My First Track day
#1
09-24-2012, 09:05 AM
My First Track day
I went to a Torqued Racing HPDE at Putnam Park this past weekend. It was my first track day, and I had a blast. The G35 was a lot of fun, and I was able to learn a lot more about the car.
My First session was a lead follow session, which really helped me to learn some of the line. From there I really tired to focus on learning the track and the line. I drove a couple of sessions by myself, then had a friend ride with me and give me excellent advice during my 4th session. I have video from a couple of laps of my 5th session out. I Really tried to focus on braking in a straight line and being more deliberate about my turns. Most laps I kept the car in 4th gear with traction control on the whole lap, and focused more on each corner vs setting a top speed for me for the day.
My G35 is stock on all season tires with Hawk HPS Pads. The tires started to get chewed up by the end of the day, but my brakes felt fine all day, except for one lap. I experienced brake fade once in my 5th session after really trying to push myself and the car. After a cool down lap, the brakes were back to 100%.
I really look forward to making it to more events. I plan to get better tires that can handle the track over the winter. I'm hoping to find some good used sets. With Torqued Racing I had the opportunity to do 6, 20 minutes sessions. Then the track was open for everyone from 4:15-5pm. Since my front tires couldn't handle much more and I needed to drive 4 hours home, I quit after the 5th.
A couple of pictures from the day:
My First session was a lead follow session, which really helped me to learn some of the line. From there I really tired to focus on learning the track and the line. I drove a couple of sessions by myself, then had a friend ride with me and give me excellent advice during my 4th session. I have video from a couple of laps of my 5th session out. I Really tried to focus on braking in a straight line and being more deliberate about my turns. Most laps I kept the car in 4th gear with traction control on the whole lap, and focused more on each corner vs setting a top speed for me for the day.
My G35 is stock on all season tires with Hawk HPS Pads. The tires started to get chewed up by the end of the day, but my brakes felt fine all day, except for one lap. I experienced brake fade once in my 5th session after really trying to push myself and the car. After a cool down lap, the brakes were back to 100%.
I really look forward to making it to more events. I plan to get better tires that can handle the track over the winter. I'm hoping to find some good used sets. With Torqued Racing I had the opportunity to do 6, 20 minutes sessions. Then the track was open for everyone from 4:15-5pm. Since my front tires couldn't handle much more and I needed to drive 4 hours home, I quit after the 5th.
A couple of pictures from the day:
Last edited by alej; 10-02-2012 at 04:11 PM.
#3
09-24-2012, 04:16 PM
yay, awesome. More people should take the g35 to the track. Looks like you had a good time.
one thing i noticed in the video, it might just be the traction control, but alot of the corners seemed to have pretty large steering adjustments mid corner. One thing you can practice off track, is pay a lot of attention in your daily driving to your steering wheel angle. Like when you make a turn, enter an onramp, etc, try to move your steering wheel once and hold it there, and see where you end up, then correct if necessary, so you can get a better feel and learn your car's steering habits, with the goal to be able to make a turn with one steady steering motion.
one thing i noticed in the video, it might just be the traction control, but alot of the corners seemed to have pretty large steering adjustments mid corner. One thing you can practice off track, is pay a lot of attention in your daily driving to your steering wheel angle. Like when you make a turn, enter an onramp, etc, try to move your steering wheel once and hold it there, and see where you end up, then correct if necessary, so you can get a better feel and learn your car's steering habits, with the goal to be able to make a turn with one steady steering motion.
#4
10-02-2012, 03:34 PM
Thank you for the tip! I agree more people should take heir G35 to the track. The G35 doesn't feel as heavy as I thought it would. This track day was the best driving experience I've had. I have always wanted to go to the track and have owned other sporty cars like integras, S2000, and a Mazdaspeed 3. I autocrossed all of those cars (and my G35), but being on track is so much different. Its a whole new skill and I'm excited to go back.
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