Had a great time last week at the Z car convention in Syracuse. Unfortunately I was only there for the track school, as my grandfather is in the hospital, and i also had a lot of repair to do before the track.
dan and I retorqued the cyl head and adjusted the valves (soo much easier this time with the remote starter button). Then crack the bleeders to put superblue in, and the pass side rear bleeder broke. Pull the drum off, the wheel cylinder is leaking like crazy.
My dad ordered both wheel cylinders, and shoes. I wish he had just bought my rear disc conversion on his car and made our lives easier and his braking better, but oh well. dan and I did all the work, my dad had to drive his mother to cleveland clinic and stay with his dad. shitty week, but we wanted to get our mind off it for a while.
Drive down there went well, but fan clutch siezed. Oh well, didn’t run that hot on the track. just gotta keep it moving.
So we get to Syracuse, TON of amazing z cars! Here are some pics;
ls1 240z very clean 6 sp
maxima diesel swap in a 240z. set up to do 100mph+ and still get 40mpg
Beautiful paint, hot panasports, very clean car
chromed out L24
crazy convertible 280z. not my steez, but still cool
the Yokahama 350z. This thing was kicking everyone’s ass in auto x, including the imsa 240z’s with professional drivers.
240z or 280z (i forget, doesnt really matter) Shelby Daytona replica, very nice job. I think it had an ls1 in it, can’t remember.
BEAUTIFUL widebody 510
couple racers, the 33 is a “bob sharp” car
Now onto the track school: classroom session before each track event. Covered a lot, and addressed the whole track turn by turn. By the end of the day I would hit turn 1 in 3rd gear then WOT in 4th all the way through the esses, carry the speed down the back straight, and hit the busses at about 65mph.
My dad’s Z has a few mods, but besides carbon kevlar whatever pads and superblue fluid his brakes are stock. It was killing me, this thing braked like shit compared to my bimmer.
And it has a few engine mods, but nothing significant. this thing was a dog. Tough getting it up to 100mph on the back straight.
The brakes were bothering me more though. By the end of the day, I was running a LOT faster and hitting most turns in 3rd (esses in 4th, and turn 9 high in 2nd, able to carry enough speed through it to take turn 10 at 65mph) so i wasn’t able to use engine braking since I was hitting the turns much faster, so brake fade became a problem.
It was a pretty funny experience though. I was putting a lot of z31s and z32tt’s to shame in the corners. A few of the drivers were taking shitty lines, but even the ones holding good lines I was right on there ass. It sucked, when we got into a straight they’d wave for me to pass, but I couldn’t accelerate nearly as quick as they could so it was a struggle. A few times I had to say to my instructor “I’m at wot I don’t think I can make it before the next turn!” lol. But by the next turn they’d be far back in my rearview.
By the end of the day I had improved my driving exponentially. Got my line down in pretty much every turn, was carrying a LOT more speed through them, learned a lot in terms of entry speed, where to start on the gas then WOT so I could track out ideally for the next turn, as fast as possible. Trail braking, heel toe under extreme braking, etc etc.
I had a blast. Learned SO much, and my instructor was very pleased. I was passing 300zxtt’s all over the place. Except in the straight, obviously. lol.
The last heat was tough though. Like I said, I was carrying a lot more speed, so brake fade was an issue. But worst was fuel; my last heat was my best, I improved exponentially with each heat. But a 15 gallon tank didn’t like the drive from syracuse to the glen, then 3.4 miles a lap 10 laps per heat 6 heats throughout the day. The fuel gauge doesn’t work. I usually estimate the fuel through the trip, but I had no idea just how bad of gas mileage you get on a fucking racetrack. Even when averaged in with the drive from 'Cuse to the Glen, which was mostly 5th gear, the tank still averaged out to 16mpg!!!
So the car started doggin coming out of turns, especially those with a high degree of camber. in turn 8 on my 5th lap in my last heat going up that hill it just stuck at 5 grand. I had just passed a bunch of cars, now they were all on my ass. So same story after turn 9, and I let 3 cars pass me. get the car up to 50 for turn 10 (had been taking this turn 15mph faster previously) and same story after turn 11, it wont go above 4 grand on the front straight, 3 more cars pass me. I needed to pit. So I just took it easy on a last lap and pitted early.
I improved immensely, i was beating a shitload of cars in the corners, 240s 280s and 300s. I was getting my ass kicked on the straights, but I was able to carry enough speed through the turns to hold my place. It was a blast, and I can’t wait to do it again. My z car will have front and rear brake upgrade by next summer, and hopefully the motor I want, but if not I’m not too concerned.
This was a blast, and I recommend it to everyone. You will be humbled, and you will improve. Learn soo much. I feel like such a more capable driver now. I can’t wait to do more schools and track days next year
