DDMotorsports: Redline Time Attack Round #1 Results!
 

This past Sunday was the 2009 Season Opener for the Redline Time Attack Series and in a last minute decision, I brought out the 370Z to compete in the Street RWD class. The event was held at Buttonwillow Raceway on configuration #13CW. I went on Sunday only due to budget reasons so I missed out on a full day of practice on Saturday, but I figured considering the car was almost stock, I would find the limits fairly easily.

The weather was terrible on Sunday with steady winds of 20-30mph and gusts up to 40mph. The track was constantly covered in dust and dirt and the winds played havoc on cars trying to push the limit. Most everybody was about 3 seconds off their pace from Saturday.

For those that don't know, my 370Z is very mildly prepped, especially in the crowd that shows up to these time attack events. You can see a mod list here...

Double Down Motorsports

I went into the event knowing that there wasn't a chance to podium given the level of cars that enter these competitions. My goal was to get out there, have fun, and test some parts for the 370Z community and my sponsors. I got out there and drove the car as hard as I possibly could, trying to find the limit of each part and the car as a whole...

BC Racing ER Series Coilovers:
I am absolutely in love with these coilovers. I really enjoyed them on the street, but when I hit the track I was in awe that these things aren't more expensive than they are. They felt awesome, handled the bumps in the track like a dream, kept the car very flat considering I am on the stock sway bars, and were easily adjusted. Having the ability to adjust compression and rebound separately is awesome!

Mishimoto Oil Cooler Kit:
This was my biggest concern going into the weekend because as far as I know, this is the first oil cooler that has really been track tested on the 370Z, not to mention it's the least expensive I have seen. Part of me was thinking "you get what you pay for" but luckily I was wrong. This oil cooler worked like a charm! Oil temps never got above 260 no matter how hard or how long I was driving on track. The oil temp would get up to 260 and wouldn't budge from there. Then during the cool down lap, it would be back to 220-230 before I was even halfway back to the pits. I am very pleased that this piece worked!

Hawk HP+ Brake Pads:
These, in conjunction with the stock sport package brakes and Motul RBF600 fluid, also exceeded my expectations. I drove this car very hard and the HP+ being a street/track pad and not a dedicated track pad held up beautifully. Initial bite and brake torque remained consistent and strong all day and all session long. I experienced no fade at all and I would venture to say that these pads will be suitable for almost any driver in a stock to moderately modified 370Z. My only complaint about these pads is that they generate a lot of brake dust.

SPL Parts Pro Rear Camber Arms:
There usually really isn't a whole lot to review about this piece other than it fits good and is easy to adjust. The reason I am listing it here though is because there was one instance where I was impressed by these. I dropped my right rear wheel off on the exit of one of the corners and on the other side of the rumble strip was a bit of a ditch. The wheel dropped off and the SPL camber arm NAILED the asphalt. It was a huge thud and I thought for sure it was bent or broken. Surprisingly the car felt fine, no different than before the incident. When I got back to the pits, the camber arm was scratched, but there were no other signs of damage! The camber hadn't even been knocked out of alignment. That is the reason to buy quality rear camber arms!

The car in general:
Compared to a 350Z, I am really impressed with the level of grip this car has. The car exceeded all of my expectations and I could not be happier. The biggest limiting factors of the car were the stock tires and the stock LSD. Both of those things reached their limit far before anything else on the car. The rev match is my favorite part of the car. I wish every car had this system. It is perfect every time.

The results:
I went into the event hoping for anything below 2:10.000 for a lap time. My best lap time of the day was a 2:05.714 and considering the track was reportedly 3 seconds slower than the previous day, I am absolutely stoked on this lap time.

There were 29 entrants in the Street RWD class and I ranked 12th. The competition was fairly close though so although I was 12th, I was less than 5 seconds away from a podium finish and 3.2 seconds away from a top 5 finish. A good set of street tires could have knocked as much as 3 seconds off I believe. An aftermarket LSD, maybe another second or two. Considering the level of the cars that were in this class, I think it's safe to say that this 370Z can easily become a podium contender. We'll see how the car stacks up at Willow Springs at the end of May with new tires and hopefully some other power/handling goodies. :driving:

On track pics and video to come soon.

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370zrtabw1.jpg

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370zrtabw2.jpg

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370zrtabw3.jpg

NOTE: The Bridgestone RE-11 stickers are for contingency purposes only. The car was on the stock Bridgestones that were on the car when I bought it from the dealership, not the RE-11.

Nice write up and great results!

Yes, nice results:tup: and thanks for the great review :driving:

Thanks guys!

I was about to ask how you liked the RE-11's until I saw the note at the very bottom :(

Do you think you'll try those out eventually? I'm curious how they're doing on the heavier cars.

I'll be testing them at Auto-X this weekend. We run a long 2 mile course that gets things going pretty hot. Not quite as hot as track though as there is a 10-15 minute cool down between runs.

Good Write
 

Great write up and explanation. + rep

The RE-11s are definately on the list of possibilites and if I don't land any kind of tire sponsorship then I will probably go with the RE-11s because they come in better sizes than my other choices. My other choices being the Yokohama AD07 and Nitto NT05.

Looks great Mike, thanks for the reviews too!

Some action shots from UrbanRacer.com :)

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/buttonwillow47.jpg

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/buttonwillow46.jpg

Much better action shots coming soon. :)

Great job out there running a near bone stock car!
http://www.berktechnology.com/web/rta4.jpg

^^^Thanks :)

And congratulations to you for your podium finish with the Berk S2000!

I knew I recognized this car:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...adin28/922.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...adin28/788.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...adin28/823.jpg


Obviously these are pretty bad pictures. Haha. I guess no love for the 370z on other car forums. :(

Good job
and hope you will do better
but i am happy for the oil cooler result . i think I can say the problem is solved by changing the oil cooler

OMGWTFBBQ - Thanks for the pictures! Come by and introduce yourself at Willow Springs if you are going to be out there.

Black kNight - Thank you! As far as doing better, I am perfectly happy with my results. The Redline Time Attack rules are very open and allow for some heavily modified cars in the street class, and although 12th sounds bad, the competition was close so my times really weren't that far off of the podium cars. At a normal track day my time would have been in the top of the rankings, but at the time attacks you are running with the fastest cars in the country. My main goal was to test the oil cooler, brake pads, and coilovers, all of which impressed me more than I thought they would.

Pretty cool photo... :)

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/vpphoto1.jpg

nice job, mike ! and congrats on you nuptials ! hope you had a great time on your honeymoon !

appreciate the write-up and very pleased to hear that you got the oil temp under control... i haven't had my z on the track since i my first post - but i'll be back soon ! one thing i'm curious about, did you get any sense that the lsd performance degraded with heat build up ? just wondering if the eventual diff cooler from nismo and others will make a performance difference or just a long-term reliability upgrade

i'm going to pm you re the coilovers... i think i'd like to run the same ones you have !

Now THAT'S a great shot! :tup:

agree, looks like a super fun track !

mike, another question when you get back... we talked off line about the idea of running stagger (265/285) vs 275s or 285s all around... any update on your perspective here ?

thanks !

Thanks guys!

Travis - The diff sucked 100% of the time, regardless of heat. Also, about the tire sizes, this car will like a staggered fitment. Contradictory to that though, I will be running 275s all around due to a sponsorship from Nitto. They don't make the ideal sizes in the NT05 for 19" wheels, so its either 275s all around or a 245/275 stagger, but I don't want to run such a small tire up front.

ok, good for you on the tire sponsorship... i'm leaning towards staggered setup... and i think i'll just run this diff until it gives, then upgrade - sounds like you're planning the same

I am working on a diff already. Hoping to have a new one in by the next event at the end of May.

Thanks DDM for the review!

I cannot express how happy I am that the oil cooler worked. Just for comparison sake, what is the oil temperature under normal driving?

Do you know the temperature in which the car goes into limp mode? What was the ambient temperature that day?

Thanks dude.

^^^Thanks! I am happy about it too.

Under normal driving conditions the oil temp ranges from ~175 to ~200 depending on if its open highway or stop & go traffic.

I am not sure of the trigger temp for limp mode, but I didn't hit it at all. The ambient temp that day was a high of 76 degrees.

Thank you very much.

From what others have said here, the first cut happens at 280 which may just be a small rev limiter cut. Limp mode is activated at 300 where it will seriously cut rev limit and fuel.

Thats awesome!
And your z looks sweet!

were they any other near stock cars or were all of them modded (heavily or light)?

Thanks guys!

tvfreakazoid - Most, if not all of the cars at the event were more heavily modded than the 370Z was.

Some more action shots...

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/buttonwillow55.jpg

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/buttonwillow58.jpg

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/buttonwillow61.jpg

The stock wheels make the body roll look worse than it really was. Still needs aftermarket sways though :).

Outfuckingstanding results! Makes me want a 370 more and more.

That rear tire tuck looks NASTY. Any rubbing?

Nope, no rubbing. I think the way the fenders are and the stock wheels make it look much worse than it really was. If you look at the front bumper or other parts of the car, the body roll doesn't look as bad.

So that's what a dumped Z would look like haha.

What wheels are you planning on running for your track set up?

Forgestar F14s in matte black with a bright green "time attack" stripe. :)

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/forgestarf14tastripe.jpg

Going to try and squeeze a 19x10" wheel all around with 275/35/19 Nitto NT05 tires.

That sounds like a great set up. I am planning on buying those exact tires for the rear when the stockers go bald.

We'll see. I would have liked to do a small stagger, like a 265/285, but it was too hard to find good tires in those sizes for the track. I have plenty of room to adjust the suspension though to compensate for any small handling issues caused by running a non-staggered setup. :)

How much do they weigh? They sure look pretty but looks don't mean much on the track.
You weren't going to try 18's? I'm sure with enough width and the right offset you could clear the sport calipers.

Well I know a 19x9 F14 weighs 25 lbs. and a 19x11 weighs 26lbs. I am guessing that the 19x10 will weigh 25.5 lbs. A 275/35/19 Nitto Invo weighs 29 lbs. Assuming that a Nitto NT05 in the same size will weigh the same, my track setup should weigh the exact same as the stock sport package setup, but with the added benefit of a wider tire up front.

Truth be told, I really wanted to stay with 19s because of the look. The goal for this car is to be a fun car to take to the track, take to the car shows, and take to the grocery store. I am not building a full blown track car out of it. If you wanted to stay with 19s like I did, Forgestar offers the best choice when you factor in style, price, quality, and weight. Sure there are 18s out there that are lighter and better for performance, but I think Forgestar did pretty good on the weight considering the size and the style of the wheel. If I get to the point with the car where I really feel I need that extra competitve edge I will make the switch to 18s.

There are always Volks - you can lose weight and stay with 19s. Too bad about the price :shakes head:

I hear you. I guess I was just assuming you guys were going more towards a track dedicated car. 18's look Fugly with huge tires, but they sure do help cut down on unsprung weight. A good set of forged 19's gives a nice balance of looks and function. I'm excited to see the progression of your car.
Good luck! :tiphat: