Ok - Time to get that thing in gear and sign up

I signed up just so it would force me to finish the car…

 

I don't want to sign up until I have track pads on and I go to CA in a few days.

 

Changed the spark plugs on Smokey, the R56S, after about 20k miles. They looked pretty good. Not surprised with only 20k miles on spark plugs that should last 100k miles. But that is street miles. Smokey’s miles include a lot of track, flat out miles. I pulled the OEM plugs after 50k miles and they were totally burnt.

Cyl 1 to 4, left to right.

Honestly, they look good. None look over heated, which would mean that fuel mixture and temperature range are good. Interesting that cylinder 3 had the widest gap, not real bad. The other 3 were about 0.030 or just slightly less. Cyl 3 was slightly over 0.032. I recall them being pre gapped and I doubted I would have left it that different from the others. Maybe I did. The replacements were Brisk brand, OEM heat range and all were gapped to 0.030. Runs great.

Ready to go to the track…

 

I signed up for the 13th. See you there.

 

It was clear blue skies and 54 deg when I left my house in Smokey for my first track event of the season. Yes I got a bit of a slow start, but start I did. The ride into Massachusetts and down into the NW corner of CT to Lime Rock Park was very pleasant with little to no traffic.

Smokey is sporting a new set of Silver Project full race, no poly, camber plates. They are made in Poland and are a bargain on EBay. The nice thing about having a track/street car is that I have been driving around with them on the car, through all of the potholes and over all of the pothole patches I could find so being on the track would not be their first test. Our local streets are the Sebring of the NE. At least they are good for something. As for Smokey, he is at a level sharpness in the steering that is almost uncanny. Yes, love it!

Smokey was also sporting a tank full of Sunoco 94 octane gas. His second tank, so it is well flushed through. Yes, it makes a difference. I would have never believed if I had not tried it. And, it is different from the little to no change when I have gone between 91 octane and 93 octane. I can’t explain why going from 93 to 94 makes a difference, but it does.

I find it amazing the cars some people bring to a track day:

Of course there is the High Class Gray MINI Cooper

Smokey sunning himself


GKP’s “new” ATS-V Caddy
It turns out that this is a full fledged track car right from the factory. At least that is what gkp says. With a press of a button it goes from a Caddy-like street car to something like 6 levels of track mode, that event changes the suspension and handling. It seems he was liking it, given the grin on his face after each session.


A Cobra, why not for the track


A what? From Michigan


Plenty of these on the track, yup in my group.
Some of these were very fast. But I find it interesting that it takes a car like this or the race prepped GT2 Corvette to break the 1 minute barrier whereas a well prepped and driven street MINI Cooper is only 4 to 6 seconds slower. It is said that improvements in lap times at LRP are measured in tenths, not seconds. I think this proves it.


Not on the track, but one of my dream cars. This was a show piece at this event. A full frame off restored ‘68 Camaro, 327, 4 speed, RS (rally sport). Oh, was it nice.

Smokey is a joy to to drive on the track. So easy to drive, too. The only fatiguing part is hanging on while cornering, over and over again. Very secure and not a hint of trouble. The new camber plates clear worked and the understeer into T2 was mostly gone. I am likely leaving a bit of time on the table through the downhill turn, but I will need to put my big boy pants on to go much fast than I already am going.

As for the gas, no data to prove what the butt dyno says, but throughout each session there was torque steer coming out of T3 and T4. That only happened in the past on the first or second lap, when the engine was cool. In the past, after the second lap the torque steer was gone. I expect that was the engine management system setting the timing back. Now I go a full session with that torque steer. More power/torque? Maybe. None the less the car was good.

It was a great day at the track. Good to see gkp and to talk to others.

Enjoy and motor on!

PS - for planning, I have started the process for going to WGI for the 8/2-4 event with GVC. You are welcome to join in on that fun.

 

[QUOTE=Eddie07S;4678121]

It turns out that this is a full fledged track car right from the factory. At least that is what gkp says. With a press of a button it goes from a Caddy-like street car to something like 6 levels of track mode, that event changes the suspension and handling. It seems he was liking it, given the grin on his face after each session.

It was definitely a day of learning. For starters, I learned the V costs me about $40 a session in gas! It is a completely different driving experience and I was being uber-conservative in most turns. But trust in the car is building and I'll see where it goes. I miss the MINI when I see one on track, but I'm happy to have a chance to track a car like this before my HPDE days are over. One of the best things about the V is that I drive to and from the track in Cadillac Comfort. I can actually hear the radio!

 

It is track season, officially!

With one day under my belt, I am off to a slow start, but hey, there is a lot of time left in the season.

So, who is interested in doing 3 days of track fun with me at WGI? Ok, yes it is with GVC, but that was all good last year. Plenty of tires and brake pads were worn out and gas burnt. Great time. Like last year, Friday is open track and and it is the usual HPDE format for Saturday and Sunday with what looks to be extra time for A-Solo drivers.

Come on, pony up. I already have 2 others coming from CT. Let’s up that number.

 

Sounds like you're on the payroll

Have a great time, can't make that one but will be there right after you for 2 days with Trackmasters. Leaving for the new, improved Mid-Ohio on Sunday for an open track day Monday. Now that it's repaved I don't really care if it rains or not, I've driven it in the rain and it feels like WGI

 

gbuff1 - I was hoping that you could make it. That was a great time last year.

Let us know about Mid-Ohio with the new surface. I have watched several races held there this year and everyone seems to be all about it.

 

I'm signed up for the GVC in September on the Friday.....I've driven the new surface at Mid-O and it's as smooth as glass. I just hope it holds up with all the use it gets and that the big cars (Indycar, NASCAR, etc.) don't wreck it prematurely.

 

I thought briefly about going to LRP on Tuesday for the 1/2 day event SCDA is having there. Then I had the state inspection done and the Dealer said they found that the water pump pulley is starting to come apart. Ugh. Can’s say I am surprised given the number of track days it has seen. Albert is in prep mode for WGI at the 1st of August, so he isn’t available.

ECS slotted and dimpled rotors and Carbotech XP20 brake pads

Trying something new.

 

I thought about Tuesday, too. Then I saw the forecast for 95 degrees. No thanks.

 

That caddy has AC. You’d be fine. Just stick a hose into one of the dash vents and into your shirt and you’d be just like an IMSA driver….



Back in the early days of the Dodge Viper I got a ride in one. The driver had the AC on full just to make it tolerable to ride in with the summer heat and the heat coming from the side pipes and engine compartment.

 

It's the time sitting in the paddock that would likely do me in.

 

I was at WGI yesterday and it hit 94 in the pm. Didn't have a garage so encamped under the front straight bleachers--nice shade and beautiful breeze. All good 'til the ride home when I hit the the worst hailstorm in the history of mankind going by Rochester on the Thruway. My car is now dimpled like those rotors Maybe it'll help the aero

 

Oh No!
I hope this weather breaks soon.

 

The dimples may come out over time if you leave the car out in the sun. I had the same thing happen to a car of mine years ago when I lived in Wyoming. I still remember how scary it was being in the car with hail raining down.

P.S. Nothing can help a MINI's aero.

 

Truth, gkp, in those hot temps I was driving with the passenger window UP just to minimize the wind buffeting with both windows down. Felt faster and it was a lot less noisy
Hope the sun works as you say, going for an estimate tomorrow just to see. Amazingly the windscreen (British) survived even with a 9-inch (repaired) vertical crack in it.

 

Gbuff - How did you make out with the hail storm damage?

Also I found another tire for you to try out…. It is a Cooper RS3-R

I suspect that these would not be of an interest to you, but I was curious to learn that Cooper Tire in Europe is making track tires. These are a TW260 tire and they make a RS3-RS that is a TW220. Both of these seem to targeted to the endurance racing crowd. But these might be an option for someone looking for a longer life in a track day tire.

 

It's "in process"...the insurance company basically told me w/o actually telling me that they will total the car as the damage estimate far outweighs the car's value. If that's the case I can keep it as is and drive it as I did over the weekend, or have them take it and cut me a check, or have them take it and I'd buy it back for whatever they would pay minus the salvage value (car would then have a salvage title). We'll see, the car is old with high, hard mileage and is starting to feel it, too bad I put a new tranny and camber plates in it last year. Them's the breaks, wrong place at the wrong time....

Thx for the tire info, had the RE71RSs on for the first time on the weekend and couldn't quite come to grips (haha) with them. Messed with pressures but the car didn't feel as good as it did with the A052s, which is contrary to what most people say but there you go. They did feel a bit heavier ( they are by 2# each) and they really loaded up with clag even worse than the others did, I was really skating around out there in the afternoon heat.

 

Keep the car for the good parts…

Many years past I had a car that was run into by an idiot and the damage was more than the value of the car. The insurance Co cut me a check for the repairs but the amount was limited by the value of the car. I didn’t have to give up the car. No buy back or salvage title to deal with. And I got the car repaired for less than they gave me. It seems that Insurance Companies have figured out another way to screw the public.

I have always had an issue with the RE71R ‘Stones getting overheated after a few laps and they become greasy. This is exasperated by them getting over pressured. In my case, anything over 38 psi and they will get even more greasy. The Falken 660s may not be quite as quick, but it takes more for them to get overheated. So I can lap longer without feeling the tires giving out.

Those Cooper tires I referenced appear to be targeted to the endurance racing crowd and likely will perform similar to the other 200 TW tires aimed at that crowd like the BF Goodrich Rivals, the Continental ExtremeContact Force, Hankook RS-4, the Falken RT615K and the like. These will be slightly slower lap times than the “autocross” targeted tires, but will take more abuse over the long run.

 

Money no object…

My next track car:

 

"You'll poke your eye out, kid!"

 

I wouldn’t be worried about poking an eye out. I think that would be the least of my worries driving that beast.

With a 1000+ Hp I might just be able to beat your green MINI’s time at LRP…. But to think, for about $20k each I could have a whole fleet of NASCAR stock trucks for the cost of that thing and have something any shade tree mechanic could fix with a hammer and a monkey wrench.

My son-in-law worked as an insurance adjuster for cars. He said the statistic for the life of a Viper was about 9 months before it was totaled. I wonder how many idiots will tun off the DSC on this Vette and better that number.

 

So, last weekend, along with that Friday were spent at WGI with Albert (my JCW) and friends. Maybe not quite a 1000+ HP Corvette, at slightly over 900kg and packing over 700 hp, I am sure Albert’s stable mate would give the Vette a run for its money

And Albert’s “lowly” stable mate, a 427 V8 powered Ultima track car.

Had a grand time; more details here, with pictures.

Saturday I got to do a track walk. That track is amazing. Ups and downs and corner banking are all far greater than the impression one gets while driving. This would be a tough track to literally walk around.

The Carbotech XP20 brake pads for the fronts were a good match to the car and tires, at least by the way I was driving. I could hammer the brakes pretty hard at the end of the back straight and the release was smooth which facilitated deep trail braking in places. I could go a full session and not have the car feeling tired. Albert didn’t miss a beat.

Weather was hot, humid, sunny, cloudy and rainy. But why not! Sliding the car around the outer loop was interesting, but uneventful. A testament to the car’s factory setup.

I wanted to do this weekend at LRP, but have other “life” priorities. Need to get out again, though.

Enjoy and Motor On!