2012 Track Junkie Thread
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Gods Speed #57 Lemons #77
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
I looked at a couple local Formula Vee that are for sale. You can get a race car, trailer and some spare parts anywhere from $7k to $25k. I decided against open wheel simply because I am a bit concerned about the safety issue (exposed helmet, no roof, very tight cockpits etc).
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Originally Posted by Olegator' timestamp='1345638994' post='21955480
I have a used set of XP10/8 laying around with a couple of events still left in them. It would be perfect for you, and this way you wouldn't have to spend 400$ on pads the first time you go out.
Any HPDE event is a good start. I would recommend getting a lot of sleep before the event. Get the car together for the event on the weekend before.
Summit Point Main track would be better track to start with, since it's a bit less technical. Invest in a video camera, it's always fun to watch yourself after the fact, plus you can pick up on the mistakes you've made that were not obvious at the time.
Any HPDE event is a good start. I would recommend getting a lot of sleep before the event. Get the car together for the event on the weekend before.
Summit Point Main track would be better track to start with, since it's a bit less technical. Invest in a video camera, it's always fun to watch yourself after the fact, plus you can pick up on the mistakes you've made that were not obvious at the time.
Note, You want to avoid braking while turning (trail braking) for a while, maybe a few track days. Its a aquired skill and you may spin the car if you try it with XP pads on your first few events.
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Originally Posted by metros' timestamp='1345599522' post='21954831
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
I looked at a couple local Formula Vee that are for sale. You can get a race car, trailer and some spare parts anywhere from $7k to $25k. I decided against open wheel simply because I am a bit concerned about the safety issue (exposed helmet, no roof, very tight cockpits etc).
Anyway, you have 85% of a W2W S2000 already. Finish it. I can tell you all the things not to do.
Listen to your wife and get while the gettin's good. Pretty soon you'll be an old geezer. ;-)
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 16,703
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From: High Knob Mountain
Originally Posted by metros' timestamp='1345599522' post='21954831
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
I looked at a couple local Formula Vee that are for sale. You can get a race car, trailer and some spare parts anywhere from $7k to $25k. I decided against open wheel simply because I am a bit concerned about the safety issue (exposed helmet, no roof, very tight cockpits etc).
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 16,703
Likes: 74
From: High Knob Mountain
Originally Posted by TubeDriver' timestamp='1345660346' post='21956446
[quote name='metros' timestamp='1345599522' post='21954831']
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
I looked at a couple local Formula Vee that are for sale. You can get a race car, trailer and some spare parts anywhere from $7k to $25k. I decided against open wheel simply because I am a bit concerned about the safety issue (exposed helmet, no roof, very tight cockpits etc).
Anyway, you have 85% of a W2W S2000 already. Finish it. I can tell you all the things not to do.
Listen to your wife and get while the gettin's good. Pretty soon you'll be an old geezer. ;-)
[/quote]
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Originally Posted by metros' timestamp='1345599522' post='21954831
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
I looked at a couple local Formula Vee that are for sale. You can get a race car, trailer and some spare parts anywhere from $7k to $25k. I decided against open wheel simply because I am a bit concerned about the safety issue (exposed helmet, no roof, very tight cockpits etc).
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,261
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From: The Blue Ridge
Originally Posted by gfacter' timestamp='[url="tel:1345664283"
1345664283[/url]' post='21956662]
[quote name='dc_s2k' timestamp='1345664167' post='21956653']
[quote name='TubeDriver' timestamp='1345660346' post='21956446']
[quote name='metros' timestamp='1345599522' post='21954831']
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
[quote name='dc_s2k' timestamp='1345664167' post='21956653']
[quote name='TubeDriver' timestamp='1345660346' post='21956446']
[quote name='metros' timestamp='1345599522' post='21954831']
Pete (tubedriver) pretty much covered it all with solid advice. I second the comment on keeping pads for track and street duty seperate. You'll be unhappy in both settings with an attempt at a doit all pad. Pads are easy to swap and gives you a good excuse to take a look at your suspension/nuts/bolts/etc. while you're under there.
Anybody thought about getting into shifter karts? Seem like a great way to have fun on track, learn some serious skills with less budget.
I looked at a couple local Formula Vee that are for sale. You can get a race car, trailer and some spare parts anywhere from $7k to $25k. I decided against open wheel simply because I am a bit concerned about the safety issue (exposed helmet, no roof, very tight cockpits etc).
[/quote]
Glad to hear this. Those things scare me.
Anyway, you have 85% of a W2W S2000 already. Finish it. I can tell you all the things not to do.
Listen to your wife and get while the gettin's good. Pretty soon you'll be an old geezer. ;-)
[/quote]
[/quote]
THIS! I am already too old.
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Ok deadline past. So this weekend at Summit Point...
Wheel to wheel club Racing is a whole 'nother level of intensity over time trials or Lemons/Chumpcar. I'll leave out the details like qualifying as that is basically the same as TT but the fast guys are more plentiful and way more agressive about getting around you to find open track.
We did rolling starts, which entails doing 3/4 of a lap to warm up and then line up 2 by 2, in second gear around turn 9. When the green flag goes, which you may or may not see, you go flat out to turn one where all hell breaks loose. One the way, you want to set up for a good entry while also defending your position. Its a complete madhouse and take some real strategy and agressiveness to keep your position or gain position. I employed neither. My primary goal was not to hit/get hit and keep my nose clean during my 4 race rookie season. Suffice to say, turn one in the first race was nuts. I got passed on both sides at the same time in turn 2 with the cars about 8 inches away. It is clear that while speed is important, working to gain position takes skill and and strategy. I don't have either of those at this level, and I thought I had some pretty strong skills given the thousands of track miles I have at this point. Driving the school line is more or less pointless early in the race when the field is bunched up.
So, I the other Honda Challenge 1 guys, having both skill and strategy not to mention more power and less weight, immediately left me in turn one. Then the CMC (Camaro Mustang Challenge) Mustangs passed me as these guys are a lot more skilled than me. Note that I am running 1.23s and they are running 1.26s. That doesn't matter nearly as much as I thought in a race.
The field thinned out and I settled into a groove. It was me against the mustangs. Not want to go all Rambo on the 2 Mustangs in front of me, I held back even though they were slowing me down. It was actually a good learning experience to watch others pass them. It was also a hoot to watch them slide around the track. Sooner or later that got boring so I finally got around them. I passed one of them on the inside of turn 5, with the only part of my car on the track being my right tires. That was fun.
I got more comfortable and aggressive in the second, longer 40 minute race sunday. Still held up by the mustangs as the out accelerate me at the start, but got around them sooner. The whole experience of racing for me thus far is this:
Despite 50+ track days and around 20 hours of wheel to wheel in Lemons, I really don't know anything about how to go fast with other race cars. Racing is a radical learning accelerator, and I noticed improvements in lap times and corner speed from the beginning to the end of the race. If you want to go fast, go wheel to wheel. You'll get fast.
You can go alot faster than you think you can. Watching others do it right in front of you make you realize this. Having a rabbit to chase helps.
It takes a lot of help and guidance to go racing. I would have never gotten to do this without help from the S2000 and racing community. Skip, Pete, John Oldt, Wonger, Rob, a bunch of Honda Challenge guys that you probably have not heard of, Erik Olson, Kevin Helms, Andrew Lee. I really appreciate all the help and hope to pay to forward to another aspiring racer one day.
Wheel to wheel club Racing is a whole 'nother level of intensity over time trials or Lemons/Chumpcar. I'll leave out the details like qualifying as that is basically the same as TT but the fast guys are more plentiful and way more agressive about getting around you to find open track.
We did rolling starts, which entails doing 3/4 of a lap to warm up and then line up 2 by 2, in second gear around turn 9. When the green flag goes, which you may or may not see, you go flat out to turn one where all hell breaks loose. One the way, you want to set up for a good entry while also defending your position. Its a complete madhouse and take some real strategy and agressiveness to keep your position or gain position. I employed neither. My primary goal was not to hit/get hit and keep my nose clean during my 4 race rookie season. Suffice to say, turn one in the first race was nuts. I got passed on both sides at the same time in turn 2 with the cars about 8 inches away. It is clear that while speed is important, working to gain position takes skill and and strategy. I don't have either of those at this level, and I thought I had some pretty strong skills given the thousands of track miles I have at this point. Driving the school line is more or less pointless early in the race when the field is bunched up.
So, I the other Honda Challenge 1 guys, having both skill and strategy not to mention more power and less weight, immediately left me in turn one. Then the CMC (Camaro Mustang Challenge) Mustangs passed me as these guys are a lot more skilled than me. Note that I am running 1.23s and they are running 1.26s. That doesn't matter nearly as much as I thought in a race.
The field thinned out and I settled into a groove. It was me against the mustangs. Not want to go all Rambo on the 2 Mustangs in front of me, I held back even though they were slowing me down. It was actually a good learning experience to watch others pass them. It was also a hoot to watch them slide around the track. Sooner or later that got boring so I finally got around them. I passed one of them on the inside of turn 5, with the only part of my car on the track being my right tires. That was fun.
I got more comfortable and aggressive in the second, longer 40 minute race sunday. Still held up by the mustangs as the out accelerate me at the start, but got around them sooner. The whole experience of racing for me thus far is this:
Despite 50+ track days and around 20 hours of wheel to wheel in Lemons, I really don't know anything about how to go fast with other race cars. Racing is a radical learning accelerator, and I noticed improvements in lap times and corner speed from the beginning to the end of the race. If you want to go fast, go wheel to wheel. You'll get fast.
You can go alot faster than you think you can. Watching others do it right in front of you make you realize this. Having a rabbit to chase helps.
It takes a lot of help and guidance to go racing. I would have never gotten to do this without help from the S2000 and racing community. Skip, Pete, John Oldt, Wonger, Rob, a bunch of Honda Challenge guys that you probably have not heard of, Erik Olson, Kevin Helms, Andrew Lee. I really appreciate all the help and hope to pay to forward to another aspiring racer one day.