I can’t believe its been 6 years!  ZCG will celebrate its 6th birthday on April 7th 2010.  Its been a great ride with lots of Z cars and good times.   Zonc will be joining us to host our Dyno day celebration.   See the details below.

I am registered for Hooked On Driving’s Friday 3/12 track day at Thunderhill Raceway Park and would love to have other Datsuns and Nissans there. Been wanting to give it a try? Then sign up! Not quite ready to do a track day? Come on up and check it out! Visitors are always welcome. If you come, please find my car in the paddock and say hello.

Thunderhill is a blast to drive and is also one of the safer tracks around, with lots of wide open spaces if you happen to exit the asphalt (which rarely happens with HOD’s excellent coaches on board).

Below is a photo from my last Thunderhill event back in September. The 1972 240Z next to my Z33 was used to help develop the ZCG 240Z brake upgrade. David Ray, Hooked on Driving founder and former 240Z and 350Z racer, helped with the testing. Click here for the article. ZCG and the owner did an awesome restoration job. This car is gorgeous.

Here is a video clip from the event. At the time, the car was still on stock brakes and street tires. Lots of tire noise and early braking!

Video Clip – 9/18/09 – HOD at Thunderhill

Monday the 1^st of February was an amazing day for a couple of reasons.  For one, Fred of the ZCG crew turned 40.  And secondly, Fred gave me the day off to play with the shop 370Z.  The day started off at ZCG in the early morning hours where I met the other two cars in the pack, Scott with his Z33 and Gia with his Nismo edition Z34.  We drove down to Laguna Seca to start our track adventures for the day.  Once we arrived at Laguna Seca we prepped our Z’s with numbers and a double check of our wheel torques.  After a brief driver’s meeting, we were off to drive our first session.  It’s been a while since I have been able to go to the track and hone my skill set.  Years ago, before ZCG, going to the track was a regular event in my life.  Driving on the track with Scott really made me appreciate the value of seat time.  Scott’s many track days and autocrosses have paid off and he and his Z33 looked great out there.  A few days prior to the event, we fitted Gia’s Nismo edition Z34 with a test ZCG oil cooler and some upgraded front brake pads.  The oil temps were in range for moving forward with our next round of testing.  The brakes, on the other hand, weren’t able to keep up with Gia’s driving style.  I have shared my data with Stoptech and they say help is on the way in the form of a pad that should help us on the street and allow us to push the limits at the track.  Once Gia’s Z34 brakes were unable to continue, we double teamed the ZCG Z34 with back to back sessions.  During these sessions, we were able to keep our oil temperature under control with the help of the ZCG oil cooler.  The highest oil temps were in the 250F range.  For those of you just tuning in, this is the 3^rd test version of our oil cooler.  We feel after the next set of tests that we will be able to serve the Z community with a product that will allow you to keep your Z’s oil temps within reason and out of the famous limp mode.  We will be returning to Laguna Seca on February 25^th to complete the shake-down on our latest mods.  The track organization we are running with is NCRC, nice guys with great organization which leads to lots of track time.

Turn in,

Rawb

As ZCG gets ready to leave for the ZONC Hearst Castle Cruise, we have a Blog entry from Bill (a Z car fan and spirited driver).  He gives us a full report from his last track day at Infineon Raceway.  Have a great weekend and don’t forget your Valentine’s day card for your special someone.

Long live the Z

Rawb

The photos and videos are from Hooked on Driving’s January 27th track day at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

This 2003 350Z Touring model has seen a handful of track days. It started going to the track on the stock 1-piston brakes and street tires with only a few upgrades: Stillen dual exhaust and AEM cold air intake. Recently added (from ZCG) were StopTech’s small front and rear brake kits with Performance Friction 97 pads. This was the car’s first event on track tires: 245/40-18 BF Goodrich g-Force R1s on the original 18″ wheels. Track tires with tire pressure monitors! The car is otherwise stock (with heated leather seats to take the chill out of winter track days). Despite the upgrades, this is not a track-only car. After swapping back to street tires, it handles the daily commute to and from work.

Infineon is a very technical track, which is challenging but makes for a lot of fun. It has elevation changes, two hairpin turns and the famous esses. The track was wet in the morning. There were a few spins and other incidents, including this car’s slide off the pavement at turn 3a (notice the mud on the left front tire). Nothing hurt but the driver’s pride. A wet track really helps a driver learn to be smooth, a very important part of going fast when the track is dry.

The sun came out in the afternoon and speeds went up. The driver reports that the tires are great, but the StopTech brakes are amazing! With the track pads and regular bleeding with high-performance fluid, they haul the car down from speed over and over without a hint of fade; a huge increase in braking performance over the stock brakes.

This video is from the last session of the day in the intermediate group. It starts out with a few laps of lead-follow with an Audi S4. This run group started out small and by this session, many drivers had packed up for the day, leaving very little traffic. Gotta love having room to roam!

Video Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv4Md5XmSpw

Video Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOXHgn8PCUs

Hooked on Driving, a longtime ZONC supporter, is well known for putting on quality track events. With a strong emphasis on education and safety, it’s a great place for beginners to get started. The event prices include a catered lunch and individual coaching for beginning through advanced drivers. At noon, the coaches fire up their own cars and give beginners hot laps around the track. Big fun! Their web site, www.hookedondriving.com, has lots of information and videos for first-timers.

Even though most of this blog’s track day posts feature modified cars, a stock Z33 is a great track car if properly prepped. Track prep is not complicated. It includes checking the wheel bearings, lug nut torque, belts and hoses. It might also include replacing old brake fluid to help the brakes handle the higher temperatures generated on the track. ZCG can take care of prepping your car for the track.

Please note that in addition to providing full-service maintenance and upgrades, ZCG can also supply parts for do-it-yoursefers. This car’s StopTech brakes were sourced from ZCG and installed by the owner.

]]> http://www.zcarblog.com/2010/02/12/uncategorized/happy-friday-from-z-car-blog.html/feed 0 http://www.zcarblog.com/2010/02/04/uncategorized/a-little-taste-from-your-friends-at-z-car-blog.html http://www.zcarblog.com/2010/02/04/uncategorized/a-little-taste-from-your-friends-at-z-car-blog.html#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:07:05 +0000 Rawb http://www.zcarblog.com/?p=3841

I have quite a few posts in the works that should be done in the next day or two. Coming up will be a full track report from last Monday’s sessions at Laguna Seca, a nice write up on a G35 build and lots more.

Thanks to those of you who are patiently waiting.

Long live the Z

Rawb