dog, get out there and show 'em how it's done

powered by honda, baby. porsche hurt.

 

Actually, most of them seem to be pretty nice guys. And that dude in the GT2 sure blew past me any time he wanted to! But it is a blast successfully hanging onto the tail of a 911. You lose time in the straights, of course, but it's fun imagining what the driver is thinking as he looks in his mirror coming out of the slow corners and sees that I'm still back there....

 

WRS2K, I didn't want to talk about my background on this thread to bore people to death but I feel the need to base on your comments. I have my S for only about a couple of months and only twice at Pacific and that's nowhere near my 9 yrs of ownership and development on my previous car ('90 miata, check out my home page for more info) and my '92 BMW 325i. I am a technical guy and I developed my miata and BMW's suspension thru' calculations down to suspension motion ratios, etc. so that's why the technical talks. I've been at Pacific Raceways since '98 and have turned over 1000 laps there with just my miata. My 15-sec miata turned 1:46.10s on cheap street tires and was extremely stable because of the way the suspension was designed from the factory and the way I modified it. My slower (16-sec) BMW turned 1:47.20s at Pacific (1st and only time there) also on cheap street tires (Kumho 712) and was also extremely stable because of the same 2 reasons I mentioned about the miata.

However, on Tuesday I turned 1:46.48s with my S with shitty squeally street tires (NOT R compounds like Mike or other people run) and bone-stock suspension (eh, lesser than bone-stock with rear anti-rollbar disconnected). I feel bad about my lap times compared to my other cars as I now have the revs, the horsepower, and the grip but I have to dial back my driving because of my car's instability (relatively to my other cars). I'm sure if I lower my car, and/or have my rear stock bar re-connected without too much oversteer (hint: big front bar and/or better tire stagger), and/or with rear anti-bumpsteer kit, I'll turn faster lap times at Pacific because the car will be more stable and I won't need to dial back my driving as much. But having had full-suspension cars in the past decade, my priority has changed and I want to get the most out of stock suspension (or at least stock spring/shocks) instead of modding it to death and that's why I bought the S.

On another note, there's no comparison between PR and PIR. PIR is an "international" raceway and the curbing and pavement are much smoother than PR. Ultimate grip at PIR will have an edge while at PR you need good suspension (not just stiff) to deal with the bumps which almost always happen at big Gs in the corners. PR also favors understeer setup like Nurburgring the north course does because of the bumps, late apex, and banking-change corners. I was chatting with someone on Tuesday about PR vs PIR. He mentioned that some bumps at PIR that instructors strongly emphasized not to run over are nothing compare to the bumps at PR. Think PR like Nurburgring the north course while PIR is a world-class F1 track.

 

That is what I used to do with my miata and BMW. From all the experience I have with the P-cars at Pacific, I can sum it up that there are 3 kinds of P-car drivers. The really fast drivers pass me on the front straights and lose me at the back corners. And then there're 2 kinds of drivers who see me back at the back corners. The kind who knows compliements how much deeper I dive into corners and how much more momentum I can keep in the corners. The other kind keeps wondering where my turbo is even though they lose me clean on the straights.

As I've mentioned on the other forums, this is not bashing or hatre to the other marquees. It's just to show that often times drivers of fast cars don't realize what "slow" cars can potentially do.

 

Race Miata,

WELL SAID! I sit here and snicker at the aformentioned posts and the this or that bashing.

I don't have quite the exp, that you do at PRI, but for me it's 50+ HPDE's now and 20+ at PRI & 23 PIR.

I can only tell you as a volunteer instructor for Porsche, BMW and the Audi groups here in the NW that stereotypes are stereotypes, but you'd be amazed how many nice people you meet regardless of car owner or make/model.

Lastly, just wanted to agree with you on the "keeping it stock mentality"

I've highly modded the past 3 audi's only to realize in the 3 events thus far in my s2000 it's much more fun and well enough of that.

Great post, solid perspective and wish we saw more of it

 

Especially with your top down.

In Spokane a couple of weeks ago, I had my top down, but it was so hot, and the sun so strong, that I had to put the top up. Gee, the car goes a good deal faster on the long straight, and is a bit steadier at speed, with the top up. So, I determined to put the top up next time on PR.

Nah. It's a convertible, and who cares whether you go 125 or 130 on the straight. That wind in the hair... er, helmet is what matters.

 

Yup. Top down is like dragging a parachute down the front straight. I still drive that way, though. It's just more fun.

 

Exactly! I always drive my miata or S topdown on the track (when weather permits). Hearing the echos of the 360 blipping the throttle on downshifts at the back corners is well worth the lower top speed.

For experiment purposes, I tried running my miata top up once and my S once. It's like some VTEC coming on after 120mph. I reckoned that with the top up on either car, I hit the topdown topspeed (the speed right before braking for turn 2) at a point much sooner, like soon after I close up on the left wall on the drag strip.

 

Thanks for not taking it personally, Race Miata. I enjoyed reading your post.

 

Wind in the hair? What do you mean?