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Subject A busy month.
     
Posted by cherry on October 13, 2010 at 9:46 AM
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Where this story is headed:

As some of you may recall, just over a month ago, my car underwent surgery at Bernie's garage, for the installation of 530BB turbos, Mike Smith manifolds, 3" expansion downpipes, bigger fuel rails and injectors, etc... The impetus behind all of this work was to make the car more reliable, since it had been hobbled by failing fuel injectors for the past three years.


My wife and I put this reliability to the test one week after the car was back on the road. Our week-long vacation in the Pocono Mountains just happened to coincide with one of the longest-running motorsports events held on public roads along the East Coast.


Since 1961, the Weatherly Hillclimb has afforded sports car enthusiasts the opportunity to try their skills on a course that ascends 500 feet vertically within one mile, over a sinuous, undulating strip of asphalt. The record time of 48.5 seconds was done in a Reynard, and typical runs by thoroughly prepared street cars require more than a minute.




Although my car was not entered in this SCCA-sanctioned competition, I did drive the course several days before the crowd had gathered. And on the day of the big event, Lorraine and I were delighted to discover that there was a "show and shine" car show associated with the festivities. I parked my Z in the show area, next to a '67 427ci convertible Camaro (gone before I got back and took these photos). Aside from the monitored parking, we received a couple of show T-shirts for participating!



Two weekends later, my club hosted Ztoberfest. My car took third place, but -- more significantly -- I won {okay, purchased from the winner} one of several $100 gift certificates generously donated for the show by Concept Z Performance. (I haven't decided yet whether to get a Selin translator or a Karuma Zeta spoiler. I need both.)


The weekend following the show, I took my car to the track, to lay some of that nice, clean rubber down. The National Auto Sport Association hosted "OctoberFast" at Virginia International Raceway. ...Finally, I'd have an opportunity to REALLY see what effect these latest mods have had on the car's performance.


The full course at VIR measures 3.27 miles around, and is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful and fun-to-drive race tracks in America. OctoberFast made use of the entire complex, offering a weekend full of HPDE (High Performance Drivers Education) courses, time trials, NASA series races, drifting demonstrations, go cart races, and all manner of motorsport fun.

I signed up for the "HyperDrive" event, which entailed one classroom session followed by twenty minutes of driving at speed. I was assigned an instructor, who rode along and let me know the proper driving line, brake points, etc. He said that he picked my car to ride in because "it's so pretty, I know you're not going to want to wreck it."



He was right. I drove within my limits, but the Z still managed to outpace the cars in my run group. We topped out around 120 mph on the straights, shed speed with no drama, and stuck in the corners, enabling me to easily pass many of the cars that started ahead of me. All those that started behind me fell further behind. The power delivery was immediate and AWESOME!



Chris Grigg (DracoZ) drove his Z out to the track too, and came into the paddock as my "pit crew." Our cars garnered many complements throughout the day. We spent the afternoon talking with other drivers, checking out the wide variety of cars participating in events, and watching the races. Our drive back to Richmond that evening was cast in the golden-orange hues of sunset, twin turbos singing a race-fuel enhanced melody about speed, grace, and all that is Z.

Photos of all the cars in my group, courtesy of Finish Line Productions.

     
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