Nsw Supersprint Series (round 2) And My R35

[LSX-438]

I took the R35 out to its first supersprint event today - round #2 of the NSW Championship at Oran Park GP. It was a shitter of a day, with rain coming and going all day. My R35 is stock EXCEPT for a set of 18" RE55's (which cost HALF the price of the OEM 20's mind you )

Given it was my second day at the track with this car i'm still learning how to make it go fast; but the supersprint format doesnt really give you a lot of track time... I was at the track for 8 hours and had about 15 laps in total. But it was a good day nonetheless, catching up with everyone, and some track time in between the drizzle. I managed to get some good clean laps in, and the car didnt miss a beat! I am really starting to love this car as i push it harder around a track. It just soaks it all up!

Observations with the car:

Transmission temps were fine - given it was only 3 hot laps per session i didnt see more than about 110*c which is quite manageable really. So quite ok for supersprints. The seats have a great suede finish which keeps you well planted, i dont know if i am going to even bother with the harness on this car. Stocker brakes held up great, better than expected. Although i expect the cross drilled rotors to eventually crack (badly). Rotors still look quite ok atm however (i did a practice day at OPGP on thursday, so in total i've probably done 40-50 hard laps, i think i've used about 40% of the OEM pads thus far.

Results:

I ended up with a PB of 1:17.3 for 3rd outight, breaking the type 2 and class 2D lap records along the way (finished first in tyre and class obviously) So how good is this car? It's a GREAT package, but i am starting to think how much better will it be with some more focused track mods?

Natsoft results: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results....04/2009.ORGP.S1

If any of you are considering supersprints, send me a PM and i will help you get started!

We're off to Wakefield in a few weeks, whohoo!

Edited April 19, 2009 by LSX-438

[N1GTR]

Well done. Got any pics?

If you give us a headsup before Wakefield im sure some SAU'ers would come down and watch

[evil_weevil]

Great result Duncan!!!

Congrats on the placings!

Oh, if you want a bit more time in the seat at the track, we have a wakie sau nsw day for $140!

[gp900]

I took the R35 out to its first supersprint event today - round #2 of the NSW Championship at Oran Park GP. It was a shitter of a day, with rain coming and going all day. My R35 is stock EXCEPT for a set of 18" RE55's (which cost HALF the price of the OEM 20's mind you )

Given it was my second day at the track with this car i'm still learning how to make it go fast; but the supersprint format doesnt really give you a lot of track time... I was at the track for 8 hours and had about 15 laps in total. But it was a good day nonetheless, catching up with everyone, and some track time in between the drizzle. I managed to get some good clean laps in, and the car didnt miss a beat! I am really starting to love this car as i push it harder around a track. It just soaks it all up!

Observations with the car:

Transmission temps were fine - given it was only 3 hot laps per session i didnt see more than about 110*c which is quite manageable really. So quite ok for supersprints. The seats have a great suede finish which keeps you well planted, i dont know if i am going to even bother with the harness on this car. Stocker brakes held up great, better than expected. Although i expect the cross drilled rotors to eventually crack (badly). Rotors still look quite ok atm however (i did a practice day at OPGP on thursday, so in total i've probably done 40-50 hard laps, i think i've used about 40% of the OEM pads thus far.

Results:

I ended up with a PB of 1:17.3 for 3rd outight, breaking the type 2 and class 2D lap records along the way (finished first in tyre and class obviously) So how good is this car? It's a GREAT package, but i am starting to think how much better will it be with some more focused track mods?

Natsoft results: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results....04/2009.ORGP.S1

If any of you are considering supersprints, send me a PM and i will help you get started!

We're off to Wakefield in a few weeks, whohoo!

How did the car handle?

You might well be the first owner to properly track an AU spec R35. 

[LSX-438]

How did the car handle?

You might well be the first owner to properly track an AU spec R35.

I am still getting used to the AWD thing (coming from a monaro!) so it's still a bit strange to me, but it seems brutally competent thus far. And I am sure a bunch of JDM's have be thrashed around a track here, in fact i know they have (quicker than me, which isnt too hard, got my L plates on atm)

[BOZ22N]

That is a great result.

[Martin Donnon]

Well done Dunc!

Now get the WR35MP midpipe on, the WR35TM Transmission oil in, and go for broke

You might want to look at a set of AP rotors and Endless pads (have them on our GTR) and it transformed the braking performance of the thing....still if your trans temps only got to 110 I am tipping there is another 0.5 in it as is

[Neil]

Yep as the boys have already said,,,nice work mate,,,When I spotted it at scut the 1st thing I did was peg out what tyre/wheel comb you were running,,,

I got some interesting looks. . "Neil why are you checking the wheels,,,why aren't you dribbling",,,I said I've already dribbled.

I went for a walk to the last corner to watch you,,,the car looked bloody great.

Question is,,,will the small fry beat the big fry at Wakefield or will I be running to the time sheets after every round?.

Neil.

[GTR32G]

Here a snap of the beast coming threw BP corner.. Looks Soooooo Goooood

[LSX-438]

Here a snap of the beast coming threw BP corner.. Looks Soooooo Goooood

Thanks for the Pic!

[Silvia GTR]

Im so jealous!! Its good see its getting used what its meant for!

[LSX-438]

Yep as the boys have already said,,,nice work mate,,,When I spotted it at scut the 1st thing I did was peg out what tyre/wheel comb you were running,,,

I got some interesting looks. . "Neil why are you checking the wheels,,,why aren't you dribbling",,,I said I've already dribbled.

I went for a walk to the last corner to watch you,,,the car looked bloody great.

Question is,,,will the small fry beat the big fry at Wakefield or will I be running to the time sheets after every round?.

Neil.

hazard a guess there will be at least two in front of me at Wakefield

[Roy]

The car looks awesome in that pic! I think thats the first time i have said that of an R35. Uo-oh, i have the bug

So it doesnt have a speed limiter? The car's weight didnt seem to hurt the tyres too much, i suppose it was only 3 laps?

They are crazy good things, from what i am told about the only thing you should do is the steering wheel paddle thing to make it easier to shift gears...from there its all a matter of do you really need to go any faster ? LOL....

[R32_GODZILLA]

I'm soooo jealous. Nice work! Good on you for taking it out on a track. I want an R35 so badly! Great photo BTW.

[Modena]

Nice photo!!!

[LSX-438]

The car looks awesome in that pic! I think thats the first time i have said that of an R35. Uo-oh, i have the bug

So it doesnt have a speed limiter? The car's weight didnt seem to hurt the tyres too much, i suppose it was only 3 laps?

They are crazy good things, from what i am told about the only thing you should do is the steering wheel paddle thing to make it easier to shift gears...from there its all a matter of do you really need to go any faster ? LOL....

Th GPS says i was doing up to 220km/hr on the straight there so i guess no speed limiter! The tyres are great, they take a little over a lap to warm up properly though, so maybe not the best for sprints i dunno (sprints are less than 1 lap warm up and 3 flying laps). I dont mind the flappy paddles as they are really, reminds me to brake and gear up/down without an extreme angle on the tiller.

[fungoolie]

Transmission temps were fine - given it was only 3 hot laps per session i didnt see more than about 110*c which is quite manageable really. So quite ok for supersprints. The seats have a great suede finish which keeps you well planted, i dont know if i am going to even bother with the harness on this car. Stocker brakes held up great, better than expected. Although i expect the cross drilled rotors to eventually crack (badly). Rotors still look quite ok atm however (i did a practice day at OPGP on thursday, so in total i've probably done 40-50 hard laps, i think i've used about 40% of the OEM pads thus far.

Could someone please clarify if we have to have the trans fluid replaced if the car has been to a track and the trans has NOT seen 120 deg C in order to maintain warranty?? I'm still not clear on this.

[LSX-438]

Could someone please clarify if we have to have the trans fluid replaced if the car has been to a track and the trans has NOT seen 120 deg C in order to maintain warranty?? I'm still not clear on this.

I have been told that (from a dealer/service perspective) that the fluid needs to be replaced if it has exceeded 130*c

Best call and ask your dealer/service people though

[Martin Donnon]

Some interesting discussion here re: transmission servicing, and here are some observations from our end....

Whilst it is entirely plausible for Nissan to deliver their dealers a 'flag based' servicing strategy i.e. Flickr reports Trans Tmp > 130 then service, this does not describe the actual wear rate or service life of the factory GR6 Fluid Accurately. Using the US example this would then lead to the conclusion that 10 track days at 129C would have less effect on the integrity of the transmission fluid (service at 18,000 miles) than one track day at 131C (service at 1,800 miles). This of course is not true or accurate in any sense, but Nissan are not to be blamed here, they are giving some basic indicators to their service departments to keep these cars running properly.

The reality is that factory GR6 fluid oxidises very quickly with temperature. Our analysis over the past 10 - 12 months from many different cars has shown that the factory fluid starts to oxidise (visually represented by a blackening of the fluid) as soon as it spends any time over 100C. Its quite confusing (at least initially) to see fluid that went in Green come out Black only a short time later, particularly when there is no chance of pollution with combustion gas as their is with engine oil. The downside of having a fluid that oxidises quickly is that when this does happen the ability of the fluid to lubricate breaks down and some serious wear and failure modes set into the machine - which in this case is the GR6 transmission.

Now Nissan are well aware of these accelerated wear rates, which is why they have such tight guidelines for gearbox servicing, with the GR6 requiring transmission flushing at a previously unheard of (in the automotive world anyway) frequency. This instability of transmission fluid was something we tackled head on in the early days of our WR35TM transmission fluid development, as at the 130 - 140C we were seeing during track days we wanted to avoid oxidisation altogether, using a formulation that wont see any serious degradation till over 150C. Anyway thats our thing, and not the point of this post....so lets make it clear then -

This post is not an attempt to make you rush out and change oil, but rather an explanation that might help owners out there understand that keeping just under the Nissan temp threshold and extending service will possibly be doing more damage to the transmission than getting it hotter and having a flush. One thing for sure is that the GR6 is no black-box, it like most transmissions wears at a decent rate regardless of fluid temperature, with lubricant quality being critical due to the extreme power and torque loads that can be placed on the GR6 from the fabulous VR38DETT engine

Edited April 22, 2009 by Martin Donnon

[LSX-438]

I got a couple more pics today from last weekend,, sits pretty low through the turns..

the 285/30 RE55's would be 30mm lower than this tyre (295/35) so i dont think the 285's would work IMO..