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If anyone's considering a HPDE day, my advice is to please please point people by as often as you can. If you can see them in your mirrors, they are generally faster than you (even if they're down by 200hp). You are much better off following them for a bit and observing their lineaventari posted:I'm doing a Sat/Sun track day at Willow Springs on 7/7 and 7/8. It's at Streets and it's pretty cheap, like $85 and $115 dollars. Are you going to do the twilight session? Seems like a lot of fun (I would go but I refuse to drive Bay Area to Rosamond twice in a month). Extreme Speed is my least favorite DE organizer, which is not to say that they're bad per se, merely that they tend stuff their run groups full of people and don't keep a real tight grip on the proceedings. Think opposite of NASA or POC. Now this is less of an issue in the open passing groups where everyone knows what they're doing, but in say high intermediate there are a lot of chimps who have no business being there (e.g. Corvette drivers who never really learned how to take a corner because R-comps you guys and look at me mash the pedal down the front straight  )not to pick on anyone who owns a Corvette but what the heck it'a an entertaining stereotype
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Jun 16, 2012 00:22
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c355n4 posted:This is very, very good advice. Do not follow the car in front of you. You will often turn in early and apex early. This is a bad thing to do. Did the same thing at Buttonwillow a year ago when I first started tracking my car. Followed a guy in an S2000 that was just slightly (annoyingly) faster than me, early apexed one of the more dangerous corners and nearly put my car into a pit wall (probably made the corner worker crap his pants too). Thank god for stability control that cannot be fully disabled https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoB03CNrnpE
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Jun 16, 2012 05:36
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I just rent a transponder when it's available, but my friends pretty much all use Harry's lap timer with windshield mounts. I don't think the GPS tracking has been an issue that one would need an external receiver
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Jun 16, 2012 05:39
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You know what they say about never meeting your heroes? It's like that with me and Laguna Seca, which I visited yesterday for the first time. Yes it's a famous track, yes corkscrew, yes it's impossible to get a weekend track day there, but the overwhelming impression that it left on me after a day of driving was boredom First of all the track's incredibly wide and lots of the corners are some variant on 90 degree turn (tightening, opening, on-camber, off-camber, uphill, downhill). Then it's not that difficult to learn the line for the corkscrew - just stare at the correct tree. As long as you don't get greedy on the gas (and you honestly don't need to, seeing as it leads straight into turn 9), you'll be fine there. Turns 2 and 11 are slow-rear end hairpins that test your patience and are rather boring too. It all seems to be about how much power you bring to the uphill sections (turn 5 exit through corkscrew and turn 11 exit through turn 2) And so perhaps my expectations were set too high going in and I'm being unfair, but Laguna's nothing like to the poetry that is Infineon (oops I mean Sonoma) or the white knuckle experience that is Willow Springs. It just comes up way short  (maybe it's better when you're racing wheel-to-wheel)aventari posted:Here's a lap at a Buttonwillow track day about 4 or 5 years ago in my 100hp VW heh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6yY84O3IP4 Very tidy; I like (somehow it always brings out the  in me). Also what happened to your windshield and how has it not cracked into several million pieces by now?
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Jun 17, 2012 20:07
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Also here is the completely wrong way to take the corkscrew:
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Jun 17, 2012 20:14
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c355n4 posted:If you run HPDEs or TTs, what, if anything, keeps you from wanting to run sprint or enduro races? What keeps me from actually racing is the somewhat increased risk of contact (ie. banging up my daily driver). Once I get the garage space to run a dedicated track car, I'll absolutely do it I like organizers who will crack down on wanton misbehavior such as passing under a yellow flag or not pointing by (in CA, my favorites are NASA, Hooked on Driving, Trackmasters and Speed Ventures). Smaller run groups help, having instructors on hand is nice, and then there's the little things like arranging a discounted rate at a local motel and free water on a hot day. Having said that, I track when my schedule allows it and will run with pretty much any organization at any (relatively) nearby track if they've got an event on a weekend that I'm free Stardotstar posted:If you aren't making GBS threads bricks every time through Rainey curve you're doing it wrong. Also, it is one of those tracks that is for RACING, preferably in low-powered momentum cars with insufficient grip (read: Formula Vee) Fair enough. I ran 1.51-1.52ish laptimes so I'm for sure leaving a bunch of speed on the table. I'll try braking less into that turn next weekend
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Jun 19, 2012 01:47
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MomJeans420 posted:When are you required to have a roll cage? I got the impression it was just with certain clubs or series, or when you started doing wheel to wheel Well with NASA I believe you're allowed to compete in time trial with just a fire extinguisher, but you need a cage for wheel to wheel. As to your second question, after 22 or 23 track days I very much regret having to compromise. I would probably be better off financially with a spec miata and a separate DD, and happier without having to constantly worry about crashing my one (moderately nice) car at the track
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Jun 19, 2012 06:47
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Boiled Water posted:Will I need to bring additional tires to a track day or can I use my normal ones as long as I don't thrash them? Just to give you a specific data point, my very recently deceased set of Hankook V12s lasted ~12,000 miles including 5 track days (this includes a 100+ degree day at Willow Springs where I went 4 wheels off and ripped the hell out of the tires). I used to overdrive my tires constantly and then realized they last a lot longer if they're not making sounds all the time  e: quote:YOUR STREET/SEMI STREET CAR ALMOST CERTAINLY CANNOT HANDLE THE STRESSES OF THE ADDITIONAL GRIP. DON'T gently caress YOUR poo poo UP. SAY NO TO SLICKS. Also, slicks have less predictable breakaway characteristics compared to street tires. They won't howl like street tires do at the limit either. If you don't need to find every last second, stay the hell away
got off on a technicality fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Jun 20, 2012 |
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Jun 20, 2012 01:55
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aventari posted:The few tracks I hit out here in SoCal are in the middle of nowhere and don't tend to have much in the way of facilities. The one exception in California is Infineon, which has a really nice store
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Jun 20, 2012 18:45
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jamal posted:On the subject of bushings, if you are putting together a track only car, it is not a bad idea to go with spherical bearings in suspension components. If you are driving the car around on the street, it is a good idea to stay far, far, away from them and either use stiffer rubber or urethane. Bearings don't last long and make a lot of noise on the street. Other than the obvious increase in NVH and the cost, are there any reliability or other drawbacks to using stiffer bushings on the street? What happens when spherical bearings start to go; does that make the car undrivable?
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Jun 20, 2012 22:02
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Laguna Seca, high intermediate run group, first session of the day. Into the wall just after turn 11, the slowest turn of the track, just before the front straight. How do you even crash there  vv yup it was the pit wall vv got off on a technicality fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Jul 2, 2012 |
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Jul 2, 2012 06:26
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kimbo305 posted:Not enough braking into 11? What tires are those? They're Bridgestones for sure, and I think the tread pattern matches the RE-11s Here's another shot:
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Jul 2, 2012 06:41
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parid posted:Streets isn't too bad on the brakes. Your dryer duct will make a difference. I don't think Streets is particularly hard on brakes compared to say Laguna or Buttonwillow, but it also depends on which direction you're running. CCW is worse than CW, especially if you take the fast line through the bowl
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Jul 6, 2012 03:09
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I wonder if anyone who's familiar with Laguna Seca would please critique my lap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtZ17hqTFU&t=462s I'm told that a pro driver should be able to do ~1:48 around there in my car ('06 Cayman S on Hankook V12s; stock apart from a bunch of cooling mods and Pagid Oranges). The YouTube video shows a 1:51.5xx lap with a passenger. Next session I was able to do 1:50.3xx without, which means there's around 2 seconds to pick up here and there. Thoughts anyone? e: bonus crashed M3 at 21:10 got off on a technicality fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 19:02
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SNiPER_Magnum posted:How do the V12s hold up? My Star Specs are about done for and I don't know if they have another weekend in them. Not really looking forward to buying new tires, so I'm hoping my street V12s can take a little abuse if need be. My previous set of V12s lasted 6 track days (plus ~12,000 highway miles), and I am pretty hard on them (go two wheels off quite often and four wheels off maybe once a track day). At Laguna Seca (track surface ~115-120F per my trusty pyrometer) I would get maybe 2-3 grippy laps at the beginning of each session before they started getting (very) greasy. Personally am not a fan of this characteristic but what the heck they're cheap, less likely to make my engine blow up and are nicely progressive on the limit (they squeal at a specific pitch when they're at max traction, and have a deeper past-limit howl, all of which is fun to distinguish out there)
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Jul 12, 2012 02:10
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Muffinpox posted:I can see a few spots you could gain time, but you'll also most likely have a rather serious crash if you gently caress up. In fact, one of them is exactly where that M3 hit and you will have that exact same crash. Oh do tell please; I promise to keep the traction control on 
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Jul 12, 2012 03:52
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Aurune - I'd never tried passing anyone on the inside of 4 before so it was a bit of a botty clenching moment. But I figured it was good experience jamal posted:The V12 is not something I would recommend for track use So here's my conundrum - the engine in my car suffers from oil starvation issues. It's bad enough that I don't run anything stickier than stock (stock is PS2s/RE050As in this case), refuse to put on suspension mods of any sort, and short shift round sustained high-G turns (e.g. the banking at Auto Club, the carousel at So if I were to move away from the V12s, are there any tires out there that: a) you would recommend for track use, b) don't cost an arm and a leg like the PS2s, and c) don't have so much grip that oil starvation becomes an issue? Or perhaps it's time to say gently caress it and get a dedicated track car
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Jul 12, 2012 21:47
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Is anyone else planning to be at Buttonwillow this weekend? Hot and dry, peaking in the low 90s, and Speed Ventures has a ton of room
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Jul 27, 2012 12:05
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HPDEs + traction control = bad habits  First track day with traction control off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUD9kgnK6o8
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Aug 7, 2012 05:37
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kimbo305 posted:Holy drat, that Viper is fast. I believe his laptimes were right around 2:00, which is doubly impressive given the conditions (video was taken mid-afternoon when it was well over 100 degrees)
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Aug 7, 2012 05:50
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nVortex posted:so I struggled a lot with heel toeing You can practice rev matching on the street - when you're going in a straight line downshift and use your right foot to blip the throttle as your left foot gets off the clutch; if you get it right it will be completely smooth. Once that becomes second nature you can add braking to that 
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Aug 22, 2012 01:29
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aventari posted:Any SoCal peeps be interested in a track day this Sat or Sun at Autoclub Speedway? Can I tempt you with Infineon on 11/17 for the low low price of $199, an excellent value (mixed group is not yet sold out )link: http://trackmasters-racing.com/inde...20%20%20%0Aurle
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Nov 13, 2012 09:08
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Turn 10 at Sears Point claimed another car today. Moment of silence please for the bright red Evo X in the picture, fallen victim to the treacherous conditions (light drizzle, standing water, dirt on the track from other off-road excursions, possibly the remnants of the oil + kitty litter from earlier in the day when some dude in a 911 blew a hose at turn 3 and just kept loving driving why hello 13 quarts of oil what pretty patterns you make on the already wet track)
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Nov 18, 2012 07:14
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Laguna Seca next Monday, who's in? http://www.ncracing.org/events.php
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Jan 16, 2013 05:49
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Keyser S0ze posted:How do you like these guys compared to Hooked On Driving? I need to go back to Thunderhill at least twice this year, hopefully. Track group reviews: Hooked on Driving is very expensive (well in excess of $250 per event), but also very safe and well organized. Particularly good for first-timers. Run groups not too large NASA is not as expensive, has a lot of serious racers to learn from, and you'll see lots of action in the open passing group. Lots of really dedicated staff. Stringent (and expensive, if you do it at the track) tech inspections. I've been in some massive massive run groups with NASA (e.g. 30+ cars at Infineon), which is annoying but then you also learn to drive in traffic Speed Ventures is predominantly SoCal but sometimes they'll have events up in the Bay Area. Cheaper than the first two, casual no bullshit atmosphere. Aaron, the proprietor, is cool to chat with. I love Speed Ventures NCRC priced around the same as Speed Ventures, tends to be somewhat more uptight about things but less so than the first two. They're kind of middle of the road for me but you can't beat a reasonably priced day at Laguna Extreme Speed is extremely cheap and typically holds events at Willow Springs (both Streets and Big Willow). I think the staff gets overwhelmed sometimes. Avoid unless you absolutely have to attend Trackmasters comes highly recommended from a friend of mine - I attended an event at Laguna last year but don't have much recollection
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Jan 19, 2013 04:01
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Keyser S0ze posted:I will keep NCRC in mind although have concerns with open passing if there are a bunch of moufbreathers in 80's Camaro's there. Everyone was well behaved at Laguna Seca today. No Camaros but then there was a sweet Firebird
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Jan 22, 2013 03:07
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SNiPER_Magnum posted:It being a 4cyl, way down on power, we'll get run over in higher run groups. Cars are just getting FAST. Oh it gets bad when you get into open passing groups. I had massive horsepower envy at Laguna on Monday, what with all the M3s, GT3s, Vettes and Vipers in my group. Even with ~300hp there were only five out of the 25 cars or so in the group with less power. I need to put a turbo on my Cayman 
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Jan 25, 2013 08:36
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Hog Obituary posted:So is there anything else that comes close to a Miata as a cheap, light, reliable, and easy to drive track day car? I'm looking for something that's not a convertible because I hate convertibles and their leaks and their need for roll bars and broomstick tests, and all that and well, I never really fit right. E30! They're not really lesser-known though, as they've infested all the track day events I've gone to in the last year or two. Was just at Infineon today and spoke to a dude who runs a shop specializing in Spec E30s (BTM Motorsports in Campbell). Turns out you can get a decent one these days for ~$12k. After dicing around with E30s all day today (some of the TT guys run in HPDE 4 as well), I have a newfound respect for how amazing they are. You can have complete neutrality if that's your thing, or lurid tail-out shenanigans, and they change direction just like that. It's got me thinking about finding extra garage space
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Feb 10, 2013 04:20
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Hog Obituary posted:I just worry that the weight is going to make all the consumables/parts more expensive And yet I giggle like a little girl when I put the pedal down after turn 11 at Sonoma, and the Spec Miata that's behind me turns into a speck in my mirrors We say that power is irrelevant and that it doesn't take any skill to floor the gas, but power's nice to have e: I'm actually really nice and let people by a lot. Even Spec Miatas
got off on a technicality fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Feb 10, 2013 |
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Feb 10, 2013 23:25
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Bumming Your Scene posted:I was fine, I don't wanna say it but I'll say it, thousands and thousands of laps in iRacing made me feel pretty comfortable on the track watching for other cars and focusing on my line and brake points etc. The downside to racing internet cars is they are internet race cars, not street cars with stability control and ABS etc. So I was super cautious with the gas in slow speed turns because what an iRacing C6R can do with a flick of the gas pedal is embedded in my brain. Next time I will at least try to get stability control to kick in just once so I can find what limit the car will let me turn. That will probably be in the Andretti Hairpin I do miss Auto Club now that I'm in the Bay Area. I'll drive to Willow Springs or Buttonwillow but Fontana's just a little too far. I miss Aaron's sense of humor Also as someone who was way too aggressive as a beginner and killed lots of tires (and a wheel!) going two/four wheels off all the goddamn time, I would rather have been way too cautious instead
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Feb 26, 2013 06:07
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nm posted:You can go to T-hill for about $130. Why would you miss the drat roval? Hm, perhaps because it's one of the first few tracks I ever visited. I will always remember going 135 mph on the banking. The compressive g forces, the feel of the car twitching (no downforce), the 4pm sun in my eyes on the last session of the day. The wisecracking waitress at the divey breakfast place down the street. I'll e: clarity got off on a technicality fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Feb 26, 2013 |
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Feb 26, 2013 07:28
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Blooot posted:So I wasn't planning on tracking my 2010 GTI (it lives as my wife and I's daily/city car), but I bought some summer wheels for it (17x7.5 RPF1s) and they came with some used NT01s on them. Not wanting to waste race tires in my possession I signed up to lap at Laguna in early April. IMO Laguna's not that hard on brakes if you're not trying to set a lap record. All you have to do is brake way gently and early; unlike Sonoma there are no sections of the track that demand max braking over a short distance. Totally agree with the brake flush, except I would stay away from the Superblue. I've heard stories of warranty coverage being denied because blue stains in the brake system -> track use. The gold stuff should be fine though.
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Mar 5, 2013 16:19
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DJ Commie posted:Except Turn 11 which is a monster if you have the speed to do Corkscrew and the rest of the downhill quickly. In a GTI without camber added, it might not be too much of an issue. Hm perhaps I'm pussing out on turn 10 then despite the nicely cambered apex. I always brake a good bit at the entry and never carry enough speed through there that braking for turn 11 is even remotely an issue
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Mar 6, 2013 06:01
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kill me now posted:Just wanted to reiterate why rain days are not as fun as dry days I disagree. Rainy days provide variety, challenge, and are much easier on my brakes and tires. Rain also makes it harder for people with high hp cars on 325 section R-comps to brute force the track. Of course if every day was a rainy day that would suck too From your video you appear to have coped quite well with the conditions though.
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Apr 16, 2013 03:57
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Bumming Your Scene posted:I need to get an exhaust setup... don't want to get kicked off Laguna Seca with their 102dB limit. Isn't Laguna 92db most days?
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May 11, 2013 06:45
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grover posted:92dB at what distance? poo poo, tires alone can exceed that. The measuring hut is maybe 80-100 feet to the right after the exit of Turn 5, which is the start of a relatively steep uphill section. So you can short shift or even lift, but that will emasculate you by destroying your time. I have heard tell of past *ahem* shenanigans at the measuring hut but apparently that got harder when they started showing, on CCTV, a channel showing nothing but the microphone. Congratulations on landing an insanely nice 105db day; please take pictures of whatever exotica shows up
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May 11, 2013 16:28
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The two wrecks I've seen at the roval were after the exit to T19 coming on to the banking. There's also a little ridge there that can upset the car. The other thing that took me a bunch of time to get right was slowing down sufficiently for the T12/T13 complex. It's tempting to carry way to much speed into T12 which just fucks up your approach to everything after that
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Jan 30, 2014 03:20
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nm posted:Why is it that every speedventures event I hear of has a crash of some sort? About a third of the Speed Ventures events that I attended had a collision of some kind. They're better organized than other groups I've tried (except maybe NASA) but they're also more tolerant of stuff (e.g. aggressive passing, hooking one wheel in the dirt on corner exits, etc.) e> or were; it's been a long time since I attended one of their track days Plus IMO Buttonwillow and Willow Springs (which they're always at) are relatively dangerous
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Feb 17, 2014 23:28
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aventari posted:Super lovely edit of my autoclub speedway day Those laps look pretty nice. Next time you're out there perhaps try double apexing turns 5 and 6 (i.e. carry more speed coming into T5, trail brake, clip apex around midway, let the car come out to about halfway across the track while trail braking the whole time, flick left, clip T6, take advantage of the huge wide runoff on the exit). This is one of my favorite passing spots on the track (hate doing it on the banking)
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Feb 22, 2014 20:17
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Going to try Lemons for the first time ever at Buttonwillow this October. Has anyone done Lemons recently? Any advice much appreciated
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Aug 30, 2016 02:50
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