I agree, up here in New England we have a guy in our time trial club who is a good driver with a 08 Z06 that pretty much blisters everything. Kind of neat that GM has built a light ultimate sports car
C'mon Mazda build a new 3 rotor lightweight RX7

Jim

 

Hey Jim,
No doubt the Z06 is one awesome car for the money but would also cost hella huge dollars in terms of tires, brakes etc....... Once I have a cool mill in the bank I'll start running w/ the big dogs

 

Finally made it back to Summit Point Raceways main track with NASA instructing and running TTS and lets just say the repave wasn't a big improvement.

It's such a fun track with great flow that's near one of the most populated fastest growing regions in the US so why not pave it properly? Time to start another group buy LOL

Had a good student in an RX8 which is a very forgiving car with a great chassis. Like the FD it's very neutral and it would seem the longer wheel base along with less power puts any form of rotation in slow motion.

Finished 3rd Saturday with a 1.20 and 2nd Sunday with a 1.19. Those are my lowest official lap times there so I'm happy but was shooting for some 17s which will be my goal next year. Smoother driving coupled with later braking, some A6s and a little more camber should do the trick.

1st vid was Sunday morning and I was a little late on the brakes

2nd vid is just a fun one where I had to start near the back because I missed the 1st timed session. I'm also running on toyo 888s because I was saving the hoos.

3rd vid is the fastest lap I got on video but actually ran a little faster later in the day but didn't record it. It's either the 2nd or 3rd lap but there both very close. Time was a 1.198 and as mentioned later in the day I was able to shave another 10nth woohoo

The quality of all these isn't the best so I may reload with a different format.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDx_qngLJlU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws20m2UbvSU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8jN3awDv8w

 

Nice man!

We've never driven together at Summit, yet we do exactly the same things, the little lift to rotate through the carousel, the entries to T1 and T9... except that you're obviously way closer to the limit (judging by how much you're working the wheel). My video looks like I'm cruising by comparison, dammit!

 

Fritz, quality is really good. Sometimes when you first upload them, it takes a while for the quality to come up.

Great video's man!! It would take an act of Congress to get you four wheels off I'm pretty sure

 

You know they call me Mr Smooth for a reason

I love that little lift and rotate at the top of the carousel

Regarding the line; that's cause we know WTF we be doing

 

Thanks man!

 

Here's a copy of my latest track adventures from the Porsche forum thread. Thought I'd keep the FD community involved with my comparisons and just for general interest in the P car etc....

On Valentines day my 07 GT3 RS arrived and 4 days later I was at VIR with NASA and thoroughly enjoyed learning the handling charactertics of the car, being mesmerized by the brakes, grinning like a kid on a roller coaster when shifting into 5th and basically having the time of my life ......BUT

The rear tires were not up to the challenge and the drivers seat (GT 2 seat) was killing my neck with a helmet on so I couldn't wait to get it back on track with some better rubber and a seat that's suited for a helmet and HANS. I had a second set of decent kuhmo 710s (305 30 18s) to replace the bald/worn originals (315 35 18s) and lucky for me Kenny at Werkstatt was able to squeeze me in between his busy race schedule to install a better seat along with getting the Kuhmo tires mounted, changing the oil etc.... So thanks again to Kenny and Scott at Workstatt for taking such good care of me and allowing me to have a blast at the track.

So off I go to the BMW event with better tires and a better seat. The tires really made the driving experience less nerve racking and now I understand why some folks actually prefer the engine in the back. REALLY cool experience easing out the brakes a bit hot waiting for rotation and accelerating out of corners. Similar to my FD (rx7) but with much more grip when applying throttle and just a smoother over all vibe.

One thing I noticed right away was how hot the rears were getting VS the fronts. Started out at 24 PSI all the way around and determined after one session I was off on that guesstimate. The rears were blowing up to 39 and the fronts to 33 upon returning to the paddock. So I lowered the fronts to 23 and rears to 21 and that was better but ended up at 22 L front 20 L rear 23 R front and 21 R rear for starting pressures and the rears were still blowing up a bit and getting greasy. Basically 710s must be autocross tires or designed for a lighter car. I also think more tire in the rear would of really helped so I'll definitely be going back to the 315 35 18s which should shave some time especially if fresh.

Still setting shocks stiff, sport and TC off. Forgot to press the buttons during one session and thought the diff was misbehaving until just about pit in it dawned on me that I hadn't pushed in the 3 buttons (big sigh of releif that I didn't already break something). I learned the TC is actually fairly limited which is nice because you can still slide the car around a bit but it will rein you too much on those tight corners so you are better off driving with out it for sure.

Only took one vid from the last session on Sunday and it was sprinkling a little which kept me from getting too crazy. Also the vid is a waste because I just bought a go pro and had no idea how to use it. I'm happy with the camera position but the video outside is way to bright and you really can't see much of anything although the inside/cabin vid is nice. I'll post up a lap or two anyway as time permits. I think I remember reading about a setting that will help with the brightness issue so hopefully I'll get that resolved next time out.

Once again I'm really impressed with how well the brakes work, how easy it is to modulate and trail brake etc.... Worlds different than my RX7 but this car will take me some time before I'm running similar lap times that's for sure

Again vid to come shortly and I'll see you guys at the Zone 2 event in 3 weeks.

OH man this is worth mentioning. One of my students was in a ZR1 and the acceleration, corning, braking........BRUTAL I'd ride with him then go out in my car and feel like I was in an s2000.

PS another 996 GT3 lost coolant but it wasn't the usual pressed and glued fittings but a hose that degrades from heat which according to Thomas Hart needs to be replaced every two years or so if you track your car a lot. I'll be looking at my hoses carfully and making sure they are still soft.

 

Yep, 710's are for autocross. I was running 710's during a couple of DE's and they get greasy when driven hard, esp. after 13-minutes. Scary greasy in 95+F weather. Get those take-off's and you'll be set.

Hmm, maybe a ZR1 would be worth waiting for . . .

The regular 996 & 997 track guys carry spare coolant hoses . . .

Thanks for sharing!

:-) neil

 

Looks like I'll be carrying some extra hoses. It's amazing how often a Porsche is leaking coolant at the track and it's usually a massive leak. Apparently they should of stayed with the air cooled thing

It's hard for us FD track rats to go to a Vette. It was still pushing off the apexes and driving like a truck so no need to wait for one unless you want to set some track records

 

was this filmed with the GoPro HD Motorsports camera I got you?

You are definitely pushing the car hard at the limit. Great video...

 

Where's the video?

 

Ok maybe I missed something, it's been since valentines day and I haven't seen a picture yet? please help us out here, as a fellow Porsche fan myself I NEED PICTURES!

BigAl...

 

I think Fritz is as giddy as a girl on her first date, so he's not sure where to post his "new" experiences . . .

I bet Fritz takes a peek inside the garage past midnight, smiles a big grin, and if he has time, will walk over to her, enjoy the lines, and slowly just sit in her and dream . . . I know I would!

Check out this link for pics & videos:

https://www.rx7club.com/race-car-tech-103/i-finally-did-bought-dream-car-943051/

:-) neil

 

 

Those are vids of the FD from the last time trial at Summit Point and the vid cam is my old Sony. I'm not pushing the Porsche anywhere near that hard as I'm not at all familiar with how to properly drive it lol.

I'll post a vid from the RS that I shot with my NEW go pro soon. Thanks again for the sweet deal on that

 

As you'll see in the vid I still have some work to do driving this beast but I'll get there in due time so please give me a break in that department hehe

There was an instructor clinic that weekend which made it really crowded in our group so I wasn't able to push the car for lap times but still had a super good time trying to get a handle on the car, giving people rides etc.....

See vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN6pNXmaQDo

I'll get the exterior brightness thing figured out so the next vid should be easier to watch and the annoying vibration is a mounting problem so I'll fix that as well.

 

Nice to see an instructor, still going to instructor clinics! There's just so much to learn . . .

Have you considered getting instruction from Mike Skeen (professional race car driver). He currently holds the Spec E30 lap record for VIR Grand at 2:18:xx

Check out his site for instruction services: http://www.mikeskeen.com/services/

Mike will record your driving with a Traqmate (and video), and then he will drive *your* car with the Traqmate, and compare/interpret the data with you, as well as give you in car instruction. The best $ spent . . .

:-) neil

some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJqQiXxlAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hrJqyc6sF4

 

He was there last weekend instructing (lucky student that gets him), thanks for the tip and I'll look into it cause lord knows I could use some instructions for this thing

 

Just watched the 500r vid he ran a best 2.11 in traffic. Not bad

 

Mike is a great driver.

One thing you notice is how smooth and ironed-out he's got the 1-2-3, and 11-11a complexes. That and he carries a lot of speed everywhere. Nothing drastically different, just talent :-)

 

I love the way Mike took the e30 NASA championship his first year in spec e30.

 

That thing looks and sounds entirely too quiet and composed compared to the FD...

 

It's certainly more composed but it's 400lbs heavier and I'm at not quite FLAT OUT

With the engine out back it's much louder in the cabin than my FD which isn't a loud track car.

 

Here's another vid from this past weekend driving the RS. It's the last session of the day, the rear tires were smoked it ran 2.06s for most of the open laps w/ a 2.08 in the light traffic lap..

Best lap was early Sunday at 2.05 flat but don't have vid of that one.

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhum