CORPCON and THUNDRHILL this weekend!
ThePerfectLine is flying up and renting a G37 and hitting the Track with me and Rave-Boy. TheDuff is making his long awaited appearance driving down from Portland (the most depressing city in America) to do some gaming and gettin some rides. TheWarden has put up his place as Goober Central and we'll have TheGM, the Prof, the Acupunturist, and NTT's Brain in attendance as well!
Re. track days: I've now been to nine track days and attended about a dozen others as a spectator receiving rides from instructors. One thing you notice about the cars that come to these events....you see the same model of cars every time. You'll see:
- Porsche's: 911's, Boxter's, and now more and more, the Cayman.
- BMW: mostly E36 and E46 M3's.
- Subaru: WRX's and STi's.
- Mitsubishi: EVO POWER!
- Mazda: Miata's mostly
- Honda: S2000's and Civic Type R's
- Lotus: Elise's and Exige's
- Corvette: mostly Z06's.
- Mini Cooper S's
And occasionally, you'll find a one or two:
- Audi: S4's mostly
- Mustang: GT's
- Nissan: 350's
- Ferrari's: 360's
- Acura NSX
Now for cars you will almost NEVER EVER SEE:
- Any other American heavy ass, rattle trap, brake-fading, overheating piece of shit.
- Mercedes Benz: Despite their prodigiously powerful AMG's, mostly blue-haired 60+ year old real estate brokers drive these 4000lb cruisers.
- Volvo's
- Saab's
- Lexus
- Infinity (maybe a G coupe every now and again)
- Any Korean Car
- Any SUV or Crossover or Hybrid
- And to reiterate: Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, GMC, Mercury, Oldmobile, Plymouth and Pontiac
- And any car weighing more than 4000lbs
To demonstrate, here is the list of cars that will be in attendance at our next Track Day:
http://speedventures.com/events/attendees.aspx?id=-1999999626
I will see my first DODGE at any track event I've ever been to at this event.
You see, 95% of automobiles can't even manage going around the track even for ONE LAP, particularly in stock configuration. Ask thePerfectLine. Give him the car for ONE HOT LAP balls out and I'm sure he could completely destroy most cars gearbox's, ignite a fire in the wheel well from the brake rotor heat, over-heat most cars piddly cooling system, send the oil temp through the roof, and boil the hell out of the brake fluid. I'm not saying that 95% of cars can't drive a lap at a road course because any car can drive a four minute lap at Thunderhill...my mother can drive a four minute lap at Thunderhill in her Toyota...okay, she can't, but her car can. What I'm saying is that 95% of cars when driven 10/10th's by a hot shoe will explode into pieces after just a few laps.
And thats what truly impresses me about most of these track-ready cars; their ability to endure massive amounts of abuse. They can rev and rev and rev and bounce off the limiter all day. You can pound and mash on the brakes till ABS kicks in 10 times every lap. You can throw it into a turn at a speed your mind can't accept, and the car just takes it again and again and asks for more.
I've never had that kind of car....until now.
Re. track days: I've now been to nine track days and attended about a dozen others as a spectator receiving rides from instructors. One thing you notice about the cars that come to these events....you see the same model of cars every time. You'll see:
- Porsche's: 911's, Boxter's, and now more and more, the Cayman.
- BMW: mostly E36 and E46 M3's.
- Subaru: WRX's and STi's.
- Mitsubishi: EVO POWER!
- Mazda: Miata's mostly
- Honda: S2000's and Civic Type R's
- Lotus: Elise's and Exige's
- Corvette: mostly Z06's.
- Mini Cooper S's
And occasionally, you'll find a one or two:
- Audi: S4's mostly
- Mustang: GT's
- Nissan: 350's
- Ferrari's: 360's
- Acura NSX
Now for cars you will almost NEVER EVER SEE:
- Any other American heavy ass, rattle trap, brake-fading, overheating piece of shit.
- Mercedes Benz: Despite their prodigiously powerful AMG's, mostly blue-haired 60+ year old real estate brokers drive these 4000lb cruisers.
- Volvo's
- Saab's
- Lexus
- Infinity (maybe a G coupe every now and again)
- Any Korean Car
- Any SUV or Crossover or Hybrid
- And to reiterate: Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, GMC, Mercury, Oldmobile, Plymouth and Pontiac
- And any car weighing more than 4000lbs
To demonstrate, here is the list of cars that will be in attendance at our next Track Day:
http://speedventures.com/events/attendees.aspx?id=-1999999626
I will see my first DODGE at any track event I've ever been to at this event.
You see, 95% of automobiles can't even manage going around the track even for ONE LAP, particularly in stock configuration. Ask thePerfectLine. Give him the car for ONE HOT LAP balls out and I'm sure he could completely destroy most cars gearbox's, ignite a fire in the wheel well from the brake rotor heat, over-heat most cars piddly cooling system, send the oil temp through the roof, and boil the hell out of the brake fluid. I'm not saying that 95% of cars can't drive a lap at a road course because any car can drive a four minute lap at Thunderhill...my mother can drive a four minute lap at Thunderhill in her Toyota...okay, she can't, but her car can. What I'm saying is that 95% of cars when driven 10/10th's by a hot shoe will explode into pieces after just a few laps.
And thats what truly impresses me about most of these track-ready cars; their ability to endure massive amounts of abuse. They can rev and rev and rev and bounce off the limiter all day. You can pound and mash on the brakes till ABS kicks in 10 times every lap. You can throw it into a turn at a speed your mind can't accept, and the car just takes it again and again and asks for more.
I've never had that kind of car....until now.
posted by supergoober at
11:55 AM
4 Comments:
In all seriousness, if I am making the drive from Portland (about 9 hours BTW), I call first available spectator ride in the Evo. I'm borrowing a helmet from Bryce.
I don't know if the box can handle a hot lap by thePerfectLine, but that doesn't mean it won't handle some general track time. Personally, I wouldn't mind being in the car with TPL driving so I can see what I may be missing out on in the Box. And really, how many Boxes get out there?
I should have the pads, lines and fluid replaced by the time I get down there. It already has springs and Falkien tires on it. I kept the wheels the stock 15" diameter so I wouldn't need to up-size my brakes. And, at your behest, I have not changed to a short shifter.
Dude! Download the TECH form from Speedventures.com and fill it out! In this case, TPL can put your car down as a possible car he can drive!! I think he'll have a blast taking you out in that car!....bring your helmet just in case he rolls it...okay, bad joke.
If I drive at say 6 or 7/10ths it should be able to handle a couple of laps. I mean DP tracked his box about 20 times, so I am sure mechanically it is fine, its just a case of undo tire/brake wear you need to be concerned with.
The problem is that 60% braking for me, is about 115% braking for other people. I am actually very soft on cars on tracks. Which is emphasized by the fact that I get 10+ track days from tires and brakes (hard core track heads get 4-6). But I still use 100% of the brakes, and let ABS kick in a couple of times per lap.
I can take it easy though, and just meander around the track (which will feel like reckless out of control driving to most people).
I would love to take a Police Interceptor on the track and mash it into a pulpy blob at 130 m.p.h.
I tried to roll the car at 75 m.p.h. on a 180 degree spin inside an alleyway, but i only managed to kill several civilians (orange cones).
Poo.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home