be selling 2 x Enkei RPF1's in Silver, 17x9 +22 wheels that I bought last season. They are brand new, never been driven. However, they were mounted once on the tires. They didn't clear my brakes so I will be selling them. Let me know if anyone is interested.

I will be posting it in the market section pretty soon.

 

Was the problem clearing the width (side of the caliper?) If so, you can add spacers to push the wheel out.

Why just 2 wheels? Did the other 2 clear?

 

Before anything, I am getting new rear tires.

I am really hoping to get to the track this year with the car. I am planning one in early June with CGI motorsports at gingerman(Finally getting my dad to take the s2k out to a real course). I would really like to make it to Grattan. I have hear it is the 2nd most technical track in the US. I am still kinda worried about going to Waterford because of all the horror stories I have heard about that place, but Steve seems to enjoy it so I may try and get out there once this year as well.

I hope to see more 350z's on the track this year, and look forward to hopefully tracking with some of you.

Steve, let me know when you wanna do those brakes and I will be there. I promise not to break any bolts either j/k.

 

Yes, wheels didn't clear the caliper. I was not interested in using spacers as these wheels were bought to be used on the track and I wanted to go on the safe side. The wheels will fit fine on non-brembos.

I bought two different sizes of wheels to maintain the stagger. I now use 17x9.5 +18 on FR and 17x10 +18 on RR.

 

I'm going out this year. I plan on doing as many days as possible. I am definitely going to hit up mid-ohio this year with 3 *****.

 

I am hoping to take the sport out...
I will more then likely be last minute though on most of them. I am the best man in 3 different weddings this summer so I have ALOT of BS to do...

Should be kind of crazy but I am planning on going out there.
I am a bit concerned also about some of the 370's having issues with brakes and over heating though...

 

Rob - Check your pm's. Sent you a few more dates to add to the list.

 

You have to be carful, just saying yes.... The only cars that I know of that are allowed without modifications are S2000s and Porche Boxters. From what I have been told, all other vehicles will need a roll bar. This is after talking to two different organizations. Best tip I can give you is to call the organization/club and see what they say.

 

@Jonny Boy I do stand corrected If I look back, it is true that I have only seen S2000, Boxsters and a ton of Miatas. I don't remember if I saw any Miata's without rollbars.

It might be better to call. Rob did such a nice job of posting the schedule it makes it so easy. It might be better if you can add some sort of link to the club to look up info. It might help all the lazy people

 

The roadster has factory roll bars, but they are useless as my head is taller then them.

 

You should still call the group you want to drive with. Tell them the car you are driving and it is equipped with a factory rollbar. The worst they could say is no, but they might allow you to run as convert Z's are probably not considered very often.

You might want to leave out the part about the rollbar being useless because of your height in the conversation.

 

In my limited experience (10 track days) last year, I found that I liked the following local groups to run with, I have done HPDE's with some other groups too but felt that they were not as organized and/or cheaper as the following.

3Balls
SEMPCA
Lotus Group

 

Phreak, you can run your car at most 3 ***** events (just not Mid-Ohio).

 

Updated first post with excel file to track attendance

 

Rob - thats a great idea, but I can not make any changes to it. I wanted to add my name to most likely going to the June 7th HPDE at Gingerman, but I was unable to add anything. I could navigate through the spreadsheet, just cant add any text.