Post a pic of your real car

  • Thread starter Sparxxx
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Took Sarah out today to get a nice cleaning in before she gets put away for the winter
Sarah.jpg
 
oh nice. but I didnt pick mine out nissan gave it all to me...but man it is awesome. I just got to find stuff to put it in now.. I need a bar stool too like yours
 
These aren't my shots and I don't own them, hence the watermark, but they're live linked to the photographer's site so I'm assuming it's OK to post them. This was the last HPDE track event of the season for me: The Thunderbolt, full course, at New Jersey Motorsports Park. It was my first time there and I actually ended up really enjoying the track; it has some fairly technical corners and I really love the blind crest coming up to the 'high speed' T4 right hander. Just brilliant. But I left after only two sessions with a horrible sinus cold. Three days of antibiotics later and I'm still feeling lousy. With the helmet on, gloves on, adrenalin flowing, you're really zoned in and focused. But after coming back to the paddock, after the adrenalin stopped flowing, I felt like I had been run over by a bus and called it a day. Even reloading my equipment into the car was an effort. :indiff: But I'm already counting down the days until May. 👍

Over the winter I plan on adding after market rear control arms that allow for rear camber adjustment. And at some point next year, I'm considering an after market oil cooler. I'm reading different reviews of what's out there and I still haven't decided on which way to go. I change my oil after every track event but even with relatively low ambient temperatures (high 70s, low 80s) I've still been seeing oil temperatures of over 260*F and I think it's just too high, even when running a full synthetic oil.

I'm planning on having the car detailed in a few weeks. It's had a lot of hot rubber and klag spewed at it this summer/fall. If there are any decent weekends left after it's done, I'll try and take a few of my own 'glamor shots'. :)

20141025_NJM_DE1_3188.jpg


20141025_NJM_DE1_2550.jpg


20141025_NJM_DE1_3245.jpg
 
Last edited:
jjaisli
These aren't my shots and I don't own them, hence the watermark, but they're live linked to the photographer's site so I'm assuming it's OK to post them. This was the last HPDE track event of the season for me: The Thunderbolt, full course, at New Jersey Motorsports Park. It was my first time there and I actually ended up really enjoying the track; it has some fairly technical corners and I really love the blind crest coming up to the 'high speed' T4 right hander. Just brilliant. But I left after only two sessions with a horrible sinus cold. Three days of antibiotics later and I'm still feeling lousy. With the helmet on, gloves on, adrenalin flowing, you're really zoned in and focused. But after coming back to the paddock, after the adrenalin stopped flowing, I felt like I had been run over by a bus and called it a day. Even reloading my equipment into the car was an effort. :indiff: But I'm already counting down the days until May. 👍

Over the winter I plan on adding after market rear control arms that allow for rear camber adjustment. And at some point next year, I'm considering an after market oil cooler. I'm reading different reviews of what's out there and I still haven't decided on which way to go. I change my oil after every track event but even with relatively low ambient temperatures (high 70s, low 80s) I've still been seeing oil temperatures of over 260*F and I think it's just too high, even when running a full synthetic oil.

I'm planning on having the car detailed in a few weeks. It's had a lot of hot rubber and klag spewed at it this summer/fall. If there are any decent weekends left after it's done, I'll try and take a few of my own 'glamor shots'. :)

20141025_NJM_DE1_3188.jpg


20141025_NJM_DE1_2550.jpg


20141025_NJM_DE1_3245.jpg
Click to expand...

Great write up. What you are doing is very inspirational to me. Can I ask how many events you have been to this year, around how many laps have you done, and what the tyre story is? I mean how many sets if any have you gone through? And are you using the stock tyres?
 
JohnyPiston
Great write up. What you are doing is very inspirational to me. Can I ask how many events you have been to this year, around how many laps have you done, and what the tyre story is? I mean how many sets if any have you gone through? And are you using the stock tyres?
Click to expand...

Sure. 👍 Although, I don't want to take this too far off topic.

This season, I did 4 HPDE events:
- NJMSP Lighting in June
- Lime Rock Park in August
- Watkins Glen in September
- NJMSP Thunderbolt in October

All of them were single day events except for Watkins Glen which was 2 days over a weekend. Each event was generally 4 or 5 sessions per day with each session lasting between 20~25 minutes. Depending on the track and the length of the course, you can plug in the numbers but let's say 25~40 laps on an average day.

I'm running Dunlop Direzza ZII tires, stock size, 215/40/17. The FRS comes with either Michelin Primacy Tires or Bridgetstone Turanza all season tires (mine came with the Bridgestones). They're fine for street driving and actually not too bad for learning basic control since their grip is limited. So you'll reach the limits of adhesion at slow speeds where it's safer to lose control. But once they get some heat in them, they're pretty greasy and just too compromising for the track. To be honest, any all season tire is. Moving to a true high performance tire is a huge difference, in braking control & braking distance, cornering, stability, over-all grip, etc. But in very general terms, the higher the grip and higher the performance a tire has, the quicker they'll bite you when you go over those limits.

The Direzza is what I would call an 'ultimate' performance tire. It's street legal, not a slick, although I'm not sure I would really trust it in heavy rain or when temperatures drop below +2-3*C. It has a wear rating of 200, although that doesn't mean much because there's really no standard in wear ratings and the manufacturers just decide on their own. Between street and track, I've probably put about 3,000 miles on them and I think I can probably get another season from them. We'll see. I'm told I could expect a good 50-80 heat cycles out of them. And I'm only half way there.

If you want to do any track driving, the most important suggestion I can give you (as far as the car itself is concerned) is upgrading your brake pads and brake fluid. Unless you're driving a Porsche GT3 or a Ferrari F458 or something, almost every manufacturer fits brake pads that are essentially designed for general road use and not high performance. Even on so called performance cars, manufacturers tend to fit compounds that are a compromise. Sure they stop the car. But imagine taking your car up to say, 100 mph and then standing on the brakes, hard, right to the ABS engagement point. And then about 20 seconds later doing it again. And again. And again. And again. Even if a session is only 20 minutes, after just a few laps, most brake pads can't take that kind of abuse. Same story with the brake fluid which will start to boil and foam and you'll suddenly have a mushy or even a dead pedal coming in to a braking zone. Not a lot of fun.

Some people want to rush out and buy a $4000 big brake kit for their street car. Sure it looks nice but it's rubbish really. If you change the pads and fluid, it's a world of difference. At lest for a beginner. But be warned, if you use something like a Hawk HP+ or Carbontech XP10, it will squeak and shriek like mad when it's cold. And it gives off brake dust like a can of spray paint. And on the track, they wear out quickly. I went through a set after just 3 track days.

If you have any other questions, just let me know.
 
Last edited:
jjaisli
Sure. 👍 Although, I don't want to take this too far off topic.

This season, I did 4 HPDE events:
- NJMSP Lighting in June
- Lime Rock Park in August
- Watkins Glen in September
- NJMSP Thunderbolt in October

All of them were single day events except for Watkins Glen which was 2 days over a weekend. Each event was generally 4 or 5 sessions per day with each session lasting between 20~25 minutes. Depending on the track and the length of the course, you can plug in the numbers but let's say 25~40 laps on an average day.

I'm running Dunlop Direzza ZII tires, stock size, 215/40/17. The FRS comes with either Michelin Primacy Tires or Bridgetstone Turanza all season tires (mine came with the Bridgestones). They're fine for street driving and actually not too bad for learning basic control since their grip is limited. So you'll reach the limits of adhesion at slow speeds where it's safer to lose control. But once they get some heat in them, they're pretty greasy and just too compromising for the track. To be honest, any all season tire is. Moving to a true high performance tire is a huge difference, in braking control & braking distance, cornering, stability, over-all grip, etc. But in very general terms, the higher the grip and higher the performance a tire has, the quicker they'll bite you when you go over those limits.

The Direzza is what I would call an 'ultimate' performance tire. It's street legal, not a slick, although I'm not sure I would really trust it in heavy rain or when temperatures drop below +2-3*C. It has a wear rating of 200, although that doesn't mean much because there's really no standard in wear ratings and the manufacturers just decide on their own. Between street and track, I've probably put about 3,000 miles on them and I think I can probably get another season from them. We'll see. I'm told I could expect a good 50-80 heat cycles out of them. And I'm only half way there.

If you want to do any track driving, the most important suggestion I can give you (as far as the car itself is concerned) is upgrading your brake pads and brake fluid. Unless you're driving a Porsche GT3 or a Ferrari F458 or something, almost every manufacturer fits brake pads that are essentially designed for general road use and not high performance. Even on so called performance cars, manufacturers tend to fit compounds that are a compromise. Sure they stop the car. But imagine taking your car up to say, 100 mph and then standing on the brakes, hard, right to the ABS engagement point. And then about 20 seconds later doing it again. And again. And again. And again. Even if a session is only 20 minutes, after just a few laps, most brake pads can't take that kind of abuse. Same story with the brake fluid which will start to boil and foam and you'll suddenly have a mushy or even a dead pedal coming in to a braking zone. Not a lot of fun.

Some people want to rush out and buy a $4000 big brake kit for their street car. Sure it looks nice but it's rubbish really. If you change the pads and fluid, it's a world of difference. At lest for a beginner. But be warned, if you use something like a Hawk HPS or Carbontech XP10, it will squeak and shriek like mad when it's cold. And it gives off brake dust like a can of spray paint. And on the track, they wear out quickly. I went through a set after just 3 track days.

If you have any other questions, just let me know.
Click to expand...

Awesome ...seems the costs are reasonable for the amount of fun you get! I love that you can do all those sessions and have not mentioned any car trouble at all. My plan was to track my GTV6 but considering how rare the parts are getting for those cars, I am considering tracking my Z3 rather. I will be sure to take you up on your offer of help once I start. In the meantime thanks for the invaluable tyre, brake pads and fluids advice. Great detail! Thank you.
 
You make a very valid point about the Alfa. I'm old enough to remember when GTVs were being sold new at dealerships. There's always the risk that you end up binning the car on the track. But to be realistic, the moment you set out on a public road, there's always a chance of that happening anyway. Even if it's somebody blowing a red light and T-boning you. One just never knows. If you're just doing HPDE or TT, where there are strict passing rules, it's generally pretty safe, as opposed to actual races or historic races where there's much greater risk of a little argy-bargy.

But there's no doubt that track driving does put a lot of stress on the car, even if you never have an off. Struts, springs, bearings, bushings, not to mention the engine, transmission, and all of their internal components, suffer greatly during track events. If you start taking the Alfa to the track, even semi-regularly, you're going to start replacing things. Not to mention all the routine maintenance in oil changes, brake fluid changes, transmission fluid changes, gasket replacement, etc. So it's something you have to think about and be prepared for. Especially in your case since parts aren't that easy to come by.

Just a word of warning though, I'm not sure where you live, but I know a lot of clubs and organizations will not allow you to put the Z3 on track without either a fixed roll bar or hard top. Something to consider.
 
So me, my sister, and a friend decided to take my car and my sister's truck(not pictured here) for a spin and get some photos, since the leaves were nice and we might not see the sun much more in the next month. We went and found a less-traveled road to do some drive-bys(*Shots with an asterisk were taken by my sister, all were edited by me):

*I realize I went a little overboard on the saturation here, but given we're about to enter the dull, washed out, winter, I figured I might as well make the most of the colors.



*I actually really like this shot, but I feel like I could have cropped it down some. I love the lines on this car.



*Subaru still has my favorite emblem this side of the Viper.



This picture is olllllld, but I don't think I ever posted it here.

Not long after we went exploring for a spot to break the tires loose, and given that I want my current set of tires to last, I settled for a spot that would make my Toyobaru a little more fitting of the Subaru badge.

I checked the depth of the puddles before I even thought about it, but once I found they were good I decided to have some simple fun.



*Nothing fancy, just some simple sliding around while staying far away from the concrete barriers.



*Just because the puddles weren't deep doesn't mean it can't make a splash.


And after all that, I'm gonna need to hit the car wash.
20141107_161714.jpg
20141107_161726.jpg
20141107_161733.jpg










*Unfortunately by the time I got home from the car wash, it was too dark for a picture to really show anything, but she's as spotless as she was when that first photo was taken.
 
I JUST saw the GTP sticker. VERY nice. 👍

I went to my local Subaru dealership. Went straight for the BRZ and talked finance and what have you.

"Our company is always $2000 more than the competitor.."

You sir, are a liar. A base model FRS costs $23G while a base model BRZ costs $27G.

Threw me off completely. I was planning on getting one. They had the BP Sports package BRZ on display and in total with taxes and what have you, it would cost me $39G. WTF. Then he tried to get me into the Impreza's.

I said, "I'm sorry, I hate how the new Impreza's look. They look like a Corolla on steroids had a child with an Evo X. The only Impreza I would consider buying is one from 2004. The 2004 was the last great body style."

Then my dad chimed in with "'98 was the last great Impreza." Can't argue with that :lol:

Then the guy called it "old tech". I'm sorry... apparently character is now called old .

[/rant]

Since it's the "Post of a pic of your real car" thread, I might as well :P


Taylor, meet the lovely folks of GTP.

GTP, meet the cutest minitruck, Taylor! (Be nice... first time on here, and he's very nervous.... I wouldn't blame him, parked in front of that 3500 - my friend's)

Taylor_3.png


He now has his own thread.
 
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Everywhere I looked the sticker for the FRS was $24.9k. Which is actually about what I managed to talk the guy down to on my Limited with a manual(sticker price $27.6). The base model BRZ(The one with identical interior trim, the "Premium") is $25.6k. I'm not sure where the $700 price difference comes from, aside from maybe the headlights and grill piece being a bit more involved to make, but I'd be willing to bet with enough negotiation you'd be able to bring them both down to the same price, especially if you got it during an "end of model year" sale, or something.



And I've always liked the Ranger. Ford, Chevy, and Dodge need to bring back their compact pickup lines.
 

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