That would be cool as heck. Good luck and have fun.

It will definitely help. Sims are no different than the track, good instruction and seat time!

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A blast from the past
1982 with a 260Z, not sure what we are all doing looking at it.
the spitfire, wasn't mine but a neighbor
Attachment 145574

Driver61 - Sim Racing Fundamentals MasterClass (MX-5) review week 1 and week 2
week1 - Technical
was a technical time on understanding discord, iracing, the training software/access, and remote access if needed.

Week 2 - vision -- here is this week outline

• Why proper vision will make you faster
• An example of good vision: active eyes
• Exactly where you should be looking on track
• On track vision demonstration (Okayama - Short Configuration)
• Track exercise - Okayama Short
• On track vision demonstration (Lime Rock - Grand Prix Configuration)
• Track exercise - Lime Rock - Grand Prix Configuration
• Racing with Others
• Your Training Journal - Vision Week
• Join Your Group Training

So far it has been good, educational as to trying different things. I have always had a problem of not looking far enough ahead. Working hard on that.

The group training, may need some improvement, there are up to 6 of you in the session, and the instructor takes time watching you race and how to improve. I had a hard time with this, because of how loud iracing was vs him talking to me and understanding about where I was and what to look for.

those are my thoughts.... :driving:

Vision in all sports is key to success. Good vision allows you to act and anticipate if you have to react you are on your back foot or have to slow or pause. This is not good and you will be slow. This way hard to do even if you tell yourself to do it because hwo far and where do I need to look and then you got to keep any eye on everyone else , oh and don't forget the corner workers too. The answer is seat time!

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well seat time in sims to begin, this is now a key focus for me.....
secretly I really want to beat my kids, in sim racing at least once...

week 3 of Sim Racing course was

1. Welcome to Steering Week (and this week's briefing)
2. Track Exercise - How to Steer to Maintain High Grip Levels
3. Track Exercise - Embedding Perfect Steering Technique
4. Exercise - Perfect Steering on Track
5. Using all the Road and Kerbs
6. Track Exercise - How to Use 100% of Circuit, Understanding Track Limits & Using Kerbs
7. Your Training Journal - Steering and the Limit
8. Racing with Others

I am learning, about how a car is suppose to feel. This is the first time I am at least understanding of what is happening with the car. It is pretty odd to realize that after all these years I am trying to correct mistakes/tendencies that go back 36 years, when I did Formula Ford.

But with Sim Racing, sure hope I start to see what needs to be changed even if I am slower :driving:

in reference to sim racing and learning, it is helping. a funny moment.
I finally had beat my sons time at lime rock. had him by 6/10ths of a second.
So I challenged him, wrong thing to do, for no I am back of him by 1.5 seconds.
But I think all of this is starting to make sense and pay off.
:driving:

took the Z out for its last ride for the year today,
the ride was on the tail of the dragon, nice way to end the year with the z
:happydance:

i might have missed it in your thread but how old is your son and what does he drive? I love father/son racing combos

my father used to race but now has back pain so i never got to race with him, just cruise here and there

LOL, my son is 34 and I am almost 68, we have a great time sim racing. We actually did Dirtfish rally school together a couple years ago. it is always fun time....

Merry Christmas to all,
enjoy your day and have fun at it...

well Christmas day and going through old pics -- quality is poor but a couple from IMSA in 1976 at Mid-Ohio

http://www.the370z.com/members/daneg...-img-0002b.png

http://www.the370z.com/members/daneg...-img-0003a.png

there are a couple more in the Album

Nissan 370Z Forum - danegrey's Album: 1976 IMSA Mid-Ohio - datsun/nissan

have fun

Happy New Year
:driving::tiphat::ughdance:

Another blast from the past
going through old racing programs and putting them on eBay.
Found this AD in a 1979 Program for CAN-AM at Mid-Ohio, gave me a chuckle

http://www.the370z.com/members/daneg...05657-1979.png

Good friend of mine sold Datsun's back in that day. He got in so much trouble with his 1980 280zx he had to sell it. He got more than sticker for it used. Ponder on that. As soon as they got them on the lot they were gone until the next shipment.

well its a new year and plans are being worked on for this year.
Plans --
first track event planned for SCCA Track night at AMP
waiting for my son to get confirmation on his PTO, for mid-ohio performance school in July.
will do first two days in school car and then last day in the Z.
Looking at doing a track day a month starting in April to Oct (?)

Sim racing
This has been interesting, have improved, in working via Driver61 and signing up for some 1-on-1 lessons. Will be interesting to see how this transfers to the track. I have had 1-on-1s on Road Atlanta and AMP. Time will tell

Everyone have a great whatever
:ughdance:

just order the Garmin Catalyst
first attempt with it will be AMP 4/21 SCCA Track Night
will be interesting

Interesting too, since I am will have done with sim 1-on-1 coaching in a nismo at that track before then...

will all be interesting

ok, more progress

-- working with my sim coach on Assetto Corsa in the Nismo at AMP, which has the same alignment as my Z, found out that he once had a 350z, so was familiar with the car. The little extra knowledge will go a long way
-- signed up for Mid-Ohio Performance School, again, this time with my middle son. we'll do school cars, but on the lapping day, I will be in the Z.
-- need to find some more track events around TN/GA, need to start that NOW
-- Also side note getting into VR for the racing sims, we'll going to how this works

:happydance:

kicked off the year right in the Z out of the garage and a drive on the tail of the dragon, a proper drive today
:driving::tiphat:

Install my Garmin Catalyst in the Z today. It was easy, and my son made me a bracket to hold it on together.

Bracket
https://photos.app.goo.gl/N7WK5Kz6xWn6Fd4k7

on the Garmin
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q9Ge7HAWq1fPanNDA

How it looks
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uZK9x1euwhGVMnwX6

It does not block the view not too bad, I put it in front of the battery gauge and clock. Still can see the oil gauge.

But I think I want to figure out how to put it in the cubby slot (well that is what I call it)

It was interesting when I turned it on, AMP was the first track on the list. So I guess it figures out where you're at.

Will get to try it at AMP on 4/21.

Nice. :tup:

well, first SCCA Track night is a week from Wednesday at AMP, finish my last one-on-one with my Sim coach at AMP in a Nismo on Assetto Corsa. Well it was a very good session and see saw lots of improvement from when I started.

Now the real test will be if I can take the lessons and all the time and apply it. I am hoping to lower my times (currently in the low 1:50s) not sure what to set my expectations too.

But an interesting comment, was that he is looking for a 350 ZED. Said he misses it.
:tiphat:

ok, the first SCCA Track Night is over, it was a success, all the work with SIM Racing and SIM coaching made a difference for me. My last best time at AMP was 1.51.79, last night I turned a best of 1.44.77, an improvement of 7.02 seconds. For the first time I actually felt comfortable, still on edge, but I was able to look ahead, and see the track vs tunnel vision.

Also in using Garmin Catalyst, it worked well, giving lap times and differences. I did not use the coaching, for I still need to work on being able to hear it better. But over all I was pleased. Think I left some time on the track, in letting up on the throttle a bit early. It was also in the low to mid 50s, a very cool windy late afternoon/evening

This was my best lap. 1.44.77
https://youtu.be/OjOei2HXwg8

An interest note on this, I was able to download the best lap with out any problems off the Garmin. There is a still a lot for me to learn and unlock from the device. It did record all my laps, and in sessions provide me a variation of lap time for the session. More to come.

I do have some post track day work to be done. The last session brake fade,
more than I wanted. But I will flush the system and clutch fluid just because and probably change the brakes.

Over all it was fun :driving: Next Track Night is May 21st, same track.

Well did another SCCA Track night and improved my time by 9/10ths to 1.43.879. Was happy with that..

Carbotech brakes (XP10 front XP8 back) felt great. I also moved up to intermediate from novice and didn't feel like I was in the way :icon17:

Did have a strange issue, that I am looking into, the shifter pulled out, yea, literally came into my hands. Which is very odd, and it was the second time. (first time was like ok, its an opps, second time need to think about) Funny thing I found a way to push it back in. Went out again and I would not say it was solid, well thinking about all the time.

I drove the car back, home, tried to pull the shifter out by hand/moving it and it will not come out. Very very odd, need to look at it.

It is not the originally shifter, but a Stillen Short Throw Shifter, which has seen track/hpde days.

Seems to do it when it gets HOT... hmmm, oh well thinking time...

well I did not crawl underneath the car, I watch a youtube about installing a short shifter.. I think the bolt for holding the shifter in place is gone or was never re-installed. Now I am suspecting this, because it may have happen when I had my clutch and cmak replaced.

just really odd, how it worked, no problems, and then bam... clutch was replaced in early 2019, I did a track night aug 2019 and aug 2020, no problems or it had not worked lose. (checked the boot that is attached and I cannot find it) who knows, need to find the bolt, so off to the dealership, unless somebody knows about what size it is.....

Thanks ahead of time...
:tiphat:

And then I found this:
http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...ure-heavy.html

pretty sure that it is missing the bolt, from a 350z site and conceptz, think this is the size of the bolt -- M8x1.25x45mm nissian part number 080108452A, need to confirm this...

well the shifter problem...
was not what I thought it was..
had my mechanic (need someone with car smarts not me) come over and we took the shifter apart and check the bolt on the bottom. Well it was in secured, so that was not the problem...

So under further review, found that the part the holds the shift knob on can come off/slide off. Here the way that Stillen makes it short shifter, it has a bushing inside that expands to hold the shifter part on. On the bottom is a 19mm nut that expands it. It appears that the nut had work loose a bit, thus, when it got hot (?) it pulled off.

Fix just retighten the bolt up... fingers crossed...

very odd, problem to have had...

Picture from last track night I did....
Attachment 147267

well the Z is all set for a week from Thursday at Mid-Ohio, an all day lapping day.
Had the brakes bleed again, rear sway bar re-installed, shifter fixed...
Brakes feel real good. (brakes are my pet peeve)

So what is going on, My son and I are doing the mid-ohio performance school. It is a 3 day school, with the 3rd day being a lapping day. I have done it before, but my son has never been to a school like this. (he has autocross and sims).

Should be lots of fun... Will report back after it is all over....

ok, in Mansfield, Ohio, for the 3 day high performance driving school, went to Dominos to pick up pizza
-- delivery driver said nice color on this way out
-- lady bring my pizza to me said, your work for me for a bit and let me take your car for a spin..

just makes me smile and giggle

:tiphat:

And people think we are crazy because we have a relationship with our cars!

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Day 1 of Mid-Ohio High performance driving school

• Classroom discussion on weight transfer / lines / oversteer / Understeer
  Off - track exercises (about an hour each)
  - Autocross - use to teach about lines and apexes
  - Skid pad - how to recover from Oversteer
  - Braking exercise - understanding how much pressure and turn in points.
  Back to classroom to discuss how the On track portion was to work.
  On-track
  Two twenty minutes sessions of follow the leader no passing. Just an introduction in the Track layout and breaking and apex points.

Also there were two other Z's there besides mine. Was nice to see it. So Day 2 is more instruction, track walk and lapping. This will be done in a school car, the Z will be on track Thursday for the lapping day.
:driving:

Day 2

• Started with a classroom session on all the turns of the track.
• Then we were loaded into vans and the instructors drove us around on the track, pointing out turn ins/outs. It was interesting, the instructor I had, was taking a Honda Odyssey van, with 7 of us in it, hitting 100 mph down the back section into turn 7.
• Back to the class room for a bit more instruction
• Lapping was the rest of the day.
• First was follow the leader a bit. And jumping out and riding with an instructor, never got to do that, since running late and needed to stop for lunch.
• After lunch one more follow the leader and then we were on our own. It was different this time, everyone on the track and passing was allowed. But it all went very well. No problems with passing by anyone.
• My moment, I was coming into turn 1 and I stab the brakes, late just messed up and over the yellow curb I went. Did what they said, rode the curb, slowed down and back on track, took out two cones. (he later asked who did it)
• Total number of laps was 51, with a best time of 1:55:57
• This was a father and son event, my son had a moment, down the back straight. He was telling me he had brake fade and it would come and go. He told the instructors also, but when they checked it, it was solid. So, he continues, but was a bit careful. So, on one lap coming down the back straight, no brakes ended up in China Beach, but he did what they said, go straight do not try to make the turn. He brought the car back and they gave him another car, which he said the brakes were a lot better

That was day 2 and the last day of driving the Student car, so on Day 3 it will be the Z.....
:driving:

funny thought, well we all know how the car market is going crazy, one of the exercises is driving the autocross in a S2000. Just saw a price of one on BAT, it went for 30K. These cars are being thrashed, should have checked the mileage.
:driving:

Day 3 - Mid Ohio three day driver school (last day)

Lapping day

• Class room and discussion of what was going to happen.
• Into Vans, for a track walk, stopped at every major section, got to review and see the elevation changes on track. Lots of changes.
• Laps, and more laps, did 7 sessions with a total 59 time laps, 67 total laps with out laps.
• Time between sessions, may have been 15 minutes. Not like SCCA Track Nights.
• Best time was a 1.51.8 an improvement of 4.71 seconds from 3 years ago.
• I did have a little off, had a tad oversteer and went through the grass. I would post it, but there was an opps with the garmin. I did have a bit of warning before it happen the last lap.

Overall well worth the money, in the three days did a total of 124 laps not counting out laps. Now I do not have to take the 3 day high performance, but can go and just do lapping days.

:ughdance:

That’s a lot of laps, I am jealous!

Some thoughts about the lapping day, as I mentioned, I did 59 laps, 66 including out laps. I actually was a bit nervous at the start of the day, wondering if my Z would make it. That is because I always have had a problem or something. This lapping day at Mid-Ohio, was with minimum of breaks, maybe 20 minutes between sessions. The last two sessions were back to back, with 5 minutes down time, really no chance to get out of the car and do anything....

I would like to thank everyone, who has helped/given me advice on how to make my Z rock solid. It has been an adventure, since starting to modify my Z.

But it all was worth it. I learn that I have even more to learn.

How to brake without engaging the ABS system Seems odd to say, but I learn that it really makes the brakes work harder. It is about applying brake pressure the right amount. I have a perfect example of this, because of my son.

The second day of school, he was having brake fade, talked to the instructors, they checked the brakes and said all was good. Well the brakes failed on the back stretch and he went into china beach. But we were instructed, to not turn go straight and he did that.

Now on the lapping day, he started having the same problem and they said something is wrong, so one of the instructors followed him. Then they came back and talked and I was there for part of it. He was on the brakes TOO hard, stabbing them and not applying pressure correctly.

He went with instructor on a ride along, and was told what to do. And he got it and no problems the rest of the day.

I mentioned this, because it made me think about braking, now at the end of the back straight, I was hard and ABS kicked on. Now the rest of the course I was alright with (I think, more aware if it). So, that is why I say I have to learn.

That even with my/your brakes setup to the best they can be, there still can be failure for not braking correctly.

so another thing I have to work on and learn...

Happy Father's day!

I always figured when the ABS kicked in I did not brake correctly. Generally it happened if I over shot my braking point.

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Thanks for that hint, will be interesting the next track day, going to work on the braking......

Good info there :tup:

Smooth input should be a priority on the track. Stabbing at any of the pedals can result in unwelcomed results. Smooth inputs will not upset the car's balance as much; this bad habit was one of the first things I noticed and worked on at the track. Thankfully, I've been able to work on my pedal input further using a racing rig with Gran Turismo :driving: