This was my first HPDE at LimeRock Race Park in CT
im hooked...theres no going back now

 

two words of advice:

A) buy a cheap, replaceable, and dedicated track car
B) There will always be someone faster than you. Drive with your head, not your *****.

M.

 

Welcome to the go-fast crack pipe!

 

Welcome to being broke

 

Looks fun. I'd be worried about cooling issues . . whenever I drive the **** out of my car over a certain twisty farm highway I know, the radiator can't seem to keep up with the water temp! Wide open throttle > 4k rpm 90% of the time appears to be outside the design critera of the stock cooling system.

 

Yea, what they said. Your life as you knew it is over.

 

a)Yeah ive been trying to sell my car for a bit now..looking to got a stock honda hatch

b) I wasnt one of the morons out there trying to set lap records

 

my coolant temps never went over 183-185 the whole day....im running a FMIC with the radiator behind it with a ducting tray...it also didnt go over 45 degrees that day either

 

Yep, I wasn't trying to insinuate you were, just making sure you knew that , too many newbs go out thinking they own the track...

 

Amen.

 

Poverty is owning a race car.

 

Although it would be nice to have a DEDICATED track car, if you go with another lesser car than a third gen, you may not find track driving as much fun.

 

when was the event and who hosted it? how much $$?

 

Nov8th and NASA hosted it


it was 200 bucks i think

 

Ive thought about this...but theres guys with dodge neons out there having a blast...

Im pretty sure a stock honda civic hatch with some suspension and braking things would be pleny fun for now.

The one thing i learned after tracking out of turn 1 for the first time...horsepower is maybe 30% of this game...

 

artowar summed it up perfectly.... I'm hooked as well. Just remember you drag race between every corner....

I did my first HPDE NASA day and it was a blast. Then had to do a few more. I had a stock powered FC with zero engine upgrades, T2 rear end/brakes, s/s brake lines, K2RD coilovers& c/c plates, Hawk HP+ pads and 17x8's with some RA-1's. I truly had the time of my life. I got my *** handed to me in the straightaways..... but once the twisties came I was chewing people up and spitting them out.

Now I'm building an FD to get the most out of it and plan to do a handful of HPDE days a year. Money is spent like water on some parts. Get used to it .

I hope to finish my project before 2004 is over.

-GNX7

 

It's hard to beat a Miata as a dedicated track car - cheap and super-reliable. Not just cheap up front, but brake pads, tires, wheels, etc. all a fraction of the cost of an FD, M3, Porsche, Corvette, etc. And obviousboy is right - it's more about driving skill than the car for most people. I routinely lap M3s, Corvettes, 911s (NA and turbo) at most events in my Miata. You would probably have the same experience in a 1st or 2nd gen NA RX7. I don't have any front-wheel drive experience, but some of the guys in the Integras and the Civics are pretty damn fast, and those are also cheap, reliable track cars. An occasional HPDE is one thing, but if you really get the bug, I really think you need to be able to afford to push your track car off a cliff and walk away from it. If you're unreasonably scared of balling up the car, it's hard to play at the limit, which is what high performance driving is all about.

As a racer and HPDE instructor, I can also tell you that someone who learned to drive in a low hp car can transition to a high hp car and drive it well much more frequently than someone who has been struggling to learn to drive a high hp car for years.

That being said, I'm getting my FD ready for the track - not as a dedicated track car, but as a street/track car - because hp is a hell of a lot of fun, and I think now I can handle it.

BTW-go ahead and start budgeting in the tow vehicle and trailer, etc. And get used to the idea of your tow vehicle being your daily driver. Once bitten...

 

Sure they are.
But have they had a taste of the poison? I assure you that they have not. Otherwise, they would be driving an FD instead.

My personal experience is that I have driven my FD and a BMW 328 Ci on the track as well as the M3. Although I could learn plenty in the 328Ci, it was not nearly as fun driving it on the the track. It was not even close. As a matter of fact, after having done two track events with the 328 Ci, I decided that it was not fun enough to take it to the track anymore. All because I have been spoiled by the 3rd gen. Now, the M3 is a different story...

 

Sort of like saying, "If you move up to women from sheep, you may not find sex as much fun".

Whatever floats your boat, dude. I have more fun in my 89RWHP street car (or 109RWHP Spec7) than I do in anything else, any day.

 

those are the hp numbers im looking to run

when i can drive a car with 125whp with my foot down on the gas the whole time then ill move on to something with more nuts like a FD

 

Brandon,
Glad to hear you made it to the track and hope to see you at one in 2005.

Great attitude regarding hp btw

I borrowed a spec miata for a track weekend this year and had an absolute blast. If you plan on doing lots of track events it would be a really wise choice or even just a miata period.

Track life is expensive but you would be amazed at how you somehow manage to have enough money to buy what you need. You may live in the gutter but on the weekend you'll be at the track
Fritz

 

LOL

It IS like saying "If you move up to women from sheep, you may not find sex as much as fun if you go back to doing it with sheep".

I don't know about you but if I wouldn't go back to the sheep.

But whatever floats your boat, duuuuude.

 

Very well said. It's just like crack.....

 

Lime Rock is a fun track in a Miata.

I remember the first time I ever drove a Miata was on track on the same day I was there with my Turbo II Convertible (full conversion) w/ lots of HKS goodies back and a roll bar in 1995 or so. I had more fun with the Miata.

Watkins Glen wasn't much fun in a slow car - FC na + street mods. Neither was Bridgehampton in a A1 chassis VW with street mods. My e36 BMW sucked *** on the track even with a full suspension rims and other engine mods. Too big and heavy feeling compared to the nice nimble sports cars I just listed.

However, a nicely prepped track car with a roll bar and sticky tires such as a Miata, FB or FC is easily more fun that a street car. There were some guys in prepped FBs that were just hard/impossible to catch. Still need to get out there with my FD though.

Kudos on your attitude to horsepower! I race go karts and always loved lapping the idiots in shifter karts that are attracted to big HP numbers but don't know how to properly use the horsepower to make them fast. Same applies to fendered cars/race cars on track.

It is a drug.

 

Mr. Stock, you ever driven a low HP car to the limit on the track? Just curious.