Yo dudes,

 

Being at uni, im a member of the "formula brookes club" which has karting days etc.

Well coming up soon is the 1st track day, which i wanna do as the Z's a bit classier than most student fiestas etc.

 

Firstly i've just read there are noise restrictions, no more than 98db, ( http://www.formulabrookes.co.uk/track_days.htm ) will that be a problem for a Scorpion cat back exhaust? I still have the cats. I also have a k&n filter and will run about 14psi but i doubt that affects noise.

 

Secondly, i've been into slightly increasing power but have never done anything about handling or brakes. Will shitty stock brakes start to get big fade? Will a decent new set of pads help much, i think mine are quite low.

And handling, the back does the common jumping round over bumps, and i think the car feels a bit loose generally. What would be your first thing to look into changing here (i know it could be anything but i dont have long to prepare, so the 1st, most likely thing).

 

And finally,

Have a nice day dudes. :)

 

Cheers

Is the event only open to uni people or can anyone come? i wanna come and its just up the road from where i live!!!

Nice! Never had sh*t like that when I was at uni. But then, I doubt it would've been much fun doing Goodwood in a knackered old Cortina!

 

Noise - bit of a b*stard having both static and drive-by tests! I dunno how loud a Scorpian is - I think I've heard one and it was nowhere near as loud as mine. So the static test should be OK. Assuming mine is OK, that is. You be able to fiddle it a bit by deciding what your max revs are before hand (so 3/4 of that falls on a quieter spot). Drive-by, if you're worried, you can fiddle by either keeping as far away from the meter as possible and / or letting off as you pass it. That's assuming there is only one meter.

 

Your brakes and tyres are gonna get a right beating! If the pads are very low then maybe change them, but if there's a few mil of meat left then use them up and chuck them. Try to brake hard for a short time rather than dragging for longer. Brake too early if anything, till you get to know where you should be braking then get faster as you go on. The more you get your speed right, the less stress you'll need to put on your brakes. Tyres - they're gonna melt, and you'll probably get big chunks of rubber flying off into your arches! That's to be expected with road tyres tho. You might be able to set up a bit more over/understeer by changing your tyre pressures, but unless you're thinking of changing the whole suspension, I dunno what else you can do to improve the handling in the short term. Remember the track is infinitely more smooth than your average public road, so I wouldn't worry too much about bouncing over big bumps! You probably wanna make sure you take out anything that isn't bolted down or can be removed... spare wheel, toolbox, yesterdays McDonalds... Don't forget to get some fuel! You'll be eating gallons of the stuff. Do the obvious checks like oil and water. I dunno about the 300 sump but you're probably best making sure you're up to the max, maybe even a bit over so you don't get oil starvation when you're chucking the car about.

 

Can't really think of much else. Sounds like you're gonna have a good day. Look out for the back ends of those slow Fiestas! :)

Thanks for that, good advice.

 

Realisticly, i think all i can do to better the handling will be some new front tyres, mine are low and a pretty shitty make i think. My rears are toyo proxies which i find pretty good, are they considered a good tyre for the front aswell? But then again would be a shame to put new tyres on just to shred em on the course.

 

I'm not with the Z here so i cant tell how much pads i have left, if needed i just hope i have enough time to get a set.

 

God i'm gettin nervous just thinkin about, excited but nervous. Just hope the Z holds out ok, i probably wont push it *that* hard. ;)

 

Is it open to just uni students? I expect so, but i can ask.

Prolly better getting your new tyres afterwards!!! Slicks are better on track!

 

 

 

New pads and high temp brake fluid before would be good and a reality check as to what it could cost you. My neighbour got too excited with his new model STI Scooby and the £50 track morning he went to enjoy ended up costing over £700 when he spun off after braking too late and crunched a front wing on the tyre wall. He was very lucky only to crunch the wing and nothing else tho.

 

Enjoy but be careful too.

Chears m8, if you can find out if its open to all, and let us know! if so then i'll defo be there!!!

Originally posted by mtl

Chears m8, if you can find out if its open to all, and let us know! if so then i'll defo be there!!!

 

Hehe, would be class, supposed to be a student day with shit cars, yet a convoy of Z's turn up :rofl:

 

Email already sent, would be nice to meet some fellow southerners.

sounds like fun - when and where ???:D

U guys are just after the young punani....?

 

 

Me too!!:D

If you are dubious about your brakes, change the pads and fluid, and bed in correctly before getting on track. If your low pads decide to throw their hand in whilst under a nice heavy braking move, you'll be sorry!

 

Dont use new tyres, as youll pull the tread blocks off, go for a 1/2 way worn set. Road tyres with no grip will be total shit, as they arent designed to be 'slick', wrong compound rubber and all that, and wont grip at all. Obviosuly if you cant get hold of 1/2 worn ones. Go for the lower ones as you'll just knacker the new tyres (if you are driving like you ought to on track at least ;))

 

Make sure ALL your fluids are checked, and check them during the day. Take spare of each, not worth risking the mechanicals of your car! Keep your eye on fuel too, as the last thing you need is the pump not to pick anything up coming out of a corner and you having no power;) Tyre pressures as well, check on them...this is maybe the time to experiment with them a little too!

 

Dont go for the last banzai run in the last session, as it'll all end in tears ;)

 

Exactly what 51x said....doh.

Ahhhhhhh thats not ****ing fair. How come hertfordshire uni cant do things like this. My mates got a yellow swb N/A and it would be well worth it to turn up at our uni with 2 300zx's to do a track day. All the other student cars would look acute and deprived.

 

Damn i cant wait for my car.

 

YES I WANT PUNANI JUST TELL ME WHERE AND WHEN. :D :D :D

Originally posted by Ay3388

Exactly what 51x said....doh.

Ah, but maybe you said it better... and maybe a bit more responsibly? :D Good point about the part-worn tyres. Even better to go for a set of R-compounds on a second set of wheels, but that aint gonna be cheap! Talking to a tyre bloke the other day, he said brand spanking new tyres are gonna need to do a few (hundred) miles before they're up to full grippy-ness. Dunno if that's really the case tho. Depends how worn the current ones are I s'pose. They'll be alright ;)

 

Forgot fuel pump starvation too - another good point. Great for weight-saving that (running on empty) but gonna scare the cr*p out of you if it happens, mid-bend!

 

How young is this young punani?! What are you studying Robtor?

Studying Mechanical engineering, might change to auto engineering next year. I'm afraid im not postgraduate so the punani is about 20. I guess you'll have to make do, i'm sorry.

 

Interesting thoughts on the tyre situation, i think ill probably keep what i got and then change the fronts after, i doubt i'll be pushing it that hard anyway (ofcourse depends on the bird count, gotta impress!).

 

And i'll fill the tank to the top.

Talking to people the day might have been moved back to early January damn it.

Maybe i borrow your Z x51 as it'll be run in by then, u know, keep up the Z's reputation and all. :)

Originally posted by Robtor

Maybe i borrow your Z

Yeah, why not ;)

 

Is this day open to spectators? No pressure at all!.. might be interesting to come and watch. You've got females on an engineering course? We had, like, two... I was definitely in the wrong place!

 

Fas, I thought you was married!?! Where'd I get that idea from?

Is your Z manual or auto ?

If it's auto you want to only run 4 or 5 laps at a time to start off with as your brakes get much more of a hammering !!

 

First time I went on track back when my Z was auto, with standard brakes, my brakes faded out to nothing after about 8 laps and warped ! There were even pale blue flames flickering over them :eek:

 

A good tip is to keep your driving smooth, especially to start with. Focus well up the track and prepare all your manouevers well in advance, start turning the wheel gradually rather than trying to throw the car across the track, and the same with your brakes; gradually increase the pressure - don't jump on them.

 

Also remember to cater for other drivers losing it around you. ;)

 

And make sure your passenger brings a change of underwear :D

 

Enjoy mate !

IM NOT MARRIED - what gives u that idea.

 

Im free and single even when im dating. :D

 

Fas

Originally posted by faisal

what gives u that idea.

I really dunno. I thought I read it somewhere. Been married / got divorced? Maybe that was it?!

I think ur zed has got u all hallucinated. :rolleyes: :p :D

Goodwood is a fast circuit, plenty of fast sweepers. Your tyres are going to take a hammering.

 

I believe that their very strict on the noise regs as they have had trouble with the local council. I believe that the do static and muultiple mics around the circuit that are linked directly to the council offices.

Don't go out there think that because you might have more power than some that your going to be quicker. If you see a car that wasn't there a while ago he's quicker and let him by even if he's in a mini. Better that than pushing too hard and having an off.

Mainly learn the circuit and bulid up your speed. Don't stay out too long as your tyres will go off very quickly as well as your brakes depending on your technique.

And make sure you enjoy yourself. Trackday are very addictive. anyone can drive in a straight line and nail the throttle. It takes alot more skill to drive round a track and hook up the bends ánd braking points.

 

Your' going to love it :D

Very interesting points here.

How did you do at Donny Martin ?

Originally posted by SMW1

Very interesting points here.

How did you do at Donny Martin ?

 

Hello Stu.

 

What an awesome day, with great people. I had a great day, but found some of the bends hard to master. The top of craners I wasn't quite sure where to put the car at first, and also on the run up to Coppice which is blind. I pretty much always braked for too long and not getting on the power early enough. It's quite strange turning into a bend at speed that you can't see yet. I but it always feels good when you hook it up and carried the speed all the way down Starkeys Straight.

There is another blind bend in the middle of craners that I did nail and it was awesome going through there at speed.

It's all about confidense and trying to take it all in your stride and sort it out as it happens rather than panicing.

By the end of the day I had most of it down and was hooking most of it up, the brakes weren't getting so hot and must have been out there for 20-25 mins and the brakes where still fine.

 

I will get some R compounds as road tyres are just not up to the job. It's looks like I've been at them with a blow torch! But it seems the way to go and will stop me killing my road tyres.

 

There was a lone 300ZX out there to, but I think he was having some understeer problems according to 51X. I was out with him at one point an he wasn't gaining on me at all in a lap which I was surprised about. There was some nice cars even if some of them weren't very well driven. That Green Escort was very nice a so quick. It one has 185 bhp and was quicker that most out tehe round the track

 

Just a shame that 51X car wasn't ready in time to join in the fun. But there will be plenty more for him next year.

 

I hear this is your kinda thing. Fancy coming out to play next year?

 

One for you guys

 

300ZX shaped holes in the Armoc / Kitty Litter not good. Yes the cars were designed to be driven hard and fast but not by people with budget limitations in place.

 

How about the first club pruchase being my MR2 asa Club TrackDay car? A spare set of wheels / tryes for ruining and then the road wheels back on to take it home again...

 

Go on you know it makes sense - I'll even gice the club a rate. Of course should my erstwhile South African and his cheque for £9,500 turn up I might re-consider! Funny how he's not been in touch of late. :rofl:

 

Isn't this Ian's car, the oldish guy from SE ?

 

Will be up for it next year mate.

oooh. that looks fun :)

Originally posted by SMW1

Isn't this Ian's car, the oldish guy from SE ?

He's not that old! But yeah, that's Ian and Christian (father / son). Dunno who's driving there tho.