weekend report 5/20/12

[pixelblue]

so after four events this year the car finally feels dialed in. the new ohlins feel fantastic although the kit supplied coils are a bit soft for my liking. the pagid pads have tremendous stopping power to the point that my calipers finally turned yellow after two years of abuse. every time i pulled into the paddock the brakes were smoking and I had to drive around the parking area to cool them down. the toyo RA1's have a lot of grip but obviously not as much as my last set of BFG R1's. had a hard time dialing in the right amount of pressure all day and they rubbed like crazy even after more fender surgery. you can hear it in my video. LOL

this was my first time back at this track in two years. guys this is one tough and challenging track that taxes you mentally and physically. the best way I can describe it is a combination of an autox and a roller coaster rolled up in one. there are 27 turns in 2.2 miles with lots of elevation changes, off camber turns (had a hard time with this turn), increasing and decreasing radius turns, uphill esses, downhill esses, a big crest down one of the short straights that requires you to back off the throttle otherwise you'll get airborne and then washes down hill into a carousel a la nurbergring style and one big hairpin. last time I was at this track I was still on my RFT's but had installed the M3 bits with the camber plates. so after thousands of dollars of mods I was able to better my previous best time by 3 seconds. was hoping for better results but honestly I was a bit rusty so there should be a few more seconds to shave off. one of the instructors had a 1M and we were parked side by side in the paddock. he had the same tires and brake pads as me but obviously he had way more rubber. anyway while he was tracking his 1M I timed his runs and he was 1 second faster than me. side note, he wasn't very friendly and played right into the typical stereotype. anyway I was running in the black group and the only cars faster than me were race prepped Z06, GT3, E36 M3 and a Z4 M coupe. you can see them passing me in the video. LOL. here are some pics and a video of my best session which turn out to be my first. guess I was trying to hard the subaru in front is a friend and he was experimenting with gopro 3D! should be interesting. he was following me most of the day and he should have some good footage of me three wheeling it bouncing off the curbs as he put it. will be back at this track again next month.

here's one with me chasing an exige. got wrapped up with socializing in the paddock and forgot to put gas in

here's one shot from a chase car. great back end action. I come in at 37 sec

[GaryS]

Looking good Kori, very smooth driving as usual. Happy to hear the Ohlins are working out. I got the impression that the rear springs are a little soft.

I've ridden with three instructors whose cars were almost as low as yours. All three bottomed out going over that hill on the bridge straight. My car is like a Jeep and doesn't care.

[int2str]

Originally Posted by pixelblue

the pagid pads have tremendous stopping power to the point that my calipers finally turned yellow after two years of abuse.

What Pagid pads are you running?
Are they street usable or track only?
Also, what rotors?

the toyo RA1's ... rubbed like crazy even after more fender surgery.

What sizes are you running (wheels & tires)?

[pixelblue]

Originally Posted by GaryS

Looking good Kori, very smooth driving as usual. Happy to hear the Ohlins are working out. I got the impression that the rear springs are a little soft.

I've ridden with three instructors whose cars were almost as low as yours. All three bottomed out going over that hill on the bridge straight. My car is like a Jeep and doesn't care.

Gary, the springs are definitely too soft. guess they must make something more suitable for street than track. at least it can be easily rectified. my car now sits a little higher. I think it was too slammed in the front. now I can use my jack with the pad together.

Originally Posted by int2str

What Pagid pads are you running?
Are they street usable or track only?
Also, what rotors?



What sizes are you running (wheels & tires)?

running the RS29's with BMW performance rotors. surprisingly they are quite on the street. been driving on them for a few days and so far not a peep. wheels and tires are 17x8.5 et 40 all around with 235-255/40x17's. the rears are 1/4" taller than oe diameter. I may try a little more agressive camber in the back and with stiffer springs I think it should do the trick. I hope

[Bimmer-Bob]

Kori, so you gained some ride height switching to the Öhlins as well? Your car still looks slammed, lol. I know your suspension is loaded in those pics, but still, I think you're sitting a bit higher than me. I guess my car is a couple hundred pounds lighter.

I find the suspension to be quite composed - it's fairly firm yet super, super comfortable for the street. Your comparison (in the other thread, I think) to an expensive watch is apt, I think. They have sort of a "lux sport" feel (just made that up, lol) which suits a BMW quite well, but sometimes I think firmer springs would still be a good idea. I'll probably make the leap to Swift springs before too long, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the ride around town (and part of me is a little afraid of degrading it too much).

[yandy]

That looks like a really fun track, glad your car's finally feeling dialed in and capable.

[pixelblue]

Yandy,
can't tell you how bad I feel for what happened to your car. I was planning on starting this thread in a few days but I saw how bad you're being flamed so I figured let's change the subject now. anyway I am sure you'll bounce up and dust off soon enough.

yeah this is a very challenging circuit. car and driver both get a full work out. so lucky I live an hour away

@bimmer-bob - I am pretty sure I'll be switching the backs to swift springs before my next event. I am thinking 550's should be a good compromise

[yandy]

@Kori

It's not all bad man, I learnt something and at the same time, those who decide to flame rather than take it for what it is, can go **** you know. I got more important things to worry about than what some internet thug has to say. Positive / Or negative feedback is welcomed in an appropriate way.. but this is your thread so I digress.

I'll create a post with some videos tomorrow of the good parts, which were many, including a wet session.

I like your camera angle, looks like the car's flying through those corners, nice to see what well setup car and good driver can do.

[Focusedintntions]

Kori man you missed turns, turned in too early, and didn't open your wheel enough on soooo many corners haha. Don't worry though as you still did better than me! I'm not a fan of that track it's just too busy for my liking and there are no visual makers for braking points or turn ins.

[pixelblue]

Chris,
it is really embarrassing how many times I missed that turn I remember (maybe incorrectly) that I used to take that turn much faster. such a weird turn because of the gearing. second gear would unsettle the car and third has little steam coming out of that corner. what to do...

Yandy,
put up the good videos! you too Chris

[GaryS]

Originally Posted by Focusedintntions

didn't open your wheel enough on soooo many corners

Haha yeah you did a leave a lot of track unused a few times. Well I agree with leaving some room for error on big bend at least, especially when the track out for little bend right before it has dust or puddles lying there. I've seen cars go off at big bend for apparently no reason, just not worth the risk IMO.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Kori,

Typo in my last comment. Meant to say that your car is sitting a little LOWER than mine. Oops.

[Focusedintntions]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XOoI11FVag&feature=youtube_gdata_player

There's a few laps from a session. All the laps I recorded lol

[pixelblue]

[pixelblue]

Chris, you were moving! love this track. clean up the windshield next time

[Focusedintntions]

Yeah by my last sessions I was really flying out there as I got the lines more and more down. Still need more work on them as I keep cheating corners and turning in a bit early and not getting outside far enough some entries. But yeah that poor GT3 lol...I almost made a C4S and a 996 Turbo wreck i flew up so fast on them through the uphill esses. The drivers got flustered so bad haha. Their instructors came up to talk to me after. I told him it just wasn't safe for me to tap the brakes in the middle while the car was loaded moving at those speeds....I lifted off the throttle halfway through and momentum carried me up on their asses. It's no my fault i go through there at over 100 and they're going 75...

[pixelblue]

yeah you were zipping through the esses and you were braking really late in the back straight. glad the brakes held up. are you going to try different pads this time or are you sticking with the Hawk's?

[Focusedintntions]

Think I'm going to stick with the hawks. I get them cheap and I really like them. And the back straight you can brake really really late b/c of the uphill there. It's hard to see in the video but you can brake past zero and make it if you're brave haha. with Rcomps i'll easily be braking at 1. Only do 2 b/c i'm being extra careful. I usually have all my braking done by 1 and coast to the downhill corner.

[pixelblue]

I've seen some people take a different line through that first turn through the back straight. instead of coming in from the right hand side, they come in from the left hand side and just bounce off the right curb and then a quick transition to left. it's an interesting alternative. you should watch some of mike skeen's videos.

[Focusedintntions]

Oh i have. There are a lot of different lines around the track as you get more and more advanced haha.

[pixelblue]

I wasn't kidding when I said this track is tough. just got back from the hospital. noticed a lot of blood and blood clots while urinating in the past few days. so stopped by and gave them a sample and got a ct-scan. waiting for the results. I always said after a day on this track you feel like if you have gone a few rounds of boxing and received a lot of body blows. I guess the track won and I lost. need to figure some sort of extra padding on the bolsters. going back in a month and I know I will be digging harder next time

[Focusedintntions]

Ouch Kori that's nuts! Maybe you should hold off on that track and go to VIR with me instead haha