THSCC Forums

Matt is yanking my chain. DO NOT try 5 without braking. I did once, on really bad Hoosiers, and well, made 5 no problem. On the other hand, 6 and 7 didn't work out so well.

Did you know you can see the worker station at 7 REALLY well from the top of the banking? I mean, a really nice view from way up there.

Matt, when we go back I'll try it again but this time on MUCH better tires. Have your camera on and show me the video!

Ron

We are working closely with Ronnie and track management to get some curbing out there (and other areas) to hopefully alleviate that issue

Quite true. One of the things Matt, Steve the track designer and I did Friday was go out and mark where we thought curbing would be useful.

Interestingly when we were walking the track to mark it out I found, right off the track but basically on line for 5, a piece of, my guess, 2" pipe sticking out of the ground. A sure tire buster. Couldn't figure out why it was there butsure am glad we saw it. A pair of vise grips and a little twisting and it disapeared.

R

I don't brake (much) for 5. The Toyos I had this time wern't quite a grippy as the V710s I had in June.

If I had driven the way I did the other weekend with fresh V710s, I'd be in "Club 1:09"

Yeah sure! I plan to actually break down and buy some new tires for next year. The ones I was on were fine but years old. Not lots of heat cycles but not built this year or last. Torn between the Kumho V710 ( that's their new one right?) and the Toyo RA1 which seemed to do well in the SCCA spec miata tryouts. They said not the quickest but had the least fall off over many runs.

As for 5, I had to go to 4th just at the worker station/ the bus on the 2nd infield straight.. I braked more than I needed to but had to finish the shift to 3rd. Guess I need to go back and try it both ways (staying in 3rd at the rev limit or shifting) to check again which way is better.

R

I am not overly thrilled with the wear I got on my Toyos. Those tires we rotated from tht front on Sunday afternoon were shaved and had 3 VIR-N sessions on them. I *might* get another day our of them. That's 4 days total if I'm lucky. I used to get a whole season. I think they've changed their compound.

I really liked the V710s. Their wear wasn't significantly better (but still better), they grip like Rotwielers on crack, are no more expensive, and their performance doesn't fade like the V700s.

If I can get a deal on the new Hankook tire, I'd like to try those...

BTW, at what point did you conclude that no brakes for 5 was a bad idea? Diane was in the car with me and as soon as you got to my normal brake point and I saw no brake lights, I said "Hey, check this shit out. One way or another this will be spectacular..."

I was right.

Well, at turn in when the car didn't react the way I wanted it to I was pretty sure no brakes just wasn't going to cut it. By the time I came to a stop on the high side of the banking I was sure!

That said, I'm pretty sure with newer tires AND cutting over the gravel (which I didn't do) it can be done AND will try it again next time.

Perhaps if they "levigated" the infield surface we could take that turn without braking or even lifting.....

I still can't believe the folks at Charlotte had a problem with saying they ground down the bumps on the track! Levigated....What a joke.

Looks like Dennis shaw can do the head work on my car for around $500. Said it should be good for between 114 and 116 at the wheels. I'm guessing that would be a 10hp or more gain. Not too shabby. I'll probably pull the head off the spare engine later this weekend or next week. Going to Bill Kuiper's for Thanksgiving. Hope you have a good one.

R

Excellent. I already have no hopes of catching you, and 10 extra hp for you won't help. *sigh* Guess I'll have to find someone else in instructor group to play with in February.

_________________
Diane (Hall) Bundas
1992 Spec Miata #48 - 1997 Chevy Tahoe - 2007 Honda Civic Coupe

You're already fast enough Ron. Please don't make me throw even more money at the Mo$t Expen$ive $E-R Evar...

Throwing money is probably needed, but the first step is RIPPING STUFF OUT! Always fun, free stress relief!

_________________
Bowie
President, Conover Motor Sports
http://www.raceconover.com

Other than, as Bowie says, ripping stuff out, what more can you do to that car? I guess a full engine rebuild but that's rather extreme.

My secret Matt was to climb the banking exiting turn 5 and using gravity to accelerate me!

R

But...it pleased me to no end to be top 5 at the Rock in a full interior SENTRA with working A/C and stereo....

Very true! I certainly can't claim that!

1:09s next year!

R