I'm back from the road course. Frustrated! Ok, here we go, hang on. I was the second person to arrive at the track sunday morning so right away it wasn't a normal track day. I proceeded to pay, sign the releases etc. and headed to the paddock where I got a beautiful covered parking. A few stalls down was the first to arrive. A RX-7 fully built race car on Pirelli slicks. Nice! Shot the BS with a few of the guys talking cars and headed for inspection. With poor attendance the schedule was modified causing some confusion. Later they reverted to the usual schedule. Because all forum junkies love videos I mounted the camera, checked the camera direction and got ready to head out. Turned the GoPro on and it came on and went off. Brand new batteries. Fiddled with it, tried another set of new batteries and the same. Turned on, turned itself off. All day long it was the same so I have no video from the day. (note to self, buy a new camera)

First time out I was finding out if the water injection was going to cause something unexpected. A nice sunday drive because of traffic on track but I found a slight problem. When at WOT near the top of any gear, then partially lifting the engine would buck. I'm thinking it's from the water cutting off when the boost drops but it's just a guess. First time it happened was in a fast sweeping turn and I had an Oh God moment. Having he car jerking when at the edge of traction is not good. Did my laps and came in to check tire pressures and temperatures. The fronts were close but the rears were over filled.

Second time out I had a passenger. I don't even know his name but he's the local PCA lead instructor. He gave me some constructive criticism. (slow down) Then he wandered off to clean himself.

Next I got a thrill. I got a ride in the RX-7. It's fast no doubt but what really impressed were the G's it could pull. Amazing. Solid. The only real movement in the car were the tires loading and un loading. You could feel the car plant the left front at insane angles (or vice versa depending on the turn) and just stick. I really mean it. Through the seat that tire or tires could be felt grabbing or grinding the pavement depending on how close to the edge they were. If the car took a hop to the side, at contact with the pavement it just grabbed. We did a little accidental drifting from time to time (the track was dirty) but mostly the car just stuck like glue. I got to see his line and it's similar to mine with a few exceptions. And talk about precision driving. He used every millimeter of the track, missed the tire barriers by the thickness of paint. An amazing ride.

Next heat I ran mine hard until the car stumbled badly then kept going. In to the pits again. I was really low on gas and thought at the time the pump sucked a little air.

Next heat I took the driver of the RX-7 for a ride. He flinched a few times under braking. His comments boil down to: You need real tires. You need a racing harness. Your car is loose and it's killing you getting off the corners. Try more rear toe in. (Currently have 1/16 toe in) You need real tires. Because the car is soft it needs time to transfer weight so brake a little earlier. You really know your car! (insert ego here). Real surprised that it didn’t understeer at all. Surprised by the stopping power. Said I drive an aggressive line that’s perfect for racing but not necessarily for timed laps. Try a later apex here and here. He found a few 1/10’s for me but I really need tires. Doubts I can get much faster without crashing or race tires. Those were his words, his face said a lot more. I think he was shocked by what our street cars can do. This is the second time I’ve taken a “pro” for a ride in my car looking for advice on how to improve it. Both think the car is still too soft, moves too much (brake dive and roll) and needs race tires to really show what it can do.

Les

 

Excellent write-up, as always.

I forget, which tires do you run on the track?

 

Hankook Ventus RS-3. 255/35/18 front (no understeer) 285/35/18 rear.

Les

 

I found a short video that has my car and a few others that participated in it. This is the corner where I had to let up early or have the bucking in the corner. The owner of the RX-7 is my passenger.

(3) TRACK DAY domingo 27 de Mayo en Ponce - YouTube

Les