JLC350Z Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) Hi Guys, New to the forum and thought I'd share with you my latest purchase and hopefully pick up some helpful advice and be able to contribute as well where I can! So anyway.... not entirely sure where to start but I own a small independent car dealership dealing with mainly hot hatches, BMW M cars, fast Audis, Porsche, Classic cars and race cars thrown in there too- a whole range of stuff really. I've had a few 350Z's pass my way over the years that had come through my garage, and please don't flame me for this, but I was never really over whelmed by them or had found them massively exciting. A friend of mine Dave has been into racing of various different makes in different classes for sometime and having accompanied him to a few races it was something that I fancied getting into and we had been discussing for the last 18 months. As recently as a few weeks ago an opportunity arose for the pair of us to buy an already pretty well sorted instructors car at a really descent price. In the middle British heat wave we took a trip in to deepest darkest south London to view the car and this is where our story really begins. Dave had been given a brief description of the 350Z and its spec, what had been done to it and what it had been used for- mainly corporate events and as an instructors car. We weren't expecting much when we pulled up to a row of garages at the back of a block of flats but were soon pleasantly surprised. On arriving at the address in south London the car was sat out side with the owner's friend that had agreed to meet us stood next to it. Having had several race cars that I'd sold through my business I knew not to expect a mint car ut something that looked "well used" but on initial inspection we were really pleasantly surprised to see a very clean 350z free of battle scars and everything looking tip top. The car had had quite a bit of cash thrown at by it's current owner to make it suitable for its track day/instructor duties: Race Logic launch/traction control KW Clubsport Suspension kit Eibach rear camber kit SuperPro front and rear anti-roll bar kit Polyurethane Bushing throughout Abbey Motor SPort Front and rear drop link kit Corner weighted Stud conversion Brembo F50 Calipers Alcon Discs Performance Friction Pads Braided brake lines Millers 300 racing brake fluid Canton 3 Quart Accusump oil accumulator with surge protection Additional oil cooler Full MSA approved Cage Sparco Sprint Seats Sabelt 4 point harnesses and a whole host of other stuff that I won't bore you with. So having only expected to view the car and have a taking some time to consider our potential purchase we found ourselves making an immediate bank transfer and driving home in it an hour later as it was just too good an opportunity to miss out on! The car also came as a package with a spare set of wheels and dozens of other stuff that would be useful for track days and racing. The drive home was pretty unexciting as it was rush hour on a Friday and solid traffic for pretty much the entire way back till we got on to the M1 where I got to give it a bit of a rollicking for the first time. It pulled very well, sounded good like all Z's do but the M1 is a tedious straight bit of road so no opportunity to test the brakes or suspension out- that came 2 weeks later at our first track day at Bedford Autodrome which I'll get to in my next post! Edited September 25, 2018 by JLC350Z 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLC350Z Posted September 12, 2018 Author Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) So roll on Monday 10/09/2018 we had our first track day booked at Bedford Autodrome for a Javelin track day. I had been hoping to transport the Z to the track on my recovery truck that we use at the dealership incase we broke it on the track but this was not to be the case as it was too low to get it on the back without ripping the exhaust off so this made our early morning start even earlier as we would have to drive the Z to the track and bring a second car with all the tools, spares and kit in a second car, my trusty e39 touring. We managed to get to the driver briefing on time and before we knew it we were in the pit lane waiting to go out in a convoy of cars on the sighting lap. Having not been on a proper track day for a very long time and accompanied by my well seasoned team mate who has done stacks and stack of racing to success I was a little nervous to say the least. Initially worried about how the car performed I soon started panicking about if I was anywhere near up to the job. After we completed the sighting laps the track was officially open for the morning session. I'd asked Dave to go out first with me sitting co-pilot to get an idea of what sort of pace I should be going around. There was an element of knowing that I could never hope to be anywhere near as quick as a well seasoned racing driver but also not wanting to disappoint him by being painfully slow. I was instantly surprised by the pace of Dave and in a little awe of his skill and control of the car. Watching him at race days at the track side was completely different to be being sat next to him hurtling round the track. After a few laps and about 20 minutes on track we came into the pits and checked tyre pressures, wheel bolts, engine oil etc. to make sure all was well and then very soon after it was my turn to go out on the track for the first time. Immediately I had confidence in the car with the way it handled and its incredible ability to scrub off the speed from stupid speeds. I had no knowledge of the track so had so no idea of what corner was coming up next so the first outing for me before a break for lunch was trying to learn the track as best I could but was basically completely winging it. My co-pilot Dave gave some really useful pointers on racing lines, breaking zones and how to use delicate inputs rather than try to fight the car. The Z was very forgiving and even when the back stepped out when pushing a bit too enthusiastically it was very easy to manage. The day was a huge amount of fun and something I can't wait to repeat at another track day. We will be booking another track day at Brands Hatch in the next few weeks and am already really looking forward to it. The ultimate plan is get my competence on track up with further track days and some tuition and then apply for my license so we can enter a series next year and do some proper racing. We managed to capture a few laps on the GoPro before the battery died and hope you enjoy! Edited September 25, 2018 by JLC350Z 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Looks like a nice little machine and ready for fun on track Only had time to watch the first couple of minutes of the vid - going well 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanman312 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 I'll have a proper read tonight But that looks great 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 (edited) Looking good fella, if possible have the instructor take you out. It'll open your mind to what's possible and you'll have a better idea from the get go of turn in points, where to go quick and where to go slow. Agreed the 350z is awesome on track!!! Car looks good, look forward to the updates. Edit: just read all the post and a pro driver initial went out. Edited September 13, 2018 by davey_83 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 to the forum, great fun isn't it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Hi and welcome along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLC350Z Posted September 25, 2018 Author Share Posted September 25, 2018 Thanks for the warm welcome chaps! Had our second track day at Bedford GT circuit- The first outing was great and the car performed well on the first day but really wanted to practice the same circuit as it was a bench mark for me that I wanted to improve on now that I was familiar with the track and not just winging it like the first day there. The weather was perfect and there were 4 of us, myself and Dave my team mate and two of his friends- 1 of which who had originally owned and built the Z. He also races in a series with Clio 182s so great to have another competent racing driver. Not only that but having built the car along with Abbey Motorsport he knew the car inside and out and having raced gave some great tips on tyre pressures on the new Yoko AD08's we had ready and helped loads in setting up the KW Clubsport coilovers that he had fitted to the day. It helped that we got there early enough to get one of the garages in the pit lane After the first session the exhaust on the car, being the 14 year old original gave up the ghost and snapped clean through at the rear box where it joins the center pipe. Thankfully it hadn't happened before we had the noise test at the start of the day. The knackered exhaust made it bloody loud in the afternoon session and we were on tenterhooks thinking we would set of the noise boards on the track. With the suspension setup sorted thanks to Rob, the guy who built the car, it was much quicker out on track. The newly fitted AD08's obviously helped but the car no longer skipped and jumped on exiting tight hair pins. Simon my team mate's friend also joined us just after lunch, a lovely chap that was in much need of having some fun due to a very recent bereavement. Needless to say after he had gone out with Dave for a few laps a smile was firmly welded to his face! Meet Simon- he's grinning inside that helmet I assure you! I'll upload a few videos shortly but was another brilliant day in the Z. Learning how to set the car up properly from the guy that built it was so useful, getting quicker made me feel like I was improving a fair bit and best of all we helped a lovely chap out have some fun an temporarily forget his worries. Just need to hunt down a Milltek exhaust system now to replace our deceased one! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Looking good fella, 350z and a sunny track to go round = bliss. No doubt, suspension set up, tyres and brake up to the job make a track car way more enjoyable than extra powerRRRR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350Butcher Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 Nice car with all the right bits to enjoy some track time. The big Z is such a good track car, its so balanced and once you start to trust it you can start to really push on. It'll never set any records but it'll always put a smile on your face! I'm interested to know what pressures you ran the AD08r's at on the day? I've used them for the last 10years ish from my old Evo 5, DE 350z and now my current HR 350z too.........great tyre! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLC350Z Posted September 29, 2018 Author Share Posted September 29, 2018 On 27/09/2018 at 17:59, 350Butcher said: Nice car with all the right bits to enjoy some track time. The big Z is such a good track car, its so balanced and once you start to trust it you can start to really push on. It'll never set any records but it'll always put a smile on your face! I'm interested to know what pressures you ran the AD08r's at on the day? I've used them for the last 10years ish from my old Evo 5, DE 350z and now my current HR 350z too.........great tyre! We ran 30 psi to begin with then settled for 35psi all round after measuring the heat of the tyre over the surface, taking heat measurements of the outside and middle of the tyre. You want as close as possible an even heat reading across the face of the tyre. If the tyre is hotter in the middle it's over inflated or colder in the middle under inflated. Get yourself a infra red heat measure they're not expensive and its the only way to get your pressure right! Go out on track and do a couple of quick laps. Get the car into the pit quick and take your measurements before the tyres gave a chance to cool down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350Butcher Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 31 minutes ago, JLC350Z said: We ran 30 psi to begin with then settled for 35psi all round after measuring the heat of the tyre over the surface, taking heat measurements of the outside and middle of the tyre. You want as close as possible an even heat reading across the face of the tyre. If the tyre is hotter in the middle it's over inflated or colder in the middle under inflated. Get yourself a infra red heat measure they're not expensive and its the only way to get your pressure right! Go out on track and do a couple of quick laps. Get the car into the pit quick and take your measurements before the tyres gave a chance to cool down. That is spot on. I asked as a lot of people run these tyres too low pressure that I've spoken to or they start at 35psi then never adjust when hot and run 45psi all day sliding all over the place and then say they've "gone off!". For my car 34psi hot is the sweet spot. Geometry obviously plays a huge part of how your tyres heat up across the contact patch also. My cars fully adjustable and running as bias track set up as is possible without losing all its road manners! Its good to see another Z being enjoyed on track, do you have any plans with the car or is it just keep having fun in it as is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLC350Z Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 17 hours ago, 350Butcher said: That is spot on. I asked as a lot of people run these tyres too low pressure that I've spoken to or they start at 35psi then never adjust when hot and run 45psi all day sliding all over the place and then say they've "gone off!". For my car 34psi hot is the sweet spot. Geometry obviously plays a huge part of how your tyres heat up across the contact patch also. My cars fully adjustable and running as bias track set up as is possible without losing all its road manners! Its good to see another Z being enjoyed on track, do you have any plans with the car or is it just keep having fun in it as is? The plan is to make the car quite a bit lighter so carbon doors, carbon boot lid, plexi glass, and generally get as much weight out of it as possible as they aren't the lightest of cars. After that it'll be exhaust, inlet plenum and a remap at Abbey Motor Sport to try and get a few extra ponies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350Butcher Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 5 hours ago, JLC350Z said: The plan is to make the car quite a bit lighter so carbon doors, carbon boot lid, plexi glass, and generally get as much weight out of it as possible as they aren't the lightest of cars. After that it'll be exhaust, inlet plenum and a remap at Abbey Motor Sport to try and get a few extra ponies! The Z is quite the pie eater! You've got the cage bumping up the weight too. When I looked into a bit of weight saving myself I found this firm for the replacement glass http://www.plastics4performance.com/nissan-350z-lexan-full-window-kit.html Installing this minus window motors etc has got to save a fair amount. Sadly a lot of the carbon I looked at available for the 350 was all about the show and not too much about the weight saving! The right bits are out there but you'll need £000's for it. Always good to free up some Hp and its worth the investment for the gains in response and drivability that you'll net from those so don't get too hung up on the numbers. Sounds like you're on the same slippery slope that we're all on here......welcome to the club! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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