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After spending an awesome weekend at VIR in February, I had a month off to prepare for my second HPDE. The biggest changes that I made to the car involved adding an AutoPower roll bar, Sparco Evo 2 seats, and Sparco 6-point harnesses. I also installed some Autovation pedal covers (painted them black so I wouldn't be embarrassed by the bling!) and I set my brakes back to stock w/ the Carbotech P+ pads. I won't be taking any more chances on track with the VR-4 setup, it will probably go in the classifieds soon for someone looking for an aggressive street look. Unfortunately, my truck's transmission took a dump and my neighbor's trailer was unavailable - so the Z had to be packed up with a load of essential tools, spares, and luggage for the long drive to Atlanta, Georgia. We went down on Thursday afternoon, spent Friday hanging out with friends and karting at Andretti Speed Lab (lame - G-Force Karts in Richmond is much better). Saturday morning the weather was beautiful for the first day of on-track action. Sunday was even better, with temperatures in the 70s and not a cloud in the sky. For those who haven't been there, Road Atlanta is a very fast, very technical, and very intimidating track. Drastic elevation changes and abundant concrete walls are enough to lighten anyone's right foot. Here's a map of the track. 
Pit out leads onto the track on the outside of Turn 1. The line goes uphill, then a left as you crest the hill. Brakes, then sharp right into a sweeping, slightly downhill lefthander. This leads into the downhill esses, which are taken at speed and with gratuitous use of the curbing :) Turn 5 is relatively high-speed and uphill again, leading onto a short straight before Turn 6. Here's a video of my good friend Brian carrying too much speed into Turn 5. The car is okay and so is he :) So anyway, down the slope into Turn 6, a high speed right hander that leads to the Turn 7. Screw this one up, and the long back straight is hosed. I had good results late apexing this one, and was touching 125-130mph at the end of the straight. That could've been faster, but I just didn't have the balls to accelerate the whole distance. Turn 10 (8 is an optional kink and 9 is just a slight bend in the straight) is a recently added hard left to slow folks down before the hill. I cooked the brakes during my second session because I was on them *way* too early and heated things up beyond the capacity of the rotors. I learned the lesson quickly though and had a good handle on threshold braking leading into this turn. Proper brake management is *very* important when tracking a Z with stock brakes. Back to the line - Turn 10B is a right, uphill, leading to the bridge (Turn 11), which then leads to Turn 12. The infamous Turn 12...
The map doesn't show the drastic drop off. Coming under the Turn 11 bridge for the first time and then seeing *nothing* but sky and landscape was a sobering experience. The track drops off quickly and turns right, onto the front straight. The most daring I could get was short-shifting into 4th at the top of the hill, then flooring it on the way down. This meant that the power wasn't really coming on strong until after I'd made the turn in and was committed to the straight. For comparisons sake, my instructor (in a tube-framed RX-7, FB) just kept his foot on the gas and powered all the way down the hill and through the turn. :pucker: R-compound tires probably helped there too... Altogether, I had an absolutely outstanding weekend. Everyone affiliated with NASA-Southeast was friendly and helpful. Not the it matters much, but I wasn't passed all weekend (and I'm pretty humble about being passed - I'll lift off the gas and let a low-powered car go by if it catches me in the corners). The Z impresses me more everytime I get it on track. It is quick, nimble, and predictable. The seats and harness were a huge asset - I was able to concentrate more on the feedback from the car and giving it the necessary inputs as opposed to worrying about being thrown around and bracing myself against the door and center console with my knees. The instructor suggested that I was driving at the limits of the tires (712s) and made the comment that I should invest in something better. I agree that the tires were a limiting factor this weekend as far as my speed around the track, but I don't want to step up to anything stickier. There is a *lot* more that this driver needs to learn before playing with more grip. I believe that R-compounds are valuable to an already experienced driver, but could hide the kind of mistakes that a novice like myself needs to learn from. That all being said, I was promoted to Group 2 (Intermediate) at the conclusion of the day on Sunday. I can't wait to get out on the track with some of the more experienced drivers and do some more learning! This is by far the most addictive hobby I have ever had :) The next event that I'm registered for is at CMP with NASA-Mid Atlanta, over the April 30th - May 1st weekend. Hope to see some Z's there (you guys let me down this weekend) !!! Some more pictures - unfortunately my wife only had a few minutes to take some shots (and I haven't seen any others on the net), so this is about it as far as "action". The rest of the album is here. 
Chasing down a new Mustang GT. That thing hauled ass in a straight line - I consistently pulled away from him in the turns though.
That S-2000 got lapped by most of the field. Lots of practice giving point-bys :)
Chasing down an NSX.
Z taking the checker!
Here's a sobering postscript - coming back on Sunday afternoon we had a near-death experience. On I-81 northbound, about 9:30pm, I was in the lefthand lane, overtaking a tractor trailer that was in the righthand lane. This was on an open stretch of road, in moderate traffic (not near an on-ramp). He suddenly decided to change lanes, and forced the Z off the road (at about 80mph). I held it in the median, just inches away from a guard rail - furiously honking the horn and flashing the lights. Remarkably, the semi moved back to the right lane and I was able to get back on pavement. Stopped at the next exit to check for damage, as I wasn't sure that I hadn't brushed the guard rail. Not a scratch on her (that wasn't there before). I'll say this - the Z32's horn is woefully inadequate. I pressed it the very moment the semi put his turn signals on, and I don't think he ever even heard it. I ordered some Hella horns (per Robo's page) and an HID kit from YugoBernie. I will not be putting myself and my wife at risk on public roads again until this car can be seen and heard properly.
'90 300ZX Twin Turbo | '94 Lightning | '04 WRX
Madison Motorsports |
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Another weekend at the track - Road Atlanta report w/ pics! - 
