| Short video (in case you don't feel like reading and looking at pictures, I am driving at 1:50). I had been following Rob (Z Car Garage) in the shop 370 for many laps just for a fun lead/follow, then decided to try and make a move (as you'll see in the vid). The 370 has got some power! [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc27teFar8k ] It was a fantastic day at Monterey's historic Laguna Seca Raceway last Thursday with Norcal Racing (ncracing.org). Our caravan group was 10 cars strong: 6 Z33s, 1 Z34, 1 TT G35, and 1 supercharged challenger. The Z (350) was meatballed twice for breaking the sound limit of a measly 92dB. Thankfully, my exhaust is v-band clamped into sections, so I was able to remove the catback "megaphone" piece (see rocket launcher picture) and install a 3" pipe that we had ginned up at the 11th hour. I packed it with some fiberfrax (silica and alumina fibers), then spot welded a nickel screen over the end and cinched it down with titanium sheet metal. Wa-la! 89dB (and a noticeable loss of power - bah! 
The car was completely new to me, as we had just installed SPL PRO upper arms and front lower arm bushings as well as their rear PRO camber arms. The car was aligned for the new suspension parts and the new R6 285/30/18 Hoosiers for the 18x10 RPF1 wheels I had just acquired. The engineer in me doesn't like all the changes at once, but the driver in me LOVED it! (Plus it's not very cost effective to make one change at a time in this type of situation.) What a beautiful morning (that's my Z with the tire tail with my track gear - usually I have two tires on it, but since I didn't have a passenger on the drive down, I put all 4 tires in the car). 
Violation #2 - time to change out the catback portion and do a sound check: 
Megaphone rocket launcher removed: 
Two cars had major issues. An S2000 went into the tire barrier at T5, but was able to hose itself off and drive home. This Miata lost it at T9 and wasn't so lucky. The driver had his pride hurt, but that was about it. 
SS
Originally Posted by solidfish on my350z.com:
"Hey Scott. Thanks for the ride by the way. Your car and driving is sick. Literally, I was sick. It was like riding a mad rollercoaster. The car turns like its on rails. And the braking was unreal. So many times I thought we were going to fly off the track. Absolutely nuts, but it was great fun." |
Snow what? Track day at Laguna Seca >>> - 
