HPDE: Where, When and Who With?

[all_aboard]

Originally Posted by mkivsoopra

I'd rather live within 1 mile of the track!

Lol I meant 2.5 hours away. I was distracted when I first typed that.

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[EAGLE5]

It's over a 2 hour drive for me to Willows. That's far enough to need a hotel the night before. Bout the same to Laguna Seca. Again, hotel. Sonoma is only an hour so maybe I could make that. Haven't driven there yet. Kinda nice to be in spitting distance of three great tracks.

[buzznasa]

I know several people have said that the best thing you can do to prep your car for a track day is to get some track pads and new brake fluid. I would like to share some empirical evidence as to why that is.

Which of these two do you think has been to track and on AutoX?



If you guessed the top pad, then you win a cookie! The top pad is stock and has a little over 11k miles on them. Compared to the bottom stock pad which has 14k miles on them of normal daily driving (and one track day in the rain which doesn't eat the pads much at all).

However, eating the pads quickly isn't the only problem. Getting the stock pads that hot will tend to glaze the surface making them less effective at creating friction (i.e. stopping force) when they make contact with the rotor.



No, that isn't a lens flare or chromatic abberation, the left pad is discolored from the heat.



So, if you are interested in a track day, heed the advice of the other folks much wiser than I when it comes to prepping your car, get some track pads so that you don't run off the end of the track because your foot went to the floor trying to stop.

Major thanks to @mkivsoopra for loaning me the pads to use for tomorrow's track day since my track pads haven't arrived yet. I owe ya a beer or three

[RC51ed]

So for those who got the question right... Where would we be able to claim this cookie that you so stated? Lol. Jk. Have fun on the track. Takes lots of pictures and charge your batteries on the gopro.

[Pish]

Originally Posted by RC51ed

So for those who got the question right... Where would we be able to claim this cookie that you so stated? Lol. Jk. Have fun on the track. Takes lots of pictures and charge your batteries on the gopro.

I was wondering as well , bring forth the cookies !!!

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[mkivsoopra]

The correct answer is... BOTH set of pads have been to track and autocross. Sorry, guys, cookie is mine!!

[RC51ed]

Originally Posted by mkivsoopra

The correct answer is... BOTH set of pads have been to track and autocross. Sorry, guys, cookie is mine!!

You must have read our answers wrong. Because we never gave our answers. Bettah break me off a piece of that kitkat bar.....😂😜😂😜😂😬😂😜😂

[buzznasa]

So.... First session of the day, someone in Open went off track going into West track and started a grass fire. Then someone else dropped oil on track. So, Several sessions got cancelled. They are trying to decide how to tack 3 groups to the end of the day.


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[ddeflyer]

Originally Posted by buzznasa

So.... First session of the day, someone in Open went off track going into West track and started a grass fire. Then someone else dropped oil on track. So, Several sessions got cancelled. They are trying to decide how to tack 3 groups to the end of the day.


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Damn, sounds like a mess!

Also, how long of sessions is NCRC running with the 5 mile track?

[WoOosOn]

Originally Posted by buzznasa

So.... First session of the day, someone in Open went off track going into West track and started a grass fire. Then someone else dropped oil on track. So, Several sessions got cancelled. They are trying to decide how to tack 3 groups to the end of the day.


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Oh snap. Thats sucks! Dam.. I know how that feels. Cant do n e thing but sit in that dam heat. Hope they fix everything soon so you get more track time.

[buzznasa]

Usual length of time... 20-25 minutes per session


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[acx23]

I hope the guy dropping oil wasn't a white BRZ with the mishimoto oil cooler. A friend told me he did that not too long ago. And I read that the mishimoto oil cooler likes to leak and start fires

Originally Posted by buzznasa

So.... First session of the day, someone in Open went off track going into West track and started a grass fire. Then someone else dropped oil on track. So, Several sessions got cancelled. They are trying to decide how to tack 3 groups to the end of the day.


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[buzznasa]

The West track is a lot of fun! It is very technical and awesome for small nimble cars. I pitted next to Luc and Bill from NCRC and had a lot of great chats with them. We were discussing the new track and Bill noted that it felt like a National Autocross track; lots of high speed, quick turns, hairpins, weight shifts, etc.

They said that it is very likely that they won't being doing the full 5-mile track again because of the price. They lost money on the day because the raceway charges an extra $7k for the 2 mile track. However, they are seriously considering running two concurrent track days; one on the three mile track and one on the two mile track.

However, one of the challenges that NCRC had yesterday was that all of the workers in the flag stands in the West track were relatively new. That is what exacerbated the problem with the grass fire and oil and diesel spill in the morning.

Overall, I am glad that I got the opportunity to run it as a 5-mile track. If you get a chance to run the 5-mile then I would suggest that you jump on it. The spots will probably fill fast.

@garfull was there too in his Miata but I never saw him on the track. Maybe it was because I always got on the grid early. However, that bit me in the butt in the first session as I was the first one over the chicane on 9C. I didn't realize how sharp the turn was and wound up going off and taking a shortcut through the dirt. Didn't make that mistake again :-p

I will post a video later of all of the off road excursions that I personally saw on the new track. There were a ton that I didn't get on camera too. A lot of people tried to drive it fast like the East section instead of a slow technical track like it is. Add to that the fact that it is relatively new tarmac which is isn't as grippy and lot of dirt being dragged on track from others... Yeah, it was a learning experience for a lot of people.

Here is a turn-by-turn break down including my best lap.. Many thanks again to @ddeflyer. Turn 2E was much better for me this time.

Oh yeah, this was my first time over the bypass. Much more of a gut check than I was expecting. It was still a lot of fun!

[BRZChix]

I would prefer NCRC to run either 2-mile or 3-mile or run them together as 2 different track. That way I don't have to worry about my short-term memory's ability to hold up in the 100 degree heat of THill.

Since 2-mile is newer and more technical, it would require one the same amount of time to acquire the skill and experience so that they can run the entire 5-mile smoothly. Running 5-mile track means u will run the 3-mile pretty good and then crawling through 2-mile (so I don't spin my car out cos I hate washing interior)...

Also if NCRC continues to do those weekend, I would love to track one day on the 3-mile and one day on the 2-mile, possibly would sit on driving school again for 2-mile just for safety purpose.

Once my 2-mile feels like 3-mile, then I will do the 5-mile track (maybe into the fall/winter when it's not super heated)

Thanks @buzznasa for the turn-by-turn guide u r so detail and the guide is extremely helpful