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Track Days (HPDE)

I'd say set the pressures as DeJeeper said and then forget it. Trying to get too tricky with a street car for a 0/0 driver is going to be information overload. Next event, maybe you can log it. His times will be so drastic between runs as he gains familiarity/confidence, it probably has nothing to do with tire temps.

I would focus on getting him into a comfortable driving position. Always want a good kink in the elbows - sitting closer to the wheel when racing vs Sunday cruising is a mental hurdle for some new drivers. Also, get him in and belted, then drive the seat forward to really tighten the belt. I even do that if I am going for a "spirited" ride out in the country. Being locked back into the seat instead of sliding around or exerting isometric tension to keep yourself in place is key.
 
Dejeeper said:
Issue is its a street car. If it doesnt have 3+ degrees of camber there is no way to use the whole tire. Personally i feel that anything under 26psi would be real bad for the tire sidewall.

One of these days ill do a western trip and hit those tracks.
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Camber or not you want to use as much of the tire as possible

And the only way to do that on a camber fixed or limited car is to drop the pressure, chalk the sidewall and examine it every run until you are rolling over slightly

I don’t think you understand tire construction fully. Sidewalls on a tire on a 3000lb car are certainly not suffering at mid 20’s. Heck Pirelli and Michelin mandated minimums are 20-ish on cars that are 3250lbs running the banking at Daytona or the curbs at Watkins Glen. And I have started cars on cold pressures significantly below mandated with zero issues

Rookie driver on street tires at an auto x will have no problems starting out low or mid 20’s pressure
 
Ya. Just going to keep it simple for him. Hopefully we will run different heats so I can ride with him. If all the moons and stars align, he can ride with me first and be either scared or excited. :laughing:Or both :homer:
 
XtremeJ said:
I don’t think you understand tire construction fully. Sidewalls on a tire on a 3000lb car are certainly not suffering at mid 20’s. Heck Pirelli and Michelin mandated minimums are 20-ish on cars that are 3250lbs running the banking at Daytona or the curbs at Watkins Glen. And I have started cars on cold pressures significantly below mandated with zero issues

Rookie driver on street tires at an auto x will have no problems starting out low or mid 20’s pressure
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I do fully understand it. Those tires u mention r slicks and they will heat up and get 10-12lbs firmer in 1-2 laps. They r also very careful driven on those out laps.


He is on probably z-rated 300tw tires. The construction is built for a level of comfort. Low 20s is a bad idea for a 45 sec course.


Either way... first day its not going to mater.
 
Got a new to me exhaust in last night.... 3 weeks for my first day this season.

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First track day was a rainy mess. Got a couple dryish sessions in at the end of day.

Here is my 2nd session...didnt even make it 1 lap.

 
I never ditched the rock rig for a track car. I just waited and saved to have both. My MIL's boyfriend has a miata that I did autox in. That was a blast. I already had the 1le for HPDE but, auto x was a lot of fun. Just sucks now because the closest auto x is 1.5hrs away and the tracks are all 4hrs away. I have to get back up towards PDX this summer and put some laps in when the track opens.
 
Gtrplyr78 said:
You still doing bike thing?
Any onboards from that?
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Yep. Post 167 was my latest on the last page, from February. Not doing it as much, but still doing it. I love hanging off the bike more than driving the car, but autocross is much less demanding than running the bike. I do hope to hit a few more races this year than the last few though.
 
Rttoys said:
Yep. Post 167 was my latest on the last page, from February. Not doing it as much, but still doing it. I love hanging off the bike more than driving the car, but autocross is much less demanding than running the bike. I do hope to hit a few more races this year than the last few though.
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Does the track time cross over at all? Both your toys are light and lower power aren't they?
 
Clemson13 said:
Does the track time cross over at all? Both your toys are light and lower power aren't they?
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Mostly yes. My track time on the bike has taught me to look ahead, setup corners, see the line and such. This easily transfers to the car and is a good advantage at autocross trying to learn a new track every month. Not to mention, I already know what all the flags mean and track etiquette. What doesn’t transfer from bike to car is the approach and exit to a corner, due to the bike I ride, which is a 300cc ninja. On the ninja, there’s not enough power to pull you out of corners, so you carry your corner speed and stay in the throttle a lot more than a bigger bike. Doing this, you “sweep” more corners instead of diving in on the brakes hard and powering out.

The goblin is light weight and small power, but it’s more like a 600cc bike where you have plenty of power to accelerate, so diving in hard on the brakes and powering out is the way to go. At autocross, it’s definitely a point and shoot type of car, but I tend to add a “sweep” when need be.

Specs for reference:
Ninja 300- 43hp (with mods) @ 630# with me and race gear. Top speed 102mph my max recorded via gps.

Goblin- 250hp (with mods) @ about 1900# with me in it. Not sure on Top speed due to bad aerodynamics, but I know it will hit above 110. Probably 130 top?
 
Used to have an Elise that I raced. Have a G35 I'd like to, but never have time.
 
We only go there a couple of times a year. Being on a track kind of limits your course, but you get the advantages and disadvantages of a track. It’s a fun mix. Here was the track layout
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It was hot as hell, but did autocross again on Sunday. Here’s my video and a few from my friends.










And course map
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Got a few more vids up.

Watkins Glen and got into the 2.13s on the clock but had a bunch of 2.12s but traffic. I did have hossiers on.



Watkins Glen nascar loop. This is super fun because its only the fast part of the track. I was at 89sec, nascar ave is 71 sec. I think the average speed is about 9mph



NY Safety Track, so this is a low buck moto track that has great asphalt but no flaggers( they use lights) and almost no barriers just trees. It not really safe, kinda a track but its in NY. All in all it was a really fun track even though i would only drive it 80%, if it were 2hr away not 4 i would go alot more often.

 
no autocross last month due to nationals, which a home town guy won his division. :smokin: Latest run from Sunday. It wasn’t 100* outside, so that was good.



And a friends run in a lotus 7 replica. He never shifts out of 1st :eek:

 
Went for a ride cause a bmw tossed a rod through the block. Luckily all 6 cars that went off avoided each other. Flaggers were slow that day, i guess their "a" crew was on the other track for the wrl enduro race.

 
January’s autocross from a couple of weeks ago. My son and daughter in law came out for the first time to do some ride alongs. They had an absolute blast. At the beginning of the vid, my DIL is riding passenger in the corvette in front of us. You could almost hear her scream :laughing:

 
Feb autocross


CMRA practice day


Maybe one day others will hit the track and post stuff :flipoff2: March autocross is this Sunday.
 
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