Snails - Racing for Real

  • Thread starter CoachMK21
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Dragonwhisky
Spent a couple hours down at NCM Motorsports Park today.

In no particular order.
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Cars. Lots of Cars.

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View attachment 519505 View attachment 519506 View attachment 519507 View attachment 519508 View attachment 519509 View attachment 519510 View attachment 519511 This car was so fast, I couldn't catch his launch.

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View attachment 519528 View attachment 519529 View attachment 519530 View attachment 519531 View attachment 519532 View attachment 519533 View attachment 519534 View attachment 519535 View attachment 519536 View attachment 519537 View attachment 519538 View attachment 519539 Maybe this one was the Hellcat. All them Dodges look the same to me.

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Found out just how relatively inexpensive once of these events are and so, after I get a few AutoXes under my belt and bond with my car a bit more, I'll be headed down there to put me and him on the track.
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What kind of event was this? Time Attack? Looks like a good group of fast cars.
 
CoachMK21
What kind of event was this? Time Attack? Looks like a good group of fast cars.
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So far as I could tell, there were no timing lights. They set cone gates at various places around the track to keep speeds down. Think it was a just a dash and thrash thing. Nothing really official. Probably similar to an AX Test and Tune without timing.
 
I replaced my old OEM rear shocks today and discovered that not only do they look like they're at least 20 years old, one of them was almost completely blown, the other was okay but still needing to be changed... The cheap KYB gas-a-justs that went in are a big upgrade over that... Lol

Soo hopefully the car will move around less this month haha :)

Also I got some videos a friend of mine shot last month from next to the course that I'll post up soon. Watching the car move around is fun haha :)
 
I went to the Rochester International Auto Show today with my oldest son and one of areas had SCCA type stuff. A Rally car, F mod autocross Miata and a 1989 Ralt Super Vee. That's a pretty tight fit in the Super Vee. Both my son and I took a turn sitting in it. They guy said he bought the car, spare parts, a truck and trailer for under $30k. A couple guys autocross a similar one too. Might be something to look into in the future.
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Let's face it. I live in the northeast US and these past several months have been an agonizing stretch of fun-car-less-driving. So what am I to do? I went indoor karting, which is fun and has some transfer benefits to car racing. I've increased my GT6 play, which is also fun and has some real life benefits. But what I've really focused on this winter is reading and watching tips to improve my driving. There are countless places you can do this, but I've narrowed them down to a couple that I really like and can relate to.

The first is Ross Bentley's Speed Secrets. I have the book and although I'm not reading through it as fast as I would have liked, it has a lot of useful information. Ross also has a great website where he shares driving tips every few days. These are gold. They all relate and they all can be implemented. He also has a few free e-books you can receive.

The second is "Safe is Fast presented by Honda". These short video's cover a wide variety of topics that also all relate to what I want to do. They release new videos less often than Ross' blog, but this gives you more time to rewatch them :) You can also find the Safe is Fast video's on YouTube if that's more convenient.
 
@JFlagg_PGH

I will be doing the spring rental series at PittRace if you're up for some "real" SNAIL competition. :) 5 events on Fridays @ 5:00ish starting May 20th. If there are enough people to split the field they will split via driver weight. I'm in the light class.
 
Put together another video, not as happy with my driving as before but still finished better than last month.


I'm thinking of getting some BFG sport comp 2s for my next tire even though it's not one of the "competitive" tires, anyone used those before? They're cheap in my size (195/50/15) and probably last a long time compared to the lower treadwear tires.
 
ConnorWolf
Put together another video, not as happy with my driving as before but still finished better than last month.


I'm thinking of getting some BFG sport comp 2s for my next tire even though it's not one of the "competitive" tires, anyone used those before? They're cheap in my size (195/50/15) and probably last a long time compared to the lower treadwear tires.
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Looks like those tires have some pretty positive reviews on tirerack's website. For $79 a piece (w/o shipping, etc) it's a great price at 340 TW.

If you are looking at a minimum TW tire for cost, both the Hankook RS-3 ($110) and Dunlop ZII StarSpec ($111 after rebate) are the cheapest. I have used the Hankook's and found there a very good tire. On my Z, I used them for 2 track days (8 x 40 minute sessions) at Watkins Glen and around 80 autocross runs and they are still legal, barely. Still good tread depth, but the shoulder of the fronts are pretty well worn. I still use these when I drive it around, but have a different set of tires/rims for autocross.

So the cost difference looks like around $120, but the more expensive ones won't last as long. If you're not super serious about it and trying to save some money, I'd say go with the BFG Sport comp 2's.

As for your run, it looks pretty good. Even if the car doesn't happen the slalom real well, you do well in your placement of the car. Is that a crack in your windshield?


Dragonwhisky
Got my first AX in with the Camaro yesterday. Kilt a couple cones but didn't spin or get lost on track. Will get some pics and maybe a video of one of my runs up perhaps tonight.
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Cones are meant to be hit, but not on your fastest run :) I'm looking forward to seeing your car in action.
 
CoachMK21
Cones are meant to be hit, but not on your fastest run :) I'm looking forward to seeing your car in action.
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Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. Trying to get a good line up for the launch to the first cone, I knocked over a cone at the start line, DNFed the run. :(
Was running in class with a 5.0 Mustang and another 'Stang with a V6 and adjustable suspension. I had the 5.0 until the very last run but he nicked me by .2 in my best clean run.
That other Stang owned us both by +5.
 
Dragonwhisky
Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. Trying to get a good line up for the launch to the first cone, I knocked over a cone at the start line, DNFed the run. :(
Was running in class with a 5.0 Mustang and another 'Stang with a V6 and adjustable suspension. I had the 5.0 until the very last run but he nicked me by .2 in my best clean run.
That other Stang owned us both by +5.
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It was even closer than you say, .072 to the guy in front of you. Is that Mustang you mention running stock suspension or aftermarket that is adjustable?
 
From what he said, the OEM shocks allowed adjustments but they put on some aftermarket shocks that allowed the same adjustments so he can run on FS. Timing shows he oughta be in another class. Although without the other 2 registered entrants to FS showing up, it might be a little hard tell, since it was the 5.0's and my first time.
 
I don't have any high speed video equipment, hell, I don't have any low speed vid gear, the video and pics were taken with a Samsung S6.

2nd run, tranny in auto sport mode. After that run, I flapped into 2nd, launched and left it there. Would've liked to have gotten vid of any of the last 3 runs but the person who was taking the vids left cuz it was to cold.


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I've used both, my phone and a GoPro. The phone is much easier, but then you sacrifice quality. I now have 2 GoPros, a Hero3 White and a Hero4 Black, so I can mount one facing forward and move the other one around; bumper cam, facing the driver, etc.

I still mount the phone on the windshield, so I can run my data app, Harry's LapTimer (HLT). It's a relatively cheap app for the amount of data it provides. Just under $30 for the full app, but there is a $10 basic version that works fine and you can upgrade later if you want. I also have a OBDii that integrates with HLT to give some additional car data specs.
 
I rarely record my runs, but when I do; I use a gopro. The base Hero camera is under $130 now, and does everything I would need. Recording runs can both help, and hinder your performance.
 
Lessen
@JFlagg_PGH I will be at PittRace tomorrow @ 4:00 with some a handful of friends. Make it up if you're free. Weather will be fantastically gorgeous. 👍
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Damn, just seeing this now. I was wrapped up in house projects all weekend. Keep reminding me though, I want to get up there soon! :cheers:
 
Lessen
There were 8 of us in our group and we ended up doing 4 races. Such a good time. This was my best performance of the day, until that dreaded sound. put put..

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I watched this earlier. You had some really good lines and because of that, really good speed! Was the tank not full to start or were you just too fast for the kart? :)
 
Here's the video from Sundays first race on the Jim McRae Memorial weekend. Had a lot of fun this race battling it out for first early on, then making costly mistakes that led to a very close, (Sometimes too close) race for second with Darren Grandbois in the #48. Race two is being edited as we speak with much of the same story line, but a little more dramatic... Managed to string three second place finishes together to start out the 2016 campaign, which isn't too bad considering the car is still a huge question mark in terms of speed and drive-ability.

 
I did embarrassingly bad (imo) in my actual timed runs at the autocross event in Myrtle Beach last Saturday, so here's a fun run I did afterwards that was better than my actual timed run. (No it wasn't really a 43.9 but it was a 46.4, .2 faster than my best clean run, even though I had a passenger, drifted very wide in the first half, and grabbed the e-brake ineffectually at one point)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/74764581/fun run.avi
 
My local SCCA region, Finger Lakes, had their opening round for for the autocross season this past Sunday. I was a little uneasy heading into it, because the majority of the top drivers went to the Evolution School the day before. I wanted to go, but I balked at the $260 price tag. The instructor (2-time national champ David Whitener) from the EVO school raced in one of the attendees cars too and gave a course walk through to those that went. Fortunately for me, one of my friends walked the course with me and gave me his tips.

I had no idea how I was doing in the morning session. We had issues with the timing, the display clock and the live timing on the web. I was told that I was 2nd in class after the morning, only a tenth of a second out of first with a 30.266 clean run. My first afternoon run was a big improvement, 29.496. I had another clean 29.550 and a 29.426 with 2 cones. Most drivers didn't improve in the afternoon, so I ended up winning my class by .550 and I was 11th overall with 4 pro drivers ahead of me and I beat David as well (he was 12th). @z06fun was the overall winner.

Here is my 29.550 run. Again, the front facing camera didn't get a good picture (I have some tips to avoid that in the future). You can watch @z06fun's runs below as well.

My video:



Chris' video:


Top 16 on PAX. Check out how close the times are. From 1 to 16: .940 / 2 to 16: .696 / 7 to 11: .086!
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Well, I said I wasn't totally happy with any of my runs at Myrtle Beach, but since I got TWO views of my fastest run I figured I'd put this together.



Always looking for critiques if anyone has any :)

@RobbiefromBC It might be my imagination, but it seems like you lose time on the straights.
 

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