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I am told that the grip on the new track is excellent. I will drive it as soon as I can, and let folks know what I thought.

For racing, I'm a little concerned about turn 7, since it's an invitation for people to dive-bomb when they don't have the right position for it.

And I'm hoping that they widened turn 10, so that we can take it as fast as before. I love high-speed turns, and it would be a shame if PIR lost its only real high-speed turn.

 

Here is my take on the new track having driven it twice already (PCA day on the 24th and Alfa day on the 2nd).

The track does offer a lot more grip even in the wet.

Turn 1-2-3 is virtually the same expect they now put a rumble (alligator) strip on the apex of turn 1 so you can no longer cheat and drop a wheel off into the dirt anymore.

Turn 4 and 5 are pretty much the same

Turn 6 is now very wide and I find you can apex it earlier since it is so wide on the exit that you have tons of room to play with. It is now consistence pavement and consistence grade so now you can take a wide line in a race without falling out of a sweet spot.

Turn 7 is a lot shaper and definitely a 2nd gear turn. After trying different lines multiple times, I find that it is faster to turn in early (especially in a momentum car like the S2000 or the Miata) and come all the way out onto the rumble (alligator) strip rather than apex later and shoot across the Porsche bump (which isn't there anymore), it does not upset the car even in the wet when going over it, just throw the car in on entry and by the time you hit the apex you are already at full throttle and the car will slide all the way out to the edge of the track.

You are now carry a little more speed down the back straight, with my 275-40-17 rear tires, I was just touching the rev limiter in 4th on the old track but now I have to shift into 5th for a couple of seconds before the braking zone.

Turn 10-11 sequence is pretty much the same (maybe slightly slower). You can still go over turn 10 at a high rate of speed and can still use the curbing (rumble (alligator) strip) on both Turn 10 and 11. Turn 11 is slightly shaper but not enough to make a different.

Turn 12 is virtually the same. You can actually turn in slightly earlier use part of the rumble (alligator) strip on the apex and unwind early and come out all the way to the tire wall like usual.

As far as lap time goes, it is slightly faster than the old track.

 

Hey Pong I just got the message from Heather today that you called. Nice huh? I'm pissed! I would have happily came down on Sunday having past inspection on Saturday I could have left right then and there.

Oh well, see ya soon!!!

 

John....there were like 15 cars in the A-group, the track was pretty much empty. The first session was slightly damp, cold and kind of slippery, but the rest of the day was dry and sunny. I thought you would have want to come down and test the NSX before the SCCA race on the 28th-29th.

 

Thanks for the thorough report!

I'm a little confused by the assertion that the back straight is faster now, even though turn 7 is now a second gear turn. On the old track, if I took turn 7 right, I was just hitting the rev limiter in fourth gear in my Miata at the end of the back straight (around 114 mph); I wouldn't expect that to be faster if I'm apexing turn 7 at a lower speed.

I'll be pleased if turn 10 (left hander at the end of the back straight) is as fast as it was, but, unless they've moved the rumble strips over so that there's as much usable track as there used to be, I don't see how it can be. We take turn 10 at around 90 in the Spec Miatas, and I'm not willing to run over rumble strips, while turning, at that speed.

 

The back straight is slightly longer than before partially because it is now further back so you are able to carry more speed down the back straight.

As far as the rumble strip at Turn 10 is concerned, it is all usable and does not upset the car, you should be able to carry the speed as close to the old 10.

 

I think the new config may be faster on the backstraight if you have a high HP car, but the slow entry may hurt a low HP car. Guess we'll see.

How stiff is your suspension? Various reports seem to indicate that street cars will have no problem running on the curbing but that rock hard race cars may have issues.

 

Mike, you're prolly right...on a low HP car like a Miata...i don't think they will gain much at the end of the straight.

BTW, I'm on stock suspension with rear wing.

I also drove a sports racer for a session on Sunday and it didn't have any problem going over those curbings either.