2012 John Mullis Memorial HPDE - VIR-F - September 7-9, 2012

Les Davis · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:04 pm **Posts:** 2059

Yes indeed, exceptionally well run event, congrats to the event organizers! Things click off literally like clock work. The weather bill this weekend was clearly mostly paid though I did get a good little rain shower during my last session on Saturday which added some excitement to things. :shock:

After 15 years of autocrossing, HPDE driving is certainly an entirely different beast. On the one hand, there is much less pressure as there is no competition on the line and ~75 looks at a course means you can just take your time and ease into things, however on the other hand speeds are much higher, your sharing the course with other cars and therefor the consequences are potentially much higher for mistakes so pressure is higher in that regard. The higher speeds and nature of things limit how much "hooning" one can do, you can't dorifto the corners and kick the tail out at will in your car nearly as much so as you can get away with in autocross, which to me makes it less "fun" in a sense. But the speed and challenge of precisely driving the track using as much of the track as you can are very exciting in their own way. I'll be back, oh yes, I'll be back, hopefully in something with a bit more exhaust rumble next time.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 4:54 pm

Well Les, I hope you stick with it and actually put some of your newly learned experiences to practical use. And yes, HPDE can be boring because it is not a race. It is "Education". But at the same time as you progress with this education you will have to force yourself into a state of higher concentration. The gap between 8/10ths & 10/10ths is huge.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:00 pm

It may not be a competition, but I sure as shit know every high dollar car I passed during the weekend.

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

steve remchak wrote:

HPDE...is not a race.

unless you go out in the same session as me

michaelsmiller · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:36 pm

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this weekend’s HPDE so much fun. Les, I will be changing to more rumble next year and it’s yellow too. Going from green to yellow was a big change for me. The MazdaSpeed spent a lot of time pegged. My new MPG rating is 8. I discovered that you can never have enough brakes. Braking was my biggest problem. Maybe it just shook me up more because the overall speed of yellow is so much higher than green . My instructor was pushing me to brake later and later. Her most repeated quote was “ Mike, you’re coasting again. “ There were a bunch of little things that I learned that I had to concentrate on constantly. Great weekend.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:01 pm

Jason Tower wrote:

steve remchak wrote:

HPDE...is not a race.

unless you go out in the same session as me

Yeh, well somehow I need to figure a way to afford 48 weekends a year at the track Jason.................. :roll:

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

michaelsmiller wrote:

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this weekend’s HPDE so much fun. Les, I will be changing to more rumble next year and it’s yellow too. Going from green to yellow was a big change for me. The MazdaSpeed spent a lot of time pegged. My new MPG rating is 8. I discovered that you can never have enough brakes. Braking was my biggest problem. Maybe it just shook me up more because the overall speed of yellow is so much higher than green . My instructor was pushing me to brake later and later. Her most repeated quote was “ Mike, you’re coasting again. “ There were a bunch of little things that I learned that I had to concentrate on constantly. Great weekend.

hard braking at high speed is your friend not your enemy, it converts kinetic energy to heat when there's more airflow to dissipate it. most novice drivers don't brake hard enough initially and have to add braking force towards the end of the braking zone which is the opposite of what you should be doing.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:52 pm

Jason Tower wrote:

michaelsmiller wrote:

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this weekend’s HPDE so much fun. Les, I will be changing to more rumble next year and it’s yellow too. Going from green to yellow was a big change for me. The MazdaSpeed spent a lot of time pegged. My new MPG rating is 8. I discovered that you can never have enough brakes. Braking was my biggest problem. Maybe it just shook me up more because the overall speed of yellow is so much higher than green . My instructor was pushing me to brake later and later. Her most repeated quote was “ Mike, you’re coasting again. “ There were a bunch of little things that I learned that I had to concentrate on constantly. Great weekend.

hard braking at high speed is your friend not your enemy, it converts kinetic energy to heat when there's more airflow to dissipate it. most novice drivers don't brake hard enough initially and have to add braking force towards the end of the braking zone which is the opposite of what you should be doing.

One could almost say that learning the course (track) helps also............ :wink:

RickyBeam · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:05 am

Jason Tower wrote:

most novice drivers don't brake hard enough initially and have to add braking force towards the end of the braking zone which is the opposite of what you should be doing.

Indeed. It makes me rather nervous having to add more break deeper in the braking zone -- will I have enough?!? I'd rather go into a corner way too slow than evenly slightly too fast. (which is why I went straight off at T1 Saturday) Also, the one thing I keep forgetting... the bug has ABS; I can use a great deal more force than I think. (not that I want to test it's ability to modulate track pads -- 2.5x the friction of OE pads.)

RickyBeam · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:48 am

michaelsmiller wrote:

My new MPG rating is 8. I discovered that you can never have enough brakes. Braking was my biggest problem. Maybe it just shook me up more because the overall speed of yellow is so much higher than green . My instructor was pushing me to brake later and later. Her most repeated quote was “ Mike, you’re coasting again. “ There were a bunch of little things that I learned that I had to concentrate on constantly. Great weekend.

Welcome to the club. VIR-N back in April... 7MPG. This weekend was 7 Saturday and 19 Sunday with it's broken "I'm not going to give you as much gas" error -- stupid computer, if you know the MAF is lying don't use it; there are pre-programmed tables for that exact reason. Though you wouldn't be able to tell by following me. Some of the mustang guys were commenting about how fast the bug can take off and fly out of corners. While the bug will certainly boogie, it's not a particularly long dance. :-) It's a 5-speed, and I'm not using 5th. (and it's ECU limited to 130.)

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:14 am

michaelsmiller wrote:

My new MPG rating is 8.

According to my on-board display I got 7.4 in the Mustang. I used to get 8 in the Cavalier, so a 300HP V8 doesn't suck that much more fuel.

Marty Howard · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:45 am

RickyBeam wrote:

Jason Tower wrote:

most novice drivers don't brake hard enough initially and have to add braking force towards the end of the braking zone which is the opposite of what you should be doing.

Indeed. It makes me rather nervous having to add more break deeper in the braking zone -- will I have enough?!? I'd rather go into a corner way too slow than evenly slightly too fast. (which is why I went straight off at T1 Saturday) Also, the one thing I keep forgetting... the bug has ABS; I can use a great deal more force than I think. (not that I want to test it's ability to modulate track pads -- 2.5x the friction of OE pads.)

One thing that will come along with more experience is you learn that brakes are not the only way to bleed off speed, and sometimes you want to use that extra momentum to do things like help rotate the car. At this point though getting a feel of the significant braking, and how to feel the signals that the car is sending you through out the process. As ones comfort level increases and a person isn't in informational overload, one learns the subble cues the car gives you on how it is positioned to take more or less input that includes braking and steering.

Carlton Whitehead · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:42 pm

Zach Hill wrote:

And I think Carlton might've enjoyed himself a bit too for his first track weekend.

This is a massive understatement.

It was a spectacular event, and I had a great time. I can't even fathom the logistics that go into organizing an event like that. Thanks to everyone involved!

Driving in HPDE traffic with controlled passing was definitely more difficult to keep on top of than I originally expected. It was also surprisingly fun watching the high HP cars run away from me on the straightaways. So was passing them after catching them up at the next corner while their instructor was surely reminding them to stay off the gas! :twisted:

Here are my last couple of laps from my last session on Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKO9PutrQcQ

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 1:11 pm

It's good to be back. I had a great time, and the new car was almost perfect - even though I had to get out and push it on the straights. Once it was in the turns? Fuggetaboutit, pure bliss.

That's probably my last track event of the year, looking forward to spring when the car will be louder, grippier and probably a little more powerful too.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 1:15 pm

Carlton Whitehead wrote:

Here are my last couple of laps from my last session on Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKO9PutrQcQ

That's a damn fine line Carlton...especially for a first timer! You are using most of the track-out in the majority of the turns, which isn't very each to teach a Green student. Good job.

Hopefully you can make it out to CMP with us next month.

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2012 John Mullis Memorial HPDE - VIR-F - September 7-9, 2012

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