The information sheet for Drift Day 18 read "Bring AT LEAST one set of extra wheels and tires, more if you plan to drive home in the same car."
What on God's green Earth is cooler than that? I signed up immediately. It was the best $120 I spent in a long time.
The posting on www.driftday.com said the Saturday event, sponsored by Falken Tire, was for beginner/intermediate drivers only and would feature novice instruction of drifting basics from qualified instructors. It also said the vast Parking Lot 12 of California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., was the place.
We had just put a Vortech supercharger and brand-new set of Yokohama AVS Sports, sized 275/35R-18, on our Project 350Z, so choosing a ride wasn't difficult. But the guy who wrote the information sheet telling participants to bring AT LEAST one extra set of wheels and tires has never driven a Z. My air tank and one Nitto drag radial mounted on a stock Z wheel was all that would fit. I figured I'd show up, drift until the Yoks showed chords and drive home. If I got carried away, my plan was to mount the drag radial and the space-saver spare and drive home slowly.
Before I left the house Saturday morning at O' Dark Thirty, I fired up the air compressor and pumped up the Z's rear tires to 55 psi. My neighbors hate me, and every tire engineer reading this just called me an idiot, but I knew the extra pressure would make the Z easier to drift, and I was hoping it would keep the tires from overheating and tearing apart.
I arrived at Cal. Speedway just in time for tech inspection and the mandatory 8 a.m. drivers meeting, where I was assigned a group. Driving began at 8:30 on six courses, which ranged from a skidpad-like circle to a first-gear slalom to an autocross-type course, and each group would rotate from course to course hourly, driving for two hours and then resting for one. That's a lot of track time. The event was to last until 4.30 p.m.
Because the class was limited to just 45 drivers, I was to be driving continuously. Often I would finish a lap, drive to the start line and go again immediately. The small group also ensured that instructors were always available to answer questions or demonstrate a technique. They would even ride along with you if you asked nicely.
The Z ran beautifully. Drifting is very hard on the car. In fact, with the exception of rallying, it's as abusive as driving gets. Yet the Z took it in stride, never getting hot even once.
After the first two hours of solid driving in 95-degree heat, it was me who was overheated and in need of a break. The inside of my helmet was soaked with sweat, the interior of the Z was black with tire dust and I was driving sloppily from the fatigue. Although there were a few more minutes in the session, I headed for my makeshift pit.
For the next hour I mingled with the many SCC readers in attendance and checked out the members of an all-girl drifting club called Drifting Pretty. These women are serious. I watched them change their tires and outdrive many men.
At 11:30 I went back out, and by noon I could consistently drift through the longest autocross course without spinning out. One of the instructors was impressed and told me to take it to the next level by regulating my tire speed with the e-brake. Somebody tell this guy I've only got two hands. I tried, but I needed both hands to crank the wheel quickly from opposite lock to opposite lock.
By 1:30 my tires weren't looking so good. I had a decision to make. I could call it a day and save myself the hassle of changing tires and the grim possibility of not completing the 65-mile drive home on the space saver. Or I could stick around and burn the tires completely off the car.
I bailed. But I'll be back. Drift Day 19 at Irwindale Speedway is just around the corner. Do you think Nissan will be pissed if I tied a set of BFGoodrich g-Force KDs to the roof?