A&Q about 350Z
Q:
Had my roadster at Pocono Raceway again this weekend. They combined 2 of the 3 road courses. So instead of about a 1.5mile course we had a 3.3mile course with 2 fairly long straightaways and 1 short one. This was my sixth time on a road course and 2nd with my roadster. Other cars on the track with me were,Audi TT, Mazda RX8, a couple of 911's a few Vettes and of course a bunch of BMW's. I guess I am becoming a better driver and more comfortable with what the Z can do in the curves. I pretty much was able to keep up or ahead of everyone in the curves. But, the big horspower guys could outrun me in the straights. But, the name of the game here is the handling in the curves. Quite often the big guys would yield to me in the straights because I had ridden their rear ends around the course in the curves. As I said before it's all about fun and it was a blast. Next month I am heading up to Watkins Glen for the first time. Can't wait. I"ll be back at Pocono at least 3 more times before the season ends. By the way was able to hit about 119mph in the straights. But, I rode with a guy in his '04 Vette and he was hitting in the high 130's. Pretty good handling car too.
Post Edited (Aug 9, 7:52pm)
A:
Wow! Sounds like a lot fun!
-Zanioed '03 Le Mans Sunset Touring Coupe w/ Nav.
A:
Do you have to have some form of SCCA license to race? Or do you just sign up at your local track?
A:
While I currently (and happily) reside in Colorado, I ran the Pocono long course in the EMRA time trial series. I recall looong stretches of pure acceleration around Pocono's banked tri-oval. I'm a bit surprised that the Z's top speed wasn't in the mid 120's with all that space. The infield section was a lot of fun and I hope to be able to run it again someday in my track model.
A:
Date: Aug 10, 2004 1:51am
that's awesome. so you actually race with other cars on the track at the same time. not just time trials. i'm pretty ignorant about all of these amateur racing programs like scca, etc. but i thought it was all mostly time trials.
A:
Date: Aug 10, 2004 4:15am
The racing I participate in is called HPDE (High Performance Driver Education). There is no finishing first, no timing, just driving as fast as you can within the rules. Basic rule is safety and fun. No passing in the curves, only in designated straightaways. By the way I did notice I hit around 120-122 a couple of times, but, most often I was right around 119.I also kept hitting the rev limiter in 2nd and 4th and that cost me some speed.I wanted to shift as little as possible so I wound it out to the red line points because the more you shift the more speed you lose. I tried to avoid going into 6th.I tried coming out of the curves in second wound it out as much as I could then into third as I hit the straightaway. If I did it right I hit a bit over 120. But, most often I was a little off coming out and that cost me a few seconds and a few mph. To get information about this type of racing check out.wwwnasaproracing.com. This will take you to other links and will explain what they are about. I think they started on the west coast.This is not SCCA. SCCA is more complicated and very much more competitive. I guess a lot of guys start at this level and move up to SCCA. dkmura, were you there this past weekend? Emra was there running time trials.
Post Edited (Aug 10, 4:24am)