Well Ive had a chance to rest and get some of the stuff unloaded. I was in Tulsa last Thursday - Sunday driving at Hallett Motorsports road course. A few friends and I rented the track for a few days and invited a bunch of guys to come down and play with us.
When I unloaded the car it had 50 feet on the odometer! How many times does a brand new car work well on the track without issue? Never. I'm getting ahead of myself so lets back up a few days and talk about setup. I have scales so I wanted to get the balance right after I had set my ride heights close to the factory car.
Front = 4.5 inches center axle
Rear = 5.5 Center axle
I have 1200lb springs in the back and 950's in the front.
The car weighs 2398 with me, 2599. The car is literally perfect diagonal balance after adjustment.
It was 46/54 front/rear - 1196/1402
FR = 595
FL = 601
RR = 698
RL = 704
That is about as good as I could get it which, in my opinion is fantastic. Oh yeah, that is with 5 gallons of fuel.
I had the shocks all set to 7 clicks rebound and compression out of 28 clicks. The tires were an old set of Hoosiers that Fran gave me to get the car home from his shop. They were set at 28 psi cold.
I set front camber at -1.75 and the rear at -1.25. The rear was set at 1/16th toe in and the front was 1/16th tow out. Caster was 6 degrees on the front.
That's how it went in the trailer.
So, Thursday morning, sunny 67 degrees, green track from rain the night before. The advanced group is up first to try to put some rubber down. Man, this is when all of your hard work is weighing on you like a ton of bricks. Will it make a lap before it falls apart, catches on fire, locks up, etc? The other drivers and spectators were all on the fence to witness the first lap. I could here it bottom out and scrape a few times but that was OK, I was still running.
I came in after a few laps and found no leaks or loose parts. It was running about 190 deg. on the water and 230 on the oil but I hadn't really driven it hard yet. I changed the shocks on the rear to 14 clicks compression and 10 clicks rebound. Tires were even as far as temp. That indicated that the camber was good and the car was tracking well. I did a few more shake down laps and continued to adjust the shocks. I settled on 20 clicks compression and 14 rebound on the rear and 14 compression and 10 rebound on the front.
By lunch time the brakes are bedded (hawk Blue pads) and the pedal is perfect. The car will stop on a dime and is very easy to control with great initial bite and smooth release. The shocks are pretty close to dialed in and the car seems to be running great but I smell gas after the first refuel!
I came in and I could see fuel residue down the passenger side. I guess I forgot to tighten the Sparco filler, those 10 bolts around the outside. They were all loose. Tighten up, problem solved. After lunch it is time to get on it!
We hired a senior instructor from Bonderaunt to help us and he had been watching my car all morning. He thought it looked fantastic on the track and want to go for a ride. He gave me some great advice but wanted to "show me what he was talking about".
He said I wasn't driving hard enough and that the car could take a lot more than I was giving her. I let him drive and he turned a very fast 1:27. That was 2 seconds faster than any car at last years event. Let me just say that, like women, some prefer a softer touch and smooth manners. The next session I turned a 1:24! Remember, I am still on the old tired Hoosiers.
I continued to run good the rest of the day as the car and I got to know each other better and better. That evening some of the guys were really bench racing but I hadn't told anyone I had a set of slicks in the trailer. :thumbsup:
I was going to go to the slicks on Saturday but the weather was good and I was ready for some real times. I found that I ran the day before with only 10 psi in the left front and it would not hold air. That was the excuse I needed to break out the slicks!
As I was putting the freshly mounted slicks in the truck, it started to rain and rain and rain. The day was over.
The next morning I was back on the track. This time I had my new shoes. The first couple of laps were slippery. I had never been on slicks but this sucked and I was almost ready to get the Hoosiers out of the trash when the temps began to rise.....
Holy mother of all things fast!!!:shocked::shocked::shocked:
This is what it means to be in a race car! Words can not describe how well this car runs. It just kept getting better and better and we were going faster and faster. How fast could you really take these corners? There really seemed to be no limit.
Then it happened. It was and uphill, off camber right hander called "the bitch" by the track officials. I came in smooth and it was looking good until I missed a down shift. With me feet on the clutch and the brake I started into the turn. I found the gear, dumped the clutch and spun out of control!
I stayed on the track but the car would not move in any gear. All I could think was "oh shit, how much is a 2011 997tt trans axle?"
I was towed back to the pits to find a broken outside stub axle. This particular corner loads all the weight to the dsrivers rear. With the big tires and a race clutch, it will do bad things to good parts if your not careful. Since it was Saturday and Sunday deliver is out and this is an RCR only part, I was done for the weekend but my times were still the fastest and I am still smiling because this car is so much better than I thought it could be.
I can sum up the experience by simply saying that this car can even make an average driver like me feel fast and you will definately draw a crowd wherever you go.
When I unloaded the car it had 50 feet on the odometer! How many times does a brand new car work well on the track without issue? Never. I'm getting ahead of myself so lets back up a few days and talk about setup. I have scales so I wanted to get the balance right after I had set my ride heights close to the factory car.
Front = 4.5 inches center axle
Rear = 5.5 Center axle
I have 1200lb springs in the back and 950's in the front.
The car weighs 2398 with me, 2599. The car is literally perfect diagonal balance after adjustment.
It was 46/54 front/rear - 1196/1402
FR = 595
FL = 601
RR = 698
RL = 704
That is about as good as I could get it which, in my opinion is fantastic. Oh yeah, that is with 5 gallons of fuel.
I had the shocks all set to 7 clicks rebound and compression out of 28 clicks. The tires were an old set of Hoosiers that Fran gave me to get the car home from his shop. They were set at 28 psi cold.
I set front camber at -1.75 and the rear at -1.25. The rear was set at 1/16th toe in and the front was 1/16th tow out. Caster was 6 degrees on the front.
That's how it went in the trailer.
So, Thursday morning, sunny 67 degrees, green track from rain the night before. The advanced group is up first to try to put some rubber down. Man, this is when all of your hard work is weighing on you like a ton of bricks. Will it make a lap before it falls apart, catches on fire, locks up, etc? The other drivers and spectators were all on the fence to witness the first lap. I could here it bottom out and scrape a few times but that was OK, I was still running.
I came in after a few laps and found no leaks or loose parts. It was running about 190 deg. on the water and 230 on the oil but I hadn't really driven it hard yet. I changed the shocks on the rear to 14 clicks compression and 10 clicks rebound. Tires were even as far as temp. That indicated that the camber was good and the car was tracking well. I did a few more shake down laps and continued to adjust the shocks. I settled on 20 clicks compression and 14 rebound on the rear and 14 compression and 10 rebound on the front.
By lunch time the brakes are bedded (hawk Blue pads) and the pedal is perfect. The car will stop on a dime and is very easy to control with great initial bite and smooth release. The shocks are pretty close to dialed in and the car seems to be running great but I smell gas after the first refuel!
I came in and I could see fuel residue down the passenger side. I guess I forgot to tighten the Sparco filler, those 10 bolts around the outside. They were all loose. Tighten up, problem solved. After lunch it is time to get on it!
We hired a senior instructor from Bonderaunt to help us and he had been watching my car all morning. He thought it looked fantastic on the track and want to go for a ride. He gave me some great advice but wanted to "show me what he was talking about".
He said I wasn't driving hard enough and that the car could take a lot more than I was giving her. I let him drive and he turned a very fast 1:27. That was 2 seconds faster than any car at last years event. Let me just say that, like women, some prefer a softer touch and smooth manners. The next session I turned a 1:24! Remember, I am still on the old tired Hoosiers.
I continued to run good the rest of the day as the car and I got to know each other better and better. That evening some of the guys were really bench racing but I hadn't told anyone I had a set of slicks in the trailer. :thumbsup:
I was going to go to the slicks on Saturday but the weather was good and I was ready for some real times. I found that I ran the day before with only 10 psi in the left front and it would not hold air. That was the excuse I needed to break out the slicks!
As I was putting the freshly mounted slicks in the truck, it started to rain and rain and rain. The day was over.
The next morning I was back on the track. This time I had my new shoes. The first couple of laps were slippery. I had never been on slicks but this sucked and I was almost ready to get the Hoosiers out of the trash when the temps began to rise.....
Holy mother of all things fast!!!:shocked::shocked::shocked:
This is what it means to be in a race car! Words can not describe how well this car runs. It just kept getting better and better and we were going faster and faster. How fast could you really take these corners? There really seemed to be no limit.
Then it happened. It was and uphill, off camber right hander called "the bitch" by the track officials. I came in smooth and it was looking good until I missed a down shift. With me feet on the clutch and the brake I started into the turn. I found the gear, dumped the clutch and spun out of control!
I stayed on the track but the car would not move in any gear. All I could think was "oh shit, how much is a 2011 997tt trans axle?"
I was towed back to the pits to find a broken outside stub axle. This particular corner loads all the weight to the dsrivers rear. With the big tires and a race clutch, it will do bad things to good parts if your not careful. Since it was Saturday and Sunday deliver is out and this is an RCR only part, I was done for the weekend but my times were still the fastest and I am still smiling because this car is so much better than I thought it could be.
I can sum up the experience by simply saying that this car can even make an average driver like me feel fast and you will definately draw a crowd wherever you go.
Congratulations Dean! I only wish I could have made it over but business got in the way. Another day I hope.
