Round 1 of the Saturday sprints was full of excitement at QLD raceway on the weekend. After arriving at AZA's and bleeding his brakes, we headed out to QR with dark clouds gathering in the skies behind us. We arrived at the track and after a short wait we were able to sign in. There would have only been 40- 50 cars running which is quiet compared to other times we had been out there. About 20 mins before we were due to hit the track the skies opened up and it rained torrentialy. First group was called and Aza and I hit the track in the heavy rain. Visibility was about 100m which meant that from turn six you could not see half way down the straight. All the apex's of the corners became huge pools of water so the usual race line was out of the question. Brake points were heaps earlier and power was put down alot more carefully. Lap times were slow, 1.19 was my fastest but keeping the car in a straight line and on the track was the priority not speed. My little proud moment for the day was that at the lineup for this run there were 2 Evo's behind me and not thinking I would have any chance against AWD's I waved them through. While they took off at the start by my third lap I was on the arse of one of them and he couldnt get away. 4th lap turn six i sat on him and got on the go pedal and had overtaken him by the Start line. I PWNED AN EVO IN THE WET.[TIS] The rain stopped after the 1st session and the track dried up over the next 2 sessions. And the lap times came down. Keep in mind that Aza's car is an NA Session 1 ztoy. 1.19.22 Aza. 1.22.18 Session 2 Aza. 1.07.71 ztoy. 1.07.81 Session 3 ztoy. 1.05.19 Aza. 1.06.07 Session 4 ztoy. 1.04.58 Aza. 1.04.73 My car behaved well although the gearbox is shagged. Syncros between 2nd,3rd and 4th dont work too well. Street tyres supprised me. Once they get some heat into them they have some decent and predictable grip. One observation I made on the exit of turn 2 (where I had my big off in the old car) was that there are 3 huge bumps on the exit that even with my 8/6kg springs, was still throwing the car around. I softened the dampening which made it slightly better but the spring rates are still too high. I will go down to 6/4 kg before I head out again. (when I came off i had 12/8kg springs, there was no chance of the suspension absorbing the bumbs) All and all it was a great day and Im stoked to have finally gotten back out on the track.:zlove: There werent too many photo's on the day but I managed to find a few on boostloosing. Turn 6 onto the straight.
Looks like you had fun. How did your brakes hold up? I totally cooked mine last time I was there pedal went straight to the floor at the end of the day and went through a brand new set of A1RM pads.
I had put Penrite Sin brake fluid in the day before which has a 305deg boiling point. Between that, slotted rotors and "Racebrakes" brake pads they worked well. I had no issues at all. Good solid bite and no brake fade. I wasnt going easy on them either
Well done guys, good to see you having a crack in the wet. And Ztoy, what was your observations of the handling of the 2+2 vs your last zed?
Its hard to say as so many things are different between the two. I have softer suspension, NA diff and street tyres and it had been 18 or so months between them. I cant say in direct comparison to the old car but I did find this car much more balanced. Understeer used to be a big issue with the old car but I noticed no abnormal understeer, even when i went in too hot. It actually had a slight oversteer when on the brakes and turning in to the apex. As for when Im on the gas, The car would step out a little but it never snaped out on me, not unless I was trying to at least. LOL I feel a lot more in control and comfortable behind the wheel om MK2 The chassis stiffness is noticeable, not so much in the handling but in the way the targa rattled whilst cornering but not on the straights
was an interesting day after seeing that pic of the straight i now know why i skated for 20 odd metres at the end of the straight i didnt realise how much water there was there, was something different to try and keep some speed in the wet, turn 2 was most interesting with every 10m or so the car would jump 30cm odd to the left, im kinda happy with my times seen i havent been out on the track since the nationals at warwick. no brake fade for me with some fresh fluid in the system thanks to big al for helping me change that, got some slight heat issues thou doesnt seem like enough airflow thru the new rad without the nose panel off, and my dodgey temp thingy needs some work. and dam lancer drivers takin up our pit bay, was close to using my window opener (aka hammer) so we could take the park brake off and move his car now time to work out the bugs for the next one
Takes a bit of guts to come back after a bad crash, well done Ztoy, well done both of you for showing teh Z32 is not just a pretty face
Awesome Good to see you back on the track Ztoy and the ever reliable AZA having a go.:thumbup: Already doubled the numbers of the disapointing effort by the queenslanders at last years Nissan Nationals on their own dung hill at Morgan park where we had 12 Z32's competing and only aza from Qld representing Hopefully your effort will inspire a few more to get out there.
more would represent, but unfortunately are unable to. PS my championship winning car is still for sale for anyone interested.
