Phil II
Cone Destroyer
I did a track day this weekend and had a fantastic time at Carolina Motorsport Park (CMP), which is 14 turn road racing course near Kershaw, SC- meaning the boondocks, hosted by NASA-SE.
Track Map:
Preparations:
I tried very hard to get a new tune with another custom CAI prior to this, but-short version- life got in the way. I took a risk and ran the car anyways on old tune. As expected, the car was running really rich with AFR 10.5-11.5 down the straights. I brought spark plugs just for this. I ended up changing three plugs at the end of Saturday. Some were really clean which I chalk up to the water injection.
I brought spare engine oil, atf (trans and PS), brake fluid, brake cleaner and a whole lot of tools too.
On Friday night at the track with a friends help I was swapped to Carbotech brake pads and blank rotors. I was using XP12/XP8 F/R. They were worth every penny and performed great, repeatedly hauling ~3400 pounds of hurtling metal from 120 mph without any brake fade. Fantastic initial bite. The seat belt would hurt a little at turns 1, 8, and 14.
The Event:
I was doing what's called High Performance Driving Experience. There are four tiers, with DE-1 for beginners. Entering DE-1 guarantees an instructor, which I like very much. HPDE is not racing, but learning how to get around a race track at speed. The DE program is designed with safety and fun, and can lead to wheel-to-wheel racing or Time Trial. Though its not racing, you're going very fast, and I was very near other car's rear bumper.
The HPDE stuff is mixed into a weekend schedule filled with time trial, practice, qualifying, and racing sessions. For DE-1 there are 4 twenty minute sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. That's a total of an hour and 40 minutes of driving bliss.
I mentioned instructors. I think they're mostly NASA drivers, however I had the very good fortune to be paired with a gentleman named Pat Smith. This man has been driving fast since before I was born with SCCA, NASA, and some other organizations. He's the chief instructor for CMP, and has an incredibly intimate knowledge of the track. There is a heck of a lot going on to make one smooth lap, and I would have made little to no progress without him.
Seat-time:
If I had a video, I'd post it here. Instead I'll substitute words. I'll gladly accept donations to the get a go pro fund or the get roll bar, seats, and harness fund
Previously I had driven around the track for lunch time pace laps while corner-working for SCCA. Last time I did that I was shown the fast line. I also watched several videos of some friends driving around CMP to understand what I'd be doing. I think this helped limit the overwhelming sensory over-load.
Its kind of nuts, especially the first two times out. I didn't have anything better than a guess as to where my braking zone would start, or what the ideal turn in point is in my car, or what kind of steering angle I should be using at turn-in.......Pat really made it much more manageable. At first I was puppet, he was the master. On Sunday his input was less about puppet mastery and more about good habits, such as looking ahead/through a turn, minding the corner workers. The most emphasized thing was to drive smoothly. After each session we would discuss theory, technique, what I was doing wrong, and evaluate the car.
Performance:
A friend of mine was working corners, and was timing me on his phone across the start/finish line. On Saturday I did a best of 2:07. On Sunday I did a 1:59- this one may have been faster but I lifted when I saw the checkered flag go out. In the DE-1 group there were some faster cars, a recent model WRX, a GTR, and a Porsche. Otherwise I got to be a front runner.
I traded places with a BMW 3 series a couple of times, then put him behind me. It wasn't necessarily because my car was faster, but quite possibly because I was prepared with race pads that did not fade the entire weekend. I am kind of happy that my blown car did get past his twin turbochargers. I also had a lot fun with the driver of an Audi S5. It was really neat as its powered by a blown v6. In some ways its remarkably like my car, but then its heavier with luxury, huge stock brakes, active damping, dynamic torque splitting.....I'm envious. He arrived on stock everything, and I really hope to see him again with race pads on.
Constructive Criticisms:
I did well for my very first track day. I have lots of room for improvement. Some of these things are:
- over-braking into turns 8 and 14, usually I got turn 1 right or close to it. this cost me corner exit speed, which can have a huge impact on lap times
-staying on the track edge before turn-in- this is a generalization that means it better to start a turn at the extreme opposite edge of the track than closer, theres a natural tendency to drive to the corner, which dramatically sharpens the turn.
-shifting- especially down shifting. I've been driving manual for a couple of months now, and I've not yet learned how to heel-toe downshift. This technique could really smooth the braking and help the car more settled. I ended up relying on what's called compression braking. It worked, but its hard on the drivetrain and locks up the rear tires briefly, causing a fluttery sensation in the rear. Upshifting is no problem, and the MGW makes it very satisfying
-consistency- this is big. the more consistent I drive, the easier it will be to use the subconscious for driving and the superconscious won't be so exhausted in 20 minutes, and I'll be smoother.
The Stang's Condition:
The mustang did really well. I did not have overheating issues. The water injection was very effective. It did consume ~30 gallons of fuel and ~10 gallons of water in three days. Two spark plugs were blackened with carbon.
-but-
Sometimes during the straights at WOT the motor would "cough." This was occurring in third and fourth gear around 5300 rpm, always past the 5k. My limiter is at 6k, so this is too soon. Normally I'd shift. If I kept the throttle on the car would starting accelerating more. This happened both days, so I'm ruling out spark plugs. I suspect either there is a moment of spark blow-out, or the computer is pulling timing. It could also be the coil pack giving up.
And now I'm more tired and hungry. I'll answer questions.
Track Map:
Preparations:
I tried very hard to get a new tune with another custom CAI prior to this, but-short version- life got in the way. I took a risk and ran the car anyways on old tune. As expected, the car was running really rich with AFR 10.5-11.5 down the straights. I brought spark plugs just for this. I ended up changing three plugs at the end of Saturday. Some were really clean which I chalk up to the water injection.
I brought spare engine oil, atf (trans and PS), brake fluid, brake cleaner and a whole lot of tools too.
On Friday night at the track with a friends help I was swapped to Carbotech brake pads and blank rotors. I was using XP12/XP8 F/R. They were worth every penny and performed great, repeatedly hauling ~3400 pounds of hurtling metal from 120 mph without any brake fade. Fantastic initial bite. The seat belt would hurt a little at turns 1, 8, and 14.
The Event:
I was doing what's called High Performance Driving Experience. There are four tiers, with DE-1 for beginners. Entering DE-1 guarantees an instructor, which I like very much. HPDE is not racing, but learning how to get around a race track at speed. The DE program is designed with safety and fun, and can lead to wheel-to-wheel racing or Time Trial. Though its not racing, you're going very fast, and I was very near other car's rear bumper.
The HPDE stuff is mixed into a weekend schedule filled with time trial, practice, qualifying, and racing sessions. For DE-1 there are 4 twenty minute sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. That's a total of an hour and 40 minutes of driving bliss.
I mentioned instructors. I think they're mostly NASA drivers, however I had the very good fortune to be paired with a gentleman named Pat Smith. This man has been driving fast since before I was born with SCCA, NASA, and some other organizations. He's the chief instructor for CMP, and has an incredibly intimate knowledge of the track. There is a heck of a lot going on to make one smooth lap, and I would have made little to no progress without him.
Seat-time:
If I had a video, I'd post it here. Instead I'll substitute words. I'll gladly accept donations to the get a go pro fund or the get roll bar, seats, and harness fund
Previously I had driven around the track for lunch time pace laps while corner-working for SCCA. Last time I did that I was shown the fast line. I also watched several videos of some friends driving around CMP to understand what I'd be doing. I think this helped limit the overwhelming sensory over-load.
Its kind of nuts, especially the first two times out. I didn't have anything better than a guess as to where my braking zone would start, or what the ideal turn in point is in my car, or what kind of steering angle I should be using at turn-in.......Pat really made it much more manageable. At first I was puppet, he was the master. On Sunday his input was less about puppet mastery and more about good habits, such as looking ahead/through a turn, minding the corner workers. The most emphasized thing was to drive smoothly. After each session we would discuss theory, technique, what I was doing wrong, and evaluate the car.
Performance:
A friend of mine was working corners, and was timing me on his phone across the start/finish line. On Saturday I did a best of 2:07. On Sunday I did a 1:59- this one may have been faster but I lifted when I saw the checkered flag go out. In the DE-1 group there were some faster cars, a recent model WRX, a GTR, and a Porsche. Otherwise I got to be a front runner.
I traded places with a BMW 3 series a couple of times, then put him behind me. It wasn't necessarily because my car was faster, but quite possibly because I was prepared with race pads that did not fade the entire weekend. I am kind of happy that my blown car did get past his twin turbochargers. I also had a lot fun with the driver of an Audi S5. It was really neat as its powered by a blown v6. In some ways its remarkably like my car, but then its heavier with luxury, huge stock brakes, active damping, dynamic torque splitting.....I'm envious. He arrived on stock everything, and I really hope to see him again with race pads on.
Constructive Criticisms:
I did well for my very first track day. I have lots of room for improvement. Some of these things are:
- over-braking into turns 8 and 14, usually I got turn 1 right or close to it. this cost me corner exit speed, which can have a huge impact on lap times
-staying on the track edge before turn-in- this is a generalization that means it better to start a turn at the extreme opposite edge of the track than closer, theres a natural tendency to drive to the corner, which dramatically sharpens the turn.
-shifting- especially down shifting. I've been driving manual for a couple of months now, and I've not yet learned how to heel-toe downshift. This technique could really smooth the braking and help the car more settled. I ended up relying on what's called compression braking. It worked, but its hard on the drivetrain and locks up the rear tires briefly, causing a fluttery sensation in the rear. Upshifting is no problem, and the MGW makes it very satisfying
-consistency- this is big. the more consistent I drive, the easier it will be to use the subconscious for driving and the superconscious won't be so exhausted in 20 minutes, and I'll be smoother.
The Stang's Condition:
The mustang did really well. I did not have overheating issues. The water injection was very effective. It did consume ~30 gallons of fuel and ~10 gallons of water in three days. Two spark plugs were blackened with carbon.
-but-
Sometimes during the straights at WOT the motor would "cough." This was occurring in third and fourth gear around 5300 rpm, always past the 5k. My limiter is at 6k, so this is too soon. Normally I'd shift. If I kept the throttle on the car would starting accelerating more. This happened both days, so I'm ruling out spark plugs. I suspect either there is a moment of spark blow-out, or the computer is pulling timing. It could also be the coil pack giving up.
And now I'm more tired and hungry. I'll answer questions.
awesome man, sweet write up, sounds like it was an awesome time.
could be completly wrong.... Lol
