Hey all, tomorrow me and a few buddies rented out a small 1.8mile roadcourse here in Louisiana for the day and will be turning laps. I have tracked cars before, but not much at all.

Just wondering what exactly I can expect the car to handle like at the limit. I am expecting a minor amount of understeer in the higher speed turns, but would like to here some thoughts from those of you who have tracked their Gs multiple times.

I'll be sure to post some pics if I can get some good ones. Only expecting a turnout of maybe 6 cars. My 04 G35 6mt, friend's 04 slighly modded 350z on slicks, Ferrari 328, and if another one of our Ferrari club friends comes he will be taking out his new(less than 800miles) Ferrari F430 and a 360 Challenge car!

Looks like I will be waving a few people around me to say the least, lol
Hopefully Franco will let me ride shotgun for a few hotlaps in the 430, it has better stats on track than the amazing f50! And might be just as quick around the track as the 360 challenge if it gets fitted with proper slicks.

 

bring the psi of your tires down to 30psi. that should help with understeering a bit. a habit of mines is to change the oil and filter the day prior to track day, and changing out the brake fluid and oil again. if the day is bright, wear some sunscreen.

 

bring extra front brake pads

 

Since you don't have much track time, watch the lines taken by the other drivers through the turns, assuming they are experienced. Also, ease into speed gradually. When I did some racing, I'd try to gradually increase my speed in the turns until I took it to the braking point and then back it off some. The main thing is to try to be smooth, have fun, and most of all be careful.

I wish I could offer some specific advice for the G35, but virtually all of my racing was done in a 993 and I have zero track time in a G35.

 

I did a few track days on the G. My best advise is to keep an eye on your brakes. My 03 had really bad brake fade. So i would push it the first 10 min but then would back of since i started noticing fade start to appear.

As far as handling in corners, i would back of the throtle in sharp corners since the car has pretty good torque curve, going hard on it can kick the rear out pretty seasy.

I would run with the VDC for a few laps and see where and at what point it kicks in. Then for a few laps turn it off and go slow so you can see where the limit starts to come in and at what point the rear tires start to slip. I know if you careful with the throtle, you can keep the rear under control and still slide it a tad but if you push it a bit it will whip around on you.

I would go in hard in to the corner then let off and hit it after the apex. I did track with my prelude and it was a completly different experience from the G.

Main thing dont over drive the car. Remember its not the car driving you and its not you driving the car... it both of you driving together.

Do you have a track with a lot of run off room or is it all walls?

 

There are a couple of good threads in the track/autocross forum.

 

30psi on street tires for the track!?!?!?

 

According to the avatar you have it looks like you might have some thoughts on tire pressures, do tell.

Also, for those who said they noticed fade quite quickly, was this on cars equipped with the brembos?

Some parts of the track have decent runoff, so I will push harder in those areas and try to late apex a bit in the areas with concrete walls in the way. Figure I'll adjust the apex down to normal after getting more and more laps under my belt.

 

You better take pictures.... lots of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You trying to kill the guy? absolutely don't bring it down to 30psi, he's got
a coupe. Keep it around 35.5psi to 36psi on factory 18's cold.

 

Hmmm, interesting. 2 vastly different recommendations. Anyone care to throw in some more thoughts?


And as for pics, I will certainly try. A friend of mine just talked with our friend with the 430 and challenge car, and unfortunantly he is only 50/50 as of now, but pics of the G will be guaranteed!

 

Ok, I just read a tracking thread in the autox section and it seems that most people who are taking out to road courses are going 37-39psi Cold. Stark contrast to 30psi.

Are you trying to kill me 636Racer

 

Also, it appears that most think they stock brake pads and fluid are very lacking.

Any recommendations on aftermarket? Cost?

 

Generally, people add 4-5 psi to the recommended street tire pressure if they're running on street tires. I usually aim for about 39psi hot on 17" victoracers which is what I'd use cold on street tires. I have an '05 so no Brembos for me...was getting pad fade pretty fast despite aftermarket brake pads (granted they weren't suited for high speed application). My rear pads disintegrated...I'll be running with Porterfield R4S pads and hopefully Ntech Engineering lapping pads next weekend so I'll be able to provide more info in that area in week and a half. My previous experience with an Integra doesn't seem to carry to a 3500lb car. I would upgrade to a 13" Stoptech kit if I weren't trying to save up for a track car for next season.

Make safety the most important part of your day and you'll be fine - don't take unnecessary risk. Even if there's runoff, you can do a fair bit of damage if you have an off.

Have a good time and tell us all about it!

 

Regarding brake fade, the only cars that I'm aware of that don't have much brake fade with their OEM setup are Porsches from experience and Ferraris from reputation. As I posted earlier my 993 was great for the track. For those of you who are track junkies and can do your own maintenance work, the 993 can't be beat. You've got to be able to do your own work because maintenance work done at dealerships is insanely high.

I also took my '02 M3 to the track a couple of times and the OEM brakes suffered noticeable fade. So the G35 has lots of company in the brake fade department.