[CP 1///M]

It was supposed to be "a quick recap" that turned into a long read...

Given how rare I'm on this forum (different stage of life, stupid busy work, etc), the occasional prompt from other users looking to make use of their M Laptimer data allows me to re-read my post on my first track day at Ridge and I feel it's a good time to recap my journey so far owning the 1M and tracking it

While I sign the papers and made a one time payment for this back in July 2014, it took one agonizing month to have it shipping from East coast out West by train. My first track day in June 2015 went with a hitch, and subsequently, I managed to visit the Ridge a grand total of 6 times, with the most recent being this past June. While I'm more comfortable driving without TC, I'm getting far less comfortable with a squared setup (265/35R18) which may or may not be fixable strictly with alignment. My best time at the Ridge was a 2:03.xx still on staggered, as my squared setup never got me faster than 2:06 that was practically running on fumes. First time out with the squared setup was scary, and resulted in 2 spins - 1 in Turn 3 just nudging the tire wall, the 2nd one at Turn 10 was practically a full send backwards in the gravel all the way out, scratching both rims on the driver side and front bumpers (which I left as "battle scars"). That was an 18x9.5 setup before I subsequently added spacers in the rear (22mm for all seasons, 12mm for summer which I track with)

Handling problem aside, as I track the 1M more, I start "breaking" it (which is quite a norm when you push a 1M hard) - the coolant bottle cracked (and slow leaked enough to get me right before the border), the charge pipe cracked (not during track day), idle suffered and lead to wholesale changes around the engine - coils, spark plugs, all the O2s and now probably back to coil or plug #2. Also learning that the oil temp can run quite hot vs a Japanese car (manual says 100-150c, when my mechanics tell me you don't want anything close to 130 coming a Japanese car background), but at least never actually overheated (mostly misfires and now seriously considering having a permanent OBD2 dongle logging relevant temps) - I had fellow drivers asking me if I'm overheating, because his 135 can't get too many hot laps before going into limp mode

Living on the north side of the border, I still call the Ridge my home track because the entry fee is somewhat reasonable and big enough to stretch out the engine. VIMC on island is a track with no real straight that I have never been able to fit on my "2 track days a year" schedule, and I managed to try Area 27 once at a good discount when it's hosted by VCMC. I wouldn't mind spending some time at A27 as the drive to and from the track is more interesting (vs I-5 traffic jams, occasional long waits when going the ferry route leaving Shelton) but not having a nailed down setup that I can be comfortable with is kind of bummer. I figure Ridge gives me comfort, while A27 could become the "real home" track once their entry fees become more reasonable on a regular basis

With the 7th track day of my 1M under the belt (and wait-listed for the 8th), I managed to spend more time on improving the video outputs. Yes, I know I should be spending time on improving my driving but in the end, I'm past the age of attempting competitive racing and on a track day, the #1 objective is to come home in one piece, hopefully not lingering issues from beating the car up. Acquiring a 2nd GoPro (Hero 5) definitely made for some excitement in having a "foot cam" or potential other angles - getting hit by the "video bug" puts me in a difficult position of wanting a 3rd cam (like a Session) and knowing that's a heated argument with my wife waiting in the wings. Instead, I will spend some minimal time ("minimal" relatively speaking) to build my own gauge set, or improving my script, or maybe ditch the current setup entirely and just pay for something like RaceChronos Pro / RaceRender / TrackAddict or you name it - it feels like a never ending "game"

This year has been expensive getting my 1M in a better shape (the O2 sensors being the back breaker), but now I ponder about going back to stagger, try an alignment on squared, or get the front roll bar / rear roll bar changed out, or "worse", go get myself something like Ohlins R&T (which is crazy considering a heated argument over a 3rd GoPro). At least my wife haven't try stopping me on going to a 2nd track day - a 3rd one in the year might be pushing my luck (and she's very understanding in a sense that this is my one true hobby as I don't have anything else, albeit quite an expensive one)

Still hoping to match my 2:03 using a squared setup but ponder if I should just ignore the resulting time and have fun out there (too many sub-2 drivers in my group this past June as I have to wave them by, which makes for a sub-optimal track day in terms of fun factor)