If you have ever wanted to feel your car at its best on the track and want to improve or simply experience track driving skills consider doing this track day. NASA Racing is hosting a High Performance Driving Experience (HPDE) at Lime Rock Raceway on Nov 8th (Monday). I can say from my experience at Watkins Glen HPDE 9/27 & 9/28 that it's just about the most excitment you can have in a safe and controlled environment with your 8. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be eager & willing to do it again as often as possible before the snow flies.

No previous racing experience is needed, in fact, it IS NOT A RACE - but a driving school really. You need to be courteous and abide by strick rules of passing and behavior, and in turn insurance companies apparently treat it like driving on the street, i.e., it does NOT cancel your coverage at the event (check w/your own company to be sure of course, but NASA says from 1989 to date there have been no unpaid claims).

It costs $200 for the day and worth every penny, IMO. You will ALSO need to pay for a years NASA membership which is $35 (includes an annual subscription to Grassroots Motorsports) and register for the track day(s). You will also need a helmet that meets at least Snell 1990 (SA1990 or M1990) or newer. I found a nice G-FORCE GF750 SA2000 helmet for about $150 online. Otherwise than that, bring a quart of oil, your courage, and gas money! :D

Once at the track you will be greeted by fellow enthusiasts and track officials. The morning starts with a brief drivers meeting and then you will have a 25 min. class about the driving line, passing areas, flags, and track rules. After that you have 25 min. to get ready and get your car to the starting grid. You'll spend 25 minutes out on one of the best road courses in the East. If you are running in the Novice class (HPDE1) you will have an experienced race driver sitting in the passenger seat coaching you around the track. This alone is worth the price of admission! In the Intermediate and Advanced classes (HPDE2-3-4) you will be driving solo. When finished, you'll head back to class to review the last session and the whole cycle starts again. In the end you will get 4 class and track sessions.

Although I've never been to LR, I'm sure many of you have. Lime Rock (1.53miles) is a much smaller track than Watkins Glen (3.37 miles) so the turns the thing I'm guessing, and likely just the ticket for turn loving cars like the 8!

Space is limited, so if you are interested in going, register with NASA Racing here https://www.nasaproracing.com/nasa_event/list_events (make sure you get a membership first at the same site) and reserve your room somewhere nearby.

Things get started early so you'll likely want to plan on being on track before sunrise, esp if you're new to this, as there is a bit to comprehend and prepare for.

You surely won't regret the experience, will have a blast, and may just get hooked for good! Hope to see you there... it would be great to have a good number of 8s out on the track!

PS For more great info from the previous session at Watkins Glen, and lots of stills, videos, (courtesy of SpeedRacer) and comments on the fun we had there, read through this thread https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/track-days-watkins-glen-9-27-9-28-a-35003/

If you have signed up, or planning on signing up, pls post to let us know. Thanks.

List of known attendies:

Spin9k
MidLife8

possibly attending???
HeelnToe
DownShift

 

Hmm... November... won't everyone be putting on winter rims and tires by then? How much winter tire wear can one expect from track driving? The paddocks are open air (actually, it's just a field). Perhaps somebody who has done some racing here in past Novembers can give some input?

I had a chance to have a casual drive on Lime Rock during "lunch break" for a Ferrari club racing event. Lime Rock is fun. There is one part of the track where you felt like the car caught air going over a small hill.

 

It may be cold and/or damp that time of year but once your back in the car I don't think that is going to matter much. Think back to Watkins Glen, we had a great time regardless if the track was wet or dry.

I really want to participate but my wrecked car and checkbook say otherwise. So I'll have to catch up with you guys for a track day next season. Have fun and do a lap or two for me. :D

 

For those who haven't ever tried this type of event, my 8 is stock everything (except the driver ). So were two of the other three 8 participating at Watkin Glen on 9/27-28. One was an automatic, the rest 6 spds. I think I'm safe in saying we all had little trouble driving with great enthusiasm. SpeedRacer alone had lots of mods and was clearly fastest and had best handling, but even the stock cars keep up the pace well and a blast to drive.

So don't think this is only something for those with mods, it definitely is not.

 

Spin, where is Lime Rock (i.e. what state?) This forum covers the entire NE United States.

 

Good point, it is in CT, actually in Lakeville, CT. Here is the link to there site with full details of the track and more http://www.limerock.com/

And here is a map for a general idea of location, the red star is LM Park. Their address is :

Lime Rock Park
497 Lime Rock Road
Lakeville, CT 06039
Phone: (860) 871-1599
Fax: (860) 435-5010


You can MapQuest it for details or written directions are on the their site.

 

Lime Rock is actually pretty good for beginner to track events. I'll highly recommend this to anyone who has never been to LimeRock or just starting out with track events :-)

 

I disagree... Lime Rock can be tricky. The Diving turn (gulp)... that second, sneaky, tighter turn of Big Bend... that right turn up the hill... a beginner can REALLY screw up if he's overconfident.

Not to mention if you DO mess up, you'll hit hard things.

Not that beginner's shouldn't try it, but be careful. It's not like Pocono where you have tons of grass to run off in.

 

HeelnToe, have you taken your 8 to LM? If so, did you use the TSC and/or DSC or turn it all off and have a go on your own? Did you ever screwup?

Although those systems likely ultimately slow one down, they do provide a measure of 'fail-safe control' for the uninitiated. I found myself truly trusting the car @WG using them. And we walked that track, noticing all the thick metal guards just feet from the track edge!! Strangely it never bothered me, nor did I ever feel out of control.

Never did turn the computer controls off, might another time in the future if I'm feeling more skilled and familiar w/the track.

 

Nah, never had the 8 on a track. But used to run my old CRX at LM... it was great fun!!!

I'm jealous: I'd LOVE to take the 8 to the track, but I can't risk crashing it (or being hit). Gotta wait for depreciation to make it a reasonable risk

Someday...

 

Well, HPDE might be just what you are waiting for. Remember in HPDE, it is NOT a race, in novice class you have a race car driver sitting next to you cautioning you on the track conditions, there is no pressure to drive any harder than YOU want, and the ultimate goal is your FUN. To boot, contact or any outrageous behavior gets the perpetrator thrown off the track. As everyone is told over and over during the sessions, if you aren't having FUN, you're doing something wrong, so stop!

 

I have had a blast at both Rotary Revolution 2004 HDPE1 at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) back in May and at Watkins Glen International HDPE1 last month. I just signed up for the Lime Rock HDPE1.
What does lodging availability look like?

 

Great, I'm really looking forward to having another go at it MidLife8! I don't know the area, so I'm hoping someone familar with LR will have some suggestions for us before we make plans.

Anyone? Thanks.

 

The last time I went down I stayed at a place in Great Barrington, MA (~15 miles from track). I think it was the Great Barrington Motor Lodge or something to that effect. Regardless it was a complete dive and I really kicked myself because there was a newer budget motel just down the street. It would have been about the same price and I'm sure that the room would have been better.

 

I am booked into
Comfort Inn and Suites Great Barrington
249 STOCKBRIDGE ROAD - BLDG 1
Great Barrington ,MA 01230
for Sunday night.
Looks like about 16-20 miles from track or so. Only significantly closer place is significantly more expensive. (Blackberry River Inn, Norfolk, CT)
I use www.travelocity.com to seek out the nearest ones and show pricing and availability.

 

What every track day - anywhere - should look like (thanks Phlash69 - love your Road Atlanta 10/9 pics - just had to borrow one - and oh my, all those 8s to chase around the track!!!!!) It's a tough job, these track days :D , but glad to see there's lots of enthusiasm there abouts!

Where are all the rough and ready New Englanders? Only 21 days and counting. :o It would be great fun to have four or more 8s at Limerock (10 even gets a discount I believe). I know Monday is hard, but it's only one 'sick day', and you'll certainly feel better when you leave.

 

Yep, Joe Lee said that he would give everyone a 10% discount if we could get 10 or more people to sign up. If you are feeling really ambitious they also offered 20% off for 20 or more people. At the last event (Watkins Glen) the R-Speed group managed to scrounge up 24 attendees!

 

Hey guys,

So how was the track day at Limerock?

 

Won't know 'til Monday night

 

Don't mind me, it has been a long day.

 

Ah!! the end of the NASA season at Limerock! A lot of sun, a little snow, a few drops of rain, wind, and lots of track fun and spins! :D The day started with a WRX spinning about 30 seconds into the 1st session, no less. That continued with the WRXs seemed to have a (bad) habit of spinning all day(?)! Then there was the 350Z that just about lost it in front of me (see pic)!

It was a beautiful Fall day at Limerock, we had three RX-8s in attendance out among many many WRXs, some S2000s, BMWs, Mercedes SLK, and many many misc others too numerous to catalog. As usual, great instructors helped us improve our track performance. My 1st instructor was especially nice as after the 1st two sessions, he decided I needed the best help possible, and so I was blessed to get the next 2 sessions with HIS instructor, one of the NASA organizers who had 12 yrs and thousands of laps at Limerock!! Priceless experience and very educational!

In fact there were so many novices there was an HPDE1a AND HPDE1b class to accomodate everyone. Lot's of good converstaions, of course there were mods a plenty to inspect and discuss. Everyone was friendly and in good spirits.

My Stock RX-8 was very accomodating, I think I was doing pretty good as well, and so I was able to repeadedly catch up to the crowd on the road, pit and wait, then catch up to them again. The WRXs were able to leave me in any straight, but they were surprisingly no match (or the drivers were not maybe) in the corners where the true beauty of the 8 shines through.. consistent balance and easy point and shoot response. Following the instructors advice (we had helmet to helmet communication) keeping a good line was fairly easy, even as I watched others go all over the place. My instructor cautioned me to just forget the mistakes others made in front of me, and follow the 'good' line

Some other notebles in novice class were a yellow RX7 that shot flames, and smelled awful; a white SLK that didn't go fast despite its looks, and a old red Vett that barely went at all!

Take a look at a few pics taken from my video of the day, hopefully post some of that later as I get a chance to edit it.

 

More Pics

 

Spin9k,

I'm curious, who did you have as your second instructor?

So which track did you like more? Limerock or Watkins Glen?

 

John Berger

Like everything, it's all perception. But I favor Watkins Glen. Running there is finding the Mother Load... it's bigger and badder than you EVER thought... you respect it mightily while enjoying it emensely.

Limerock track has far less banking, so lots of grass runoff; and being smaller, fewer course objectives to practice and master. There is no pit garage at LM, which is Ok if the weather is OK, but if not !

Speed wise I got to within 10MPH of Watkins Glen (108mph), which is testament to the very uphill nature of WG's long straight, as LM's straight is flat, but shorter. There certainly are hairy corners at LM... just ask all those who spun out or came close, but I thought WG's were much more difficult due to the elevation changes there. Yet surprisingly, my tires tell me something different...I have chunking on the trailing edge of every grove now, both frnt & rear... whereas at WG nothing abnormal at all!

In short, LM was good bar food, WG was a gourmet meal. :D

 

I see some interesting cars in the vidcaps. Can't wait to see your in-car video!