Steve contemplates life with new suspension, time on-track again after a prolonged absence, and how washing your car by spotlight is trickier than it might seem
| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | August 2011 |
| Total kilometres: | 89,202 |
| Kilometres this month: | 320 |
| Costs this month: | $1280 |
| L/100km this month: | 11.1 |
Summer has been full on this year, with temperatures soaring past 50 degrees. It has brought a complete halt to any outside work on the 350Z during the day. So much so, that I have resorted to washing it at night under spotlights! That also means that I’ve done no mechanical work on it either. This has left an ever-growing pile of new parts that I have ordered to install for the upcoming motorsport season.
It seems like forever since I’ve had a real taste of driving fast on a track with my own car because it has just not been ready to the point where I’ve been comfortable driving it. Part wear and maintenance was always a priority. Now with new parts ready to go in I’m getting very excited.
One year after first dreaming of the idea of having upgraded suspension on the Nissan, I finally have all the parts here and ready to install. It has been a long and unnecessarily difficult road to collect all of them, but now I can breathe a sigh of relief. KW Clubsport three-way adjustable suspension, with SPL rear midlinks, and Swift springs to replace the springs that come with the KWs. The KW springs are a different size inner diameter and don’t fit the midlinks. Along with all this, I have new ARP wheel studs for increased strength around the wheels to hold what I’m hoping will be a new set of WORK Kiwami wheels with 295/35 Nitto Rubber for Ferrari 458 challenging cornering grip. I can’t forget to mention the new uprated Z1 Motorsports hatch struts for my rear hatch that is forever banging into my head when I open it either.
Now that mostly all the parts I wanted are coming into existence I have a couple of aesthetic ideas for the car too. Carbon Signal makes a fantastic fender and sideskirt to match the Amuse Superleggera front fenders and I’ve also had my eye on a removable steering wheel for some time to make it easier getting into and out of my Sparco seat. I finally have the end of my goals in view for what I want to do with the car. The question is, will I be satisfied with it or should I start a different project? I’ve always wanted a supercharged MINI Cooper S track toy. Only time will tell.
All these parts going to make a huge difference to how the car handles and I’ll need quite a few track days and autocross days to get used to them and to set up the suspension properly. At least that’s what I’ll tell my wife.
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