Ok so I did an Instructor seminar this past Monday as well as Instruct at a track day on Saturday. Most of my driving was on Monday with a bunch of my fellow local racers and instructors. I drove the car about 60% race speed which is about 95% track day speed. I got the car lightly drifting in corners but no more than that as it is a daily driver after all.
A quick note on the car: 01 ES ,Injen Cold Air Intake , Flowmaster muffler , Mazda speed suspension and 205/45 17's Toyo Proxes 4.

Steering is good but the wide tires seem to amplify the torque steer...read stay off the FIA kerbing.

Gear ratios seem nicely spaced and matched to the torquey engine.

Engine pulls well from almost any RPM...no need to buzz the death out of it like my old Miata or the first gen MR2 I just sold

Brakes are also very good but a serious track attack would need some upgarded pads , I trail brake religously and after about 8 laps or so you could start to smell them. There was absolutly no fade. Only complaint on the brakes is , my opinion , over boosted brake pedal effort. It took a couple of laps to get back to those ultra smooth braking heel and toe down shifts. This may be a problem for only me as most of my racing experiance is in old cars and single seaters with rock hard brake pedals.

Overall balance is very good; I steer cars with the pedals , trail brake / throttle steer etc. I could run the car into the 180 degree double apex turn 2 breath the throttle mid corner and rotate the car back into the second apex all while chating with a fellow instructor. Also the car could be drifted niclely into turn 8 , just a simple matter of trailing the brakes to get the car rotating quickly then just pick up the thorttle and balance the car as you skated through....read big fun

The tires are the one thing I would likely change if this were the car I used for track days. The 205/17's are just to big and I'm sure they slow the corner exit speed...think 4 giant flywheels. I would go back to the 195/16's for that reason and the fact you can't cut the kerbs in the chicane as the tires will rub if your real aggressive.

Overall I was quite happy that I picked a Protege , a comfortable 4 door that handles well is not hard to like. The only down side is you really can't get anywhere near the cars potential on roadways , it really begs to be taken to the track.

Tom

 

how'd your motor hold up? They have a poor oiling system that really cant handle sustained g-loads to well...
was this on LVMS?

 

yes I remember reading this and drove accordingly. Both events were at Spring Mtn Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump.....turn 1 and 2 there are the exact type of corners you refer to.

Tom

 

Sounds like a fun couple of days. The smaller rims should make it much better for autocrossing.

 

This would make a great Autocross car but unfortunately as Dad the crew chief and sponsor to #56 Jr Kart driver (better known as my 11 yr old son) My driving at Autocross has taken a back seat. Plus my old Datsun road race car is very competitive at local Autocross so I would run it. Of course my wife might drive it at an Autocross or two

 

they are a ball at the SOLO's. What kind of Datsun you got? An old 510????

 

I run a Datsun 1200 coupe...known as LB110's in the USA.I have run a couple of 510's as well. My car has Nismo suspension on it , 280ZX brakes , LSD 4.11 rear end , GX bottom end (Japan only engiine) H-prod head with race valves. The car wieghs 1680LBS corners and stops like mad. The 1200cc push rod engine revs to 7800 RPM but it only puts out 85HP. So needless to say you have to drive the wheels off it. I've Autocrossed and raced it since 1989. I've owned and run much faster cars incuding some open wheelers but the little Datsun is loads of fun and cheap to race , plus in Vintage it runs against other gutless wonders so it's not a big deal.


Tom

 

You gotta post some pics. I love old Datsuns.

 

Ok here are a couple. The car was repainted this year.

 

Beautiful, thanks.
I don't really race, but some day I'd love to have one just as a beater/project car.

 

This was the car I first ran when I switched from road racing motorcycles to cars. When I went to SCCA drivers school it had a whopping $1800 including the price of the car.

Tom