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Plan to hit the track at least 2 times before the event, at least. Before OTC, Glenn and I sorted out the Z over 1 autox and 4 track events. Now, I'm not sure what you would need regarding drag setup, but I can tell you for track setup. BEFORE your first visit, get an alignment.
1.If you can adjust the spring hight, then corner weight the car with a weight on the drivers seat. Make the car as low as you think it might go w/o rubbing.
2.My recommendations for front alignment starting point(and they are pretty close to Mike K.)
Max front camber (odds are you can't get more than -2.5)
Caster ~9-10 to give you additional camber for the turns
Toe 0- 1/8 total toe out
3. Suggested rear alignment
Camber -2 (this won't be good for the drag strip and will need to be brought down to about -1 or less I think)
Toe ~1/8 total toe in
(this should put you in a decient starting point. All cars are different and your 18" wheels might change things. This is about what we drifted to, that worked successfully in OTC. We started a bit different but ended up with this.)
4. Get brake temperature paint, and paint your front and rear rotors. If you have cross drilled rotors, especially in the rear, remove them now as you WILL crack them. If you crack them before the end of the day, you will loose the rest of the day of testing because you can't take it on the track. So far, I've seen 3 sets of 3 cross drilled rear rotors crack in the rear at the track. Email me privately and I can send you pictures. Glenn's almost cracked to the hub. At your first event, record:
- Current air temp.
- Record tire temps (inner/center/outer)at all four tires immediately after a hot lap without cooling down the car down. Also record cold and hit tire pressures.
- Peak EGTs.
- Peak Engine temp.
Things to watch out for:
- Did the car overheat?
- Where the EGTs too hight?
- Does the alignment need to be changed?
- What tire pressures are the tire temps telling me to run?
- Do the tires rub or are they getting cut?
- Where are they rubbing? Inside/outside? Can the body be modified to prevent rubbing, or does the car need to be raised?
- How does the car feel?
- Corner entry oversteer/understeer? Highspeed/lowspeed
- Corner exit oversteer/understeer? Highspeed/lowspeed
- Lift throttle oversteer?
- Trail braking oversteer?
- Responsive/sluggish?
- Need more/less bump/rebound at any peticular corners?
- Brake fading? What do the rotor temps say? Basically, adjust alignment/sway bars/shocks/tire pressures to get the car as well balanced as you can, with a slight oversteer setup under most conditions. Your sure to run into issues (brakes,handling,or engine).
Next, BEFORE your 2nd track event. Get as many of the brake/handling/engine issues taken care of.
Basically, check all the same things from the first track day, verifying that things are fixed and better, while keeping an eye out for new things. If the car still isn't sorted out, and there are still issues. Get them fixed, and try to test it out on the track before hand. You really don't want to see if the fix, has been fixed, when your under the gun and the pressure is on with SCC.
Like I said above, Glenn and I sorted out our OTC car over about 4 track events and 1 autox. We basically did all the same measurements at every track we visited and fine tuned the chassis a bit before each session. Good Luck,
Lee Darzycki
OTC T2 Grey '91 "Glenn Nakata" 300ZX TwinTurbo
Lee Darzycki
Red '93 300ZX TwinTurbo
ClubZ-Track Event Organizer
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