Pit Stop

I was hanging out at the Risi Ferrari garage at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Here’s the team practicing a tire change. More pics to follow.

Heel and oh sh%*!!!!

In a nutshell my heel & toe skills suck. There I’ve said it. Sure, if “Driving Miss Daisy” speeds counted for anything, then yes, I can heal and toe with the best of them but as the speeds increase my skills decrease. It doesn’t help that I’ve been driving a lumbering Land Rover for the past seven years, numbing me to the subtleties of high performance driving. To rectify this situation I have focused on the driver and the car. First for the car I have purchased a more “driver friendly” JDM 380Z RS accelerator pedal.



The 05 Base Z has tiny pedals and the postage-stamp sized accelerator pedal is not making life any easier so a change was needed. I’ve heard good things so I’ll see if it makes an improvement.

The second part to making me the next Ayerton Senna, wink-wink, nudge-nudge is the book Secrets Of Solo Racing by Henry A. Watts. My friend Chris loaned me this book and he has a number of years of SCCA SOLO II racing experience and swears by it. So far the book has been a quick read with clear cut directions on all aspects of driving fast; correct lines, apexes and yes heel & toe.






So the last and final step is to put the above in practice. I’ll update the results and here’s to not missing a shift and ruining a perfectly good motor!

My Favorite Alfa

Il Mostro!

HPDE Buttonwillow

Spent the day as a spectator but learnt a bunch from fellow Z owners and the instructor.

DTM 190E

Love this Merc

My Birthday gift: Racing 101

My big 4-0 birthday week revolved around cars and racing. Last Saturday was no different as I received a birthday gift of a training session at K1Speed .My instructor, Timothy, was extremely patient and talked me through the corners, directing me on how to approach the desired lines. I needed all the help he could offer as I have yet to break the 27 second lap barrier. While I listened closely, my execution of his directions was far from exact. At the end of our session I was exhausted, my hands and forearms where burning but I had learned a bunch and was awarded my best time; 28.153. 1/100 of a second less and I'd be knocking on the door 27-second club.

Exhaust delete

As mentioned previously, the sound of the stock Z is pleasing but too muted for my taste. Now what I’m after is not the boy-racer screaming down the street “look at me” auditory overload but more a communicative tone that speaks to me and will put a smile on my face when I shift gears. An aftermarket exhaust is a possibility but I’m still doing my research here but it must be noted that again, it appears that the Nissan engineers did their homework and produced a very efficient stock system. It’s reported that at most, an aftermarket exhaust will yield a messily 6-10hp equating to one of the worst “bangs for the buck”when moding a Z. The only plus side for swapping out the stock exhaust would be to attain a light weight system or seek a more aggressive tone. So, for the interim I went for a quick fix and deleted the resonator. I’m loving the high pitched rasp that goes in hand with the VQ engine tone even though other Z owners look down upon this mod. Have a listen here:

So basically I now have a straight pipe from the Y-pipe to the muffler. My next exhaust modification will be to replace the Y-pipe with one from a new HR motor and change out the muffler to a less restrictive, lighter one. I’m not going to touch the cats and mess with the emissions.