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KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


ZincBoy posted:

I will likely be there this evening and have run this track many times. Look for a race prepped silver BMW in a white enclosed trailer. The car will have R14 on the front and back windshield. I need to replace my wheel studs as one broke and it depends on how long that takes...

Always happy to help if you have questions.

Hey man, always awesome to find local goons. I actually had to reschedule because everyone wanted to take my grandma out for an early mother's day dinner (why not tomorrow? :iiam:) I'll probably be going for memorial day, but have fun!

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KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Ended up rescheduling for next sunday. :woop:

honda whisperer
Mar 29, 2009

Just did my first autox in probably 10+ years. It was amazing. I know why I got out of cars and racing but I'm glad I came back.

ZincBoy
May 7, 2006

Think again Jimmy!

KillHour posted:

Hey man, always awesome to find local goons. I actually had to reschedule because everyone wanted to take my grandma out for an early mother's day dinner (why not tomorrow? :iiam:) I'll probably be going for memorial day, but have fun!

No problem. I actually just finished replacing the wheel studs on my car. They fought me every step of the way and I ended up having to weld nuts onto several of them to get them out. Let this be a lesson to change your wheel studs every year if you are tracking the car regularly. This was the start of year three for these ones and one failed when tightening a wheel nut and two sheared when I tried to remove them. Luckily they didn't fail on the track but I imagine that would have happened not to long in the future.

Sex Weirdo
Jul 24, 2007

I participated in the SCCA/Tirerack Track night in America this past friday, and I thought I would share my initial impressions of the experience as a complete novice for other beginners who are thinking about trying it as well. It felt to me like there was a very wide range of driving comfort level within the novice group as well as a huge range of vehicle performance capabilities (miatas to corvettes, and everywhere in between) which for me made it kind of a stressful driving experience. The event organizers instructed everyone to drive at a level they feel comfortable with but it was apparent right away that some drivers were comfortable at 6/10 and others were pushing it to 11/10. There were a surprising number of cars spinning off track, which i partly understand since I think most people were there to push the limits of their cars. It was just surprising to see how much freedom there was to push your car very hard. There was very little instruction beyond basic safety and flags, as well as where the designated passing zones were. It was up to you to find the racing line, when to brake, when to turn in etc.

I think it was overall a good experience that I'm glad I did, but for the next step I'm looking more at a HPDE with an actual instructor in the car because I feel like my experience level is too low to be on track by myself. I guess what surprised me the most was how physically and mentally draining it was trying to keep pace with some of the faster drivers, especially in the rain for the last few sessions. In the last session there was a decent amount of rain coming down and a wet track and I was trying to push myself to pull away from a BRZ behind me (myself in a Mk5 R32) and while I was never outside my comfort zone nor dropped any wheels off track, i was pushing hard enough that I left the event just physically and mentally exhausted, in a good way though. It was great to just "go out and have fun", but I think I would be better served in the future by having an instructor show me how to actually drive a proper lap.

heffray
Sep 18, 2010

I'd agree that SCCA Track Night is a good intermediate playground or refresher (at least on the West coast, based on Blaise's comments about safety procedures at their Northeast events), but I wouldn't recommend it to novices. A bunch of other supplementary experiences (autocross schools, video games, etc) might be good enough on their own, but having an instructor in the car is very valuable for your first track days.

NASA AZ continues to be well organized, and I'm glad Arizona Motorsports Park has worked out noise compromises that allow it to be open.

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm

heffray posted:

NASA AZ continues to be well organized, and I'm glad Arizona Motorsports Park has worked out noise compromises that allow it to be open.

Are you in Arizona?

heffray
Sep 18, 2010

BlackMK4 posted:

Are you in Arizona?

I am for this weekend: living in San Diego means it's 3 hours minimum to get to a track, so I decided to visit family + drive AMP. Did yesterday and the first 2 sessions today in HPDE 2, finishing out the day in 3.

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
Ah, okay. Ravi is a good dude (DE3 leader / silver NSX).

Have you done Chuckwalla yet? Skipped AMP this weekend as I ran it with PAS two weeks ago, and am running Inde next week. :(

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


I'm at Toronto Motorsports Park. Open lapping starts in 20 minutes. I couldn't get an instructor so I guess I'm going blind. If I don't die, I'll let you know how it was!

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
Be conservative onto the main straight :v: Have fun

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Considering there's a big fuckoff concrete wall there without a runoff, I'm taking that corner at road speeds.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Just got done.

So my best piece of advice - don't go out nervous!

There I am, first time out and I'm given the wave to go. Start rowing the gears - first gear to 30mph, shift to second to 60mph, shift to third to 90mph, shift to... second gently caress! Tach pegs all the way up at 8k. I figure I hit 9k minimum based on the speed I'm going. I immediately throw it in neutral and the car starts freaking out at me - chimes, blinking lights, an ominous message that says "Engine Malfunction - Service IMMEDIATELY!" Car goes into limp mode and won't rev past 2k. I throw on my hazards and slowly make it back to the paddock. My head is swimming "gently caress, I've been out here 15 seconds and I wrecked my car!" I'm running the numbers silently about how much a rebuild is going to cost.

Realizing I need to get some idea about what kind of damage I'm looking at, I plug in my OBD2 reader and turn the engine over with held breath. The read comes back... clean. No check engine light, no codes. I pop the hood. I smell a faint hint of burnt oil, but everything sounds fine. No knocking, no grinding, no loping. I check every gauge in Torque. Everything looks totally fine. A 10 minute drive around the parking lot proves completely uneventful.

To be continued...

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


After 15 minutes of quiet panicking, I figure sitting here with my engine idling isn't going to result in any more useful information. I decide I'm here, I may as well go for it again. I pull up to the starting line and get the wave to go. I give it half throttle and start rowing. 80mph at the end of the straight and no complaints - car sounds bored if anything. I give it 2 pace laps and it's completely uneventful. Third lap, I take a deep breath and give it the beans. 30, 50, 70, 90, 105 before I run out of straight and brake hard into the turn. Car is snarling like a rabid Cerberus the whole time. The g forces I get going into the corner are insane - this car can turn harder than I can physically sit straight and hold the wheel. I drop it into third on and punch it. If there's anything wrong with the car, it sure as hell didn't want me to know about it. Tires dug in and I rocketed back up to 90. Ran 3 laps and pulled back in. I can smell the brakes, but otherwise the car looks, sounds and smells like it came off the factory floor yesterday.

I went out another 2 times after that and I'm WIPED. The poster above me was right that this is amazingly demanding, both physically and mentally. Car still feels totally fine driving it home - Ford made an absolute tank of an engine with this thing and I couldn't be happier.

I'm thinking about doing an oil change, even though I just had one less than 500 miles ago. Anything else I should do maintenance wise to cover for my stupidity?

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
I'd probably leakdown test it for my own sanity

So.... are you hooked? :v:

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.
I put in some volunteer work this weekend at COTA during a track day event (and ended up getting paid) and made some cool connections!

I'm dying to get some real track time, looked at a few cars last week since I don't want to track my daily, but nothing was quite right. I'm looking at another car now that looks promising, hopefully I can check it out this week.

There's a time trial event next weekend local to me on a real simple circuit which I think would be a decent way to get started, but may not be enough time to get a car and make sure everything's in proper order.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Doing it was exhilarating but there is so much to keep track of that it's VERY easy to get overwhelmed. I think next time, I'm going to definitely reserve an instructor ahead of time. I agree with the poster above that an HPDE is better for the first few times out. Is there anything like that around here? I'm in Buffalo.

Edit: And I don't feel too bad - two people had to be towed off the track, including someone whose wheels were completely locked. All 4. Watching it get pulled off was :stonk:

KillHour fucked around with this message at 02:03 on May 21, 2018

KidDynamite
Feb 11, 2005

Drive to Watkins Glen in August or September with NASA Northeast and you can hang out with me!

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


KidDynamite posted:

Drive to Watkins Glen in August or September with NASA Northeast and you can hang out with me!

I'm downstate all the time so I'll definitely do that.

Crustashio
Jul 27, 2000

ruh roh

KillHour posted:

I'm at Toronto Motorsports Park. Open lapping starts in 20 minutes. I couldn't get an instructor so I guess I'm going blind. If I don't die, I'll let you know how it was!

It blows my mind that they do not give a gently caress and just let newbies do trackdays with zero instruction. TMP definitely has a reputation though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vreUlIu3-x4

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Jesus Christ. Yeah... I'm not sure I'll be going back there. There were definitely some people who don't know how to drive on a track. Most people were fine but there was a red Corvette that didn't know what a racing line was and wouldn't let anyone pass.

Tons of people were not following the rules posted on the website.

The safety guy was a kid who obviously didn't care and would wander away. His instructions for me were "Wait for me to give the signal to go and this is what the different flags mean."

KillHour fucked around with this message at 03:19 on May 21, 2018

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


KidDynamite posted:

Drive to Watkins Glen in August or September with NASA Northeast and you can hang out with me!

September is full, so I'm registering for Aug 27-28th. Already asked my boss for time off work :D

OBAMNA PHONE
Aug 7, 2002

Crustashio posted:

It blows my mind that they do not give a gently caress and just let newbies do trackdays with zero instruction. TMP definitely has a reputation though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vreUlIu3-x4

lmao this is a comedy of errors, count how many stupid things happen after that crash

people driving with passengers that arent instructors? no helmets? getting out of your car on a hot track lmao

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

BraveUlysses posted:

lmao this is a comedy of errors, count how many stupid things happen after that crash

people driving with passengers that arent instructors? no helmets? getting out of your car on a hot track lmao

Yeah everybody stopping and getting out of their cars is some weird poo poo.

I mean good on you for being concerned but how do you not understand how this works.

Frond
Mar 12, 2018
There is/was a club called “Touge” that ran there. I went once, in the rain, and driving standards were abysmal. Also helmets optional unless you had a convertible.

track day bro!
Feb 17, 2005

#essereFerrari
Grimey Drawer
Anyone here used Project MU RC09's? I checked my pads while doing some other stuff on the car and my carbotechs are pretty much done.

I've got a bit of annoying situation because my front caliper takes a wilwood dynalite 7112 pad and 94 mr2 rear, so my choices are a bit limited. I was also thinking about porterfield R4's

I may just go with the carbotech again because the local supplier is pretty good, but it would be nice to have a pad that didn't dust up as badly as the carbotechs do.

This is running on Toyo R888R's

Gigi Galli
Sep 19, 2003

and then the car turned in to fire

track day bro! posted:

Anyone here used Project MU RC09's? I checked my pads while doing some other stuff on the car and my carbotechs are pretty much done.

I've got a bit of annoying situation because my front caliper takes a wilwood dynalite 7112 pad and 94 mr2 rear, so my choices are a bit limited. I was also thinking about porterfield R4's

I may just go with the carbotech again because the local supplier is pretty good, but it would be nice to have a pad that didn't dust up as badly as the carbotechs do.

This is running on Toyo R888R's

I don't know if you can get them in the U.K. But the a group of guys from carbotech split off the company a while ago and started G-Loc brakes. I've been using them for a few seasons now and they're fantastic; not nearly as dusty or loud and they work great. Check it out:

http://www.g-locbrakes.com

track day bro!
Feb 17, 2005

#essereFerrari
Grimey Drawer
Hmm, doesn't look like there are any suppliers in Europe, let alone the uk, which compound are you using?

Gigi Galli
Sep 19, 2003

and then the car turned in to fire

track day bro! posted:

Hmm, doesn't look like there are any suppliers in Europe, let alone the uk, which compound are you using?

R10 fronts and R8 rears.

Frond
Mar 12, 2018

track day bro! posted:

Anyone here used Project MU RC09's? I checked my pads while doing some other stuff on the car and my carbotechs are pretty much done.

I've got a bit of annoying situation because my front caliper takes a wilwood dynalite 7112 pad and 94 mr2 rear, so my choices are a bit limited. I was also thinking about porterfield R4's

I may just go with the carbotech again because the local supplier is pretty good, but it would be nice to have a pad that didn't dust up as badly as the carbotechs do.

This is running on Toyo R888R's

I use RC09s on my MR2. I had XP8s before (a good pad) but the RC09s seem to put up with heat much better and have good bite. They dust pretty badly though and are noisy at low speeds, and will chew up rotors.

I've heard great things about G-Loc R8s. From what I understand they are very similar to the XP8 but are easier on rotors and less dusty and noisy.

track day bro!
Feb 17, 2005

#essereFerrari
Grimey Drawer
I know there are companies that sell project Mu stuff here, I'll have to call em to see if I have to wait 9000 years for a set of pads to be shipped from japan.

The Prong Song
Sep 7, 2002


WHITE
DRIVES
MATTER
"They dust pretty badly". Here are some HP+ pads.

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
DTC-60 life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPz-9h7HSiQ

FatCow
Apr 22, 2002
I MAP THE FUCK OUT OF PEOPLE
I got the nastiest look when I rolled to a stop near my hold house after bedding brakes. All 4 wheels spewing smoke as a lady crossed the road with her dog.

TrueChaos
Nov 14, 2006




FatCow posted:

I got the nastiest look when I rolled to a stop near my hold house after bedding brakes. All 4 wheels spewing smoke as a lady crossed the road with her dog.

The best is that wonderful squeal on the first stop after the highway on the way to the track, in which you're still half asleep and wind up half way into the intersection because the brakes are cold.

My neighbours called the fire department when I got back from bedding my brakes a few years ago. The firemen were pretty chill about it, and the response time was great. I was still rolling the car back and forth when they rolled up.


Love my DTC-60's.

FatCow
Apr 22, 2002
I MAP THE FUCK OUT OF PEOPLE

TrueChaos posted:

The best is that wonderful squeal on the first stop after the highway on the way to the track, in which you're still half asleep and wind up half way into the intersection because the brakes are cold.

The best is the first stop after the track when you've transitioned from a 2400lb Miata on Hoosiers to a 13k lb tow rig on some random LT tires.

TrueChaos
Nov 14, 2006




At least you wind up all the way through the intersection by the time you stop :v:

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
At what point do you guys actually toss pads? I've got 2.9-3.0mm depth left on my front pads with what appears to be the last track day for the summer coming up this weekend.
Normally I toss stuff early but I've been trying to drive costs down a bit.

I do bring an extra set of front rotors and pads along with me, so it isn't that big of a deal, I guess.

BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 17:51 on May 23, 2018

mekilljoydammit
Jan 28, 2016

Me have motors that scream to 10,000rpm. Me have more cars than Pick and Pull
Well... keep in mind that if you go too thin on the pads, you can also smoke the caliper seals and even piston.

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Dave Inc.
Nov 26, 2007
Let's have a drink!
I think that's awfully close, but it depends a lot on how much track time you'll have and which track it is. Roebling Road? No problem, Carolina Motorsports Park? Ehhhh that might be pushing it.

If you have extra pads though just give it a shot and see how much you use per session.

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