Driveway Austin

[motomummy]

Monday myself and my wife are doing private lessons and taking the
foundations course at Driveway Austin. Just curious on the do's and
don's with the GTR on a road course? Maintenance is good on the car,
just wondering if during that training sessions or on their track if
there are things to look for like overheating, etc? I'm assuming if the
tranny temps get up just cool it off for a bit before you get on it hard
again? At what point do you 100% stop until you change the tranny fluid?
etc?

--
Corey
MotoMummy Staff

[jason choe]

I'm by no means a track expert but for the most part, the GTR is actually pretty bulletproof. The two main weaknesses I hear about are w/the transmission and brakes.  With the transmission temps, there are different thresholds, ie. if between 240-260F, replace fluids after X interval, if > 280F replace right away. Not sure the exact figures but you get the idea. On the brakes, look out for spider cracks on the rotors between the cross-drilled holes.

Driveway is a fun little course. The L1 stretch is short and really hard on GTRs since you don't get a whole bunch of airflow going, but the sessions are usually short enough and spaced out to give your car time to cool down. The instructors are really good and you get a lot of 1 on 1 time (pick a small class if possible...if you guys have private lessons that's even better). They'll teach you about proper seat config, cool down procedures, not to put on the parking brake, checking tires for proper wear, etc. Initially it's kind of scary sitting in the passenger seat when they drive. Have fun!

Jason

--
Corey
MotoMummy Staff

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Austin GT-R Owners and Fans" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to austin-gt-r+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to austi...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/austin-gt-r.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

[motomummy]

We are doing private lessons.  Thanks for the tips.  Thanks to Khib also for the great advice.  Will be watching the tranny temps for sure.

Corey
MotoMummy Staff

On 1/25/2014 9:30 PM, jason choe wrote:

I'm by no means a track expert but for the most part, the GTR is actually pretty bulletproof. The two main weaknesses I hear about are w/the transmission and brakes.  With the transmission temps, there are different thresholds, ie. if between 240-260F, replace fluids after X interval, if > 280F replace right away. Not sure the exact figures but you get the idea. On the brakes, look out for spider cracks on the rotors between the cross-drilled holes.

Driveway is a fun little course. The L1 stretch is short and really hard on GTRs since you don't get a whole bunch of airflow going, but the sessions are usually short enough and spaced out to give your car time to cool down. The instructors are really good and you get a lot of 1 on 1 time (pick a small class if possible...if you guys have private lessons that's even better). They'll teach you about proper seat config, cool down procedures, not to put on the parking brake, checking tires for proper wear, etc. Initially it's kind of scary sitting in the passenger seat when they drive. Have fun!

Jason

On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 8:15 PM, motomummy <mu...@motomummy.com> wrote:

Monday myself and my wife are doing private lessons and taking the foundations course at Driveway Austin. Just curious on the do's and don's with the GTR on a road course?  Maintenance is good on the car, just wondering if during that training sessions or on their track if there are things to look for like overheating, etc?  I'm assuming if the tranny temps get up just cool it off for a bit before you get on it hard again? At what point do you 100% stop until you change the tranny fluid? etc?

--
Corey
MotoMummy Staff

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Austin GT-R Owners and Fans" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to austin-gt-r...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to austi...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/austin-gt-r.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Austin GT-R Owners and Fans" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to austin-gt-r...@googlegroups.com.

[Mark Peskin]

One other thing I'll throw in: as you might imagine, when driven in anger at the track the GTR is pretty hard on front tires. Even if you only get to the track occasionally, your tires will last longer overall (as well as performing better at the track) if you get a track-focused alignment that maximizes negative camber of the front wheels. Even the maximum negative camber allowed by the stock suspension setup is really less than ideal for track purposes, and some folks (Khib) have resorted to the aftermarket to get even more camber. 

Mark

---
Typos courtesy of my iPhone

[Dave Crooke]

Second all the above ... that said, if you're just doing the L1 class at driveway you're not really going to encounter these kinds of issues the way you would at a full track day.

Before you go on track, put up the computer display (what does Nissan call it?) with engine and gearbox oil temps and pressures ... gearbox oil temp needs to stay below 240F, can't see this being an issue.

It absolutely shreds street tyres in the dry, I switched to race slicks solely to mitigate this cost (you can get great deal on qualifying take-offs).

If you get the bug and want to seriously get into tracking, I highly recommend The Drivers' Edge events, and especially the 3.1 mile layout at MSR Cresson :)

In terms of what to do to the car and what to expect, the best way is to draft of those who have gone before ... all my initial selection of brakes, transmission cooler, tyres, pressures, etc. was based on what Khib and Greigh found worked for them.

The Dollahite's are super nice people, hope you have a fun day down there.

Cheers
Dave