Great Cars + Great People = Great Day!!

Fontana Nissan Racing travelled to the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch to attend the NAGTROC – Top Gear day at the track.  Top Gear sent Fly the photographer to the track from England to shoot pics for an upcoming article about the Nissan GTR.

Doug at Switchcars, located at the Spring Mountain track, did a great job organizing the day. The attendees all enjoyed a delicious lunch and a party afterwards that was successful enough that no pictures have surfaced from that yet!

For GTR lovers, this was the ultimate. About 20 GTR’s were driven or trailered to the track from as far away as Chicago. The weather was perfect – sunny, warm, but not too warm.  Plenty of track time was available to wear out the cars and the drivers!

Fontana Nissan Racing brought out our Redline Time Attack Modified AWD Class GTR with some new mods (more on those in the next post) and the 350Z race car. We also delivered Darin Ferraro’s GTR with a completely repaired transmission to a very happy owner!

Scott from Fontana Nissan Parts was on hand to answer any and all questions concerning the aftermarket parts on the GTR.  Several  industry people from Cobb Tuning, and HB Speed, and Aeromotions were on hand to help customers as well.

 

It was great to be able to put a face with so many names and meet such a nice group of people. Thanks to everyone involved !

For a complete photo gallery go to www.fontananissanracing.com and click on the Gallery page. Follow the GTR world at www.nagtroc.org.

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It’s Endless!

Fontana Nissan Racing Tests Endless Brake Pads

At the recent Red Line Time Attack event on September 26th-27th Fontana Nissan Racing tested Endless brake pads. The Unlimited Class 350Z was fitted with a new set of N35S compound pads. Prior to this test we have used PFC 01 compound pads. The brakes are Alcon Rolex GT spec calipers on Alcon rotors. The brake package on this car has always performed extremely well. We were looking for the Endless pads to perform equally or better in all aspects. We evaluated initial “bite” on application modulation through the brake zone and release at the end of the braking cycle. Pad wear and rotor wear were also judged. The Endless pads performed flawlessly in all respects. The amount of track time was somewhat limited so wear is difficult to judge but it appears the wear factors are better than on previous pads.

On the GTR we have been running the stock pads. With stock pads the brakes go hard and become ineffective after just a few hard driven laps. Up until they go hard the braking is quite good on the GTR. We installed ME20 compound pads on the car. These pads are designed as a good trackable street pad. After installing the pads, Mike Cronin experienced no hard pedal issues and had good consistent braking throughout the run. We also noted that the pads remained quiet and had good bite when cold.

Overall, we were impressed and happy with the Endless pads on both cars and will continue to evaluate the performance and wear at the upcoming Red Line Time Attack event at Auto Club Speedway on November 14th-15th.

Endless brake pads are available from Scott Vanderheide at www.fontananissanparts.com.

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan Parts,Fontana Nissan 350Z,Red Line Time Attack,Nissan 350Z,Endless Brake Pads,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch,Mike Cronin

StreetFire.net Red LIne Time Attack Video!

Redline+Time+Attack+Spring+Mountain+Motorsports+Ra

Check out the exciting video about the Red Line Time Attack event at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, produced by StreetFire.net. Fine job by the StreetFire crew. We’re just glad they didn’t blow over our awning with the helicopter!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontanan Nissan Racing,Nissan 350Z,350Z,Red Line Time Attack,RTA,StreetFire.net,Mike Cronin,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch

Pahrump!! RTA Round 7 @ Spring Mountain

On Friday, September 25th the Fontana Nissan Racing team headed to Pahrump Nevada to attend the RTA Round 7 at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch.

After a very early yet uneventful drive, the team spent Friday afternoon setting up the big top in the paddock area.  The 100+ degree temperatures were an indication of the expected weather for the entire weekend. Break out the SPF 100!!

Practice went smoothly Saturday, with the 350Z running the best it had run all year.  We had good balance on the Yokohama tires and the new Endless pads came in nicely. We are still amazed at how much more down force we are getting from the new louvered hood.

The GTR went well in practice running in the 2:32 range.  The GTR now sports a custom roll bar and much more driver friendly Sparco seats and belts.

Mike ran a few laps in the vintage racing Firebird, doing 300 foot long burn outs coming out of Spring Mountain’s tight corners. This spectacular car is always a fan favorite where ever it goes.

Sunday running the 350Z we continued to tune for the new tires.  We were able to run a 2:22.90 in the heat of the day, a whopping 10 second improvement over the previous RTA track record.  The turbo cars were able to turn up the boost and set some really fantastic times.  We continue to be the fastest naturally aspirated car in Red Line and probably the fastest 350Z in the country.

The GTR ran well but continued to have some heat issues that the 100+ degree heat certainly did not help.  Mike gets the GTR around awfully quickly and we continue to be the fastest and least modified GTR.

After all was said and done the Fontana Nissan 350Z finished 2nd in Unlimited Rear Wheel Drive and the GTR finished 5th in Modified All Wheel Drive. 

Next up will be some more minor tweeks to the 350Z and we will be off to RTA Round 8 in November at the Auto Club Speedway.  The big horsepower turbo cars are certainly going to put on a show at the Auto Club Speedway.  We will be showing what an N/A 350Z is capable of. Make sure to mark your calendars for RTA Round 8 November 14th and 15th. It will be a great event and we look forward to meeting everyone!!

Go to our website fontananissanracing.com for the full slideshow on the Gallery page!

 

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan,www.fontananissanparts.com,Nissan 350Z,Mike Cronin,Nissan GTR,Red Line Time Attack,RTA,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch

High Ho, High Ho, it’s off to the dyno we go!!

The engine crew at Fontana Nissan Racing made a trip to the dyno at Aasco Performance last week to measure the performance of the new oil pan and pump set up developed for the Nissan 350Z racecar. Go to www.fontananissanracing.com for all the results!!!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Performance Parts,Nissan 350Z,Dailey Engineering,Aasco Performance,RTA,Red Line Time Attack

Suspension Solutions for the Nissan 350Z

Don’t keep me in suspense! Now up in the Technical Corner is the answer to your 350Z suspension issues. Go to www.fontananissanracing.com for the latest updates.

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan,Nissan 350Z,Megan Racing,Mike Cronin,suspension,pick up points,half shafts,Red Line Time Attack,RTA,Fontana Nissan Performance Parts

Lose your gasoline habit and look good at the same time!!

Nissan has taken the wraps off of the new all electric zero emissions Leaf.

 

Go to http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/ for the full rundown on the technical details and any other questions you might have.

Nissan states that the car will handle  and accelerate like a V6 with a top speed of 90 mph.  Typical daily driving will get you 100 mile range.  Should be in some dealer showrooms by late 2010 and nationwide by 2012.

Interestingly, Red Line Time Attack has expressed interest in adding an alternative fuel class to the line up. Hmmmm.  I can see where this is going!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontanan Nissan Racing,Nissan Leaf,Zero Emissions,Electric Car,Red Line Time Attack,RTA