Blog Title: GreenGSX
Beaverun trip report
Thursday night was our last chance to get anything done before the trip down on Friday. We had to come up with a temperary upper vent gauge plate to secure our gauges. We have a great custom piece coming from a GalantVR4.org member but it wasn't ready in time. The other big project was to wire the trailer harness in the car to run the lights. We didn't start until 9pm and after making the gauge plate we knew we were out of gas so we made the call to run without the trailer. It meant that we couldn't bring everything we wanted to but the purpose of the trip was more for shaking the car out then the trailer. I'll just have to pull back and forth to work for a week to get some miles on it too.
The drive up was easy. The car ran great and rode great too. Some of the little things we didn’t get finished included a radio and fixing the cruise control. Not having them sucked but we can live without them for now. Not having the trailer meant that we had to pack the entire trunk and part of the backseat which is not going to work for the trip. We want the car as empty as we can get it so when we roll into a track all we have to do is unhook the trailer and then we would only have a few things to take out of the car. The trailer is going to need some sort of box on it that would make it water proof and secure so when we are staying at a hotel we won’t have to worry about the tools getting stolen or wet for that matter.
We stayed in Cranberry township which is about 20 minutes from Wampum. We stayed at the Mariott residence Inn which was nice but there was a cool bar right next to it that was the real attraction. Not only did it have beer but it featured race cars hanging from the ceiling.
In the morning we got up early and headed out to Beaverun. Lets just say the atmosphere there is relaxed because there was very little to any organization. Everybody there seemed like they knew what they were doing so the day went smoothly. At 9am we hit the drivers meeting which was held in a fairly new building that offers great views of the back strait. While we were trying to pay attention the sound of the instructors roaring by just got our blood pumping. Plus, the white GT3 that went off into the weeds was pretty intertaining.
I am the first up and I take a while to get settling into the car and make my way down to the grid. There I meet up with my instructor and we have a little chat about what we want to do for the day. Now I have to be honest here that my mission for the day was to shake the car down not be the best driver I can be. I didn't tell him that! The first lap I learned the line and by the second lap I was on the gas. The backside of course (turns 11-17) are a lot of fun. When you hit them right everything flows builds up to the top of the hill with a tight right hand followed by an almost blind left then to an easy right which takes you back down the hill onto the back strait. Its in this section that I find the car just easy to drive with perfect throttle lift oversteer. Basically, if I go to hot into a corner and the car starts to push all I have to do is lift the throttle and the back end will gently oversteer until I mash the gas again. "point-lift-shoot". Just the way I like it.
The only real issue is knock. The car is pinging like crazy. It was either the gas or alititude or just the crappy tune we gave it. No matter how you slice it the car was down on power. I did the entire session coasting on the front and back straits.
After the session we looked over the car and everything was in order. No leaks, didn't get hot, and nothing broke. The front tires were rubbing just a touch so using the floor jack handle I gently folded over the lip of the fender. I think it may touch slightly now but its not enough to cut the tire.
Mike was the next driver up. This was going to be interesting because he's never even driven the car on the streets let alone on a track. We warned him about the knock and he agreed to take it easy on the straits. Mike looked good out there but it was obvious he was taking it easy. When back to the pits he gave the car a good "two thumbs up" and was singing the praises of AWD.
We took a break for lunch and headed into town for food and gas. We also decided to just turn the boost down to rid us of the knock. As we were pulling out we noticed that Mazda had set up a small autocross course in the parking lot and they had a pair of there Mazda 6’s there that you could try out. We stopped and asked if we could take a shot at it but the guy we talked to was clueless. After some food and gas we did some pulls and on the street we were running 17psi with no knock. The way in to the track is what can only be described as a worn out logging road although it is paved. We were forced to crawl our way up and we could see were they had repaired the road only to make it worse and we could see where they outlined new areas to fix that were actually some of the nicer spots. Steve had a good friend, Ben, stop out for the day so he rode in earlier and was waiting for us to return so he could take his laps around the track. I saw the autocross was still going so I turned to Mike as said “wanna autocross?” He said “why not!” and we lined the car up to take a stab. Besides the two Mazda’s there was a 350Z that had been running the course no stop since we left for lunch that was running 32.2 and higher times. We lined up and when the guy said go I let all four tires rip. The car jumped forward and we cut our way through the first little slalom. Then it was a quick left hander to the back corner of the parking lot where a pin turn awaited us to send us back toward the finish. Just before the pin turn I flicked the car left while on the brakes and the car just rotated like a dream. I carried that drift around the pin and mashed the gas as soon as I could get the nose pointed where I wanted to go. I car instantly stopped sliding and launched at the next slalom. Then a little offset for the finish which I slide through as well before we were done. I had Mike lean out the window for our time. 31.7! Nice.
As we pull off the parking lot and back towards the pit area we run into Steve and Ben who scold us for not waiting for them. Steve said he wanted to get some photo’s of the car auto crossing but then he remembered we had left all the camera gear in the trunk! Good thing its packing in a nice thickly padded case.
Steve finally got his turn in the car and he didn’t waste a second. He was smooth and fast and I caught him trailing the brakes into the first turn at the end of the front strait. It was also nice to see him keep his foot into in down the straits. The car sounds great and looks great too. When we started this whole project we knew we wanted the car to look as good as it went. We poured over as many photo’s of Galant VR4’s we could find before settling on the 1989 Works Mitusbishi Galant VR4.
http://www.rallybuzz.com/1989-rac-rally-airikkala/
The blue and red on the white car just pop and you can see that thing coming from a mile away. Even in the company of Evo’s and Viper’s our car still stands out. There isn’t another car like it and it looks killer in photos. We can’t wait for the whole world to get a look at it now.
The fourth session of the day was mine and now that the car was running well I knew this was going to be my shot at seeing how far I could push things. Within the first lap I was hustling and the car felt great. It still had a hint of knock on the straits but it wasn’t enough to pull more than 5 degrees of timing so I knew we were OK. With extra power and having seen the track earlier I had no problem fending off the Evo’s, R32’s, SRT8’s and whatever else was gunning for me. I also got a chance to really put the lift throttle oversteer to good use and I was rotating the car at nearly every corner. By my fourth lap I was really starting the push things and I wanted to hold 5th gear on the front strait till the 150 foot mark. As I got there my instructor lost his nerve and started giving me the brake signal right in front of my face and for a moment my concentration moved from the track to his hand and I really went deep before I mashed the brakes. I locked up all four and kicked out a huge cloud of white smoke and as I neared the turn in point I had to make a choice. Do I attempt the turn and risk going off sideways? Or, do I just give up and go strait off the track? I chose the easy route and went strait off. The grass was wet and as I got further off track it turned into a muck. The instructor was telling me to turn to get back on track but the car wasn’t responding to me until I almost had it to a full stop. Then I waited for the signal and pulled back on track for the lap of shame back into the pit lane. There the course marshell and I talked about what happened and I got to look over the car for damage. Besides a little mud the car was good to go so I went back out. It took me a while to get back up to speed and once I was I couldn’t maintain it for very long. The excitement of going off was enough to mess me up for that session. Of course when I got back the guys had all sorts of jokes to tell me and photo’s to share. In all the years I’ve been doing track days this was the very first time I have ever been off track. I had to do it sometime.
Mike got the call for the last session of the day and while we were checking under the hood we ran into the biggest issue of the whole trip. The hood wouldn’t close. The sheet metal where the hood latch bolts up to fatigued and was cracking. No matter what we did it wouldn’t latch. In the end we pulled the grill out and I held on to the hood while Steve pushed it closed. We then used a combination of zip-ties and a section of extension cord wire, donated by Ben, to tie the hood down. Mike was a model of patience just sitting in the drivers seat, helmet on waiting for us to give the OK to go. His final session was fantastic and the only lap we timing was a 1:13 with traffic. Not to bad for his first time at the track and later we found out it was really a great time because he was just coasting on the front and back straits.
With a successful day under our belts we packed up early and decided to skip the dinner so we could go back to Cranberry to see if we could find some hood pins. We found some at a local PepBoys and we grabbed a cordless drill at Walmart. The drill wasn’t charged so we decided to plug it in and go grab some beers and dinner. That was a great time as we were all relieved that car turned out as well as it did and we didn’t break anything important. A couple of beers turned into many and before we knew it we the night was over. The hood would have to wait till the morning.
In the morning we were greeted with thunderstorms and a quick look at the radar let us know that it was going to rain for most of the day. Saturday was a success and running the car in the rain would not add to that one little bit so we decided to pull the plug and head home.
Another RochesterDSM friend of ours Chris, had drove down to Florida on vacation and just happed to be near us on his way back so he met us at the hotel in the morning and we went back to Rochester together. Chris drives a new EvoX and is a fellow track junkie.
Overall the trip was a resounding success. All three of the cars drivers agreed that the car handles great and we won’t need to touch a thing for One Lap. The brakes we already knew were going to be good. The power issue did suck. We needed another 50+ HP to get this car to the next level and with our limited tuning knowledge we couldn’t get the job done. A few issues came up that we have to address. The hood needs pins, the passenger side spherical bearing in the strut mount is shot, the cruise needs to be fixed, we need some tunes, we need more power, and we need to get the trailer sorted out so we don’t have to pack so much in the car.
Great trip with great friends…now the only thing we are working for is One Lap!
The drive up was easy. The car ran great and rode great too. Some of the little things we didn’t get finished included a radio and fixing the cruise control. Not having them sucked but we can live without them for now. Not having the trailer meant that we had to pack the entire trunk and part of the backseat which is not going to work for the trip. We want the car as empty as we can get it so when we roll into a track all we have to do is unhook the trailer and then we would only have a few things to take out of the car. The trailer is going to need some sort of box on it that would make it water proof and secure so when we are staying at a hotel we won’t have to worry about the tools getting stolen or wet for that matter.
We stayed in Cranberry township which is about 20 minutes from Wampum. We stayed at the Mariott residence Inn which was nice but there was a cool bar right next to it that was the real attraction. Not only did it have beer but it featured race cars hanging from the ceiling.
In the morning we got up early and headed out to Beaverun. Lets just say the atmosphere there is relaxed because there was very little to any organization. Everybody there seemed like they knew what they were doing so the day went smoothly. At 9am we hit the drivers meeting which was held in a fairly new building that offers great views of the back strait. While we were trying to pay attention the sound of the instructors roaring by just got our blood pumping. Plus, the white GT3 that went off into the weeds was pretty intertaining.
I am the first up and I take a while to get settling into the car and make my way down to the grid. There I meet up with my instructor and we have a little chat about what we want to do for the day. Now I have to be honest here that my mission for the day was to shake the car down not be the best driver I can be. I didn't tell him that! The first lap I learned the line and by the second lap I was on the gas. The backside of course (turns 11-17) are a lot of fun. When you hit them right everything flows builds up to the top of the hill with a tight right hand followed by an almost blind left then to an easy right which takes you back down the hill onto the back strait. Its in this section that I find the car just easy to drive with perfect throttle lift oversteer. Basically, if I go to hot into a corner and the car starts to push all I have to do is lift the throttle and the back end will gently oversteer until I mash the gas again. "point-lift-shoot". Just the way I like it.
The only real issue is knock. The car is pinging like crazy. It was either the gas or alititude or just the crappy tune we gave it. No matter how you slice it the car was down on power. I did the entire session coasting on the front and back straits.
After the session we looked over the car and everything was in order. No leaks, didn't get hot, and nothing broke. The front tires were rubbing just a touch so using the floor jack handle I gently folded over the lip of the fender. I think it may touch slightly now but its not enough to cut the tire.
Mike was the next driver up. This was going to be interesting because he's never even driven the car on the streets let alone on a track. We warned him about the knock and he agreed to take it easy on the straits. Mike looked good out there but it was obvious he was taking it easy. When back to the pits he gave the car a good "two thumbs up" and was singing the praises of AWD.
We took a break for lunch and headed into town for food and gas. We also decided to just turn the boost down to rid us of the knock. As we were pulling out we noticed that Mazda had set up a small autocross course in the parking lot and they had a pair of there Mazda 6’s there that you could try out. We stopped and asked if we could take a shot at it but the guy we talked to was clueless. After some food and gas we did some pulls and on the street we were running 17psi with no knock. The way in to the track is what can only be described as a worn out logging road although it is paved. We were forced to crawl our way up and we could see were they had repaired the road only to make it worse and we could see where they outlined new areas to fix that were actually some of the nicer spots. Steve had a good friend, Ben, stop out for the day so he rode in earlier and was waiting for us to return so he could take his laps around the track. I saw the autocross was still going so I turned to Mike as said “wanna autocross?” He said “why not!” and we lined the car up to take a stab. Besides the two Mazda’s there was a 350Z that had been running the course no stop since we left for lunch that was running 32.2 and higher times. We lined up and when the guy said go I let all four tires rip. The car jumped forward and we cut our way through the first little slalom. Then it was a quick left hander to the back corner of the parking lot where a pin turn awaited us to send us back toward the finish. Just before the pin turn I flicked the car left while on the brakes and the car just rotated like a dream. I carried that drift around the pin and mashed the gas as soon as I could get the nose pointed where I wanted to go. I car instantly stopped sliding and launched at the next slalom. Then a little offset for the finish which I slide through as well before we were done. I had Mike lean out the window for our time. 31.7! Nice.
As we pull off the parking lot and back towards the pit area we run into Steve and Ben who scold us for not waiting for them. Steve said he wanted to get some photo’s of the car auto crossing but then he remembered we had left all the camera gear in the trunk! Good thing its packing in a nice thickly padded case.
Steve finally got his turn in the car and he didn’t waste a second. He was smooth and fast and I caught him trailing the brakes into the first turn at the end of the front strait. It was also nice to see him keep his foot into in down the straits. The car sounds great and looks great too. When we started this whole project we knew we wanted the car to look as good as it went. We poured over as many photo’s of Galant VR4’s we could find before settling on the 1989 Works Mitusbishi Galant VR4.
http://www.rallybuzz.com/1989-rac-rally-airikkala/
The blue and red on the white car just pop and you can see that thing coming from a mile away. Even in the company of Evo’s and Viper’s our car still stands out. There isn’t another car like it and it looks killer in photos. We can’t wait for the whole world to get a look at it now.
The fourth session of the day was mine and now that the car was running well I knew this was going to be my shot at seeing how far I could push things. Within the first lap I was hustling and the car felt great. It still had a hint of knock on the straits but it wasn’t enough to pull more than 5 degrees of timing so I knew we were OK. With extra power and having seen the track earlier I had no problem fending off the Evo’s, R32’s, SRT8’s and whatever else was gunning for me. I also got a chance to really put the lift throttle oversteer to good use and I was rotating the car at nearly every corner. By my fourth lap I was really starting the push things and I wanted to hold 5th gear on the front strait till the 150 foot mark. As I got there my instructor lost his nerve and started giving me the brake signal right in front of my face and for a moment my concentration moved from the track to his hand and I really went deep before I mashed the brakes. I locked up all four and kicked out a huge cloud of white smoke and as I neared the turn in point I had to make a choice. Do I attempt the turn and risk going off sideways? Or, do I just give up and go strait off the track? I chose the easy route and went strait off. The grass was wet and as I got further off track it turned into a muck. The instructor was telling me to turn to get back on track but the car wasn’t responding to me until I almost had it to a full stop. Then I waited for the signal and pulled back on track for the lap of shame back into the pit lane. There the course marshell and I talked about what happened and I got to look over the car for damage. Besides a little mud the car was good to go so I went back out. It took me a while to get back up to speed and once I was I couldn’t maintain it for very long. The excitement of going off was enough to mess me up for that session. Of course when I got back the guys had all sorts of jokes to tell me and photo’s to share. In all the years I’ve been doing track days this was the very first time I have ever been off track. I had to do it sometime.
Mike got the call for the last session of the day and while we were checking under the hood we ran into the biggest issue of the whole trip. The hood wouldn’t close. The sheet metal where the hood latch bolts up to fatigued and was cracking. No matter what we did it wouldn’t latch. In the end we pulled the grill out and I held on to the hood while Steve pushed it closed. We then used a combination of zip-ties and a section of extension cord wire, donated by Ben, to tie the hood down. Mike was a model of patience just sitting in the drivers seat, helmet on waiting for us to give the OK to go. His final session was fantastic and the only lap we timing was a 1:13 with traffic. Not to bad for his first time at the track and later we found out it was really a great time because he was just coasting on the front and back straits.
With a successful day under our belts we packed up early and decided to skip the dinner so we could go back to Cranberry to see if we could find some hood pins. We found some at a local PepBoys and we grabbed a cordless drill at Walmart. The drill wasn’t charged so we decided to plug it in and go grab some beers and dinner. That was a great time as we were all relieved that car turned out as well as it did and we didn’t break anything important. A couple of beers turned into many and before we knew it we the night was over. The hood would have to wait till the morning.
In the morning we were greeted with thunderstorms and a quick look at the radar let us know that it was going to rain for most of the day. Saturday was a success and running the car in the rain would not add to that one little bit so we decided to pull the plug and head home.
Another RochesterDSM friend of ours Chris, had drove down to Florida on vacation and just happed to be near us on his way back so he met us at the hotel in the morning and we went back to Rochester together. Chris drives a new EvoX and is a fellow track junkie.
Overall the trip was a resounding success. All three of the cars drivers agreed that the car handles great and we won’t need to touch a thing for One Lap. The brakes we already knew were going to be good. The power issue did suck. We needed another 50+ HP to get this car to the next level and with our limited tuning knowledge we couldn’t get the job done. A few issues came up that we have to address. The hood needs pins, the passenger side spherical bearing in the strut mount is shot, the cruise needs to be fixed, we need some tunes, we need more power, and we need to get the trailer sorted out so we don’t have to pack so much in the car.
Great trip with great friends…now the only thing we are working for is One Lap!
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