Jump to content
SAU Community

Mount Panorama In The R 35

09GTR

By 09GTR,
in R35 GTR

 Share

Recommended Posts

09GTR Collaborator

09GTR

Posted
Posted

I don't think I can ever go back to Oran Park, Wakefield, or Eastern Creek again. Not now. Not after 73 laps of arguably one of the greatest tracks on earth. Let me give you the context. I have owned and modified lots of fast street cars, and driven them on the street. However I have only done five track days ever, and three of those have been in the R35.

So you see it would not be an exaggeration to say that the night before the drive Bathurst event I was crapping myself as the excitement gave way to the fear of confronting the mountain, and a track that demands respect, or it will bite. But this car is so damn good, even a novice can extract a level of performance that belies logic.

To remind you my car is running the following mods:

HKS 570 kit ( midpipe, cats, actuators, intercooler piping, blow off valves, boost controller, HKS spark plugs)

A Cobb Custom Tune

20 inch Dunlops (road tyre)

Endless MX 72 pads

Endless brake fluid

Willall oils

I de-tuned the car for a rigorous track session from 401 kilowatt at the wheels to around 360, running 16 pounds boost. (in the end I didn't install the 800cc injectors, decided to wait until after Bathurst as its hardly the place to trial this new mod). For the record White 35 was running about 345 atw.

The first day of the event was spent learning the lines, following instructors like Warren Luff and David Wall around the mountain. As the day wore on I started gaining in confidence and speed and the traction control remained firmly in the "ON" position. This became problematic, as I came out of Forest Elbow onto Conrod, the traction control would come on strong through 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th gear as the computer simply couldn't handle the pitch, speed, lumpiness, and the pure uniqueness of a track built for the bold....those with a willingness to break the Nissan guidelines, and throw VDC, and caution, to the wind. After several laps of turning VDC off entering the Elbow and turning it back on again at the bottom, I duly obliged, and through caution to the wind.

The result? A novice, on street tyres, stock rims, a tankful of 98, in my daily driver, with the air-conditioning on ran a 2 minute 33 lap time! And I can hear the pros groaning that that lap time doesn't do justice to a car that Luffy reckons is good for a very low 2:20, but I have to say for a mug punter I am stoked! That I could get 281 kph down Conrod, (and Luffy got 285), is simply unreal!

White 35 and I ran consistently in the low to mid 2:30's all day yesterday, and White 35 actually nailed a 2:32 late on the second day.

The car performed faultlessly, I did not experience one moment of brake fade, the pads were amazing. Tranny temps saw 134 every 5 or so laps, which was fixable with cooldown lap, I saw a max of 142 with David Walls help! The outside air temp was btw 34 - 36 degrees.

The tyres are fine, plenty of life left in them. They get a far bigger smashing at Oran pk than Bathurst. The mountain is much harder on brake disks than tyres, with my factory front discs finally cracking by late day two.

Engine oil temps were fine, coolant fine.

Next year we will do the five day event. We will be fitting tranny coolers, and race rims and rubber.

As far as the competition is concerned, the GTR took many scalps and was noticeably faster than the majority of the euro stuff including Porches, Audi R8, etc. That said, there were some very experienced drivers doing a great job of handling the mountain, and a great group of guys to boot.

I have an absolute ripper of a video that I will load as soon as I can work out how that shows me and White 35 having a battle royale over three hard laps. I'll also load some pics asap.

As for the circuit, there were two magical sections for the GTR. The first was turn two up to and through the Cutting, where you could get quite a drift around the tight left hander up to McPhillamy. The other was Skyline (aptly) - this was a flat out (180 kph)drift from the inside left ripple strip to the right sand trap before a hard brake into the esses.

So fellow R35ers, get your deposits down for 2010. I can assure you it is an experience you owe it to yourself to have in an R35, on a track that was once, and is again Godzilla country!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LSX-438 Mentor

LSX-438

Posted
Posted
I don't think I can ever go back to Oran Park, Wakefield, or Eastern Creek again. Not now. Not after 73 laps of arguably one of the greatest tracks on earth. Let me give you the context. I have owned and modified lots of fast street cars, and driven them on the street. However I have only done five track days ever, and three of those have been in the R35.

So you see it would not be an exaggeration to say that the night before the drive Bathurst event I was crapping myself as the excitement gave way to the fear of confronting the mountain, and a track that demands respect, or it will bite. But this car is so damn good, even a novice can extract a level of performance that belies logic.

To remind you my car is running the following mods:

HKS 570 kit ( midpipe, cats, actuators, intercooler piping, blow off valves, boost controller, HKS spark plugs)

A Cobb Custom Tune

20 inch Dunlops (road tyre)

Endless MX 72 pads

Endless brake fluid

Willall oils

I de-tuned the car for a rigorous track session from 401 kilowatt at the wheels to around 360, running 16 pounds boost. (in the end I didn't install the 800cc injectors, decided to wait until after Bathurst as its hardly the place to trial this new mod). For the record White 35 was running about 345 atw.

The first day of the event was spent learning the lines, following instructors like Warren Luff and David Wall around the mountain. As the day wore on I started gaining in confidence and speed and the traction control remained firmly in the "ON" position. This became problematic, as I came out of Forest Elbow onto Conrod, the traction control would come on strong through 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th gear as the computer simply couldn't handle the pitch, speed, lumpiness, and the pure uniqueness of a track built for the bold....those with a willingness to break the Nissan guidelines, and throw VDC, and caution, to the wind. After several laps of turning VDC off entering the Elbow and turning it back on again at the bottom, I duly obliged, and through caution to the wind.

The result? A novice, on street tyres, stock rims, a tankful of 98, in my daily driver, with the air-conditioning on ran a 2 minute 33 lap time! And I can hear the pros groaning that that lap time doesn't do justice to a car that Luffy reckons is good for a very low 2:20, but I have to say for a mug punter I am stoked! That I could get 281 kph down Conrod, (and Luffy got 285), is simply unreal!

White 35 and I ran consistently in the low to mid 2:30's all day yesterday, and White 35 actually nailed a 2:32 late on the second day.

The car performed faultlessly, I did not experience one moment of brake fade, the pads were amazing. Tranny temps saw 134 every 5 or so laps, which was fixable with cooldown lap, I saw a max of 142 with David Walls help! The outside air temp was btw 34 - 36 degrees.

The tyres are fine, plenty of life left in them. They get a far bigger smashing at Oran pk than Bathurst. The mountain is much harder on brake disks than tyres, with my factory front discs finally cracking by late day two.

Engine oil temps were fine, coolant fine.

Next year we will do the five day event. We will be fitting tranny coolers, and race rims and rubber.

As far as the competition is concerned, the GTR took many scalps and was noticeably faster than the majority of the euro stuff including Porches, Audi R8, etc. That said, there were some very experienced drivers doing a great job of handling the mountain, and a great group of guys to boot.

I have an absolute ripper of a video that I will load as soon as I can work out how that shows me and White 35 having a battle royale over three hard laps. I'll also load some pics asap.

As for the circuit, there were two magical sections for the GTR. The first was turn two up to and through the Cutting, where you could get quite a drift around the tight left hander up to McPhillamy. The other was Skyline (aptly) - this was a flat out (180 kph)drift from the inside left ripple strip to the right sand trap before a hard brake into the esses.

So fellow R35ers, get your deposits down for 2010. I can assure you it is an experience you owe it to yourself to have in an R35, on a track that was once, and is again Godzilla country!

Wow, sounds like you guys had a blast. Well done :(

I look forward to the video and so e pics!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Daleo Grand Master

Daleo

Posted
Posted

Lucky buggers, even more jealous than ever. Fast cars being driven the way they're supposed to.

Never done a track day in a car, done many on bikes though, Eastern Creek, Oran Park, Phillip Island, best fun you'll ever have.

Driving Bathurst at that pace must've been a blast. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Black Widow Veteran

Black Widow

Posted
Posted

What i wouldn't give to be able to race this track. Having grown up there it'll always be the dream. Hopefully one day i'll be able to enter (with a decent car) and give it a red hot crack!

2:33 is blistering quick (i think) for a first timer mate. Especially in a street car. Well done.

And also well done to White35 for cranking out a 2:32

Link to comment
Share on other sites
09GTR Collaborator

09GTR

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Awesome!

Sounds like it was a tops time there, Id love to give it a crack sometime.

How did that 34 NUR go?

Dave (NUR) did a great job, went hard for two days, had the odd issue with a catch can, but hammered - didnt get a lap time, but when I post the video you will see a couple of laps of the NUR as I followed him for a while. There is a great section up mountain strait where I blew past him...hehehe

The funny thing was, when he got back to Syd he realised he'd left the torque split on the max setting to the front wheels!!!!! He still murdered the Evos, Mercs, Bimmers, and the odd porsche too - great car, sounded wicked too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GUNR35 Apprentice

GUNR35

Posted
Posted

Fantastic work, a very respectable time indeed. Great to see you using that beast the way it was truly intended.

I too am looking forward to a couple of track days next week at mallala and hope to unleash a slither of the untapped potential of this amazing car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
09GTR Collaborator

09GTR

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Ah cool!

Yeah Ive known Dave for a while - love his pizza's hahah

cant wait for vids!!!

I have over an hour of in-car video including David Wall at the wheel, and a scary moment at turn 12 late on day two where I got totally sideways! I also have a three lap duel with White 35 where I caught him..hehehe...I just have to work out how to edit it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dazmo Proficient

dazmo

Posted
Posted

Hey guys sorry to hijack your thread but thought some of you might be interested.

Just got a message from Mark Berry seems he has set the fastest lap at the sprint bathurst event in his amazing R34GTR running a 2:13 sec lap with a top speed of 315kph absoulte stunning effort considering that he v8 super cars run around the 2:11 sec mark on a good lap and are probably averaging around the 2:12-2:13.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LSX-438 Mentor

LSX-438

Posted
Posted
Hey guys sorry to hijack your thread but thought some of you might be interested.

Just got a message from Mark Berry seems he has set the fastest lap at the sprint bathurst event in his amazing R34GTR running a 2:13 sec lap with a top speed of 315kph absoulte stunning effort considering that he v8 super cars run around the 2:11 sec mark on a good lap and are probably averaging around the 2:12-2:13.

are you serious? that's insane. Well done Mark. Wholly crap. What tyres?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dazmo Proficient

dazmo

Posted
Posted

Dead serious mate I believe he was running on a set of "advan" slicks. An absoloute stunning lap time. Also a top effort by John Bright in the bright print R32 GTR with a 2:26.07 for 6th place overall and Kieth Kassulke again in an R32 GTR with a 2:26.14 for 7th so overall a pretty good representation for all us GTR fans giving some pretty serious machinery a shake up. There is another thread in the motorsport section with a link to the results on natsoft.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
White 35 Enthusiast

White 35

Posted
Posted

holy crap 2.13? thats amazing... wow...

V8's are quicker because.

they are lighter

they have more power

they brake later

they carry more speed across the top

And you have a professional race driver

etc etc...

Next year im doing the sprint - aiming for a 2.25 lap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DRD-00F Grand Master

DRD-00F

Posted
Posted

Well done guys! Dave called me the other day, he seemed pretty damn happy with your efforts in a full street trimmed car! You've impressed me as well! Top work! :D

You guys need a pit crew chief to drink your beers for you nextyear? :)

Can't wait for the vid!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      Much less twat-tastic. CF wheels are too garish for civilised use.
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      From there, as the manual says....assembly is the reverse of disassembly, no tricks worth mentioning Much better (for me)
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      In my case, the standard wheel I had was in good condition but the buttons had more wear, so I swapped them across from the original wheel from the car. The plastic rear cover is held on by 4 tabs, and once the wiring is removed you can get access to 2 screws on each side the hold the buttons in From there I just swapped the wiring over. What was interesting is the standard style wheel is 2.0kg but the carbon fibre one is 50% heavier at 2.9kg. It even has a weight inside the wheel at the top to make up for some sort of imbalance in the design. weird
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Once the airbag is off, to remove the steering wheel.... Undo the 2 plugs into the clock spring, and the horn connector from it's clip. Hit the 19mm nut with a rattle gun (preferably) or if you don't' have one, you probably want an assistant to hold the wheel in place while you use a breaker bar to undo the nut Then, screw the nut back on 3 turns, and pull the wheel sharply towards you. If that doesn't work hit it medium force with a rubber mallet on either side, or possible behind if you can get there. If that all fails (it shouldn't!) you might need a steering wheel puller
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      So, to next task....the carbon fibre steering wheel was either an expensive factory option or a chinesium special. Either way, I don't like either the flat bottom or thick ring style, so it had to go So...to remove the steering wheel.... First, disconnect battery negative and stomp on the brake pedal for a few seconds. Then, remove the small circular covers on each side of the wheel's rear surround to uncover the airbag clips. You need to push something like a flat bladed screw driver through, to push the steel clip inwards and pull the side of the airbag forward. Once you've done the easy side, same on the centre console side. You can see the tab you are shooting for circled in red Then, disconnect the horn spade connector and for the yellow airbag plug you need to get something small under the black locking tab to pop it out, then the connector releases......airbag is off  
×
×
  • Create New...