I'm happy to report I passed instructor training and had my first student this past weekend at Summit Point Shenandoah. It was a fun ride start to finish, a 2 wheel off moment and rotors with serious pad deposits kept me on my toes. By the end of the weekend we were rolling so much additional speed through big bend (a fast left hander) that my student thought we must be in a lower gear based on the rpms.
As a track Shenny has a real laid back atmosphere. It's in a quiet town, you get to camp next to the track, they've got warm showers and some of the best trackside food. The circuit itself is highly physical and given my gearing + intake I was shifting 9 times per lap. With the typical pricing for events here, it's a serious value for anyone in the DMV area. Here's my Catalyst onboard where I set a few PB laps in a row.
Onto the car. I finally installed the 328i brakes and let me tell you, the 2mm piston size increase makes a remarkable difference. Between that and some stickier tires, my understeer issues have been largely resolved. The Kumhos I picked up have been phenomenal as well. They have significantly more grip than the 615k+s, which I'll never run again. With 6 track days on the Kumhos the outer block is a slick but they still have at least 4 more days left.
They're temperamental on warm up, and need a lap or two to build pressures and temps into the sweet spot. Once there, the tires are remarkably consistent before falling off to slightly below their top pace. I've found 27-28psi hot is the sweet spot for pressure as indicated by the wear bars and overall feel. I haven't run them in the wet, and at this point I wouldn't want to.
I'll be back up at Watkins Glen this monday/tuesday and the weekend after that I'll be at Summit Point main. Would love to see some other 1ers out there!
