Road Course & AutocrossAutocross, Road Race, and Open Track Event discussions. Preparation, technique, tips, and stories from the events. Tell us about your last event.
First track day of ’08 in the bag. And what an eventful weekend it was.
With the new year comes change. And in this case, MSC has dropped the five 20min. session format and moved to a four 30min. format. This means 40 more minutes of track time and a lot less headache for the organization. However this brought up a very interesting issue for my car. Could I make a 30min session without running below the critical half empty point.
So the story begins with session one. Actually it begins by being intimated by a ton of fast cars in the combined white and yellow run groups. White is the top tier group and yellow right below. Due to the attendance numbers it was feasible to merge the two groups, but this summed up to be quite a variance in speed. First up was a race-prepped Viper with some serious fangs. Then we have Martin’s race-prepped M3 (hand controls combined with BMW’s SMG gearbox, trick stuff), a NASA AI mustang, ’01 mustang, and another race ready M3 for good measure. Following that is Sam’s Cobra, Will’s Camaro SS, and a baby-blue shoe (M3 coupe). All these cars are sub two minute cars with the Viper in the 1.47-1.50 range. The rest of the pack spreads out somewhere between 2.00 and 2.10. It was a good lesson in traffic management and keeping an eye on that rear mirror. The day was looking very promising as the Traqmate displayed multiple laps in the 2.06 range in the first session.
Right about here is where things go haywire. Session two is cut extremely short by that race ready M3 loosing a wheel on the warm up lap. It managed to sheer off all its wheel studs on the exit of turn five. It took a while to collect the car, but I remember hearing something about getting his tire out of a tree on the radio.
We managed to get a lap in on session three before it delivered another blow. The first car to cause an ‘ALERT’ condition was a 944 parked off on the short track between corner’s three and four. One of the corners reported seeing smoke and this brought out the red flags. About this time I was exiting turn nine and just checked corner ten. No flag was present so I continued with my lap…hard on the brakes dropping from ~90mph to 45mph. As I look across ten I see a corner worker dancing about with the red flag. Immediately I check my mirrors and bring the car to a halt along the inside curbing. I’m waiting patiently to see the prognosis on the 944 when I hear ‘Fire, Fire!’ coming from the corner workers. I check my mirrors to glance at the 944 and that’s when I notice a worker coming towards me with an extinguisher pointing at me. I’ve already got the door open and a foot out when I hear ‘Get out of the car, your on fire!’ I dash around the rear to see smoke coming from the wheel well. A quick blast from the extinguisher puts the flames to rest. Seems some of the grease from the CV boot that tore in Nov. was still on the dust shield and lit up with the hot pads and rotors.
I get flat towed into the pits, give a call to my brothers to let them know I’m ok, and tear into that corner. My biggest fear was that the fire could have burnt through the brake line, but a few good squeezes of the brake pedal puts my mind at ease. There was no visible damage to any of the lines or bushings, so I slapped everything back together and took it out on the slalom course to give it a shake down. Everything feels fine, but I miss my next run due to the wheels studs still being warm (can’t torque lug nuts). I chat with Misty and get the OK to take her out in the Blue run group. This would also allow me to make the last session of my group. About that time a smoke screen that would rival any of Q’s inventions erupts on the front straight. I’ll let the video do the talking.
At this point I’m convinced to just make it through the last session and call it a day. It’s also a fun opportunity to get to drive along side friends so I line up behind my buddy Ciro in his 1G. With the camera on we were off. The weekend ended with times consistently in the 2:06-2:07 range. And healthy reminder that what we do is still for fun. Of course that won’t stop me at trying to go faster. Till next time.
PS: Texas World Speedway was mapped out by EA games and is featured Need for Speed: Prostreet. And a bonus video from the Dec. event
asian312 - Well at least the firs was easily put out and nothing serious happened to you or the car. Sounds like you had some pretty hairy issues at the event with people going off and losing wheels. I have never seen anyone sheer off all 5 lugs at once. Interesting. Although, I'm sure it was not so interesting to the driver at the time. Cool videos as well man, except for the smoke on the one. Never good to see that at all. So when is your next event? All and all it sounds like you had a good time which is all that matters in the end of track day events. Good Luck !!!
P.S. - Better get those boots taken care of before the next event. It stinks to be the cause of a red flag you know?
____________________________
~ Eddie Garrison
#32 Grand Bayou Race Series
Cool writeup, again. Fun vid's too, I really like the rear view from the S2000. Ask Slow Old Poop how tough it can be to stick with one of those in the twisty stuff!
P.S. I know it's not the same, my humor is not strong this week.
So when is your next event? All and all it sounds like you had a good time which is all that matters in the end of track day events. Good Luck !!!
P.S. - Better get those boots taken care of before the next event. It stinks to be the cause of a red flag you know?
Next drive is coming up in Feb. 9-10. Have a few of my friends coming out to this one, so it'll be even that much more fun. That and it's my GF's birthday, anniversary, and Valentine's day and she's the one who said to go out and drive. Woot! Also can't wait to start hitting the other tracks, including the new F1 styled track up in Dallas. That'll be in April and then possibly a little off season to refresh the engine and tranny.
You're right about being the one causing the red. I felt like about this big | | when being flat towed into the paddocks. In my defense though, I wasn't the original instigator of the alert.
Quote:
Originally Posted by terefic181
asian312,
Glad to see you've been making it out to the track, lately. I hope you've been realy enjoying it!!!!
It's all good, even when things don't go as planned.
It's all thanks to the community and people like Greg, Rich, and yourself that got me really pumped up about even doing this in the first place. I have some old files from back in 2002-2003 of you car and all the nifty ideas I wanted to copy
I met up and talked to some of the local NASA racers here that attend these track days. Seems things have changed since my first outing back then and it's about time to make that transition in to Time Trials. Now just have to get a friend to get moving and get his RX8 ready.
Quote:
Originally Posted by underradar92
Cool writeup, again. Fun vid's too, I really like the rear view from the S2000. Ask Slow Old Poop how tough it can be to stick with one of those in the twisty stuff!
P.S. I know it's not the same, my humor is not strong this week.
Hehe, that rear view is from my brother's Miata. It's not a spec racer, but it does have nice supercharger and some beefy 225 R-compounds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pro3racer
Your co-pilot had me laughing my ass off, that was some premo movie-quote timing.
How is the transition from the banking to the infield?
Yeah, Corn as we call him, had me rolling on the floor with that. He was running grid that day and caught a ride with our buddy Sam. He drives an 03 Cobra with the sweet license plate...HiOfcr.
The transition from the banking is really as hard as you want to make it. If you take a real shallow line into turn 1 it's nothing really noticeable. If you take a late 'dive bomb' into one then it's like trying to run up your drive way at 100mph. The trade off is how much brake zone you have. Up high you pretty much do all the turning coming off the banking and brake through turn 1. If you're low, then you travel less distance, but you're brake zone is contained between 1 and 2.
I have some old files from back in 2002-2003 of your car and all the nifty ideas I wanted to copy
I'm happy to hear that you found some of my car changes usefull . I notice that most all the pix's in my gallery are gone. Per Chris, they must have been lost during one of the site changes. I'll try to repost some of the better ones, that showed improvments, soon.
Sorry to say, I've been away from the site pretty much, for a while. We purchased a new house at the end of 2006, and there was so much to do regarding that, then Ginger's son was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and his prognosis didn't look very promising. Thank God, to date, he seems to have done much better than expected, with the tumor seeming to reduce in size.
Again, happy to see your hitting the tracks!!!, and I hope to be online a little more often.
That stock SMIC probably hits heat soak within the first 30 seconds on the track. Get a Dejon or Hahns Side Mount, wont have to run any new piping at all then.
____________________________
Andy Smedegard
03 Evo VIII
97 TSI AWD - sold
Lol, totally agree. Eventually parts are required to go faster, just depends on where you spend the money. For me I really don't want to alter the engine too much. The EvoIII was a nice power bump, but mainly to keep making power into the upper RPM band so I'm not forced to shift. DSMLink was just a little insurance that things stay in one piece at WOT. A Dejon sidemount IC is in the works and the 660's on the shelf are just waiting for a 190, but the biggest bit is the tires. He's running on NT-01s and now RA-1s and I'm still on Bridgestone Potenza RE050As. Great tires, but I've been informed it's night and day difference to R-compounds. But that in itself brings up another issue is being able to stay planted in my seat with even more grip. So roll bar, seat, and harness take precedent.
Yeah, I understand you on the seats thing. I still don't get how some people still don't go bucket when they are going to be using their car for track duty a lot. Thats why I went and found a old school Sparco S-Light for me.
As for tires, I think the best bang for the buck buy are the Falken RT-615's. Depending on your size, they are pretty cheap compared to other tires of equal performance (BFG T/A KD, Advan Neova, etc.) but I have heard that they have a "heavy corner feel". It's either those, or a set of Advan AO46 that you can find off an Evo that just upgraded. They are expensive to buy from a retailer, but if you find the right Evo guy, you can get them for cheap.
Welcome to the wonderful world of racing man. Seats, Straps, Rollcages. No HP gains, but you NEED these things to be safe and that is the #1 priority in this. If you are looking for a whole cage or just a "race" rollbar, PM and I can gie you the link I got mine from for a very good price shipped.
As for tires, R compound slicks for the money. Check out either Avon Tech RA's or the Hankook Azenis. Also depending on size as well. I just got a set of Hankooks (225/50/16) for right around $680. But I don't know what sizes you are looking for. Check out Bimmer World for some good deals on tires. Its their off-season so they have tons of tires in stock and some good deals as well on them. Good luck !!!
____________________________
~ Eddie Garrison
#32 Grand Bayou Race Series
Judging by your pictures in your profile asian312, you my friend need to update your profile.
Hows the FP Manifold working out for you? I am thinking about swapping my Evo 3 mani out for one of those soon. Did you notice any difference in spool characteristics or more top end grunt? I know it does wonders for larger turbos, but I wanted to see if it would give off anymore lag with our smaller turbos.
Judging by your pictures in your profile asian312, you my friend need to update your profile.
Hows the FP Manifold working out for you? I am thinking about swapping my Evo 3 mani out for one of those soon. Did you notice any difference in spool characteristics or more top end grunt? I know it does wonders for larger turbos, but I wanted to see if it would give off anymore lag with our smaller turbos.
Believe it or not, that's the mod list. Can't really comment on the manifold as it went in the same time as the EvoIII. It's a really nice piece, it's cast, and I support my local DSM shops.
tsiboosted, do you mean the Hankook Ventus Z214? I haven't heard much in the way of R-compounds other than Toyo RA-1s and Nitto NT-01s. I run 255s on all four corners and thank (insert deity) someone out there uses this as spec tire. These are cheap in comparison to the 235, 245, and 275 varieties. And PM sent
I hope you've been realy enjoying it!!!!
. Per Chris, they must have been lost during one of the site changes. I'll try to repost some of the better ones, that showed improvments, soon.
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