[sprint200]

The Z-Car club is holding a regional meet in Tulsa this weekend and they invited all makes and models to participate in their Open Track day. So I took them up on the offer. I was the only Ford; there was a corvette, a cobalt, some spec miata cars and a bunch of nice Z's. One of the Z's was a '71 240Z Scarab (1 of only 18 remaining).

Oh, and some guy brought a GTR too................ It is the first car on the ground in Oklahoma and part of the first US allocation. It was white with black trim and looked better in person than in the photo's I've seen. He was a really nice guy, was letting people crawl all over it, sit in it, open the hood themselves....he was really laid back. He said he wanted other people to enjoy the car as much as he did. Good Attitude!

Back to the track event; My day started off a bit rough.............as in: entering a hair pin at the end of the straight with spongy pedal and then no brake pedal at all Ironically I put down a lap within 3/10ths of my best on THAT lap. I quickly bled the brakes between sessions and had no more brake trouble the rest of the day.

The next session I lined up behind a fully race prepped 300ZX. He had been the only car faster than me on the first session, so I wanted to follow and learn. Our first lap, we were dead even. I even thought I might have a chance to pick him off after a high speed turn. I got my bumper up to his rear wheel but that was it. The next two laps he pulled about a second per lap out of me............and then I overheated and went into limp mode for half a lap

The good news is that when we got our lap times, I realized that those three laps were all 1.8 seconds faster than my best ever lap at Hallett

The GTR was running in a different group, so I got to watch him from the grand stands. Man that thing explodes out of the corners. The other cars in his group looked like they were sitting still on the straights. The owner was turning laps that were a few seconds slower than mine (which was good for 3rd best at that time). But on the last session of the day, he let his friend drive. And his friend paid him back by laying down a lap that was 3/10ths faster than mine!

And this was their first time on the track with this car...............they'll only get better. This car will destroy a stock GT500 without breaking a sweat. I plan on making them work for it to beat me...........

Guess I'm gonna have to get the Griggs SLA next

[svttim]

Congrats on the nice run! I will still maintain, the GT500 is not a great track car.

[sprint200]

svttim, on Aug 30 2008, 08:18 PM, said:

Congrats on the nice run! I will still maintain, the GT500 is not a great track car.

No doubt, not the best starting point for a track dawg. There is a mustang GT here that has the same Griggs suspension as mine, but is gutted and caged. He is spotting me well over 250 horsepower but is turning laps 4 to 6 seconds faster than me.........





Something about 900 pounds being a liability


with a curb weight of just over 3200 lbs the Terlingua should be a much better track car. I can't wait to take my daughter to her first autocross..............

This post has been edited by sprint200: 30 August 2008 - 06:17 PM

[FastPhil]

sprint200, on Aug 30 2008, 03:42 PM, said:

The Z-Car club is holding a regional meet in Tulsa this weekend and they invited all makes and models to participate in their Open Track day. So I took them up on the offer. I was the only Ford; there was a corvette, a cobalt, some spec miata cars and a bunch of nice Z's. One of the Z's was a '71 240Z Scarab (1 of only 18 remaining).

Oh, and some guy brought a GTR too................ It is the first car on the ground in Oklahoma and part of the first US allocation. It was white with black trim and looked better in person than in the photo's I've seen. He was a really nice guy, was letting people crawl all over it, sit in it, open the hood themselves....he was really laid back. He said he wanted other people to enjoy the car as much as he did. Good Attitude!

Back to the track event; My day started off a bit rough.............as in: entering a hair pin at the end of the straight with spongy pedal and then no brake pedal at all Ironically I put down a lap within 3/10ths of my best on THAT lap. I quickly bled the brakes between sessions and had no more brake trouble the rest of the day.

The next session I lined up behind a fully race prepped 300ZX. He had been the only car faster than me on the first session, so I wanted to follow and learn. Our first lap, we were dead even. I even thought I might have a chance to pick him off after a high speed turn. I got my bumper up to his rear wheel but that was it. The next two laps he pulled about a second per lap out of me............and then I overheated and went into limp mode for half a lap

The good news is that when we got our lap times, I realized that those three laps were all 1.8 seconds faster than my best ever lap at Hallett

The GTR was running in a different group, so I got to watch him from the grand stands. Man that thing explodes out of the corners. The other cars in his group looked like they were sitting still on the straights. The owner was turning laps that were a few seconds slower than mine (which was good for 3rd best at that time). But on the last session of the day, he let his friend drive. And his friend paid him back by laying down a lap that was 3/10ths faster than mine!

And this was their first time on the track with this car...............they'll only get better. This car will destroy a stock GT500 without breaking a sweat. I plan on making them work for it to beat me...........

Guess I'm gonna have to get the Griggs SLA next

Excellent!

Nice work, sounds like you had a great time.

I have found it a bit difficult to chase some of the lighter cars down, ( a well driven Spec Miata is not slow...)

its just 4,000 of physics working against us...

I also experienced brake fade issues.... tried different pads, but no avail just yet, thought we had the good Motul fluid, I may need to refresh it.

See you in Terlingua I hope

FP

[svttim]

sprint200, on Aug 30 2008, 09:13 PM, said:

No doubt, not the best starting point for a track dawg. There is a mustang GT here that has the same Griggs suspension as mine, but is gutted and caged. He is spotting me well over 250 horsepower but is turning laps 4 to 6 seconds faster than me.........





Something about 900 pounds being a liability


with a curb weight of just over 3200 lbs the Terlingua should be a much better track car. I can't wait to take my daughter to her first autocross..............

Idrove mine with stock suspention at Road America. I actually did very well, passing most of the cars on the track then the limp mode thing A lot of guys were surprised when they got passed by a GT500 with stock suspension and tires. But, my track car, with 200 less hoursepower is much quicker

[chuckstang]

Is it just me or our the stock brakes really not that amazing, good, maybe great for a street car but were nothing like the z06 I test drove.

I think the GT500 is a good all around car.

You cant compare a stripped GT Mustang to a fully loaded muscle car with looks to kill and the curb appeal to get the attention of the most beautiful women

[HotRodHarry]

I will just wait for them at the drag strip. I am sure some will show up sooner or later

[svttim]

HAve done so reading on these and have read where its a pig LOL