My track day journal. new update 11/20/2017

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by longress

Nice lap!

thanks!! that turn on oval was pretty

[AriuSen]

This past weekend I went once again to my favorite track at buttonwillow.
Unfortunately it was 110 degrees so I could only do 2 3 hot laps each session and then the tires would get very greasy.
What i noticed compared to nt01.
Maxxis rc-1, buy it in winter time. They are amazing in cold weather and is little faster than nt-01. However on hot weather, get nt01....they are faster than maxxis, and also takes heat much better than the maxxis.
With nt01 in summer, I could do 5 laps doing similar lap time, but with maxxis after 3 laps, I was always 2 seconds slower.
I changed my spring rates from 500/600 to 400/550 this time.
with 500/600 I was feeling better grip using +1 compression....going for +3, my car would skid too early, which made me think that I was still relying more on springs than on dampers.
First session I decided to leave +1 compression with the new rates just to see how the car would feel. Car was so wobbly and scary on fast corners, which made me rly happy actually cuz now I would be able to play around with the comp bumping up more. I increased compression to +4 and the car felt rly rly good...very stable, but car was skidding a little bit, so third session, I changed to +3.....car felt just the best since I got the car....I only felt the need of a front sway bar because on braking points, my car was a little unstable, maybe due to soft springs? So maybe the front sway bar will balance the soft springs next time.
I still think I can play around with the settings more, but using maxxis on 110 degrees, I was able to beat my PB of 1:58.5 that I did when it was 70 degrees with same tires, so I am very happy that I went with softer springs.
The drift moments were mostly after 3 laps, and also because I made some mistakes lifting the throttle mid corner.....Another thing to mention, with softer springs car feels easier to handle....gives me more time to react to oversteer...going from 600/750 to 400/550, feels like im oversteering in slow montion now lol.
The only downside of 400/550 were braking points that was hard to keep car stable, but I think I will solve this with sway bar.
enjoy!

This is a video that my friend got from my drifting on Phil hill.

[Rick F.]

Originally Posted by AriuSen

This past weekend I went once again to my favorite track at buttonwillow.
Unfortunately it was 110 degrees so I could only do 2 3 hot laps each session and then the tires would get very greasy.
What i noticed compared to nt01.
Maxxis rc-1, buy it in winter time. They are amazing in cold weather and is little faster than nt-01. However on hot weather, get nt01....they are faster than maxxis, and also takes heat much better than the maxxis.
With nt01 in summer, I could do 5 laps doing similar lap time, but with maxxis after 3 laps, I was always 2 seconds slower.
I changed my spring rates from 500/600 to 400/550 this time.
with 500/600 I was feeling better grip using +1 compression....going for +3, my car would skid too early, which made me think that I was still relying more on springs than on dampers.
First session I decided to leave +1 compression with the new rates just to see how the car would feel. Car was so wobbly and scary on fast corners, which made me rly happy actually cuz now I would be able to play around with the comp bumping up more. I increased compression to +4 and the car felt rly rly good...very stable, but car was skidding a little bit, so third session, I changed to +3.....car felt just the best since I got the car....I only felt the need of a front sway bar because on braking points, my car was a little unstable, maybe due to soft springs? So maybe the front sway bar will balance the soft springs next time.
I still think I can play around with the settings more, but using maxxis on 110 degrees, I was able to beat my PB of 1:58.5 that I did when it was 70 degrees with same tires, so I am very happy that I went with softer springs.
The drift moments were mostly after 3 laps, and also because I made some mistakes lifting the throttle mid corner.....Another thing to mention, with softer springs car feels easier to handle....gives me more time to react to oversteer...going from 600/750 to 400/550, feels like im oversteering in slow montion now lol.
The only downside of 400/550 were braking points that was hard to keep car stable, but I think I will solve this with sway bar.
enjoy!

This is a video that my friend got from my drifting on Phil hill.

Alex,

I enjoyed watching your latest laps, and I'm glad to see that you've still got insanely fast reaction times and car control!

Having said all that, it strikes me that you still have too much rear roll stiffness compared to the front. It looked like you had to tiptoe through the corners to keep the back end in line. With better balance, I think you would have reeled in the white car ahead of you in short order.

One of the great things about a Z4 is that you sit right ahead of the rear axle, so you can feel oversteer almost instantly when it starts. The expression "driving by the seat of your pants" has been around a long time, and it's fun to see it in action!

One more thought: with the speeds you're attaining, it wouldn't be a bad idea to install a roll cage. Just in case!

Rick

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by Rick F.

Alex,

I enjoyed watching your latest laps, and I'm glad to see that you've still got insanely fast reaction times and car control!

Having said all that, it strikes me that you still have too much rear roll stiffness compared to the front. It looked like you had to tiptoe through the corners to keep the back end in line. With better balance, I think you would have reeled in the white car ahead of you in short order.

One of the great things about a Z4 is that you sit right ahead of the rear axle, so you can feel oversteer almost instantly when it starts. The expression "driving by the seat of your pants" has been around a long time, and it's fun to see it in action!

One more thought: with the speeds you're attaining, it wouldn't be a bad idea to install a roll cage. Just in case!

Rick

Hi Rick,
Thank you for your comments again....my car has half cage so far, but as I plan on doing time attack and wheel to wheel maybe next year, I might get full cage.
About the car, yea....its hard to explain....I know that most of the craziness in the video was due to my driving style and not the car.
Like there is this turn called bus stop, that I put in the video a lot of wheel correction and I know that if I want to beat my laptime, I need to be at least at 90mph there, and I might try next time braking earlier and going on gas before apex

I tried few times changing my driving style....brake early as many here said and go on gas earlier, but its weird...my car even going 265 square, the front lifts so much, that i get too much understeer if i go on gas too early.(maybe front rebound is too soft)

I think inTgr8r was right about spring rates. Saw him reply someone that the lower the spring rates, the less difference you want between front and rear....maybe car would be better if I had 400/500, but opted for 400/550. Why?? Because I am putting a front sway bar (actually tomorrow ) so I was scared that if I went 400/500, my car would have mass understeer with the sway bar, and I chose to take my risk having more oversteer than understeer.

I will track again this saturday...its actually at night, so it will be an amazing experience at streets of willow in willow springs.....its a very technical and tight circuit, so I will definitely be able to give a lot of insight of the car with sway bar now =)

Thank you for your comments again.....and please any criticism tips etc from anyone, is super welcome!.....no grudges or anything
I am preparing myself for some racing next year so the more the better
many of my friends they make fun of me a lot about some car control lol

[AriuSen]

Ok. I got updates now.
The weather this past weekend was the same compared to other days I was doing 1:58.2
I tried the new 17s in 255/40/17, and first lap.....1:56.8.
Is a major difference in corner exit and main straight speed. However in long sweepers, i noticed that 255 is not enough for our cars....they were also overheating too fast.
i wish maxxis had 265, but they only have 275/35/17.
I will keep using the 255/40/17 until corded, and then Ill see which one i will go for.
Super happy with the 17s. Car feels so much alive.
Btw, I did 1:56.8 in first session and then once it got 100 degrees, i was constantly doing 1:57s......17s is definitely faster

[Vanne]

Glad to read your having an absolute blast mate. Thx for the vids. Car looks great

[AriuSen]

Ok, I didnt upload any video recently, cuz there wasnt anything good lol.
I was watching youtube, and found this video of a guy with a 350z stripped with maxxis rc1 and aero following my friend and my friend following me.
My friends car has similar mods to me with rcomps, and stripped. you can clearly see how much faster I am on corner exit with 17s.....Maybe sometimes i had better throttle modulation on exit, but overall you can get an idea.

[AriuSen]

And here is just a fun trackday in buttonwillow CCW25 chasing a porshe gt3 rs.
What do you guys think? car seems more balanced now right? Being able to go on gas a lot earlier now without being worried of snaps.

[longress]

Nice run. Much smoother!

[Finnegan]

Nice driving! Much better line than the 991 (but I expect that from you) lol.

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Nice driving! Much better line than the 991 (but I expect that from you ).

Haha that's why I could catch. Cuz seems like the Porsche didn't know the lines well
Oh boy I wish my car was that fast in straight line lol

[wdb]

Originally Posted by AriuSen

Oh boy I wish my car was that fast in straight line lol

Nah. That's called drag racing.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by AriuSen

Haha that's why I could catch. Cuz seems like the Porsche didn't know the lines well
Oh boy I wish my car was that fast in straight line lol

Well, me too, but then we wouldn't actually have to drive would we?

There are some really good drivers in higher powered cars out there, but I find the S2ks, BRZs, etc. to be better fighters on the whole and more difficult to catch in tighter more technical parts of the track.

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Well, me too, but then we wouldn't actually have to drive would we?

There are some really good drivers in higher powered cars out there, but I find the S2ks, BRZs, etc. to be better fighters on the whole and more difficult to catch in tighter more technical parts of the track.

True to that! I often pass more faster cars than s2k or Miata.

[pal]

AriuSen - Have you done Sears Point (aka Sonoma Raceway) and Thunderhill? You will absolutely have a blast at these two tracks in the Z4MC. BTW, your lines and driving are getting smoother and a lot less need for fast hands . BTW, I concur that smaller wheels are quicker - my lap times are always better on my 18x8.5/18x10's compared to 19x8.5/19x9.5 with same width tires on both.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by pal

AriuSen - Have you done Sears Point (aka Sonoma Raceway) and Thunderhill? You will absolutely have a blast at these two tracks in the Z4MC. BTW, your lines and driving are getting smoother and a lot less need for fast hands . BTW, I concur that smaller wheels are quicker - my lap times are always better on my 18x8.5/18x10's compared to 19x8.5/19x9.5 with same width tires on both.

Agree. Thunderhill is a blast and you can find several of us there pretty regularly. Two great tracks and lots of elevation changes, off camber corners, etc.

[RedOctober]

Awesome beans. Chasing that GT3 was great. Though I don't know you, your driving isn't bad and to me looked cleaner than the GT3 was often wide in/wide out on turns.

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by pal

AriuSen - Have you done Sears Point (aka Sonoma Raceway) and Thunderhill? You will absolutely have a blast at these two tracks in the Z4MC. BTW, your lines and driving are getting smoother and a lot less need for fast hands . BTW, I concur that smaller wheels are quicker - my lap times are always better on my 18x8.5/18x10's compared to 19x8.5/19x9.5 with same width tires on both.

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Agree. Thunderhill is a blast and you can find several of us there pretty regularly. Two great tracks and lots of elevation changes, off camber corners, etc.

Hey, I have not done sonoma or thunderhill yet. My friends went last month to both, but i was too lazy to drive 6-7 hours lol.
But one of my friends favorite track is sonoma and another friends best track is thunderhill. I want to go for sure next time!! And if I go you better be there lol. I really really wanna go as passenger in another z4m to see how it handles compared to mine.
let me know when you guys plan to go next, and ill try to convince my friends to go!

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by AriuSen

Hey, I have not done sonoma or thunderhill yet. My friends went last month to both, but i was too lazy to drive 6-7 hours lol.
But one of my friends favorite track is sonoma and another friends best track is thunderhill. I want to go for sure next time!! And if I go you better be there lol. I really really wanna go as passenger in another z4m to see how it handles compared to mine.
let me know when you guys plan to go next, and ill try to convince my friends to go!

I'll find some dates. Weekdays or weekends better?

Might be post holidays, I hope that's ok.

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

I'll find some dates. Weekdays or weekends better?

Might be post holidays, I hope that's ok.

?For me weekend is better. That's ok post holiday

[pal]

Keep me in the loop on any weekend event as well. I need some time to plan as its a hike from Seattle

[Mike_Z4M]

When's your next track day bro? I might join!.