Cliff notes:
Road racing is fun. The Maxima did well, even against some stiff competition. A supercharged Maxima draws attention at those events. My brakes didn't enjoy the event as much as me. Get a power steering cooler. I'm going again.


The event
Well this was my first time out in a road racing environment. Let me just say this was the most fun I've had in the Max by far. I've AutoXed, dragged, raced people, and romped on some back roads, but this takes the cake. I have quite a few mods, so I won't list them all, but I've got a S/Cer and the full gamut of suspension mods and S-03's. (see www.cardomain.com/id/maximumhp for full list). Although they didn't have distinct classes like AutoX, they sort of put us into groups of cars that were in general running somewhat close to minimize holding up the fast people up too much. Below is a pic of the track. Lost of turns and demanding on brakes. I could hit 80mph, probably a little more, but didn't push it too much because of my brake situation. The S/C at high RPM makes for some pretty powerful engine braking. Honestly I didn't even pay attention to speed that much. I was probably on the track for probably an hour total in 10 minute sessions.




My competition
Some of my competition was a few Mini-S's, Accord (w/H22), Audi S4's, SRT-4. ZR-1 (guy must have been a newbie to be in my group) MR-2 turbo, 240's, couple firebirds and mustangs. I could hang with or pass just about anyone I was against except the Corvette, and those mini's. I was really surprised how well those Mini's do. I never did get a chance to go head to head with one though. There was a great battle between me and the SRT-4. He was first and I was second. He had at least stage one upgrade I believe, and a bunch of suspension and wheel mods. He could get me in the straights, but I could catch up through the complexes. He wouldn't let me pass since we were so close (I wouldn't have either), but I think I might have been able to pull slightly faster lap times than him. Very close and really fun racing. The guy was really nice and curios to see how I was keeping up.

"Is that a maxima pulling on me?"
In general the Maxima drew a lot of attention. The guy in the ZR-1 was a little concerned about me, but he had nothing to worry about. I could stay close, but there was no way I could gain on him, much less ride him so he'd let me pass. People suspected forced induction when I was doing so well. In normal autoX it wouldn't help too much, but on this track it really helped me hang with the big boys in the straights. My car was set up perfect for the track too. On some low traction areas I could almost get the rear end to swing out. My fast spots were the areas of low rear traction due to the natural understeer of the Maxima. I wasn't as fast though the flats, but it's a compromise and I felt the set-up I had was about as good as I could get. (without being dangerous, they just soded and if you went off you were responsible for the damage)




I had fun, my brakes didn't
In general the Maxima held up well, but my brakes are dead. They took a serious beating. They were literally smoking after the first run. My painted calipers were starting to blister and discoloring. (It's high temp engine paint!) I think it was the coating on the rotor too that was peeling off from the heat. They don't sound too good now either. That being said, the brakes held up fine in the heat of battle. I have metal masters and high temp synthetic fluid. They got hot, but I never felt unsafe from fade or anything, and in some cases could still lock them up if I really tried hard. I'm going to take a look at them and bleed the system this week. So far those Brembo rotors from Automax95 are the best rotor I've had to date. Even through all that beating, they still seem to be in fairly good condition with minimal "warpage" if any. No question my next set will be from the same source. Next time I'm bringing my infrared thermometer to see how hot these things do get.




Get a power steering cooler
I've posted before how at times I loose power steering when making quick turns racing. Well, when I put the blower on I installed a power steering cooler (the 99's have virtually nothing stock). It made a world of difference. I had no problems all day and this was by far the most worked the steering has ever been through. The fluid still got very hot and over flowed out of the reservoir, but didn't have any problems on the track. I probably would have been screwed without the cooler. Lighter wheels would probably really help that situation too.

The End
Well that's about it. If you made it this far, thanks for reading my book. It was so much fun I can't wait to do it again. If you don't mind a little abuse on your car, and enjoy racing, I suggest this to anyone. It's a safe, controlled, and organized way to push your car to the limits and see how you compare to some other cars and drivers. This just made me love my car more. It can do it all. Be competative in these events and drags, has room and luxury yet still sporty, good fuel mileage and durability. What more could one ask for. It may not be the best at any one thing, but it's a very versitile car that can fit many needs in one package for a reasonable price to boot.

 

Oh yeah, it's hard on tires too:

 

JEEEZ! how many miles did u have on your S-03s before you went road corusing? If they were less than 5k, then that freakin sux to have them wear out like that in one day! and I know S-03s cost a pretty penny......

Btw how well did those S-03s treat you on the track? And what PSI did you run them and what tire size is that?

 

Very very cool, I haven't found a max yet, but I have been racing in my 240sx and I know the exact feeling you get :0 Cool pics!!

 

Glad you had a good time, Eric. I wish I could have been there, too. Great write up. It's nice to see a Max run with the rest of those cars. I'm sure a lot of people were impressed with it's performance. Now....time to get those winter rims/tires on!

Will you get another set of S-03's for next spring?

 

My S-03's were about at the end of their life when I went to the event. It still probably takes a good 2-3/32 off the tread, because I had tread when I went, now I have the cords showing in some spots. They did outstanding at the track. I even had people comment on how well I was getting traction. I don't think I would be too happy if they were new, but because they are about dead anyway I don't care too much. I need to talk to Mike about getting another pair of S-03's. Not sure if I will get them or the new Dunlop's...

 

what suspension mods do you have and psi were you running?

you gonna get a BBK kit eventually? or were the stock brakes adequate for 10 min track runs even with a S/C'ed max?

 

You can see my whole set-up on my webpage, but in short I have H&R's with AGX's. Not really positive on the temps when the tires where fully warm, but probably around 44psi front and 38-40 in the rear.

For brakes I have Axis Metal Masters, and Brembo dimpled/slotted Rotors. I was quite impressed with how well they held up in the heat of battle actually. I would say they are adequate, since if I really wanted to I could probably still lock them up. (I have no ABS). I was however using engine braking heavily for the track, and I am only boosting 6psi with no other real engine mods other than a y-pipe (putting down about 230 to the wheels). It's also pretty hard to get much above 80-90mph on this track. They were probably close to thier limit though.

I'd love to go Big Brake, but I use my car in winter and still put on the factory 16's, plus I enjoy drag racing too, so I really don't want to restrict my wheel size so much. I have some ideas, but there is just so much on the plate for my car, who knows when I'll get around to it.

 

Hey Eric! Where is this track you went to?
Need to get rid of your rims for the winter??? I'll gladly accept! You can put my sawblades on your Max.

 

did you see your powersteering fluid boil? that course looks pretty cool, how many runs did you get, how did they organize the run groups? what group organized it?

you need big brakes stock brakes heat up alot, even though I've seen people get by, especially on the bigger tracks but not that one!

Jason sells good brakes, brembos perform pretty well under temps

 

Hey Paul,
Haven't heard from ya in a while. I'll have to e-mail from my new address, my hotmail is at about 100% and rejects e-mails all the time now. The track is up by Shawano. I just head down hwy 47 and 45 minutes and I'm there!

 

I've tried emailing your hotmail account and TDS.net account several times.
Yeah, send me an email from your new account. I found some 2000 Max 5 spoke 16s with Toyo Proxes for $300 shipped...I'm thinking about getting them for spring/summer rims.

 

I didn't see it boil this time, but I know it still gets really hot. There is fluid all over my engine bay in that area. I was amazed that even with the cooler my power steering was able to keep up. Without it I would probably have been in trouble.

I spent about a total of 60 minutes on the track in 10 minute intervals. So counting warm ups and stuff I had somewhere between 40-50 laps probably. A local sports car club that organizes AutoX events set this up. Normally the track is used for cart racing, but the place is pretty cool and let's us on there too. they sent us out in groups of 6 with something like 5-10 seconds between each other. No timed laps. You can pass on the straights with a signal from the driver you want to pass. Basically if you can ride someone's a$$ for a lap or two, the officials order the car in front to let you pass. I really liked the way they did it and hope they do the same next time. Way more fun that seeing who can do the fasted lap time, one at a time.

I could get some use out of big brakes. It's just the whole winter tire swap thing that keeps me from doing it, and 2 grand... I may craft something up if I get a chance this winter.

 

thats awesome, sounds like a safe, well organized event, the NASA and Speedtrial events out in CA are very similar, in group 1 no passing except on the straights group 2 is for intermediate drivers, group 3 is for crazies!, and group 4 is timed... people go nuts in those

only thing that sucks in the lower groups is when you get stuck behind newb ina Z06 or S Type R and you cannot pass until the straights... and as soon as they come up they're gone... but you see them at the next turn, taking it like the drive a camry haha

do they have other tracks in your area or is this the only one you know of? I think the Maxima with a S/C would do pretty well against other cars on a bigger track when you can really boost up and get your speeds up

 

I'd like to go to Road America some time, it's a 4 mile track, so it would be really fun. It's about an hour away. I don't think my brakes could handle that one though.

 

What track is that. Looks like a very tight technical track.

Road America would toast your brakes in a few laps. Axxis Metalmasters would not be able to handle the straights of Road America. Your car would probably reach 125 on the main straight.

There are some big brake kits that are pretty easy to remove for winter and drag racing. That's what I did with my 13" cobra rotor kit I made. Kept the stock calipers and just used a grinder on the bracket to open it up enough for the thicker rotor. And then all it is is 2 bolts on each side holding the caliper on the spindle, or if the relocation bracket is already installed and you are going from big to small rotors, then 4 bolts. Only takes probably 5-10 minutes per side to go from cobra rotors to stock rotors or vice versa.

 

But a good BBK with 2-piece rotors is lighter than the Cobra or 2004 Max rotors.

I swapped my 13" colemans back to stock for a night at the drags, then realized afterwards that my 13" rotors were lighter than my facotry ones, and my wilwood calipers weighed 1/2 what the stockers do. DOH!

 

That's what I was thinking actually, but did you keep the stock 4th gen Calipers? I was contemplating going to 5th gen for the thicker rotor to fit, but if I can grind away enough to fit the thicker rotors with the 4th gen caliper that sounds like the way to go. So if you go back to the thinner rotor, do you shim the pad to keep the piston from over extending?

 

If I could find a quick release way of swapping the lines I'd get new calipers, but removing the lines and all the fluid leaks out and re-bleed the whole thing is just more than I want to go though.

 

You don't have to touch the caliper at all just the caliper bracket (also called the torque member) has to have some material ground off to open it up enough for the cobra rotor to fit inside it. Nothing else at all is necessary. I might be able to take some pics tomorrow if you want me to. Tomorrow or friday is likely the last day I will have posession of my car before they take it to the scrap yard.

 

I didn't think the Cobra/2004 Max rotor and new pads would even fit between the caliper fixed mount (outside) and the piston compressed all the way in. I had to fight just to get my metal masters in with the stock rotor. Pics would be awesome if you could get some, otherwise we can talk via PM's if you can't snap them before your car is gone. (Very sorry to here about your accident by the way. If I didn't have a zillion other Maxima expenses I would snap up your turbo kit in a heartbeat, surprised it's not gone by now. Have you considered buying back your car and parting it out considering the mods you had?)

 

nealoc....are you selling your cobra brake kit as well b4 it goes to scrapyard...

 

Man that looks like a really short course. All the things that happened to your car are normal. I had to add power steering fluid to mine because it boiled over and splashed all over the engine bay. Next time try adding less air into the tires; from the pics it looks like they are overinflated.