The Western Ohio SCCA club held a PDX on Friday at Mid Ohio Racetrack. This was my first PDX, and it was a blast. The car is stock with K&Ns, Yoko AD08s stock size (PSI @ 38 fr, 39 rr), EBC Yellow Stuff pads and DOT 4 brake fluid. We ran 5 heats, with about 10 laps / heat. Mid Ohio is 2.4 miles long, so I put on about 125 miles on the track.

The car handled like a dream, and I left the traction control on (kicked in only a few times). I topped out at just under 120 in the back stretch -- just when the Rev Limiter kicked in for 4th gear. But the most fun was sloloming out of Madness, through the Esses and into Thunder Valley. While not the fastest car out there, it really held its own. Cornered better that the bigger cars, and was faster in the straights than the smaller cars. The brakes started to fade near the end, with IR temp on rotors at more than the 450 degrees.

I ran through an entire tank of gas, and used up only about 10% of the brake pads. There are more right than left hand turns at Mid Ohio, so I used more left-side tire tread. I used less than 1/32 of rubber on the left side, and about half than that on the right. I'm pretty happy with the tires considering I ran 16 Autocross events last season and used 2/32. Not as much grip as the Kuhmo's and Hoosier's (and you can hear them screaming on some of the corners), but I drove two hours on them to get to Mid Ohio, raced all day, and drove home all on the same tires.

I use magnetic numbers for Autocross. As you can see by the picture, we were told that if you don't tape the leading edge, you will lose them. More than one soul was left naked when failing to head the "tape or go un-numbered" rule.

Enjoy the video.

YouTube - ‪Crossfire at Mid Ohio May 2011.avi‬‏

Mike

 

Looks like a blast. Thanks for sharing.

 

Your video brings back such great memories. I did 3 days at Mid Ohio HPDE with PCA, potomoc region.

You had a really nice instructor getting you through all the turns.

Thanks for making me smile. I miss MidOhio and have got to get back.

Jane

 

Thanks for sharing MJ.Looks like you had a great time!

 

Thanks for sharing. Is this your 1st time? Did your times improve?

 

That was my first PDX. The first heat was just a follow-the-leader run to learn the line. The second heat my fastest time was a 2:09, third 2:01, fourth a 1:59 and the last run was 1:56. Nothing special, but it was both joyful and triumphant.

 

Great job MJ! Not too many of us know how hard it is to get the right amount, not too much, screech out of the tires. You know, I never had good luck with french tires with our German cars. Jap tires seem to communicate better ...... hummmm. I'm impressed. You used all the track and not one inch more. Great job. You were driving the crap out of it.

Les

 

Boy oh boy does that looks like fun!

I'd personally rather do it on my own, having an instructor will always keep your mind guessing when they give you instructions rather then putting all your focus into driving as fast as you can lol.

Great video and great driving!

John.

 

I like having an instructor every now and then. They remind you of your bad habits and insist that you do things the right way. When you have an instructor you don't feel the need to be fast as much as clean. Maybe I've been lucky, all my instructors have been great.

Les

 

My instructor did a pretty good job of letting me have at it. He did make some good recommendations, but I learned more riding in his car with him driving. I took 4 seconds off my time in just two turns after riding with him.

Late apexing in the left hander coming out of the front stretch and really pushing the limits of traction (and using all the track), and braking early then turning in early in the right hand turn into Thunder Valley. I read about this method in a SOLO book to get Porsche's to rotate -- turn in early, lift the throttle to rotate the rear, a little slide, then plan the throttle to re-load the rear and push through the corner. You can really carry a lot of speed, but you do have to get the timing right.
Mike

 

That looked like a real hoot. Glad I don't have a good track in my backyard. Don't I could afford to play as often as I would want.