Taking the Z to its first real track day

[70 Cam Guy]

This may also be obvious but if you go off and get stuck, don't get out of the car. I've been to a few private track events now and that is really frowned upon because it is so dangerous. One guy was told he was restricted to the skid pad after that (and it was only 10am)

Like everyone said, take your time to get used to the track and go your own pace. It will be loads of fun

On Sunday, there was a BMW that flipped at Buttonwillow driving wreckless in grip. He got sideways, slid off, and the whole car flipped when the tires sank into the soft mud. Don't drive like an idiot, drive within your limits and you'll have a great day

[d240zx2]

#12. I wholeheartedly agree w/J. The blues can be street driven, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Marty Rogan]

One more word of caution... Don't do it unless you are willing to get addicted!!!

A friend of mine kept bugging me to go to a drivers school just to try it out. I went to the 1 day school and that was it, I was hooked!! That was 7 years ago.

The other thing to keep in mind is that driving on a track is very hard on a car. Things can break. Accidents do happen. If you are not willing to leave the car at the track after a mishap, don't take it there. Your insurance company most likely won't cover you either. In my case I didn't want to risk messing up my blue car. That lead me to buying my yellow car for track use. And like I said, this is addictive, which is why I am in the process of buying a purpose built race car.

That being said, I don't want to ruin it for you. It truly will be a blast driving your 240Z the way is was meant to be driven.

Have fun!

Marty

[gnosez]

Track insurance is usually available for a small fee (about $70. per $10,000.) . Your regular insurance will not cover an accident, even if you didn't cause it, so plan accordingly.

In 10 yrs of high speed "school" events I have yet to see a car to car incident but there is usually one car per day who's driver lost control and had a bad day at the track.

I'd have to say that most were caused by over driving their cars.

That said the most dangerous thing you will do the day of your track event is to drive to the track and back. Everyone is driving in the same direction, no cell phones, texting, vans, SUVs, or inattentive drivers (a concrete wall at speed tends to get noticed).

[jmortensen]

I've seen a HPDE accident that totalled a car, and my car was a near miss once! The accident was an MR2 at Buttonwillow which spun in Club Corner going into the bus stop clockwise. The guy caught the car going probably 85 mph backwards and just rolled along, and along, and along. Pretty soon we were all futilely yelling "BRAKE! BRAKE! BRAKE!" from the pit wall and he didn't. He eventually backed into a corner worker's stand at probably 40 mph. Could have stopped probably 3x in the distance he traveled to hit that stand. Both feet in would have saved his day.

My friend was driving my Z at Streets of Willow and he downshifted to second and the transmission went into 2nd and 5th at the same time, locking the rear wheels and sending him sideways at a concrete block corner workers stand. Front end of the car cleared the stand by about 3'. I about crapped my pants, I think it's pretty safe to say that he did too. He played around with the shifter for a bit and all of a sudden it popped out of gear and we drove it for the rest of the day (and years afterwards) without incident.

[GreenZZZ]

One more word of caution... Don't do it unless you are willing to get addicted!!!

I did it one day. Was pretty hooked except I blew up my motor. I spun a rod. The Z racers with L motors asked me "did ya put an extra quart of oil in?". I said no... "Well, you were cornering real good out there, you probably had all the oil on the wall of the block and ran the crank dry...." Other factor was the block has 300K miles on it.

Sure was fun!!! :stupid:

[John Coffey]

Watch the brake markers and use them or anything else, a bush, a fence, the red and white curbs on the side of the track, change in pavement color, etc as a guide for when to start braking.

Don't use a Porta-Potty as a brake or any other kind of marker like I did at Thunderhill. Someone moved it between qualifying and the race and I went off at the kink after Turn 9 at 70+ on lap 1.:stupid:

Edited February 26, 2010 by John Coffey

[WW2Winger]

All above is good advice. Mine is simple... Don't overestimate your skills. Driving at speed is a learned skill and the more you do it, the better you get. A year from now, you will look back and realize how little you knew. Take it one step at a time and respect your instructors input. Enjoy the experience, like Marty said, be prepared to become addicted and broke. Road racing is addictive AND expensive.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I find the words in this post above to be very true... I THOUGHT I could drive fairly well until I got into autocross. Many seasons later, after improving enough to finish in the top three regularly, I really knew I COULD NOT drive. The more I learn, the higher my expectations get. I really have to make myself not drive like I am at an autocross. I cannot allow myself to push that hard. The car has 70400 ish miles on it. So I think I am fine in that department.

My rear strut bar came in today...Not sure if that will help, but it will provide a nifty camera mount!!

[gnosez]

On the way to the track you look around and think - "I'm in the upper 10% of the very good drivers on this road".

After a few sessions on the track you say - " I'm in the lower 10% of all the drivers on this course".

[oldhemi]

I really admire your courage to bring that beautiful car out on a track exposing it to possible harm! I know that you will be cautious the 1st time out.

Methinks that there will be another Z in your garage if you like doing this!

Where is the track?

[Zedyone_kenobi]

grandsport speedway south of Gulf Greyhound track