Kafka

Let me ask you something, what is the most important mods you can do to your car to improve performance? Exhaust? Suspension? Tires? Stickers? Lambo doors?

No. no. no. no. no.

The right answer is, your brain.

Yes, your brain.

This past Monday, I've experienced what you can call an epiphany when my brain was pushed against my skull at over 1G in turn 2 with Al's driving MY BONE STOCK Rx8 in Mosport International Raceway, chasing a fully modded Mazdaspeed Rx8.

Ok, I lied. I do have some mods. I have a K&N filter and a Mazdaspeed cat-back exhaust and a BFGoodrich R1 DOT tires.

But the point is, I've never really believe when people said most drivers on the road cannot even reach 75% of what a modern sports car capable of.

Now I do.

In the beginning of the day, I was full of fear after knowing the average tack speed and various stories of how people crash and burn and die on the track. The instructor of the class basically told us that it is not a forgiving track, and even ALMS drivers (American Le Mans) are scared of it sometimes since its the last old-skool fast speed track in N. America (aka, you are on your own when you lost control going downhill towards the wall son.)

The fear also amplifies my weakness in driving habit. I started to ride the clutch a lot, and got yelled by Al for not listening and going way too fast before even trying to look for the corners.

I did take his advice, and proceed to improve throughout the day. This is NOT a track for beginner who have a high hp car (eg, Porsches, M3s, FORD GT), but its a PERFECT track for the Rx8, where its handling advantage can be very useful in some of the highspeed turns, keeping the momentum and moving along at over 100km/h average speed.

However, the highlight of the day was in the afternoon. Somehow, we met a fellow dealership with 2 "fully preped" mazda racecar (a FWD turbo Mazda 6 and Mazdaspeed Rx8 that went to Newfoundland Targa race and won last year -Newfoundland Targa 2007 ).



Al and that particular race car driver goes way back, and in a similar fashion of internet trash talk (ala Thief vs Kris :P), Al asked the track marshal to give him permission to run with the Advanced group where the Mazdaspeed Rx8 is running in (since I am in the newbie group), and asked me to go for a ride with him, targeting the Mazdaspeed Rx8.

Al changed from Mr. Nice car guy to race car driver (He arrived at the track with full racing suit, he got a nice kick *** carbon fiber helmet too!). And then all hell break lose. Al was driving my car as if driving his Rx7, taking racing lines, pushing the car to the limit again and again (even though he said he was not all the way yet…), hunting down the Mazdaspeed Rx8.

There were no traffic in front of or behind us. For that particular 5 minutes / 3 laps, all I can do was grabbing the “OH ****” handle in my own fcking car and try not to **** myself while Al go full throttle. I never knew my car can goes like that. It was the one of the scariest moment in my life.

The Mazdaspeed Rx8 spit foot long flames between shifts, and I can see the driver was giving it all as well. 3 laps later, Al made a super perfect run at turn 5, and proceed to carry that speed all the way through turn 6 and 7, eventually passing the Mazdaspeed Rx8 on the back straight with speed over 180km/h.

That was fcking nirvana. It’s the driver, stupid. It is.

Moreover, props to all who came out and play. Rx8 is a great car to learn, even in the fastest ALMS road tack in N.America.

I hate Monday post end. Now, back to my boring day job…

bugster

HOLY CRAP I ENVY U :D

where is this track and how much it cost u?

Kafka

You can join us next time

300 bucks pre-reg from 8am to 5pm. 350 bucks at the gate.

The track is Mosport International Raceway, its the fastest ALMS course with average of 160km/h!

We went with Kensai Racing who is a great organizer for these events.

01Racing

I really have to thank Josh for letting me "use" his car to have some fun at someone elses expense. (lol) Nothing is more fun than passing race cars with stock street cars.

Kafka

I wish I can take pictures / movie but my brain just shuts down with fear at that moment...I saw flames spitting out from the Mazdaspeed rx8 and its tires squeezing all over, yet I cant do shxt!

I did a pretty good job describing it though I think :P

Cliff notes version:
Got in my stock rx8 -> Got looked down by some "pro" -> Proceed to let Al drive -> Nearly **** my pants -> Passed a race prep Mazdaspeed Rx8 -> Win.

Neo

I love Mosport!

Great to see some of you got to experience Mosport in all its glory.
The only track I consider running. If you don't respect it, it will show you who's boss!

I hope next year I'll have some cash so I can participate. Let the car stretch its legs a bit.

nate340

I'm glad you guys had a great time. so jealous in hind sight i should have just said **** it and spent the money and quit being so ******* cheap. mosport is a great track

Thumper3322

Damn that's wicked!! Wish I could have made it, even to watch. Next time wear a diaper and take a video

nvx

awesome thread kafka.... pics story everything ... nice

Marc_GS

I'll definitely second that!

Thanks Kafka for taking pictures - I really wished I'd brought my camera! Don't forget to send me the rest!

Overall, that was one of the best track days I've ever done. Mosport is truly a joy to drive. I learned a lot over the day, and got progressively faster. Doing laps in the passenger seat of Kafka's car with Al driving taught me a lot (though Al will say "not enough" since I forgot some of what he showed me...) Still, I'm satisfied with myself and the pace I was able to get to on my first Mosport day.

On another note, for those who are on the fence about lapping with Kensai, I strongly recommend them. They put together a good lapping day with a lot of track time, and the full complement of Marshalls keeps things really safe. The instructor they work with, Aaron Povoledo, is very good also. The $175 seems steep, but I was very satisfied with the quality of the instruction.

Kafka

PM me your email man...I think I have your business card but just to be sure...thanks!

oh yeah forget to mention...this bad boy was on the track that day too!

01Racing

I would like to say that Josh and Marc did an amazing job for their 1st time on the Grand Prix track! 1st and foremost they kept it out of the wall! 2nd they both listened fairly well for students as most forget 99% of what we taught as soon as they get behind the wheel. My lines around the track are more geared to the race line than the school line, as the school line is the "safer" but slower way around. Most of driving at Mosport has to do with confidence in your car then yourself, and trust me im still nowhere near that myself or Id be a second or 2 quicker in my race car. Street cars for the most part are so much more forgiving that you can push harder with less consequences. All in all a great job done by all!

qtwre

iTrader: (1)

You should consider running more tracks. :P

I'm glad you guys had a good time at Mosport. Did you end up having a favourite and least favourite turn? I think the whole turn 4/5 combo is pretty exciting. At the bottom of 4 you don't really notice when you're driving but that uphill is damn steep.

I'd like to suggest you try the DDT as well. I think it's even better suited to our cars which are a little light on power.

Kafka

According to Al, it kills the tires and brakes much faster than the GP track and
Shannonville...and frankly that looks like a go-kart course...oh wait it is! :P

I do think a session just for learning car control dynamics is good though...you don't wanna do a lift off in middle of turn 2 or turn too violent in turn 4....

qtwre

iTrader: (1)

Hells yes DDT kills tires and brakes faster. Because you're pushing your tires' limits and braking more. :P

It's more condensed. I'm sure you were thrilled by that long back straight (sarcasm). It goes awfully slowly in our cars. lol

01Racing

The reason it kills tires and brakes is because every turn is almost 90 degrees and its as narrow as a driveway. You are nowhere near pushing the limit of anything on the DDT other than seeing how quickly you can overheat things. It was designed years ago as a beginners track to learn basic techniques, and has been used as an inexpensive track for lapping. The big track is a totally different experience and allows you to see and feel what pro racers do. As for the backstraight you may not hit 230kmh, but at 180kmh turn eight sure comes up quick enough for most.

climacus

I think your engine might be a little bit down on power if you're only hitting 180 km/h top speed?! With no passenger I can hit 190 km/h accelerating gingerly up the backstraight and lifted with 3-4 car lengths to go before the crest. In full attack mode you should be able to hit 200 km/h. When was the last time you replaced the coils?

Kafka

There are a lot of reasons. For example, not very fast exiting turn 5; decelerating way before the brake point; etc etc...

Also, you can "hit" 190km/h in your speedometer or radar gun verified? Mine is radar gun...my speedometer tells me I am doing close to 190 too...but its not.

My car only got 5000km so far so no coils replaced yet ...

P.S: Even the Porsche GT2 can only hit 192km/h on that point where my speed was measured so I don't think you can do better than 190 on that part...

Footman

iTrader: (2)

Time to put flame suit on....

qtwre

iTrader: (1)

Regardless of what the track was designed for, it still provides good lapping. I agree with everything you said. It is small, it is inexpensive, and it is a different experience. That's why I suggested it.

Again I say it's more condensed. The turns are sharper and there are many more of them. Do you tell people not to try it?

edit: I'd like to add the reason I like the DDT. Because it's so tight, those turns keep coming at you. I really like the big track too. Don't get me wrong. Big track is kind of like turn, straight, turn, straight. Of course in a fast car that sticks to the road, everything comes up so much faster so that isn't the case. Calabogie is perfect. It has the size of Mosport big track with the feel of a smaller track like the DDT. It gives you those sequences of turns.

Either way, I don't think people should be avoiding tracks on the recommendations of others. Try them out and develop a taste for what you like. Not for what other people say they like.

climacus

The speedometer in my Garmin GPS always agree with the RX-8 speedometer. Are you sure the track radar gun was not rigged with a crappy calibration? Mind you the R-compound tires might have a different diameter than the OEM rubber, so the speedometer probably cannot be trusted at higher speed.

When you said 180 km/h I thought you were talking about Al's attack laps. He was probably going at some crazy speed but as we all know, you can't see the speedometer in this car when you're riding shotgun.

Kafka

Heh if thats the case then maybe I am doing above 180km/h woot!

Oh...Al never fully "attack" in my car...he was just attacking that Mazdaspeed Rx8...which probably is running 1:48 when we are on its *** haha...

And yeah is that a design feature that we cant see the speedometer from the passenger side? sucks ballz!

P.S: Footman we are adults not kids...this is not I am faster than yoo pwnage r0x0r111...we are sharing our track experience as a car enthusiast. Stop pulling an Eddie here ok?

tingling

Looks like it was fun.. i wish i could have made it out atleast to watch