A Z car challenge in Las Vegas

[gmac708]

A couple of weeks ago I was checking out a web page for ZDayz, an event I and signed up to go to the week following Carlisle. On the front page of the web site was a link to a "370z Challenge". I read through the rules and it seemed to me that it was open to all Zs. I though it might be cool to put my 240Z up against a 370Z in a competition. I had spent the last three years putting the 240Z (Betzy) together. Here is a link to the build on NICO, classic Z general. 2009-240z-build-t403961.html .

I did nothing until the last moment, and then after urging from a few friends, I sent in my submission. Long story short is I WON!

So now the adventure begins...

First thing to happen was a bunch of contracts and paperwork needed to be signed. I did not see anything that said I could not post pictures and stories about my adventures. The next thing was a tech inspection. I passed. Then I got two round trip tickets, MGM Grand hotel rooms, and an e-mail that somebody was coming by to pick up the car.

I had a grand total of 2 days to get ready. AAAAAAAAAAAA

Getting ready for a track event is one thing. Getting ready for a car magazine photo shoot is another. I had just replaced both front and rear lower control arms and they needed to be dialed in on alignment rack. And then I had smoked the back tires off and need to get those changed. And It was snowing out and I had to go to Chicago for a couple days.

No pressure at all. This is from Motor Trend.



Two day track event. Multiple events and drivers to check out both cars. This should be fair. I have no idea if they are going to help me out or if I am on my own. I loaded up everything I could think of in three tool box/bags and loaded them into car. Also threw my helmet in just in case we get hot laps!

So this afternoon I had everything ready. Long story short, changed engine mount, changed front bumper, tightened everything twice on suspension, cleaned inside and out, touched up a few spots with paint.

Ta-Da!






Then they big rig shows up. Reliable carriers.



They checked over every single square inch of the car. A very detailed inspection.



Time to load her up.









Getting carried away with camera









I travel to Vegas Saturday morning. I will update as things happen.

gord

[Razi]

Niiiice.
Congrats! You better kick its a**. No pressure. :P

[RicerX]

Stoked for you bro! I will be watching for sure!

[Ace2cool]

Wait, is it gonna be televised?

[breadbox]

Sick! sounds like a great time.

[VQpwrdSE-R]

In for updates

[Loki]

This is the first good look I've gotten of your Z. Looks amazing, and I LOVE RBs. We know you'll do well, do Nissan/NICO proud!

[flohtingPoint]

What type of tires are you using? Not those all seasons on that car I hope?!?!? I cant imagine there would be any regulation against bias ply seeing as how noting looks defined by any formal classifications.

[gmac708]

Well, I'm here and survived the St Patrick's day in Vegas.

Heading over to the track in about an hour. They said to show up today at 10 AM. I have an interview with Justin Bell for a "The Downshift" episode. Today is test and tune for cars and camera crews. They are going to install equipment to track cars performance. I have a gopro and two camera with me.

This is going to be fun!

Gord

[DrewH]

Awesome Gordon. Good luck with the car today and I hope you continue to have a great time.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

This rules. Thanks for the play-by-play.
Crank the boost and give them hell man!!!

[fiznowler]

This is awesome. Link us to some video later if you get some.

[gmac708]

First day went really well. We started out with photo's and a meet and greet. There has got to be about 30 people here from Nissan, video group, Motor Trend and various vendors. I got to take a ride with the Nissan Team driver Steve Doherty on the road course in my Z. I had a blast but I don't like being on the passenger side. That is scary as hell not being in control, going that fast. Totally different perspective. The rest of the day was spent taking pictures and video using camera and gopro on all the different courses and tests from inside and outside the cars. Steve got to drive both cars and get comfortable with them at the same time. I got several hundred pictures and had my gopro running. The photographers showed me a few new settings to try on the gopro. Always looking for opportunities to learn stuff.we were at the track from 10AM to 8PM. "magic hour" is the last hour of daylight and that was even more picture taking. I got to drive on the track with them filming me at the wheel. Guess that may be my 30 seconds of fame.
We got back to the hotel late and I never got a chance to post pictures up to photobucket. I promise pictures soon.

The car performed flawlessly. The inside drivers door latch stopped working. Going to jump on that first thing this morning. Steve gave me some feedback on the brake bias. I'm going to make that adjustment as well. Other than that, we are ready to go.

Today is the big day and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Gord

[DrewH]

Man these GT Academy punks pop up everywhere, haha. Good luck again today and I can't wait to hear the outcome. Seeing the pics/vids won't be too bad either.

I forgot to ask this. What were your impressions of how your car handled on the track in someone else's hands? More specifically a "pros" hands.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Dude it sounds like you are having an absolute blast. I wish I was there!!!

[VQpwrdSE-R]

Sounds great, can't wait to see the pics. What does your younger opponent look like (370z) what mods does it have done?

[flohtingPoint]

First day went really well. We started out with photo's and a meet and greet. There has got to be about 30 people here from Nissan, video group, Motor Trend and various vendors. I got to take a ride with the Nissan Team driver Steve Doherty on the road course in my Z. I had a blast but I don't like being on the passenger side. That is scary as hell not being in control, going that fast. Totally different perspective. The rest of the day was spent taking pictures and video using camera and gopro on all the different courses and tests from inside and outside the cars. Steve got to drive both cars and get comfortable with them at the same time. I got several hundred pictures and had my gopro running. The photographers showed me a few new settings to try on the gopro. Always looking for opportunities to learn stuff.we were at the track from 10AM to 8PM. "magic hour" is the last hour of daylight and that was even more picture taking. I got to drive on the track with them filming me at the wheel. Guess that may be my 30 seconds of fame.
We got back to the hotel late and I never got a chance to post pictures up to photobucket. I promise pictures soon.

The car performed flawlessly. The inside drivers door latch stopped working. Going to jump on that first thing this morning. Steve gave me some feedback on the brake bias. I'm going to make that adjustment as well. Other than that, we are ready to go.

Today is the big day and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Gord

Asked before, must have gotten lost in the fray, what tires were outfitted to the car before taking to the track? Also, you mentioned they put data logging equipment in your car, what system did they use? What did the telemetry say? What was your max lateral g sustained and also transitional? What did your friction circle look like on the post readout?

[DrewH]

Sounds great, can't wait to see the pics. What does your younger opponent look like (370z) what mods does it have done?

http://www.nissanusa.com/innovations/pr ... ticle.html

[fiznowler]

Look what just popped up on my facebook feed! How awesome is this.

[gmac708]

Sorry it took so long to update this thread. My job had me head out on the road as soon as I got back from Vegas. I also had to sort through about 400 pictures I had. Anyway...

I just got back from having the most amazing time at the Vegas Motor Speedway! Everybody was so nice and made me feel right at home. Plenty of people form Nissan, Motor Trend, and Production Company Source Interlink Media. Also Steve Lam of RPMAutocenter who put the 370Z together. And we cannot forget out Nissan driver Steve Doherty of the Nissan Academy, and Justin Bell. I made many friends and was really impressed with the whole thing. Real pros.

I arrived on Saturday and the fun began early on Sunday morning. I found My 240Z sitting in the template garage next to the media center inside the race track.



The 370Z arrived at the track on Sunday.



For those of you who did not follow the build, It was upgraded based on off the shelf upgrades suggested by followers of Nissan Performance Facebook page. Very nice work. Nissan owns the car but Steve Lams shop did all the mods.



Day one was photo day. First the still shots. "I'm ready for my close-up Mr. Demille"







Then they installed GoPro cameras, first inside shots, then outside shots. Then they hit the tracks after each setup. Steve got to get used to the cars and raced around the race courses. I snuck my GoPro in there as well.










All angles were covered.




There was also a bunch of cars on the inside road course in the morning. They packed up around noon. The big outside speedway track had something going around it all the time. First NASCAR then Bikes.



The next day we were wired for telemetry. These boxes are GPS and scan at a ridiculous frequency rate to provide the data for the computers. Three antenna on the roof. If you start and stop, it knows and will compute all the info. They asked if my electrical was reliable enough to hook up to in the car. As good as it gets for 1970 Datsun.



This was Motor Trend standard setup for comparing cars. Pretty cool stuff.



On Monday the production cranked up a few notches with the arrival of our host of "The Downshift" Justin Bell.



Very nice, fun to talk to and a real professional. I was nervous as hell with all the cameras but he got me used to it.

Next came the actual racing. 4 track setups. Steve gave some great feedback on the brake bias setup. Made an adjustment. Otherwise he said the balance was perfect.





Hard left, negative camber...I had never watched somebody drive my car before. Nervous daddy.



Lots of rubber was used.



Catching some shade when we could. Fun, Relaxing, I love hanging out at the track.



Things went well. Lots of discussions between the set ups.



Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end, And we had to leave the track on Monday night. Spent the rest of the evening in Vegas
Betzy was picked up on Tuesday.


The transporter arrived today with Betzy. I could not wait to drive her a little bit.





Back in the garage at home.



"The Downshift" episode on YouTube will be aired in April. You'll have to check it out to get the results of the track events. I promised not to tell. I can't wait to see the production.

Gord

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Thanks for the update!!
Looks awesome!

[Jmoore124]

Cool stuff man, Looks like a blast

[Ace2cool]

At least post a gopro vid to tide us over!

[VQpwrdSE-R]

Hungry for more Z action I found myself searching the web for results or anything on the challenge this week. I figured you would have to keep quiet about the results until it was made official. Thanks for putting up all the pics. Please update this thread when you know the show will be airing.

[EZcheese15]

This is so awesome. I can't wait to watch the video and be like "I know that guy! And I've ridden in that car!"

[audtatious]

Way to go!

Looking forward to the video.

[AZhitman]

Asked before, must have gotten lost in the fray, what tires were outfitted to the car before taking to the track? Also, you mentioned they put data logging equipment in your car, what system did they use? What did the telemetry say? What was your max lateral g sustained and also transitional? What did your friction circle look like on the post readout?

Settle down, Sparky. His track day, not yours.

I'm sure he's a little busy to be bothered with minutiae.

Gordon, I'm kicking myself for not getting you a banner for the back window... Dammit, dammit, dammit.

I'm SO stoked for you - Well-deserved. All that hard work being recognized by tons of people has gotta feel real good.

[Razi]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VRnBKfPOvw[/youtube]

Vid is up!

[VQpwrdSE-R]

Good show. Nice to see a 40 yr old car hang pretty close with a modern day Z.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Sweet! While I really thought the cars were far from "equal" I just wanted to see Betzy in action.

Great job dude. It's awesome to see how far that car has come in these few years, I've been following the build since it started!

Any future plans for her?