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| Motorsports and Skilled Driving Discussion for Organized Racing and motorsports and tips and techniques at becoming a better driver. |
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05-07-2007, 11:11 AM
| #1 |
| Zilvia.net Advertiser  | SPL PARTS @ Redline Time Attack Buttonwillow writeup The story starts more than a month ago... in anticipation of this event, I was tuning the car for more power on a dyno (all the previous tunes were done on the street, but that was getting difficult at these higher power levels), when something in the drivetrain slipped and cut that tuning session short. I spent the next few weeks replacing the clutch, differential and transmission (in that order) before finally narrowing down the problem to the driveshaft just a few days before I had to leave for California. A new driveshaft was overnighted and installed the day before I left for California. At the same time during those few weeks, I was also working on finishing my doctoral dissertation. I finished just a few days before I had to leave for California as well, so you could imagine the last few weeks leading up to this event was VERY stressful. The new mods to the car this time is a hood vent to reduce cooling drag, and a new wing and 4" splitter. I also installed a 2.25l Zero360 fire system (no pics):    I knew our main competition in Modified class was going to be the Factor-X 650rwhp NSX that edged us out at California Speedway:  I showed up with some minor aero improvements and slightly more power, but Factor-X showed up with new 3-way adjustable Moton coilovers; these are full race (used in Grand Am, etc) coilovers that retail for about $10K. The NSX weighed in around the same as us (about 2950lbs without driver), but I knew it was going to be a tough fight this time because the Z was under-sprung and under-damped. I had used the KTS coilovers (9kg/7kg) for over 3 years at local DEs, but they were too soft for a dedicated track car. So for this event I borrowed a set of JIC FLT-A2s coilovers from a friend, they were the stiffest coilovers (12kg/mm front and 9kg/mm rear) I could get my hands on at that time, but my Z still needed a much stiffer setup. I had a set of Zeal Super-Function 2-way adjustable coilovers (18kg/14kg) on order but I won't receive them till June... We still had a very slight edge in handling against the NSX, which was apparent during one of the practice sessions when the NSX was following right behind us, but the 150-200rwhp advantage of the NSX was huge on the straights. We had a pro driver, Ryan Hampton, to drive the Z this time. Ryan is currently a pro Formula-D drifter (some of you may know the Falken stickered 69 Camaro) but his competition resume includes road racing in IRL, Grand Am, ALMS, SCCA, Formula 2000, etc: http://www.restartcommunications.com/hampton.htm He might just be the best driver at the time attack, though Buttonwillow was not what Ryan called a "driver's track", where the driver can make a huge difference. The final results were: SPL 300ZX 1:55.319 Factor-X NSX 1:54.379 So we have no excuses this time, kudos to the Factor-X guys, they definitely had the faster car. Too bad we won't get to run against them again as they are apparently retiring this car and building a new unlimited class car. BTW, in comparing these times to the Super Street time attack from Nov 2006, considering that the weather was 75deg vs. 95deg (which would have been worth probably 2-3 sec due to the reduced power and grip), we would both have set new record times in Limited class. Each time we go to a time attack all the cars show up with new mods that continually raise the bar... Final result: Ryan Hampton in the SPL 300ZX takes 2nd place in Modified:  I would like to thank Seb from SpecialtyZ for all his help over the weekend - I would not have been able to deal with the issues I had with the Z by myself, and he stuck around the entire weekend actively wrenching on both cars. Thanks to Lee Darzycki and Glenn Nakata for letting me borrow stuff all weekend, and sorry about damaging the camber gauge Lee :/ Also thanks to Daryl Ong for some of the pics  Videos from the time attack: Practice session (60MB hirez) -- http://www.splparts.com/events/redline0407/practice.mpg Practice session (6MB lowrez) -- http://www.splparts.com/events/redli...actice_low.mpg Time attack session (60MB hirez) -- http://www.splparts.com/events/redline0407/TA.mpg Time attack session (6MB lowrez) -- http://www.splparts.com/events/redline0407/TA_low.mpg I towed the Z to and back from California by myself, the Z was pretty much built by me and paid for by me without any sponsorship so far. So all in all I think I did well, though SPL is not really making enough money to pay for this racing. Since I have earned by doctorate I will be focusing more on SPL, and may deviate from our purely parts business and start taking on car builds/tuning, though it will be on a very select basis given my limited time. Oh finally, please vote for my Z at Cardomain for the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car challenge: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2638690 The event is by invitation only, and to get an invitation I'll need the votes. So PLEASE VOTE!!! Do so under the RATE THIS RIDE (GRM UTC Challenge). THANKS!!! Last edited by kuah@splparts.com; 05-07-2007 at 03:07 PM. |
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05-07-2007, 03:21 PM
| #4 |
| Zilvia's Michael Weston   |  Awesome! Congratulations. I knew SPLParts helped my car park harder then other people, but it's awesome to see them perform so well on the track.  Keep up the good work Ryan and Kuah!
__________________  YES, I have a 240sx. NO, it doesn't have an SR. NO, I don't drift. NO, it's not for sale! |
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05-08-2007, 01:49 AM
| #5 |
| Premium Member  | Your Z is an inspiration to my own. GJ on consecutive 2nd place finished. |
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05-08-2007, 01:53 AM
| #6 |
| Lightweight goodness   | Congratulations, and also for making it out to Cali. |
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05-08-2007, 09:18 PM
| #9 |
| Leaky Injector  | Hi Kuah, great job that weekend and congratulations on your doctorate! I was actually there that weekend and looking to meet you. this is Jonathan L.... with the S14, your olddddd first customer from so cal. lol! do you remember?  I'll try to take out the new Factor-X car in the UnLimited class for you...  |
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05-08-2007, 10:01 PM
| #10 |
| Post Whore!  | that z looks eeriely familiar to one that used to drag race in the street tire classes in california in around 03-04...is it a texas car? cheers and good luck congrats on that phd... im thinking law next, it never ends...ever...
__________________ SHADOWERKS.COM Your PREMIER Zilvia Dyno AND Remote Tuner... |
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05-09-2007, 08:49 AM
| #11 | ||
| Zilvia.net Advertiser | Quote:
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05-09-2007, 01:42 PM
| #12 | |
| Leaky Injector | Quote:
 If you don't mind, could you email me the graphic for the "SPL Parts" sticker? I need to make some custom ones for my other projects...  This is on my S13, if you could email me the same graphic as this one? Thanks!  | |
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05-11-2007, 12:37 PM
| #13 | |
| Zilvia.net Advertiser | Quote:
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