Laguna Seca Raceway and Club4AG FR-S

[Moto-P]

With RS*R Sports-i coil-over suspension, SSR Type C 18x7.5, Falken Azenis RT615K 225/40-18, Five Axis spoiler, Apex-i muffler, and Beatsonic Pod on top... I made my way out to the second track day, this time at Monterrey, California's famous Laguna Seca!

Without the details on what the place is like, since most folks do know about this place from video games and bigtime racing, I'll jump straight to the impression I got while wokring the FR-S hard on this demanding raceway.

The FRS was a JOY to drive on even the really hard course for production cars like this one. The inherent balance of the car kept the RS*R dampers and fairly aggressive Falken RT615K in check, still providing a really tight overall rigidity of the frame, and unibody, allowing the suspension to do its magic, and tires to stay on the surface.

The RS*R Sports-i system did a splendid job of keeping the FRS manageable, poised and out of trouble at Laguna Seca, even with huge grip afforded by Falken RT615K. The suspension was set to full soft on dampers at start, and found no reason to make it stiffer as it could just hold the car planted while giving enough motions up and down to weigh the car differently at each situation under brakes and steering, to manage the contact patch easily and with firm and predictable feedback, this is great too, as I don't need to fiddle with this for normal road use that's comfortable, and make the car feel any different on the raceway. This stuff is GOOD stuff.


On the hard braking zones on Turn 2 and turn 10, the stock brakes did show some fade, but after a minimal fade, it was stable there, and it can provide a fully predictable and repeatable stopping power for the rest of the sessions. I'd assume there is ample brake hardware here, and that one only needs performance brake pad upgrade to make it perform dead stable here. While calipers are not the fancy painted dual-sided unit that we are used to seeing on high performance cars today, the brakes are plenty big for this car, and all four brakes do a tremendous job of halting the car's speed well. Big rotors resist cooking at the track, and for a production model of mere $25,000 car, its darn impressive.

The FRS as usual, displayed fantastic chassis balance, that inspires confidence for any seasoned driver, and provides an astonishing level of feedback. While the inherent balance of the car is short, low, and extremely capable, and may challenge a novice at the wheel, it does push the novice to a higher level each corner, and trains the driver well, the do's and don'ts of any perfomance driving. High speed lift throttle yeilds plenty of communication, and Azenis RT615K just stays predictably planted to guide you to the proper apex. A tad of the brakes, after initial full braking section, mid corner, the car just responds like a champ, tightening the line with four wheels just tracing a mild over-steer stance, but not in a clocking violent drift. I should say here, the driver can induce that with correct inputs, but the car only is as good as the driver. The FR-S does communicate with you well however, to do this properly each tome, and if you aren't trained for it, it can teach you well too.

Turns 3-4, the mid-speed sections, the car stays nice and neutral under constant state throttle. Entry into 3 is a matter of lift throttle to tighten the line, as 200hp is not enough to get you up to speed to actually need too much brakes here, just a dab to poise the car, and when you got the exit line in sight, you can go right back to power gradually predicting from the feedback, how far you want to drift out on the outside berms on stable 4 wheel mild slide. Here again, steering, throttle, and feedback from the seats are simply a joy.

Approaching 4, is a snap with agressive tires, and just a quick lift of the throttle, to again, give the front tires a little weight to point the car, then back on full throttle all the way to turn 5.

Turn 5, is a short, full braking zone for the FRS despite of the low power, because in the hands of a proper skillsets, this car can shoot out of 4 so well, by the time we reach 5, there's plenty speed being carried in. Right past the marker #3, the (300 yard line?) dive on the brakes for about 1 second, pitching the front low and giving all the weight up there, to initiate a strong turn-in, and without further due, and as soon as you can predict the exit line up the outside of the straight immediately after, go full power... FRS will exhibit a neutral steer state under full power despite the heavy throttle since the elevation change hooks the front tire just enough on the racing line to keep it from plowing the steer tires. If you don't do this right, the FRS will not reach enough speed up the big hill that is 5-6-7.

Up the huge grade that is after 5, 6 will come up quite leisurely in the FRS with not much power. It's one of those places where the driver can take a breath before lifting a bit for 6, and carving a nice safe predictable line and continue up the hill to the peak elevation of the raceway.

The approach to the famous corkscrew is sort of fantastically simple in the FRS. This is because the FRS never hits the high triple digit speeds that most race cars we see, and the crest is full of tire marks left by big cars, so you just find the darkest tire line, and follow that in from the middle of the track. Why not the outside? In the FRS, going outside takes a slight flick in steering, and that both adds friction and upsets the balance going into the braking zone almost the same moment immediately afterwards. On a faster high HP, heavy metals like Corvette and GTR,one might choose the outside just to get a bit more room to turn in, but the FRS doesn't require it, and it can just stab the brakes hard, hit the early clipping point, and shoot over the blind crest that is the corkscrew's what is called the scary point of "aiming for the trees and trusting that the road will be there when you fall off that cliff!!" It's actually REALLY scary for those who visit the first time, and takes several laps to get used to it. And once familiar, and with a little caution, its not much issue at all since it isn't a very high speed section.

Just over the crest, and if you are confident, just half power the car till you see the bottm right apex, then gun right through it under full power. You will be amazed that this short 4 story drop will instantly get you from 50mph to 90 in no time flat!! And turns 8-9-10 are the actual most dangerous point on the raceway, as you carve all of them at relatively high speeds, and are sequential, all with late apex, and timing, lines, and control is precise through this sharp downhill section.

Turn 8, the FRS is poised on fine balance, and almost in a surgical manner, guide the car on tiptoes to the very late apex, making a straightest line towards the middle of the exit, so you can setup for 9 wide on the outside, this preferably under as much throttle, but keeping just enough back to meet the deadline and keeping it off the "dead zone" where the concrete walls are VERY close to the outside of this.

Turn 9 is a seemingly narrow 90 degree right, and here you can play a bit and coax the FRS into a neat 4 wheel drift, or even a canted over-steering madness, you chooce. But be warned that if you are trying to beat the clock, every antic here will cost you plenty. But hey! The FRS is a FUN car, not a lap-monster like an EVO. Just have fun.

Turn 11 is a sharp 90 left, with walls on the inside so we squeeze the brakes hard, while trying to merge into a single file with other cars all clustering here under full brakes as well. Nothing special here. But proper braking and speed management is what determines the long straight-line speed down the main straight. FRS is one of the nicest cars to do this one too, as line correction is SO easy, and even pretty dumb miscalculations here where most cars drip off the outside of this one, the FRS can be corrected in time to stay on and under throttle. This is also where this weak engine FRS, with the correct skill set, can overtake cars like the NSX, GTR, and others as they struggle to get around this sharp turn, slowing massively and taking on a huge weight disadvantage, or in the case of the NSX, the inability to keep weight distribution on the front tire long enough to apply throttle, and cost in speed. The FRS will shoot of 11 with enough speed advantage that the GTR/NSX class cars barely have enough time to get past you down the straight. Be warned though that this is where you can ALSO tell if you are a good driver. If you are perfect, then GTR and NSX can be dodged inside along the straight, and kept at bay down the straight. If you suck, they will go right past you... It all depends on how you executed 11 in the FR-S.

OK, so that's a snapshot of a lap of Laguna Seca inside of the Club4AG tuned FRS. Now, after 20 laps of Laguna between 3 sessions, the car has blueish tinted brake rotors, still works perfectly...LOL. And the brake lines may need a bleeding, as with any other car that ran this track. Overall though, the engine sounds exactly the same as the day I bought it, and all the pieces on the car are still nice and tight.

One thing I did notice on my AT paddle equipped car. The engine is rather quiet on the FRS with windows fully open on a high speed track like this, especially with a helmet on. This, even with slightly more voiceful APEX-i exhaust, the silky smooth FRS engine, and it's nice even torque to redline didn't give me enough audio engine feedback to shift in time sometimes, and I would find myself watching the tach a lot to avoid hitting the limiter which hits rather sharply. The RPM blinker on the tach, set to blink at 7000, that's on the FRS was a neat and useful device today.

With a manual, its a bit more busy with closer ratios and one might have more mental clock to keep it off the limiter. However, AT was a pleasure to drive here as well in fully manual paddle, and even in more automated Sport VSC/Trac OFF setup where the software seemed to almost built off this track, and knew every shift point better than I did. haha.

But for something like a raceway outing, I see the AT as part time, and prefer the manual. Mine is a 99% city cycle FRS, and as such a fine compromise. My next car I am sure will be a manual when I am ready to dedicate it more to fun recreation, and planned with a but more tear-down cycle and mods.



Laguna Seca by Moto@Club4AG, on Flickr


Laguna Seca by Moto@Club4AG, on Flickr


Laguna Seca by Moto@Club4AG, on Flickr


Laguna Seca by Moto@Club4AG, on Flickr

[Spaceywilly]

Awesome read. I definitely need to get my car out to Laguna Seca somehow. got any videos?

[Dadhawk]

Moto-P you're living the dream, man! Great write-up and seriously jealous!

Could you post one or more of your photos on my "Landmarks" thread? Definitely qualifies for a place of honor there.

[Synack]

Ugh, I ♥ Laguna Seca. Always wanted to smash that corkscrew lol.

[Fish]

Very nice write up! Would love to try tracking the car just once.

[Flipside909]

I had the pleasure of joining Motohide at Laguna Seca this past Sunday and riding shotgun. With his setup, he was able to catch up and pass a group of NSX's, Porsche 944, Mini Cooper S, Mazda Miata, and etc. Here are some photos I took:














Down the corkscrew:









Here's a screen shot of video I took with my GoPro:

[Hanakuso]

Awesome write up! Is Laguna Seca still not newb friendly? I really want to go but i'm still a beginner

[kidgogeta]

what was best lap time?

[ZetaVI]

Wow. This is amazing. Corkscrew looks so scary.

[ZmZMWagon]

I hate you FRS/BRZ crowd.....I'm regretting my decision not to wait!

[Moto-P]

Never had a clean lap and wans't about to take it 10/10ths on such risk with 4 years of payments on the car yet. But my car did post 1:30.013 with the same setup just 2 weeks ago at Streets of Willow Springs, that's going clean and balls out...9/10ths.

[Flipside909]

Originally Posted by ZetaVI

Wow. This is amazing. Corkscrew looks so scary.

It's not scary, it's tons of fun, especially with a great driver behind the wheel. The sensation of free falling is greater!

[drifter]

Wow, and I live 5 minutes from Laguna Seca, jealous. I do plan to hit a track day soon though.

[V1B]

We should do lguna seca frs/brz meet day