Track event at Road America 4-13-2008
Posted 04-15-2008 at 01:22 PM by talonTSIDriver
Well, to start with, i was really nervous coming into this weekend. To start with, this was my first time at Road America, 2nd, this is the first track event the new talon has been too, and last but not least, my center diff broke 4 days prior to the event and i have not had the chance to take the car out and beat on it to make sure everything was good to go. It snowed/rained from wed-Saturday mid day.
So i get to the track Saturday at about 4:30pm to drop off the truck and trailer. A friend of mine brought his evo for the track even on Sunday as well so we ride back to the hotel in his car.
Get up at 6am Sunday, eat, and leave for the track.
Arrive a little after 7am, go to the registration booth and get my friend registered, I already pre-registered so I am good to go.
Unload car from trailer, go over car, make sure everything is ready to rock, then go through tech. I pass tech with no issues, that’s a good sign.
I am in group B (advanced group). My friend in his evo registered for group C. I take a ride with him first during group C's session, and that was a blast. However he felt the need to move to group B. Mostly because he wanted to play some cat & mouse with me.
So I'm up next, my first session i take it easy, learn the track, make sure the car is all running good. I had no issue's my first session, mostly because i took it extra easy on the car.
The rest of the day is still kind of a blur, I had SOOO much fun, maybe even the most fun ever. I remember passing a modded NSX on race rubber, a few fully prepped vettes, a Porsche, a lotus, and a few other cars.
During one session my car started to shake very violently as i braked, i went into the pits and back to the truck/trailer to check stuff out. Happen to find the 2 bolts that hold the intermediate shaft wiggled their way loose. I must not have tightened them enough or something. But i had extra bolts along and dabbed some red locktite on there and I was set to go. I had NO issues with the car for the rest of the day at all.
The most fun I had was during the last session when they combined groups A and B. Group A was the “assertive” group with guys that have been to RA multiple times and are very good. I think I was the only Group B driver out in this session. This is where the in-car video picks up. I chased these guys down the entire session, kept up with them and even passed a few. I was very surprised how my 264whp talon kept up with these supercharged cobra’s and vettes.
In car Video part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaJm-k_liIo
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTZZBuxts4w
All in all, I had a great weekend. Car held up great I think, I did not hit a wall like some unlucky evo did. (not my friend’s evo)
My lap times according to my in-car video were about 2min 42 seconds and that’s with the added chicane on turn 8 where they wanted to slow people down so no one ran off into the deep mud. They said it would take over an hour to get someone pulled out from there.
I put exactly 128 miles on my car (at the track only).
Also my TCE 13in Wilwood Brake kit worked out GREAT!!!
My speedo said 150mph in the main straight.
So i get to the track Saturday at about 4:30pm to drop off the truck and trailer. A friend of mine brought his evo for the track even on Sunday as well so we ride back to the hotel in his car.
Get up at 6am Sunday, eat, and leave for the track.
Arrive a little after 7am, go to the registration booth and get my friend registered, I already pre-registered so I am good to go.
Unload car from trailer, go over car, make sure everything is ready to rock, then go through tech. I pass tech with no issues, that’s a good sign.
I am in group B (advanced group). My friend in his evo registered for group C. I take a ride with him first during group C's session, and that was a blast. However he felt the need to move to group B. Mostly because he wanted to play some cat & mouse with me.
So I'm up next, my first session i take it easy, learn the track, make sure the car is all running good. I had no issue's my first session, mostly because i took it extra easy on the car.
The rest of the day is still kind of a blur, I had SOOO much fun, maybe even the most fun ever. I remember passing a modded NSX on race rubber, a few fully prepped vettes, a Porsche, a lotus, and a few other cars.
During one session my car started to shake very violently as i braked, i went into the pits and back to the truck/trailer to check stuff out. Happen to find the 2 bolts that hold the intermediate shaft wiggled their way loose. I must not have tightened them enough or something. But i had extra bolts along and dabbed some red locktite on there and I was set to go. I had NO issues with the car for the rest of the day at all.
The most fun I had was during the last session when they combined groups A and B. Group A was the “assertive” group with guys that have been to RA multiple times and are very good. I think I was the only Group B driver out in this session. This is where the in-car video picks up. I chased these guys down the entire session, kept up with them and even passed a few. I was very surprised how my 264whp talon kept up with these supercharged cobra’s and vettes.
In car Video part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaJm-k_liIo
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTZZBuxts4w
All in all, I had a great weekend. Car held up great I think, I did not hit a wall like some unlucky evo did. (not my friend’s evo)
My lap times according to my in-car video were about 2min 42 seconds and that’s with the added chicane on turn 8 where they wanted to slow people down so no one ran off into the deep mud. They said it would take over an hour to get someone pulled out from there.
I put exactly 128 miles on my car (at the track only).
Also my TCE 13in Wilwood Brake kit worked out GREAT!!!
My speedo said 150mph in the main straight.
Total Comments 9
Comments
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Very nice post. RA is one of the tracks that I would want to go to some time. And a very big 2 thumbs up for keeping up in the talon with those group A guys. Keep them coming.
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Posted 04-15-2008 at 11:05 PM by BoostFrenzy
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Way cool. And I love the PA inspection stickers on the windshield, plus the yellow stripe on the Momo wheel. And it's very clear that the 850 fronts are just about perfect. There's no way that the car would have taken those constant turns like that before. It scared the crap out me watching, since I was still thinking the car was as loose as before.
I'm happy that you're happy. And I'm very happy the car is doing so well and you're treating her as you are. - Jtoby <- ex owner, for those who don't know |
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Posted 04-16-2008 at 08:44 AM by jtmcinder
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Nice post Andy. Glad to see the car performed the way you wanted it to. Minus the bolts coming loose :~) Great videos as well. Keep it up man.
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Posted 04-16-2008 at 09:45 AM by tsiboosted
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Car looks nice and neutral in that setup with a slight propensity towards understeer. Doing the best I can to analyze it here from work with no sound though. You had me confuzzled with your line through 6there at the very beginning until I saw you didn't repeat it on the subsequent laps.
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Posted 04-16-2008 at 10:32 AM by mavisky
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Very cool Andy! I love posts like these - I can't wait to get out racing myself. Keep it up!
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Posted 04-16-2008 at 05:20 PM by turbosax2
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Thanks for the comments guys. This was my first time at RA and after watching the video a few times myself, I see many mistakes that i made. Many of the turns i could have braked a bit later, but when your doing well over 120+mph, its very hard to judge when you should brake, as the end result could be the talon greeting the wall or the harsh runoff of 3 feet deep gravel.
All-in-all, this should be a great year for the talon (aka Cinders or to some people DizmmV.2). My next event is this Sunday. We (FVSCC) are hosting an Auto-X at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna WI. We’ll see how the car will do at a bit slower speeds (50-70mph). |
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Posted 04-18-2008 at 11:55 AM by talonTSIDriver
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You take off the cam gear cover before an event or leave it? (Or perhaps have a temporary vented cover?) Reason I ask is 'cause I remember this thread.
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Posted 05-27-2008 at 04:44 PM by DSMunknown
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i've seen that thread and really, that is the only time i have ever heard of that happening. I have always ran with a cam cover and never had an issue, even before i ran a vented hood. I guess if one was really worried about about it, maybe some small vents in the timing cover would not be a bad idea.
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Posted 06-18-2008 at 06:53 AM by talonTSIDriver
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You'd be better off fabbing a heat shield that goes in between the manifold/turbo and the alternator/ power steering..
Nice work.. If only I could get my pile together fast enough to get one last event I would be happy. |
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Posted 09-09-2008 at 07:34 PM by drivemusicnow
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Recent Blog Entries by talonTSIDriver
- Track event at Road America 4-13-2008 (04-15-2008)
- Broke my center diff (04-10-2008)
