Thursday, May 28, 2009

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Circuit Club/Exe Crew Track Day - Winton

This track day saw the first use of the new sway bars on the track. Before the day, I was expecting the car to feel looser based on how the car felt on the street.

During the first session though, I had forgotten that I had the new sway bars and I was perplexed as to why the car was so tail happy coming out of corners. I kept thinking that the tyres weren't warmed up enough and I finally remembered when the car was still stepping its tail out in the second session! So, after coming to grips (somewhat) with the car's new behaviour, I still couldn't match my PB in the second session. For the third session, I was contemplating setting the front sway bar to harder setting to dial in more understeer, but ended up just setting the rear tyre pressure lower. This helped, but the closest I came to my PB was within 0.7 of a second. For the rest of the day, I couldn't come close to my PB anymore. This was most likely due to my hesitance to power out of corners too early for fear of kicking the tail of the car out.

At the end of the day, it felt like I was starting all over again, having to get used to a new car. I think I was too rough with braking, causing my brake fluid to boil and leak out of the front left caliper (the hardest working one). I also think I need to regroup and work on my throttle control once more.

Session 1
1:59.7100
1:51.4300
2:06.6800
1:45.5700

Session 2
1:50.1400
1:45.3000
1:45.1700
1:45.1100
1:48.5500
1:45.8600
1:46.4500
1:44.4900
2:01.5600

Session 3
1:48.2100
1:43.9000
1:48.2100
1:46.2600
1:46.5200

Session 4
1:54.6400
1:46.4600
1:45.7900
1:49.4100
1:45.4900
1:44.9200

Session 5
1:50.3300
1:46.2500
1:44.9500
1:45.4800
1:54.4100

Here is a comparison of my PB lap (1:43.2) to my best lap (1:43.9) for this track day. I am carrying more speed in the sweeper (turn 3) now, but can do better to maintain that speed. I am getting on power earlier on the third hairpin (turn 6), but my later braking on turn 8 has probably stuffed up my entry on to the main straight (turn 9).



Full results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?23/05/2009.WIN

Friday, May 1, 2009

370Z - My First In-depth Look

I first saw the 370Z in person at the Melbourne Motor Show back in March this year, but that was not an Australian spec'ed vehicle.

Today, I headed down to my Nissan dealer to have a look. There were no manuals to test drive yet, but hopefully within the next fortnight.

There will be only one trim level offered in Australia, which is equivalent to the US spec Sports Pack. Therefore, at this stage, Australia will not get the 19" Rays wheels, not even as an option.

Things I noticed in the 370:

  • Sat Nav standard
  • Auxiliary audio/video inputs in the center console
  • Start/stop engine button with smart (proximity) key, no need to even insert the key into the dash
  • Cooling plate is standard
  • Strut brace has extra bracing to the firewall
  • Bonnet secures at 3 points
  • Oz spec will get big brakes standard
Specifications: http://www.nissan.com.au/webpages/resources/grade-comparator/specification-documents/37Z0016_370Z%20A4specs%20May%2009.pdf

Stumpy GorillaZ

I just found this photo of my car that I had made stumpy some time ago. I think I could have squashed it further though.