Afterthoughts from an exhausting day at the Qualcomm Stadium

Well the San Diego Club Racing Series was an incredible success today. We got membership dues from pretty much everyone and everyone had an absolute blast. Quick recap on the car's handling characteristics: pretty much unchanged! Predictable and aside from the car pushing from understeer, it's incredible easy to drive quick.

I'll spare you all the details...you guys can check out all the pics here: Click for full San Diego Club Racing Album

Here are some cool shots of the Z being driven by both my wife and myself today :)

Running Event #2 at the SD Club Racing Series Sunday 11/22!

So Sunday I run my 2nd event in the Z at the SD Club Racing Series. The time style has been changed to a rally style timing so that it's a combined timing set up. The idea is for the drivers to be consistent. It's going to be a doosey! I'm a little worried about making some mistakes, but the West Lot at Qualcomm stadium is perfect for a longer autocross course. We also announce the winners for the autocross event after the results get posted...I know I won't be last, but I know I won't be first either lol. I adjusted the electric fan thermostat to kick in a bit earlier this time..hopefully this'll be enough to prevent the car from running too hot and be a temporary fix until I get my aluminum radiators and a Flexalite. Of course I won't be doing that until I get my new fuse box from MSA for the risk of electrical fire. I'll probably be upgrading my charging system to a 280zx alternator as well to handle the extra juice the fans will pull. This car is coming a long!

Immediate concerns:

1) Fuse Box
2) Radiator
3) Fan setup
4) 280zx Alternator
5) Switch the lights out to H4 Halogens and do HID Conversion
6) Put in bought motor mounts
7) Put in 280z Sub Axles

Other than the car is being driven regularly with no problems. I ran with a modded 240sx (N/A and kept up with him no problem). He tried to loose me, but couldn't lol, so it pulls just fine! More later!

Well I've been rather busy with the San Diego Club Racing (sdclubracing.com/forum) and work lately, so a bit of an update since the car had the exhaust put on.

Autocross thoughts: good car to drive overall..has a bit of understeer, but cured with a bit of early anticipation (aka early braking) and smoother driving techniques. Overall the car held up to a total 7 total runs and I improved my lap time by almost a second which resulted in 2 seconds slower than our fastest driver in the competition. I'm getting comfortable with the car and it's easier to gauge the car's behaviour in certain situations. Overall I'm quite pleased with the outcome of the car and how it's handling. It's no wonder why the Z usually dominates it's class and then some. What I did notice however is that the cooling mechanism needs to be looked at. With the electric fan conversion and the stock radiator, the car is fine for a DD, but needs to be beefed up for autocross. I'm thinking of getting a triple row aluminum radiator, which should more than take care of the heating issues.

As I have been rather absent, I figured it would be a good idea to update this post with a video of my new 2.5" header-back exhaust with a Flowmaster muffler. This thing sounds beastly and looks completely OEM. I love it and I've gotten quite a few compliments already on the car's sound. Performance wise, I feel that the car doesn't sputter as much any more and it ends up holding the revs nicely and consistently. At freeway speeds in 4th gear, the car isn't too loud unless going over a certain limit, but hey we would never do that now would we? ;) Anyways, less talk more vid, so here you go! :) Enjoy!!