Track's Logbook
01-24-2012, 02:56 PM
#72
BAMFr
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,787
Well, It will be hard to compare from before. I only ran my current suspension at Road Atlanta, and I ----- foot around there. By the time I make it back around to RA, I suspect I will have another 4-6 events under my belt, so I think a large part of the results will be experience. I can give subject opinion on it, but I suspect that I am not skilled enough to notice a difference.
If you guys reallly want me to, I can do some testing in the future with the old undertray and this on there. I am still building the cold air shield and reading a bit about engine bay ducting. Unfortunately my radiator ducting is in pieces right now and my headlights are missing connectors, so I have to prioritize for the time being. I hope to have things in a ready and good state by the end of this weekend.
If you guys reallly want me to, I can do some testing in the future with the old undertray and this on there. I am still building the cold air shield and reading a bit about engine bay ducting. Unfortunately my radiator ducting is in pieces right now and my headlights are missing connectors, so I have to prioritize for the time being. I hope to have things in a ready and good state by the end of this weekend.
02-15-2012, 10:47 AM
#74
BAMFr
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,787
Club: NASA-SE
Track: CMP
Dates: Feb. 11-12, 2012
Car/Mods: The usual, just on new 205/50 AD08s
No more cruise control, so driving down sucked. the roads suck towards Camden, but whatevs. Met up with Collin (Dntlift) at the hotel, and we had a merry night...sleeping.
Day 1:
Good day overall. VERY COLD, but it was highly indicative of every session to come. Traffic was the word of the weekend. NASA grouped DE1 and DE2 together and we just so happened to be the two LARGEST groups on track. No big deal, gave me plenty of chances to force passes out of slicked miatas, Mustangs, and one obnoxiously slow CRX. My fastest time of the day was a 1:58 ish, or so. I am usually slower on my first day since I gotta get used back into the groove. i plan to make a compilation video of some fun stuff and my fastest lap. OHHHHH!! Exciting news, my rear UCA came loose...on track...and I lost the nut...thankfully though the bolt stayed in place and I didn't bork a wheel and halfshaft. I freakishly checked all my control arm bolts and many seemed to have come loose over time, although none so bad. I went back over them and drove with confidence the rest of the day.
Collin decided he has rejuvenating brake fluid and well, he skipped out on a few changes. Needless to say he picked the most inopportune time, which was at 5:30PM with the wind blowing at 30mph and the temp. pegged somewhere around 40* only to be in the low 30s/high 20s by the time we finished. Did I mention it was dark? Thankfully my old Instructor John Haff, was nice enough to give us an extension cord and his work light to use.
Day 2:
Colder day, most people were slower today, but I was not. And neither was the black rx-8 that I envy over at every event. I put a 1:56.3 on the last session of the day with maybe 8 other cars out on track. I was proud! I kept up with a mustang on slicks and another corvette with r-comps who were just a tad faster than me. Considering my gimp horsepower, I was a happy driver! Not to mention my times are inching ever so close to spec miata racing time!
Conclusions:
A few things I learned this weekend:
1) my car needs a corner balance badly. I am oversteering on right handers, and understeering on left handers. Not sure whats going on with that, but I hope to have that worked out by the next event.
2) I need more camber, and it would seem lots more from the wear on my tires. I am still killing the outsides and barely using the insides. I suspect my fronts need to be around 2.2*-2.3* as opposed to the 1.7* I had (although that is due to suspension woes).
3) I overheated the outsides of all 4 tires. shame on me.
4) I got considerably more comfortable with low speed oversteer and was actually using that to get some extra rotation at 12 to 14 and from 14 to the straight.
5) I took advantage of the large gator on turn 1. By taking more of the gator, it would kick me out and give me badly needed rotation to overcome the understeer I was getting on left hand turns.
6) what I did in 5) and a slightly tweaked line in turn 3, transferred into 7mph faster exit speed.
7) I hit 102mph through the kink, with more to go still.
8) Understeer destroyed any chance I had of working on turn 11.
9) did some more work in the carousel, specifically turn 4 to 5. I am still not 100% comfortable there, but some more experimentation tells me I might be able to just tap the brakes into 4 do the rest between 4 and 5....ie. the "motorcycle" line.
I got a bunch of ---- to do this week and this weekend, but I will try to snip the videos in the inbetween and maybe put it all together by saturday/sunday.
Track: CMP
Dates: Feb. 11-12, 2012
Car/Mods: The usual, just on new 205/50 AD08s
No more cruise control, so driving down sucked. the roads suck towards Camden, but whatevs. Met up with Collin (Dntlift) at the hotel, and we had a merry night...sleeping.
Day 1:
Good day overall. VERY COLD, but it was highly indicative of every session to come. Traffic was the word of the weekend. NASA grouped DE1 and DE2 together and we just so happened to be the two LARGEST groups on track. No big deal, gave me plenty of chances to force passes out of slicked miatas, Mustangs, and one obnoxiously slow CRX. My fastest time of the day was a 1:58 ish, or so. I am usually slower on my first day since I gotta get used back into the groove. i plan to make a compilation video of some fun stuff and my fastest lap. OHHHHH!! Exciting news, my rear UCA came loose...on track...and I lost the nut...thankfully though the bolt stayed in place and I didn't bork a wheel and halfshaft. I freakishly checked all my control arm bolts and many seemed to have come loose over time, although none so bad. I went back over them and drove with confidence the rest of the day.
Collin decided he has rejuvenating brake fluid and well, he skipped out on a few changes. Needless to say he picked the most inopportune time, which was at 5:30PM with the wind blowing at 30mph and the temp. pegged somewhere around 40* only to be in the low 30s/high 20s by the time we finished. Did I mention it was dark? Thankfully my old Instructor John Haff, was nice enough to give us an extension cord and his work light to use.
Day 2:
Colder day, most people were slower today, but I was not. And neither was the black rx-8 that I envy over at every event. I put a 1:56.3 on the last session of the day with maybe 8 other cars out on track. I was proud! I kept up with a mustang on slicks and another corvette with r-comps who were just a tad faster than me. Considering my gimp horsepower, I was a happy driver! Not to mention my times are inching ever so close to spec miata racing time!
Conclusions:
A few things I learned this weekend:
1) my car needs a corner balance badly. I am oversteering on right handers, and understeering on left handers. Not sure whats going on with that, but I hope to have that worked out by the next event.
2) I need more camber, and it would seem lots more from the wear on my tires. I am still killing the outsides and barely using the insides. I suspect my fronts need to be around 2.2*-2.3* as opposed to the 1.7* I had (although that is due to suspension woes).
3) I overheated the outsides of all 4 tires. shame on me.
4) I got considerably more comfortable with low speed oversteer and was actually using that to get some extra rotation at 12 to 14 and from 14 to the straight.
5) I took advantage of the large gator on turn 1. By taking more of the gator, it would kick me out and give me badly needed rotation to overcome the understeer I was getting on left hand turns.
6) what I did in 5) and a slightly tweaked line in turn 3, transferred into 7mph faster exit speed.
7) I hit 102mph through the kink, with more to go still.
8) Understeer destroyed any chance I had of working on turn 11.
9) did some more work in the carousel, specifically turn 4 to 5. I am still not 100% comfortable there, but some more experimentation tells me I might be able to just tap the brakes into 4 do the rest between 4 and 5....ie. the "motorcycle" line.
I got a bunch of ---- to do this week and this weekend, but I will try to snip the videos in the inbetween and maybe put it all together by saturday/sunday.
02-15-2012, 11:00 AM
#75
Cool man. As for bolts coming loose. I found this post last year and saved it. I replaced all my bushings last winter so I had already gone through and torqued all my suspension. But, this year before the season starts, i'm going to use the racer preflight checklist that was posted here:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=411760
Sadly, I lost the one with Torque Settings for every freaking bolt on one racers checklist. It was awesome and somehow I lost it.
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=411760
Sadly, I lost the one with Torque Settings for every freaking bolt on one racers checklist. It was awesome and somehow I lost it.
02-17-2012, 09:08 PM
#76
BAMFr
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,787
Here some quick videos from this weekend:
Fastest lap (its 3 laps total that are all between 1:56.2-1:56.5. Consistency anyone?):
Playing with a yellow Mustang:
Lots of traffic fun (passing everywhere!):
Fastest lap (its 3 laps total that are all between 1:56.2-1:56.5. Consistency anyone?):
Playing with a yellow Mustang:
Lots of traffic fun (passing everywhere!):
02-18-2012, 07:17 AM
#78
BAMFr
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,787
ohh, it was a magnetic NASA schedule, I put it beside my autocross magnet and forgot to take it out before going on track.
Btw, I am cutting up another video or two.
Btw, I am cutting up another video or two.
Last edited by Track; 02-18-2012 at 07:52 AM.
02-18-2012, 12:02 PM
#80
BAMFr
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,787
to be specific, I am 5 seconds faster. Do I feel it? in some areas I do. I am faster in the carousel (triple right hander), and through turn 8 and from 12 to 14.
I can't seem to get my car's balance done right, especially with my shitty alignment in the front...so I have some time left through adjustments here and there.
I am pretty close to the limits at CMP though, I am running a 1:56 with street tires and spec miatas run 1:52s with Toyos. Since r-comps are probably worth 2-3 seconds (assuming that my car doesn't make more power than a spec miata), then I am about 1-2 seconds off pace.
I am really dreading my alignment woes, I am going to pursue this truck thing heavily, before considering my options. Hopefully I will have a solid plan by the beginning of March.
I can't seem to get my car's balance done right, especially with my shitty alignment in the front...so I have some time left through adjustments here and there.
I am pretty close to the limits at CMP though, I am running a 1:56 with street tires and spec miatas run 1:52s with Toyos. Since r-comps are probably worth 2-3 seconds (assuming that my car doesn't make more power than a spec miata), then I am about 1-2 seconds off pace.
I am really dreading my alignment woes, I am going to pursue this truck thing heavily, before considering my options. Hopefully I will have a solid plan by the beginning of March.
Last edited by Track; 02-18-2012 at 12:05 PM.