Ekona

You'll get an LS3 for that, and it's still an absolute bargain for that sort of power on a lovely new ally block. I have no idea how much a VQ35DE lump from Nissan is brand new, but I bet it's at least the same price. If budget is that much of an issue then a Rover lump will probably do, but I'd be looking at nothing less than an LS-series motor.

Don't bother unless you've got the car stripped out and are running uber sticky rubber with very light wheels and top notch brakes. That'll make the difference on a trackday far more than any aero aids will.

1. I run 34F and 35R for both road and track. I was tempted to drop the rears a smidge on the day when they started to slip through heat, but looking at the sidewall wear I left them alone. 2. Endless RF-650. Not cheap given they used to use it in the Honda F1 cars, but it's proved to be worth every penny and the fluid is still looking & feeling good. 3. Front compound is the PF 01 on matching PF discs, and I'm using PF Z pads on the rear with OEM discs. 4. Loads and loads, I absolutely love these pads! Minimal dust, tons of stopping power & fade resistance, and they've now seen two UK trackdays + the Ring and I've barely touched them. 5. Given a healthy budget, I'd change the suspension for something a bit harder but without going much lower to save the front bumper, and I'd love to go for six-pot front and 4-pot rear brakes. Oh, and a supercharger to be able to keep up with the quicker metal! Realistically though that would almost be a bit pointless as a Roadster (and a 350Z in general really) isn't the best place to start for making a Ring weapon, so I'll probably just fit a set of harnesses to give me more feel from the car and enjoy it as a fast road rather than a track. If I'd have had a few more weekends available before I'd gone the harnesses would most likely have been in, just a shame time didn't allow.

The chassis. That's not me being facetious; I genuinely love the fact that whilst the Zed does have a few niggles, underneath there is still a brilliant chassis which makes the car so good to drive and as long as you get that basic part right you can live with niggles.

Does the TT mount not fit the '4 as well? If it does, I would certainly consider it money well spent as it's an incredible piece of kit.

Bit more than just pads, also running the PF front discs along with the Z-compound on the rear and 01 on the front + Endless fluid as well as the full Summit bracing. Still can't get round 1750kgs and the sloppy suspension though, apparently it's horrendously comical to watch when I'm on the R888s as I get so much grip from them that the suspension really can't keep up and I end up at 45deg angles to the road!

Much!

The O2 sensors are nowhere near the intake, I think you mean the MAF

I'm guessing I did about 15-20 laps, not really sure tbh as I wasn't counting. No tuition although it was available but only on a half day option, which I felt would've taken some of the fun out of the day as an exercise in fun exploration. I have been thinking about a BBK recently but I just can't justify it on something that is mainly a road car. This is the first time I've had any kind of issues since running my current setup and it's a fair bit of cash to spend on a car that's never going to be a track weapon, same reason the suspension is still stock I guess.

Always read the code before resetting it, you might well find out what's wrong.

Great write up, and congrats!

Correct, the bloody battery ran out on the camera when I did the quicker lap

So in theory would you need to remove the entire tray to do an oil change? Seems a daft question bearing in mind it has a removable plate for that very reason, but I've seen other similar trays (both OEM and aftermarket) that have a similar design but still don't give you enough room to change the filter.

Sponsorship because I'm such an amazing driver and I'm being lined up to take over Webber's seat in 2012 Or it might be because I spent a small fortune on stickers for LM this year and I don't want to take them off just yet

You must've been as hot in your leathers as I was in my racesuit, it was sweltering all day long!

Blimey, anyone would think they're an old Rover or Alfa judging by the posts here! Budget a couple of grand a year for servicing and consumables and you'll be sorted, just buy well in the first place. Those V10 engines are rock solid and will last forever, gearbox can be a bit hit or miss but if the clutch has been done by a reputable garage you should be fine. I was tempted at one point pre-Zed, but they were still a bit out of my price range back then sadly.

Must've been something else going on there, the 050s are superb in the wet and very close to the grip the PS2s give you.

You'll hate them after the 050s, but they're a bit friendlier on your wallet.

Get the master cylinder done at the same time, the part itself is peanuts compared with the labour involved in bleeding the fluid.

Not sure I want to do this, but... Trackday: £500 Crossing: £100 Hotels: £160 Fuel: £240 Food & beer: £120 ...so that's over £1100 before you take into account any extra wear and tear on the car!

Wait, there's supposed to be wages?! *logs request for back-dated pay*

My lack of posting probably went completely unnoticed, but for anyone that did the reason that I wasn't around is because I was at the Nurburgring for the very first time! It was a proper trackday organised by Bookatrack as part of their 10th year anniversary rather than a normal tourist day, and I'm very glad I chose to do it that way for my first time. Started the day off with a walkround from Ron at RSR, then a couple of sighting laps and then it was full open pit from 10am to 5pm so plenty of seat time along with plenty of cooldown time, which was needed with ambient temps hitting 30deg, track temps at least 8deg above that and me in my racesuit probably a fair bit hotter still! Thoroughly enjoyed the day despite the heat though, and the Zed was perfectly behaved. Well, almost perfectly as I did get a very long pedal at Breidscheid and had to let the brakes cool down but they were fine after that (interestingly they were fine in the afternoon when it was hotter and I was pushing more, never really did get to the bottom of that but I suspect the OEM rear discs gave up compared to the PF fronts I'm running). After making the effort to get BaT to bring my R888 shod Rays with them I then forgot to check that the locking wheelnut key was on the car, and so I had to drive on the PS2s instead. Luckily they had plenty of tread left and it was only the heat that made them a bit slippery when pushing on, but it would have been much worse on anything less than the Michelins. Neither myself nor the car were particularly quick but then that wasn't the aim, but considering that my car was the heaviest there by some margin (I reckon by at least 200kg, not including the X5 that did a token lap first thing) I felt no shame given that most cars were either Elises, Caterhams, GT3s or F430s along with the occasional 458 and an LMGT2-spec F430! I also came home in one piece without a single track incident, which was more than could be said for the sad owners of an S2K (write off) and 997.2 GT3 (heavy rear damage), so I consider that to be very successful overall. I did have a great play with a boggo S1 Elise which I was delighted to be able to be even stevens with round the Ring. Quickest time I managed to get was a 9:38 BTG which I'm happy with given it was my first time, the weight of the car and on road rubber along with having to move over for just about everything else! Also topped the car out at 140mph on the main straight, it simply wouldn't go any faster than that and the slight incline just after the bridge saw the speed drop 5mph with my foot flat on the floor. Very average vid time! Not sure I'd go again given the cost (I could do four UK days for the cost of that trip) and also that the day was just about perfect, and I think that any future trip would be an anti-climax. Unless I take the racecar MR2 there when it's finished, of course...

Pfft, that's not wet that's just a little damp! This is wet... Nice video, I really should get around to driving Combe some day.

X1 is @*!#, X3 is @*!#, X5 is ace, X6 is @*!#. Sorted.

Having seen first hand the emergency care given by both our NHS and a US hospital, the quicker we switch to their system the better off the vast majority of people on here will be (and that includes myself). Whilst we have some of the best frontline staff in the world here, they're stuck with equipment that is shockingly out of date in parts and working under a mountain of paperwork. Rip it all up and start again says I.