WAKEFIELD! new PB (1:11.1s) ^__^

after 1600km plus round trip (including the tracks km, getting lost on finding petrol session and etc) i must say its all well worth it...
its a long trip, but firstly, i am not alone. completing it with the exe-crew made it the best long trip for trackday ever! secondly... such a great track, great wheather and such a good organiser... well done autosports.

the weather was fine, abit too cold in the morning for a tropic boy like me but was perfect closer to midday...


morning prep:
i was lost with kenny, jimjim, and jally. trying to find a petrol station. when we got back to wakefield, the briefing has started and no time to change to my semis... so i decided to go on the first session with the street tyres and change to semis in between session 1 and session 2...


session1:
was on nankangs street tyres... i didnt have a good lap coz too much traffic... and the tyres still on 40psi for fuel economy on highway ... i did best lap of 1.17.7s based on my phone gps timer and never got a clean lap... i was using shaun's wheels and tyres which the offset are not enough for the front due to the spoke design. so i have to use 25mm spacer at the front to clear the front brakes caliper.


the result was: front tyres are sticking out like a dog's ball and the rear were tucked in... although the colour match the car pretty good... hahaha

the car get very sideway when i am not careful at wakefield... but i must say the nankang, even with 40psi on it, still grip and handles pretty well... it didnt snap on me and gave me plenty of warning... altho the limit was pretty low...
1:26.2280
1:20.9280
1:22.4420
1:18.4520
1:19.2320
1:22.8930
1:17.7200



session 2:
enough playing around with street tyres or shaun will kill me coz i finish his treads... i take the wheels and the spacer off, put on my semis. i run the on backwards rotation so even out the wear. but when i was in the middle of adjusting the psi, the session already started, so i went anyway... my front left was 30psi cold and the other 3 was still 40psi.

this was very stupid of me to do, i should've miss the session instead of putting my self and others in danger.... sorry kenny... i spun in front of you...

what happened was, everytime i brake, only one wheel, the front left, that will grip so the rest keep skiding, and the tail olways goes out and i can't really control the car... so after 3 hot laps i decided to pull out of the session and fix the pressure... managed only did best lap of 1:13.8s that session.
1:22.1210
1:32.7350
1:16.8940
1:13.8940

when i got back the semis was not even hot, except one, the one that has 30psi on it...


session 3:
i went with 30psi cold. and the car feels ok, but didnt get 2 good clear lap. managed to do best of 1:12.2s with it.
1:15.6080
1:12.9360
1:15.4910
1:20.4810
1:12.3440
1:13.6020
1:17.0360
highlight: i got chased and pressured by jimjim on the 2nd last lap and decided that it was a good idea to climb the ripple strip on turn 4 (right turn up hill). the result was on the pic at the blog post header, my car was off the ground and get thrown out off the track on top of the hill, managed to swerve back just in time before turn 5 which is the right hander downhill.


session 4:
i tried to adjust the pressure to 32psi hot. which feel alot better and i did have one clean lap... i did 1:11.8s best lap
1:15.8780
1:13.5300
1:15.6650
1:11.8020
1:15.1460
1:12.5130
1:13.8160
1:12.5380


session 5:
ran with 31psi hot. the car felt just right, but unfortunately, this session i was stuck behind few cars on every lap. couldnt really stick on the racing line.
1:15.0540
1:15.5480
1:14.1600
1:13.1700
1:12.1750
1:12.6230
1:12.6390
1:13.0810


session 6:
this is a combined session coz most ppl have head home. i did only 5 laps and i lowered the pressure to 30psi hot. which i thought it might be to low, but i was WRONG! it felt great!!! the car just grip and grip... i got 1:11.1s best lap which is also my PB for the day. i started pushing from the warm up lap, coz this combined session is not long after i finished my session, so my tyres are still hot... i finished the session early coz i heard thumping noise from my car which ended up being just this lump of rubber stuck on my semis tread.
1:12.3160
1:11.1630
1:15.3620
1:15.7180
1:12.3760


session 7:
which is the last session, i was a very fun session, despite the heavy traffic, i enjoyed following some other cars like evos, lotus, dc2r, etc and see the differences in our lines. i actually learnt alot from it... too bad the day have to end. i got 2 clear laps on this last session.
1:13.9110
1:16.0540
1:11.8220
1:12.0960
1:11.8790
1:15.3690
1:12.0400



summary:
this is my second time there
new PB of 1:11.1630s. stock with semislick RE55s 245/40/18 all around.

my first time last year june 2007, i did 1:12.4s
that was with mods: 245/45/18 RE55s, RSR spring, APS catback, Megan Racepipe, K&N Panel filter. and also bucket seat and strip back of my car which saved me 37kg...

so this time i am abit faster, could probably because: new surface, i have abit more experience from winton sessions in between, it is my 2nd time there. who knows... most importantly i had alot of fun and can't wait to get back out there! i love wakefield!




boring parts. please don't read unless you got time to waste:
cut my PB by 1.3s is not that much, but considering that i used to have abit more power and mods, also lighter wheels and body. i think i can see that i finally can understand the car abit more without relying too much on modifications.

i love mods, and have nothing against it. but for people like me, who used to think that i have enough skills to push the car to the limit even with some mods. i was wrong. i knew the theory, but took me 2 years to finally understand what someone that are very important to me once said. he told me "you gotta understand the car dynamic first and how it reacts before you can do anything else. how do you know what you improve if you never know where you really are at the moment? so forget what you think you know, fix your basic and LISTEN to your car instead of make your car LISTEN to you". sounds corny back then, and my pride was thinking otherwise, but i am starting to realised and will keep reminding myself this sayings to keep my feet on the ground. thanks again. i know you won't like me to mention your name here, thats why i didnt.

which is true, at least for me. when you always try to make the car listen to you. it wont always work to any car coz one car might be less forgiving then the other. but when you actualy try to listen to the car, one day you will be able to drive any car and adapt quickly to different cars and react accordingly.

some people ask me: "so silas, do you think stock is better than with mods then?". whatever answer i gave you, i don't know what im talking about... coz honestly i don't know... but what i know so far... the right modification definitely increase the limit of the car. but how can i see that newfound limit if i havent even seen the stock car limit? its like i want to run before i even can walk properly.

honestly, i didnt want a stock 350z. i am selling the car, so i revert it to stock, but i need my regular trackday fix, so i bring it to the track even with stock setup anyway... which now im thankful of... if i never had money problem, i wouldnt have to sell the car and part out with the mods, which mean i will never realised that all this time i was delussional and thinking that i know what i am doing.

looking back always embarassed me. what i used to think and do. but thats why we call it the past. i am still learning and will never stop learning.

after 2 years of tracking (which still a newbie compared to others that has been doing this far longer than me), one of few valuable lessons that i have is when you open your ear and mind, you will never stop learning. only when you think you are good, thats when you stop learning and thats when you start declining. overwhelmed with pride and stubborness.

i found that you can learn from anyone, not necessarily someone that faster than you. anyone, even the newbie. sometime this newbie are fresh and have no expectation and reacted freely without any corruption of theory and thoughts. which sometime reminded you that the basic are very importants. i just reminded myself again before the wakefield. from what? from someone that asked me, whats the basic of track driving. that got me thinking and made me realise even i forgot to do that sometimes haahahaha...

this is what i got 2 years ago from someone that don't want to be mentioned.
1. look where you are going, coz most likely thats where you gonna end up. if you stare at the walls then there you will be... so from now on let spiderman sticks to those walls, and we sticks on the track hahaha (not funny)

2. brake on straight progressively, means: loads the car first, let the weight shift then you can slam the brake as hard as you can (up to certain degree:P) as late as possible

3. if you can, and its not a matter of life and death, never ever coasting (i mean just foot off the throttle and brake). its either on the brake or on the throttle (whether its full throttle, half throttle, ease off abit, etc)

4. accelerate as early as you can on and out the corners, but listen and feel the car. it will gives you warning when its about to bites back... depending the power level of the car, the warning can be very short, or gradual.

5. sometime the only way to know your limit is to stepping over it. i said sometimes... at the right place, and at the right time.


and guess what? all that was just in my mind as a theory all those time... i completely forgot about it... then when i do starting to keep reminding my self that the basics is very important no matter how fancy i think i am now... it really pays off...

boring parts end. now wake up! thx for reading.


more boring data logging soon...


exe-crew PB results:
ES EVO6 - 1:06.4380
Jimjim EVO8 - 1:09.0160
flameboy 350Z - 1:11.1630
senk9 Soarer TT - 1:12.4540
kthl 350Z - 1:12.5700
celicajim Celica ZR - 1:13.7250
jally07 Golf GTi - 1:18.5590


ALL RESULTS OF THE DAY: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?19/07/2008.WAKE.S2.Y

OTHER PHOTOS:
jason's - coming soon
http://www.speedshots.com.au/gallery/othermotorsport/trackdays/autosports_190708

Preparation for: Wakefield 19th of July 2008

As usual, general inspections:
- change the engine oil: 10W60 castrol edge
- change oil filter
- inspect spark plug
- inspect suspension arms bolts
- inpsect pads, and rotor
- change gearbox fluid: Castrol VMX-M 75W85 (GL-4)
- Changed differential oil: Castrol EPX 80W90 (GL-5)
- Added Nulon G70 additive to gearbox and diff
- bleed the brake system: Motul RBF600
- rotate the semis to even out the wear for longer life

my winton lap time - GPS data logging analysis

thx shaun... thx to mic and you i miss those practice nights woohooo we can do it again now that urs is manual

UPDATE: My analysis and evaluation. *boring boring*
i am testing this software RaceChrono on my 6110 navigator. its pretty accurate but sometime the GPS signal drops out once in a while usually in between session when its idle, which doesnt bother me coz its free software. i can't complain when its free

more info on the software: http://www.racechrono.com/

anyway this is the graph that i made based on the data that i extract from my GPS phone timer of my fastest lap on that day: 1:41.3s



and this is how it compared against two other driver that have used similar data logger.
1. DavidM (Blue colour) 350Z track, spring, catback, semis.
2. Takahasi (Red colour) RX8, coilover, exhaust, intake, semis, and few other minor mods.
3. flameboy (Orange colour) 350Z track, stock with semis.
it is based on my best lap of the day... not my PB....




too bad i didnt use this GPS timer when i had my mods... that way i could compare it with my current time...


anyway the race track map from race chrono have 4 sections, and here they are:


and based on the sections time, i pick drizzle/damp session 1: lap 5,6. and dry session: lap 29,30,31,32,33,37. i pick those 8 laps coz they all have the closest time to highest section laptimes.



based on that:

• on lap 5 i did fastest section 1 laptime of around 0.4sec faster than when i did my best lap.
  
• on lap 31, for section 4, i did 0.7s faster than what i did in my best lap.
  
• on lap 32, i did 1.1 s faster on section 2 compared to what i did on my best lap.
  
• on lap 29 which is my best lap, i did the fastest section3
  

Theoriticaly... let me repeat again. theoritically (putting all other factor aside, like how sacrificing one sector will give more speed on the next sector, etc) if i add up all my best section laptime, 1:39.067s laptime is possible, THEORITICALLY...

which seems like a long shot for me as i am 2 second away from that if only i can link everything together nicely, i would be happy with 1:40, it what i always wanted... at least now with a stock zed, getting 1:40 would be too good to be true...

this just shows how much more i can improve and i am quite happy to see that i still have room to improve and where to focus on... i always knew there is always room for improvement, but the past 4 trackdays i have been stuck with 1:41 for a while and dont know what i am doing wrong that stopping me to go faster

before i have this GPS data logger, i only saw the total laptime... which all seem consistent... i have done plenty of 1:41s... but when i look closely per sections, i am super inconsistent...

now i have new hope to get better and i will focus on section 1 and 2 more next time... which is where i show the most inconsistency... then i can move onto section 4.... at the moment my section 3 seems to be quite consistent...

EXE TRACKDAY Round 2 - QUEEN's BDAY Mon, 9thJune2008

EXE TRACKDAY Round 2 - QUEEN's BDAY Mon, 9thJune2008

photo by Ross Jardine - www.rossjardine.com.au
i photoshopped the dark headlights and matte black stock rims. i kinda like that look... just cbf doing it in real life... hahaha i'm such a ricer...


my thoughts about this trackday:
the last few times at winton, when i have my mods, i did 1:41.0s PB and was stuck on 1:41s for 4 trackdays... which really frustrates me... so today, since now my car is back to stock, i was expecting to only do around 1:42-1:43s

it was a great day despite the early rain. in my group, the first session was already damped, and the whole day i kept taking passenger, so at first i only managed to do best lap of 1:44s, but near the end of the day i decided not to take passenger just for one session, and surprisingly i managed to clocked 1:41.3s.

one thing that i noted... last trackday, i used street tyres for the first time on the track, and i think from that day, i learnt alot more on how to be smooth yet still aggressive... that probably contribute for today's lap time... i did earlier braking and progressively increase the force instead of trying to brake super late and triggered the ABS, and i managed to get faster exit... which i dunno why...

my laptime with mods (1:41.0) VS with no mods (1:41.3):
- my top speed on the last straight: 170-175 VS 160-165
- braking from 100m marks VS braking earlier coz of the heavier stock wheels.
- left hand long sweeper: 4th gear VS 3rd gear.... i dunno why...
- 3 hairpin at the back: 3rd gear VS 2nd gear
the rest was about the same factor...

so that got me thinking... was all my mods useless >_< color="darkred">anyway, so here is my Winton 3KM lap time record so far
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* 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) **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) **PB with street tyres**

* 9/06/2008: 1:41.3000 sec (stock, full interior trim, semislick tyres)


Flameboy In-car in passenger session (wet track)

Part 1:

Link


Part 2:

Link

Little Update: grill and sway bar

i have decided to patch up the hole in the grill... so here is the work in progess...

basically just bog bog bog. then sand sand sand... to be continued





i replaced the ugly go kart steering wheels with the new momo wheel i got for my birthday from dan, shaun, and ying... thx guys




it has smaller diameter than stock and the old go kart one, so its BAD for parking coz my car dont have powersteering... but its bloody good for corners yay...





the old go-kart one...




NEXT:

LESS ROLL... talking about reducing body roll. micra needs one really bad. my shocks are almost dead when i bought it... on the first trackday, the micra didnt tip over, but i would love abit less body roll... hahaha

so i decided to do cheap upgrade: doubling stock sway bar (http://www.exe-crew.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2687) since micra have plenty of space under the car due to thin lightweight swaybars setup. light weight could also mean another sets wouldnt hurt that much...


so i managed to sourced free stock swaybar off another micra forum member. thanks to Don / Fred.... i just have to pay for $30 shipping. and it arrived today yay!

yep... another trackday preparation :P

did some trackday prep-work last weekend. thx to kenny for the help it was a cold saturday morning.

the battery on the zed is dead, coz i haven't drove it for a while T_T. so had to go to repco and bought new one.

so the prep work was:

• fit semis to the stock 18inch rims - i was gonna go again with street tyres but then i found this cheap 2nd semis (thx to Takahasi) and bought it. hehehe i couldnt resist a cheap semis... cheap way to get faster on a stock 350z cheap way to compromise a lack of driving skills too haha
  
  
  
  
• check all the fluid levels, nothing really need topping up
  
  
• i have only done 400km plus since last oil change, so when i check the oil, its still fine and thick. i just top it up to the maximum
  
  
• replace the worn front brake rotors with another 2nd stock rotors but better quality. thx to jimjim.
  
  
• check the spark plug
  
• replace the battery with new one
  
• regular check for any leaks, worn mounts and any mechanical damaged.
  
• clean the AFM and Throttle Body
  

Replacing front worn brake rotor

1. remove the brake pad. depending on the pads and rotors condition, you might not need to, but in my case, the rotor have very high lip and the pads are fairly new, so its not much space in to move the rotor out
   
   
   
   
2. quickly check, and clean the dirty and deposit inside the caliper. above the rubber seal and piston. and check for any leaks or damage. mine was fine. just dirty
   
   
   
   
3. check the rotor thickness... depending the type of vehicles, please follow your workshop manual. mine was supposed to be 30mm new and minimum of 28mm (2mm wear max). after measured mine, lucky i decided to change... haha... my rotor was less than 28mm, around 27.8mm...
   
   
   
   
4. the replacement 2nd stock rotors from jimjim is 29.4mm so still plenty to go...
   
   
   
   
5. 350z have flex line and then fix line just before the caliper. i need to remove 2 x 12mm bolts that holding the fix line, so i can move the caliper out of the way...
   
   
   
   
6. remove 2 x 22mm bolts that holding the caliper, and the caliper should move freely. remember to torque it back to the manufacturer spec. i follow the 350z manual which are 114 ft-lbs
   
   
   
   
7. lift the caliper up. and third hand would be handy here , remove the rotor and replace with the new one... voila!
   
   
   
   
8. now i cbf taking anymore pictures , pretty straight forward after this. just reverse the step to put everything back. remember to torque everything back correctly.
   

the prep is done... lol... well maybe thats one of the good thing for having a stock car. less thing that can go wrong, and less thing to prepare too...

can't wait for the track day. ^_^