mikegarrison

Russ, Beth, Marek, Manish, Jim, John, and I were there. There were also several other S2Ks. The judge with the red S was there. A talkative Idaho supercharged novice was there. I think some others as well.

My instructor had never been to the track before, so he certainly couldn't show me the line! So I was driving from the start. That meant that unlike Russ, my instructor didn't spin my car. But he also didn't have a helmet communicator, so it was hard to talk with him. He signed me off after two sessions.

Next session I was able to work out the things we had talked about, and start to pick up the speed a bit. Last session of the day was my best on Saturday (and the most fun).

Banquet Sat night was fun. Always nice to sit next to a pretty woman like Beth. Too bad that Russ keeps hanging around.... The Idaho guy was also at our table, and was quite a character. Lots of talk about going through turn 1 at 140, for instance. With stock brakes. In the D group. I'm thinking "not really".

Sunday was COLD. I had a decent session, then I decided to get an instructor. I was kind of glad my instructor from the other day was gone. I wanted Jim, but he had another student. So I went and asked Miki to find someone, and she couldn't. So she rode with me.

That was my best session of the day. Miki was a great instructor -- gave me input just when I needed it and didn't distract. (Well, didn't distract any more than being around Miki is distracting!) I was definitely faster and better by the end of that session. Next session was also good, but I was starting to lose focus a little. Started making some stupid mistakes, like missing gears.

Last session of the day Miki lined me up with Kevin York. I wish I had done a session with him earlier, when I was fresher. He had me going through turn 2 at least five mph faster than before, and that was while I was tired! It was really embarrasing that I kept missing second gear in Turn 5. Three times in one session. I don't know why, much have been exhaustion.

Overall, I realized that I am overslowing for several of the turns. And not getting back on the gas soon enough or hard enough. Back when I first started, I was not slowing enough, and jumping on the gas too soon. But now I guess my other skills have come along enough that I have more margin, and I need to adjust again.

The drive home was the normal boring and scary sleepfest. No snow (or even rain). But yikes, they sure could use an extra lane between Ellensburg and the pass. That was the worst traffic area.

JohnChan

I had so much fun this weekend and i learn alot from this track. It is a fast track and it is beautiful and fun from turn 2 to 4a. The cloud was beautiful at turn 3 with up and down hill. The bad thing was too cold!
For that talkative Idaho, i don't see how he can stop with 140mph after turn 1 in group D!!! Ha Ha, his supercharger with a 5th injectors looks funny to me! He said his A/F was 14.0!!! Good luck in summer!
It was my first time in this track and Karl was my instructor. He was very good in teaching lines and i am happy to learn some school and racing lines from him. I will be with him in Portland this coming Sunday with BMW.
Anyway, nice to see some S2000 on the track and i had a lot of fun chasing with a red local S and learning lines from each other. I still want more seat time before i race in Spokane next year. Too bad there is no FF car except Jim Hill's. I want to learn some FF lines for next year!
Jim can you give me a ride next time!

mikegarrison

You should have asked him. He gave me a ride. Scary, fast, and exciting. Some WILD slip angles in that CRX.

AWDios

IT was an awesome event. To bad we blew a head gasket on the first day.

mikegarrison

Oh, you had the M5. I was about to help you push it into the trailer, but Tom decided you had enough pushers so he and I could go out on the track. We only did a few laps, though. That orange racecar is having oil pressure issues. We went through 2 on the racing line and the oil pressure dropped to 10 psi. Scared Tom so much that he came in off the access road at 4. Looks like starvation, maybe they need more baffles or something.

rlavalle

Here's a link to my writeup and photos on the other Spokane thread:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...c=231744&st=75

Russ

Exiled Avatar & Sig:

_______________
Speed Is Life.

JHill

My family and I had a great time this weekend. It was nice to have company in the car with me for the first time in a while. Sorry to have scared my wife a little, oops. We hadn't even finished a warm up lap before she said "OK, I've had enough".

I got a little of everything this weekend. Took Russ' STi for a spin, had a fiasco trying to get back to the RV after the dinner. John and Helga in their Black E46 M3 rocket said they would follow us back to the track so that they could get in with us as I knew the combination. It kind of sucked to get out there to find that they had changed it.

So, not having Scotts cell phone number, I called a couple of his friends that do, and nobody answers. Then I ask Helga for her cell phone number, so that we can go back to the dinner and get the combo from Scott, and I can call her so they can get in, but she can't remember her number.

So, we go back to the dinner to get the combo from Scott, who now doesn't know it.

So, we go back and tell Helga and John, who sitting in their black M3 across from the prison like they are waiting to bust someone out, get a thourough checking out by the cops, which there is no shortage of for some reason, and tell them that they have to park at the Casino and walk in. I see another cop, and I suddenly feel like a criminal driving an STi with its big wing, but wait, there is a 5 year old in a car seat in the back, still it is hard to drive the speed limit in the car with its stupid amount of power. Good thing I make a habit out of stopping at stop signs.

So, seeing as we have Russ' car, and I wasn't about to leave it at the Casino, and Russ didn't answer his cell phone as they were having a nice time in the HotTub, we go to the store and get some bottled water and head to the hotel to bang on the door.

Russ was kind enough to drive us back to the track and drop us off, and then we walked the half mile in the pitch black with a 5 year old back to the RV in the freezing cold. At least Reilly got to see the Big Dipper for his first time.

By the time we got back, it was late, everyone was tired so we hit the sack. I did get up at 4:30am to put the awning up, as it got super windy. I got to see Orion then.

The track time was great, really glad we went. The new engine I think is fully broken in now, and produces astonishing little amounts of power as compared to the B series that used to be in there. But it ran like a Honda!! A/F ratios seemed to be right at 13.4, I couldn't have tuned it better myself, but it is running a stock ECU and FPR. Interesting though, it ran about 12.9 at PIR in September, so it may need to have an adjustable FPR in some cases where Honda may have been a little too conservative with its richness.

I wasn't able to get much suspension tuning done with riders in most every session. It actually seemed to handle pretty well as it was though. I am sure there is more speed to be had though. The top speed ended up being ~125, with a little brake before 1. There was enough room to get into 2 comfortably, no real big eyes throughout the whole weekend, at least in my helmet.

Jim

mikegarrison

The first time you went into 2 on the fwd racing line, there were some big eyes in my helmet! But thanks for the ride, I had a blast. Very educational, too.

cattracks

It was 137 and it was ugly,didn't make it to the apex in one and started braking in the bumps, no it was not good but somehow made it through turn 2. After that mess I was better to touch my brakes and go into 1 at approx 118- 120 that worked much better.

As far as my A/F ratio ( and I will read this off the map) done on FRi. 10/22/04 @ Shelly Performance 509-891-0177. 3rd tug 5th gear 3500 14.8, 5000 12.0,6100 10.0, 6500 12.2, from 6800 - 7800 12.0, the rev. limit kick at approx. 8108rpms and the A/F was 11.2 .
Sorry to all for talking so much I was very excited about what had just takin place, I will make an extra effort to refrain in the spring However I don't believe that I exaggerated.

mikegarrison

Hey, how are you? I wouldn't have called you "Idaho" except I didn't catch your name. How did your brakes hold up (or not) by the end of the weekend?

I think I took T1 flat out exactly one time. After that I decided I had better things to play with, and braked down to about 115 every time. Then this time, I was braking down to maybe 105-110 every time. But I was working on my shifting (5->3 or 5->4->3, which works better?) and my braking (smooth, try to be smooth) so I didn't need the distraction.

But I understand the desire to try it once or twice, just to do it!

If you have any questions about the supercharger or how to use it to its full advantage, ask around here. Since my car is NA I wasn't quite sure what to tell you about gearing selections. Hopefully what I told you at dinner was helpful enough to get you pointed in the right direction for your car and your driving style.

Oh, and don't refrain from talking on my behalf! You'll fit right in with this group. Too bad Jerry wasn't there. If you are ever in Seattle on a Tuesday, come by Azteca and check out the group.