EXE TRACKDAY 10th March 2008 - Winton raceway
ok... back from hot day at winton. i didnt really have time to write it up since i've been abit busy preparing for the test that im gonna have tomorrow. so here we go...
this is my first time going to the track with street tyres on the 350Z. why? coz my semis all bald lol... also the 350Z is back to stock coz i'm selling it, now with full interior trim. except for the type NR brake pad (which are around the same rating with stock brembo pads but somehow cheaper o_O)
my street tyres PB was in the morning session: 1:45.9200 (with a passenger) and the rest of the day i couldnt even get closer to that. 
my semis PB was: 1:41.0680 with semis, weight reduction (37kg off), lighter wheels, catback, pod filter, spring and front camber arm. thats more than 4 sec differences T_T... why? i think i know why... 
driving on the track with stock 350z with street tyres are hard for me coz im used to the amount of grip i have from the semis. i think the semis have covered up most of the lack of my driving skills and smoothness... my lap time on the day wtih street tyres was not consistent at all compared to using semis.
my Winton 3KM lap time record
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- 11/12/2006: 1:43.9470 sec (235/45/17 RE55s, APS catback, race pipe, K&N filter, HC+ pads, 37.2kg weight saving, 164kw atw) - first time ever @ winton
- 26/01/2007: 1:42.2420 sec (same mods as above, 164kw atw)
- 11/03/2007: 1:41.3410 sec (same mods as above, 164kw atw)
- 16/04/2007: 1:41.4970 sec (front tyres finished, so i changed to a 2nd hand 225 dunlop semis, i also added RSR spring, 164kw atw)
- 01/07/2007: 1:41.0680 sec (bought 2nd hand from takahasi: 245/40/18 RE55s semis**, 164kw atw) **CURRENT PB with semi slick**
- 30/10/2007: 1:41.2250 sec (installed Cusco Front Camber arm**, put 'X' pipe on the APS catback, 160kw atw*)
- 10/03/2008: 1:45.9200 sec (stock, full interior trim, street tyres) **CURRENT PB with street tyres**
now the boring bits... 
this is what i think:
STREET TYRES
with the street tyres, i found it that i cannot be careless, have to be extra smooth. some corners, had to take it on 2nd gear when im using street tyres (instead of 3rd gear when im using semis). this is due to if i enter too fast like i enter on semis, i will understeer on street tyres, but then when i enter slower, the rpm on the corner entry was abit too low so i had to use lower gears... hope that make sense...
plenty of sideways which is very fun but slower i think i need one more track day on street tyres to be able to drive more consistently
a stock 2003 350z did 1:43s at winton with a pro driver on the magazine review, so my bench mark is to get within 2 sec off his time... CONSISTENTLY... so i think i stil have alot of room for improvement since my laptime with street tyres was not inconsistent...
the whole day i had passenger except for the end of the day which i did slower anyway. so i think passenger dont make alot of differences on a big engines. not at much as a smaller engines i guess...
SEMISLICK
with semis i can be more aggressive, enter the corner more agressively although it doesnt have as much warning as the street tyres... however, i should've gone the other way, learnt to race with street tyres first and then move up to semis. maybe thats why i was stuck on 1:41s for so long. but now i realise i abuse and rely on the grip so much without paying more attention to how to drive better and smoother.
conclusion:
at the end of the day, i'm pretty happy with it coz its always fun to go out there and drive! i'm also thankful that i found so many driving skill defects that i had, that i would never seen if i stayed driving on the semis at the track.
hopefully after i maximise and improve my driving on street then i would be faster on semis. *finger crossed*
here is my individual lap times for the day
Practice Session
1:46.7300
1:46.0400
1:47.7800
1:45.9200
1:48.4800
comment: with passenger, lap 1 - 3 i was driving the same way i drive with my semis. lap 4 i tried using 2nd gear on turn 4,5, and 6. last lap i got sideway on turn 4-5-6 >_< src="http://www.exe-crew.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif" alt="Razz" border="0">
session01
1:47.7600
1:46.3900
1:47.4400
1:47.1900
1:50.5000
1:58.0900
comment: i put the pressure down from 40psi hot to 32psi hot. still with passenger, lap 1-4 i use 3rd gear, lap 5 was my drift lap last lap was my cool down lap.
session02
1:47.0900
1:47.2400
1:48.3100
1:50.9500
1:51.2000
1:48.2600
comment: with passenger, put the pressure up to 36psi hot. still wasnt good.
session03
1:48.2700
1:47.7700
1:48.6800
comment: no passenger, put the pressure up back to 40psi, but then it was too hot and the tyres got very slippery
session04
1:49.3600
1:49.4000
1:48.3000
2:29.4600
comment: drift session with josh in the car . i spun out on the last lap oops
session05
1:49.0800
1:48.9600
1:48.0800
1:50.1100
comment: last session, no passenger, most ppl have gone home by then, only me and dan left on the track... i gave up after 4 laps coz its just too bloody hot...
Result of the day can be found here:
MORNING PRACTICE SESSION: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?10/03/2008.WIN.P1
Afternoon SESSION: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?10/03/2008.WIN.P2
PHOTOS - Thx to Jason Ho for these great photos
