Back on Track

[egxflash]

That's pretty awesome to hear!

Any chance we could persuade you to do a video with some in car sound and valve on outside?

Of course! It's actually been a minute since I'd made a video - I can post one later of when I first picked up the car from Borla.

I'll try and remember to take a video inside next week! It's been raining here in SoCal so I've been driving my truck.

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[Victorofhavoc]

Well, on Friday I spilled a chocolate protein shake into the passenger seat of my car. Yes, I violated the cardinal sin of no food or beverage in car. Given it's milk and whey, time was of the essence to clean it up before it would ferment. This was bad, really bad... I almost just blotted it and sold the car bad. In the end it took me (and my upholstery bissel) nearly 10 hrs total cleaning to get the stains, crunchiness, and chocolate smell out. I decided to take the whole seat apart because it's easier on the back to do inside and I wanted to get all the nooks and crannies.

I am tremendously more appreciative of these seats now!! They are the first thing on this car I feel was well engineered with forethought. The build again is crap because multiple clips were loose or off and the entire seat cover itself isn't pulled tight enough from factory. This explains why almost every its I see has wrinkled leather on the passenger seat bolster and why they feel so loose compared to other vehicles. The good news? The microsuede is waterproof!!

Fun fact, these seats are NOT Alcantara! They are microsuede! This means they're more durable and you can be A LOT more aggressive about cleaning them!

I went slow, started with blotting and drying first, then tried sonax blotting, and eventually gave up and went to the bissel. With the bissel I also used a concoction of baking soda and water to get the chocolate smell out. This was tough work. I would not trust a detail shop to do this unless they're charging you nearly as much as two new seat covers. It's a lot of labor.

In the process, I also discovered these seats were made in Jan and Feb of '23 which lines up with my "car is built and sits around for certain parts" theory. I know someone contested this saying the car is built in a month or two, but given the date stamps I've seen all over i just can't fathom that's actually true, especially since we know the tranny is shipped from Japan.

Anyway, here's photos of my idiocy and work.

 

[Frenzal]

And I guess that now, no more food or drink in the car?

 

[Victorofhavoc]

And I guess that now, no more food or drink in the car?

Only for my kids in the back, lol.

It's amazing how in the USA it's unimaginable that anyone wouldn't eat junk food in their car. I resist, but it's my wife that really makes it happen, so I have to let things slide... My father in law bought a new f150, and the big deal he wanted to show off was the center console table and how they can eat their McDonald's even easier... Now I know why trucks sell so well when people are addicted to junk food

 

[optronix]

Punishment fits the crime. That's arguably the worst spill I've ever seen lol.

Looks like you did actually get rid of all of it though. That could have been a totaling event for most of us.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Punishment fits the crime. That's arguably the worst spill I've ever seen lol.

Looks like you did actually get rid of all of it though. That could have been a totaling event for most of us.

Years ago my godfather spilled milk in his car in Florida. To this day that smell is singed into my nostrils. From that I knew time was essential and getting all of it up is a non-negotiable!

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Here's how you know your tires are definitely done:

These are toyo RR and have only 22 sessions on them. I'm getting my racecar ready for next weekend where a friend will shake it down for me while I instruct and drive the its. The toyo tires are complete crap. Don't waste your money on the rr or R888r. They're easily 2.5s off pace a Hoosier R7 and more like 3 to 3.5s off a Michelin medium slick. For this coming weekend I'm going to swap on some R7 that have 20 sessions on them and will likely get another 6 to 8 sessions. They're totally heat cycled out so they need 3 laps to regain grip, but that's enough for a shake down.

Busy weekend... I did the engine oil, brake fluid, clutch fluid, diff fluid, trans fluid, and still need to do power steering fluid on the z. The its needs the xp10 pads swapped on and and a fluid flush.

Also, had two bleeders totally blocked up because of letting caustic brake fluid sit for a bit longer than a year total where they oxidized and blocked off. Do not make my mistakes and let your rbf600 fluid sit for so long! Rbf660 and srf are even more aggressive and caustic! I really don't like the 660 or srf. They're just way to aggressive if you're not flushing every 6 months and honestly not needed in most cases unless you're pushing over 2000F rotor temps.

 

[optronix]

Most of the stuff I see regarding SRF is that it's generally fine to flush once a year unless you're a hardcore track rat. Obviously a pure race car use case is going to be different.

I just had my fluid swapped out a few weeks ago for SRF, and I only notice a slight difference in pedal feel on the street. I'm still trying to map out when I'll finally get out to an HPDE (my autocross fell through this past weekend but I hardly brake during autocross anyway). But I just felt like I had to do it for peace of mind; the last few times I've been on track I've purposely took it easy on long straights and generally avoided threshold braking unless absolutely necessary, but I know it's way slower and I feel like I'm building bad habits. I'm still on stock pads and I'll probably swap out the pads after this next event, but as of this moment at 10k miles I have negligible wear on them and haven't noticed any issues. I turn VSA completely off via pedal dance for any sort of fun driving I do, and the rears appear to have held up fine so far.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Most of the stuff I see regarding SRF is that it's generally fine to flush once a year unless you're a hardcore track rat. Obviously a pure race car use case is going to be different.

I just had my fluid swapped out a few weeks ago for SRF, and I only notice a slight difference in pedal feel on the street. I'm still trying to map out when I'll finally get out to an HPDE (my autocross fell through this past weekend but I hardly brake during autocross anyway). But I just felt like I had to do it for peace of mind; the last few times I've been on track I've purposely took it easy on long straights and generally avoided threshold braking unless absolutely necessary, but I know it's way slower and I feel like I'm building bad habits. I'm still on stock pads and I'll probably swap out the pads after this next event, but as of this moment at 10k miles I have negligible wear on them and haven't noticed any issues. I turn VSA completely off via pedal dance for any sort of fun driving I do, and the rears appear to have held up fine so far.

Srf and 660 are good fluids, and for most purposes identical. I've just had bad luck with them for anything longer than 3 to 6 months.

Part of it I think is humidity. Srf claims a pretty high wet boiling point, and I'm sure that's true but I believe it also absorbs water faster over time. A local race shop swears by rbf600 in their 800hp, 2800lb e46 monster. It also comes in a smaller bottle so you're not dumping a bunch after 3mo just because you cracked a bottle open.

Most people won't notice the limitations because the srf is probably too much fluid for their pads anyway. When I was a more "intermediate" to "advanced" driver I was making a lot of braking mistakes around being too aggressive. It didn't matter what fluid I was using because I was constantly cooking pads/fluids/boots/seals and chasing the highest temp everything I could. It led to more mistakes and ultimately a couple sketchy incidents stopping from 135-140mph to 55. It wasn't until I realized that going fast is entirely about heat and weight management that I started giving my brakes a break . That's also when I realized having brake pad fade before your tires greasing is a good thing! Lockup occurs far less and fade is a lot easier to learn from because it's more predictable than a greasy 200tw autox tire being used for high speed.

I still think srf is a great fluid, I just personally like the 600 because "it's enough" on the racecar with ducting and xp12 or xp24 pads, on the its with xp10, and my specific driving style. I flush once per year and always do a bleed before an event to get any bubbles out (there's always one or two small ones with any fluid). This time the fluid was sitting in the z since Oct '23 because in 24 I focused on coaching at private events and my newborn.... There were some cobwebs on the car for sure, lol. That was just too long.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

So I got a yearly dyno done Friday on the z after all the maintenance. It picked up power as it heat soaked and the dyno operator and shop owner both mentioned it's the most consistent car they've dynoed in a long time. It made a peak 326whp on a dynojet dyno (mustang would be 360 or so) and if you account for drivetrain loss it's making about 400 crank. Here's a photo of the last 3 runs after an initial 4 runs. They specifically ran a small fan to ensure I'd get typical post track conditions for when we get pulled for a post run dyno.

I also took the Integra out. It did well and was fairly fun. The ps4s are a huge limiting factor on fast tracks and warm days. Unfortunately I didn't get a decent video because I had two students and the sessions were stacked pretty closely, in addition to supporting my friend driving my Z. Busy busy busy!!

 

[optronix]

What do those VQ's make on a dynojet stock? I haven't had hardly any seat time in a z/G3x, but primarily that's because I was actually severely disappointed when I first drove one with the power. I didn't hoon on it, but the G35 I drove felt anemic just driving around on a test drive. Anything over 300 whp (that isn't an s2k) would have to "feel fast", but stock I just couldn't get over how slow it felt, and it never made sense to me. Did I drive a lemon?

Also regarding the ITS; I'm very much looking forward to upgrading tires. But also very much not looking forward to what will likely be a yearly expense... I've pretty much decided on the Nankang CRS v2. Seems like a good fit for dual-duty autocross and HPDE (with the obvious fact that the RE71 is not available in a 19" size I'd want), but I imagine they won't survive any longer than the expected 5-7 autocross events and up to 2 HPDEs I plan on averaging a season.

Oh well. Pay to play.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

What do those VQ's make on a dynojet stock? I haven't had hardly any seat time in a z/G3x, but primarily that's because I was actually severely disappointed when I first drove one with the power. I didn't hoon on it, but the G35 I drove felt anemic just driving around on a test drive. Anything over 300 whp (that isn't an s2k) would have to "feel fast", but stock I just couldn't get over how slow it felt, and it never made sense to me. Did I drive a lemon?

Also regarding the ITS; I'm very much looking forward to upgrading tires. But also very much not looking forward to what will likely be a yearly expense... I've pretty much decided on the Nankang CRS v2. Seems like a good fit for dual-duty autocross and HPDE (with the obvious fact that the RE71 is not available in a 19" size I'd want), but I imagine they won't survive any longer than the expected 5-7 autocross events and up to 2 HPDEs I plan on averaging a season.

Oh well. Pay to play.

The vq37vhr in the g37 and 370z makes about 270-280whp stock. So FBO nets a decent amount. Even at 326 whp it definitely feels anemic down low. It's an engine that NEEDS to be wrung out. An around town putter it's not. That's where the its shines because of its down low torque, but the its also doesn't feel like it's getting faster the higher you rev it out.

My buddy that was driving my z this past weekend felt he had no power until I explained it's not Rebecca from accounting, it's that spicy little redhead Jessica from finance and she likes it rough. He got the picture and started dropping a gear earlier, letting the revs shoot up, and tossing it into corners like the momentum car it is. Total game changer. It's a car that tells you quickly when you make a mistake or you short shift, but it's also forgiving when you toss the rear end and incredibly progressive on slip angle (a la drift car legend for a reason). The flat wall of torque may not be huge, but it certainly provides a consistency that no turbo engine can match.

I've considered eventually going ham on it with cams, billet oil pump, balanced crank, and making 390whp at 9000rpm, but that would bump it up a class and tear up tires and brakes even faster, lol. As it stands I eat front pads in 24 sessions and rear pads in about 64. Hoosier R7 are done at 12 heat cycles and trashed by 24...corded around 30 and they run $2k a set.

I will say if you're mixing use for autox and high speed on a tire, you're asking for two different things out of them. It may be worth it to you to get a set of wheels in 18" (like the apex ec7) for specifically more tire fitment options and the greater adjustability of pressure for sidewall load (sidewall acts like spring). There are far more options in that size and you could have a set for each specific use. All depends on how much use you plan to get though.

 

[optronix]

The vq37vhr in the g37 and 370z makes about 270-280whp stock. So FBO nets a decent amount. Even at 326 whp it definitely feels anemic down low. It's an engine that NEEDS to be wrung out. An around town putter it's not. That's where the its shines because of its down low torque, but the its also doesn't feel like it's getting faster the higher you rev it out.

My buddy that was driving my z this past weekend felt he had no power until I explained it's not Rebecca from accounting, it's that spicy little redhead Jessica from finance and she likes it rough. He got the picture and started dropping a gear earlier, letting the revs shoot up, and tossing it into corners like the momentum car it is. Total game changer. It's a car that tells you quickly when you make a mistake or you short shift, but it's also forgiving when you toss the rear end and incredibly progressive on slip angle (a la drift car legend for a reason). The flat wall of torque may not be huge, but it certainly provides a consistency that no turbo engine can match.

I've considered eventually going ham on it with cams, billet oil pump, balanced crank, and making 390whp at 9000rpm, but that would bump it up a class and tear up tires and brakes even faster, lol. As it stands I eat front pads in 24 sessions and rear pads in about 64. Hoosier R7 are done at 12 heat cycles and trashed by 24...corded around 30 and they run $2k a set.

I will say if you're mixing use for autox and high speed on a tire, you're asking for two different things out of them. It may be worth it to you to get a set of wheels in 18" (like the apex ec7) for specifically more tire fitment options and the greater adjustability of pressure for sidewall load (sidewall acts like spring). There are far more options in that size and you could have a set for each specific use. All depends on how much use you plan to get though.

Great feedback. I'm not crazy- and I'll have to give those cars another shot.

The use is just the thing- I can't really justify a set of dedicated HPDE tires knowing my current habits of planning on as many as 3 events per season, but ending up doing 1 or none. Autocross is definitely far more accessible to me so I'd lean more towards that. I heard from some fellow auto-xers that the CRS is competent at both so is probably my best bet for my usage scenario. Definitely a "one size fits all" situation- which I get isn't really a fair thing to ask for "specialized" tires... but also there is probably a specific tire that fits that use case better than the others. That's what I've heard about the CRS.

Also worth mentioning I tend to leave early at most HPDE events also. So the overall session count would be very low compared to most "track guys"...

Also they have to be good on the street during the warm months too. I haven't been taking as many backroads drives as I should be, and I do absolutely plan to change that. I can't imagine there would be too much separation for "spirited street use" between most of the 200 TW options out there, right?

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Great feedback. I'm not crazy- and I'll have to give those cars another shot.

The use is just the thing- I can't really justify a set of dedicated HPDE tires knowing my current habits of planning on as many as 3 events per season, but ending up doing 1 or none. Autocross is definitely far more accessible to me so I'd lean more towards that. I heard from some fellow auto-xers that the CRS is competent at both so is probably my best bet for my usage scenario. Definitely a "one size fits all" situation- which I get isn't really a fair thing to ask for "specialized" tires... but also there is probably a specific tire that fits that use case better than the others. That's what I've heard about the CRS.

Also worth mentioning I tend to leave early at most HPDE events also. So the overall session count would be very low compared to most "track guys"...

Also they have to be good on the street during the warm months too. I haven't been taking as many backroads drives as I should be, and I do absolutely plan to change that. I can't imagine there would be too much separation for "spirited street use" between most of the 200 TW options out there, right?

One thing you could do is request the tires to be heat cycled. The first heat cycle on rubber changes how the compound resettles once it cools and running them out to 180-200F is different from a typical autox 160-180F. It will help the rubber last longer through heat cycles. It doesn't change wear rate too much, but it does mean the HPDE event heat cycles won't grease up as quickly so the tire will run a bit more consistently.

I haven't driven the crs, but I've heard good things. The hoosinental ecf is more high speed focused. The falken stuff is entirely autox focused. The re71rs is supposed to be better than the old r at heat tolerance, but it's wear rate still sucks and it's still punishing on the road.

There's virtually no difference between any of the 200tw on the street except for wear rate. They'll all sandblast your paint and be far more punishing than the "super quiet and comfy" ps4s. You'll sure be able to go full throttle in first gear though, lol.

 

[StingertimeNC]

Kumho V730 is a great option for 200 treadwear though, but they don't come in a ton of sizes. I'd really like to get them in 275/30, 19 inch, but almost nothing comes in that size. On the Eibach pro kit springs I'm really leaning towards going with 275/35. Otherwise 265/35. I really wish I had a set of 18 inch rims but same situation, 6 track days a year makes it hard to justify a second set of wheels. Falken RT660 comes in 275/30, but they don't get a lot of good reviews for track use.

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