Spooner's Day at the Races....

[Sp00ner]

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!

That was POSSIBLY them most fun I have EVER had in my life. Dave didn't show, but there was another Focus SVT there... Beat it by 4 seconds on every lap but my first. My lap times were as follows, in order.

1:45 - 12 seconds behind last in my class, based on that run.
1:43
1:41
1:37.586 - best run, but I took off before the 5th run was posted, should be a little faster. Where did this run put me? .05 seconds in last place.

How did the SVT Focus do, I know it wasn't Dave, but here was it's times.
1:47
1:47
1:47
1:41


Very consistent, his times were all withing a few tenths until the last run

Of the 6 other cars in my class, two were newbies to road racing, but have been running autox for 2 years, I think they said two years. All the other guys were veterans, that I know of. The two cars I had mentioned before, the WRX and the Sentra SpecV, had me most of the day. They were running much better tires, and the Sentra was SERIOUSLY modded for track duty. Springs, shocks, race brake pads, cross-drilled/slotted rotors, trailing arms, intake, header, exhuast. I'm not sure what, if anything, was up with the WRX, he did have good tires, but I don't know beyond that. There was no question who was faster in the straights though. I was hitting 110-115 in 4th, and he was having a hard time getting out of 3rd in the straight, neat the end he was finally getting into 4th. By the end of the day though, I had beaten the WRX by 6 seconds on my 3rd run, he nearly lost it. The Sentra DID lose it, thankfully on a low speed turn, did a full 360 and missed the wall by about 12". These two were VERY cool. The really like the Saturn. The were blown away by the ladder tach, and couldn't belive I was turning faster and faster times without better tires.

The classes are kinda odd, I was in B-Stock class. The give points for mods, and it takes a certain number of points to move you up out of stock.

Some observations on the Saturn... The brakes are AMAZING. I could shave MUCH more time off my laps if I could make myself wait to hit them. Everytime I would wait a little longer, and still be stopping too short. The NEVER locked, they NEVER faded. The WRX was complaning of SERIOUS brake fade after one lap. My brakes felt just the tiniest bit soft for about 5 mins after coming off track. Handling... I couldn't push it and harder, I was scaring myself, but the car was NEVER loose on me at all. No matter how hard I would hit the gas through the curves, it would just stick and go. I kept lifting off though, the speeds you get to are almost scary at first. It takes some serious abuse too. I spent the entire lap above 4500 rpms, the car was never overheating, never smelled like oil or clutch. The entire course smelled like brakes so I can't say much about those...

Observations on other cars....
There was an Ultima GTR there, I have a bad pic of it... if such a thing could exist.

Camaros and Mustangs can be VERY FAST when driven right. The Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes were VERY dominant in their classes. I know a Camaro won one class, and a Corvette won another... there were quite a few classes. I had a guy in a Mustang GT that would be right behind me by the time I would cross the finish line. Controlled oversteer is an incredible handling attribute....

Did I mention there was an Ulitma GTR there?

Not everyone can drive a fast car fast... Me, the WRX and the Sentra left a Z06 behind during practice, and his timed laps weren't much faster... I KNOW it wasn't the car...

People with a weak heart, this may not be for you.... here's a list of 'incidents'...

First, a newer TransAm lost it, slid off course, hit the wall. Was back racing in 45 min! Mustang GT, lost it braking, ended up in a 360 slowing from about 120 or so. BRAND NEW Mustang Gt... This one is awful.. any Mustang fans.. stop reading now. Missed a shift into 3rd, revved the HELL out of the engine, car starts spraying oil from a broken valve, so the driver says, HITS THE WALL HEAD ON. The tire walls are quite effective, none of the cars that hit them were severely damaged. I think it still had the temp tag on it. There was an older Lincoln MKsomthing, that I didn't see the incident, but it came back with water pouring off it and a TON of weeds stuck in the undercarriage. I can't believe it passed tech, let alone raced. A VW Sirocco.. blew it's engine in front of me during practice.

Good times....

[Aeain]

Sounds like some serious fun. I'd love to try it some time and I'm sure I will.

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by Aeain

Sounds like some serious fun. I'd love to try it some time and I'm sure I will.

It's scary at first, I was going as fast as I thought I could, and the instructor is yelling "GO! GO! GO! Floor it, you don't have to brake until the 3rd turn!"

[dazednconfused75]

That's awesome Spooner. I bet the suspension could use some tweaking and it would be a track monster. Did you push it hard enough to get understeer?

[Chazb]

That is way to cool.How long is this track anyway?

[dazednconfused75]

Originally Posted by Chazb

That is way to cool.How long is this track anyway?

1.88 miles.

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by dazednconfused75

That's awesome Spooner. I bet the suspension could use some tweaking and it would be a track monster. Did you push it hard enough to get understeer?

There was much more in the car... just not in me yet... I was finishing 1/2 my turns on the inside of the track. There were turns that instructors were telling me I could take 20-30mph faster... The tires are the biggest limiter right now. I was pushing hard enough to get mild understeer, but not enough to push me anywhere close to the outside of most turns, I was having to turn toward the outside 'cause I wasn't carrying enough speed. I reall can't say enough about the brakes. Time for some tires now...

You think the tires wear fast on the street, or drags.... you should see how fast they go down here. The kid with the WRX, you could see the wear from each lap.... Filled the tires to around 39psi cold, they were running about 46psi hot. The guys giving me tips on the tire pressures said the sidewalls looked really good at that pressure. I feel like I need to loose a pound or two... Towards the end I could tell they needed a lil more traction, I was finally pushing hard enough to start seeing where the car needed some adjusting. Hopefully I'll have new tires by the next race, probably these same ones at Gingerman though.

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by Chazb

That is way to cool.How long is this track anyway?

1.95 miles

http://www.blackhawkfarms.com/

If you look at the track map, from the end of turn 4, all the way to turn 6, is a full throttle blast in the Redline, right to the top of 3rd... you're hitting around 80 through turn 5. That's where I need much work. I can't make myself floor it. My instructor said I could be doing 110 at the end, instead of 95ish if I could keep on it, more if I can learn to trust the brakes.

I was hitting 100sh+ at the end of turn 1, the instructor said with the accel he's feeling from the car, I should be hitting the brakes around 120. MUCH room to improve...

[TXRLU]

Sounds like a lot of fun, I can't remember if you mentioned how much out of pocket all this costs (without the price of modding the car that is). Have you read the BAD car and driver issue that had the RL, CSS, WRX, SRT-4, and the RSX-S test? I think they have some auto-cross tips, if that's the issue I'm thinking of.....

[dazednconfused75]

Originally Posted by Sp00ner

1.95 miles

http://www.blackhawkfarms.com/

If you look at the track map, from the end of turn 4, all the way to turn 6, is a full throttle blast in the Redline, right to the top of 3rd... you're hitting around 80 through turn 5. That's where I need much work. I can't make myself floor it. My instructor said I could be doing 110 at the end, instead of 95ish if I could keep on it, more if I can learn to trust the brakes.

I was hitting 100sh+ at the end of turn 1, the instructor said with the accel he's feeling from the car, I should be hitting the brakes around 120. MUCH room to improve...

Sorry, I though you were at GingerMan.