Members Brian L. Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Scott was nice enough to let me take a couple laps in his Spec Z this last weekend at Thunderhill. I was pretty excited about this series before, now I am really stoked! The car has a ton of tire, which has its ups and downs. I am a little skeptical of the current spring rate spec being too soft, especially up front. But either way the car was fun to drive! Hope to see some more cars coming out over the summer, I should be ready to start building cars by August or September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotts300 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Scott was nice enough to let me take a couple laps in his Spec Z this last weekend at Thunderhill. I was pretty excited about this series before, now I am really stoked! The car has a ton of tire, which has its ups and downs. I am a little skeptical of the current spring rate spec being too soft, especially up front. But either way the car was fun to drive! Hope to see some more cars coming out over the summer, I should be ready to start building cars by August or September. Sorry the car didn't allow you to take a few more laps, Brian, but thanks for the test drive and the feedback! See ya next month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Remarks from the 1st outing in full Spec Z trim at Road Atlanta for the NASA-SE June Jam, where Mr. Clark Crawford whipped me soundly Final Set up: middle setting F & R on ASB factory recommended settings on all 4 dampers hot tire temps 38-39 psi warm sunny day 85 deg..low humidity Running the same tune as last year, tuned for pump gas w/ plenum spacer . now spacer is removed, but running 50/50 mix of 93 pump gas and 98 race gas from the track. I ran a 1:44.9, which is just a little slower that the 1:44.2 I ran in Dec (older tires) , but still a good time for the 1st time on track and the temp difference. The good news is that I was not pushing that hard...not 100% for sure. So I think a 1:43.x is possible for sure in the same conditions. Handling: I did start out with softer damper settings..but that didn't feel as good..firmer was better all around. I still had a little push in all corners, and I like that at RA, and not real noticeable in the high speed stuff, but in T7 that is a slow >90 deg right taken at ~ 50-60 MPH I have BIG push...almost pushed off the track. Note: many cars push here! T7 leads to the long back straight so this impacted lap times for sure. However I didn't adjust anything to fix that since the rest of the track felt good, and frankly I didn't know what to change without F'ing up the rest of the track or create TOO MUCH Oversteer..which is NOT A GOOD thing at RA. So I changed my driving to deal with it. I would use a little trail braking and get the car rotated and THEN step on the gas. I used to brake hard in a striaght line, turn it and feed the gas in as quickly as possible...anyways it is something to work on. The faster I drove the car, the better it felt...that is a GREAT feeling!!!I plan to call KW and ask for some help... Suspension "A" Diff: The diff seemed fine, other than leaking...I did have wheel spin in the paddock at low speeds in an uneven area...but don't think I had any on track. I used Motul Oil 75-140 Comp Oil that is now recommended by WaveTrac...I will remove the entire diff and inspect everything...and MAN does that diff fluid STINK. Clark was using a infrared temp gauge all weekend on both cars. He was running ~ 245 Deg (with Nismo finned cover) and I was running !~ 255 deg with a stock diff cover. Clark also has a temp sensor in the oil drain hole, and he was ~350 deg or so there. So I think I will install a diff cooler before the next event. I give the Diff a "B+" Tires: I like the BFG tire, and I like NEW tires even better :thumbup: In the past I bought used tires and ran them till...I won some new one. So having brand stinkin new tires is cool....you fell like superman. Frankly I didn't get 100% out of the new tires as I was taking it easy. But the tires felt consistent throughout the races, with little or no drop off. However, as I stated before I was not pushing..not sliding much. In fact I wasn't even getting the tires to come up to proper pressure early in the weekend and had to raise the starting psi from 29 to 32 (early morning prior to any driving) I give the Tires a "A+"... General Comments: the big issue was going from a 4:08 gear and 17" tires to 3.5 gear and tall 18" tires. Where I used 4-5-6 previously, I now used 3-4-5 . This messed with me more than anything. I never felt like I was in the correct gear. The car feels/sounds SO DIFFERENT in this configuration. I am sure i will adjust next time out at RA in Aug, and this issues will disappear, and I will begin to really push the car & driver... Overall rating "A" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixxxercask Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thanks for the review laze. Wonder why your diff is leaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Removed the diff and inspected it...all is good. It appears to only be the normal "Diff overflow tube blow by" I started to smell oil burning about 3/4 of the way thru the Sunday race where I had a good long fast run...everyhting was nice and hot then. So I plan to add an Diff Cooler and overflow tank before the Aug event... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmettogasman Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 My first weekend with the new spec suspension started well but ended poorly...see attached pic http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r547/Palmettogasman/d7454a6c.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Ouch!!! what happened??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmettogasman Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 It happened at Homestead exiting turn 7 in the rain. Turn 7 is notorious for gathering up cars into the inside wall. I was being evaluated for HPDE 4 and the morning dry run went well but we decided to finish up in the afternoon and hit the rain. The instructor and I both were surprised (obviously) by how suddenly the rear end came around. I was avoiding the standing water and concrete curbs and was gently applying throttle ( but probably not gently enough). Other than driver error another concern we noticed afterwards was that the rear asb was bound up against the exhaust flange. Any thoughts? Here is a pic (http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r547/Palmettogasman/d5c85802.jpg) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmettogasman Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Still not sure what caused it and I haven't driven the Z in the rain since it was repaired. I raced an E30 in tropical storm Beryl for 4 hours at a Daytona enduro the next weekend without a single incident with 120 other cars in the field; my teammates kept reminding me that hitting the walls of both HMS and DIS within 1 week would be poor form. The car was repaired in 10 days and the guys at Turbo Toys in Tampa did a great job finding used parts and making sure everything was straight in such a short time. Posted the 3rd fastest time at the SCCA school at the Sebring Club course this weekend in the Z with a 1:22 and the car handled well. I ran on my street tires and with the Nismo LSD since my Enkei rims won't arrive till August and I'm still unsure of the heat issue with the wavetrac. Thanks for your updates on the wavetrac btw. http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r547/Palmettogasman/b7183e31.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laze1 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I am not sure why the Spec Z Progress ASB are this way..but look at the rings that are welded on the ASB to limit movement...both the F & R ASB are mounted in a way that allows the ASB to move about >1" side-to-side. They have so much movement that in the front, I am afraid that they are gonna hit the Shock fluid reseviors... So I removed my adjustable ASB end links to give move clearence...but I am still concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velocitymotorsports Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Are we allowed to run adjustable end links for the asb in spec z? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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