SilverEIGHT

Boring event, no action and no one did anything interesting.

Just got in and unloaded the car. I almost decided to leave everything in it and deal with it tomorrow after work but I mustered up enough energy to clean it out. Too tired to post anything that requires thinking. I'll post my report tomorrow.

Silver... out!

L8APEX

Well, bad news guys. I am not sure what went wrong, I need to discuss it with Silver, but of the 350 images I have, only a few of them are worth a ****. Most are out of focus, and very soft, they looked great on the little screen, but most of them are rubbish. Even with the tripod, still soft and blurry, so I don’t know what I F’d up. I did get some good sequence shots of everyone, and will get them edited tonight or tomorrow, and get them posted and linked to. But as for sending you guys full CD’s, there would be no point. I am sorry fellas, I was looking forward to good pictures as much as you guys were. I probably need to give it up, and just let Silver take pictures from now on.

Rotor on.

L8

SilverEIGHT

**** happens! They are just pictures. Please don't worry about it L8. We will get together sometime and go over the details. We can analyze it like I have to analyze my video! Save the images for us to discuss, even the bad ones. That is where you will learn what to do. If you delete them I will not be a able to help you. OK!

L8APEX

the focus was off. I know what went wrong, I just could not tell that it was not focused. Question? On your camera, in the viewfinder, the small boxes that frame your shot, one of them was darker than all the rest, was that the spot the camera was focusing on? I did not think about it until I was looking at the pictures, and that spot seems to be more in focus on a lot of them, than the center was. I just F'd up, and I am disappointed in myself for not asking about that earlier, while the day was still salvageable.

SilverEIGHT

Yes, but I dont think that is the entire problem. I think it is much more involved than that.

L8APEX

OK, one day next week, we will have to sit down and go through them. It just sucks, some of them would have been really good.

TrackAddict

So here is the official report from me...

Barber Motorsports Park is indeed a premier track and a "must drive" for everyone who enjoys tracking their car. It is quite technical and really challenges the driver to find speed. Great drivers can really shine here with or without big horsepower (but hp does help). Overall, the weekend was smooth and well run. there were some on track incidents which L8APEX always manges to get a great view of. A Z06 had to write a check to George Barber to replace some barriers he took out. Many people went off the track but there didn't seem to be an consequences to that. I went 2 wheels off between turn 12 and 13. I tried to take it in 4th but the car likes 3rd better thru there with more throttle than a light throttle in 4th gear. I just kept tracking out. When I was on the grass I just kept her straight and brought her back on pavement gently. I had to make only a small correction to keep going straight. i was plagued all weekend by what seems to be fuel starvation issues in sharp left hand turns particularly the hairpin (turn 5). With a full tank it was manageable but I still could not boot it out of the corner without hesitation. It interfered with having full enjoyment. I hope to chase this problem down before the season starts back up in Feb. The RT615 tires are holding up well. This was the 6 event on them and they still have tread (but not much). I don't know if I would buy them again once they are worn as I miss my R compounds.
I also enjoyed our traditional Zaxby's after track day dinner yesterday evening. Thanks again y'all.
TA2 - great weekend my friend. You schooled everyone out there with your 220hp/280tq titanium johnson rod equipped Mustang. You have excellent skills but damn does your car like to eat front brake pads. I had a great time trading cars for a session with you and getting a taste of what it can do from the drivers seat. Your titanium johnson rod is really well sorted and the car felt great in corners with grip and composure for days.
Silver8 - congrats on your new setup. You had a great weekend learning your car and how to tune for your driving style. Your instructor sounded like a very good one with lots of helpful advice.
Mooddude - it was great seeing you pick up a lot of speed over the weekend. You were really cooking on Sunday man. Thanks for the free room for the weekend. Sorry about the snoring though I am looking forward to seeing you on track at select NASA events in 2007.
L8APEX - froze while shooting pictures of us on track. We really appreciate you spending all day Sunday at the track with us.

MoodDude

I was feeling really worn out on Saturday, but with a good night sleep that nigh - Sunday is where I shinned. My car was handling great and I am also suffering from fuel pick up problems on right hand turns! My instructor was great - even when he wanted to solo me, we were having so much fun getting faster that I decided against it!
TA - Great to see you again as always! Your snoring wasn't as bad as I had heard.
TA2 - You are fast as ever.
Silver - Make sure you get that car corner weighted and you will be able to use the full potential of the coilovers! And it looked like you learned a lot that weekend.
L8Apex - Good to see you, and next time wear more clothes and get rid of that Georgia sweat shirt!

SilverEIGHT

Guys, thanks for a great time on the track, in the paddock, at dinner and traveling… except for the washboard I-20 in AL.

MoodDoode: That is one wicked fast FairLady you got there my friend. As predicted, you did pass me twice in the sessions. Can’t wait to look over the vids of you screaming by. You should really have been in the Solo group with TA and TA2. When all you do is get point buys then it’s time to step up dude! I’m sure your coupon pants helped. “Orange and Blue, everyone knows those colors don’t go with Black?”… Don’t pay any attention to that person’s comment! (Ooops! That was your mom! )?

TA2: Just damn, what a fast Mustang! I know it is the Titanium Johnson Rod that’s the secret. So, what are you going to do now to keep that yellow CIVIC from passing you on the straights! I know that Mexican food tasted better the first time.

TA: Thanks for your help with the scanner & codes. I spoke to Charlie this morning and everything is fine. Loved watching you and TA2 play on the track in the car swap session. I’ll never be able to drink water again without thinking of Fish F#ck! I cracked up today at lunch just thinking about it. Thanks for letting me hang at your house for a while before starting on the journey.

L8APEX: Dude, you went way out of your way and we all appreciate your hard work. I personally know how hard it is to do all of that work. I look forward to some more great shots. You had some great ideas and we will get more opportunities to do it again.

Robert Russom: I know you are not on this forum but I just want to thank you for being my instructor. I started off scared to death of the track. I had never trail braked before and with your patience I was able to set the car for the turn and throttle steer with confidence. When you told me to turn the DSC off. I peed just a little but I found out very quickly the difference it made. The carousel, cork screw, hair pin, kink and all the other very technical areas on the track no longer scared me and I was very confident that last session. I know my times were no where near my fellow trackers and frankly, I really don’t care. I want to stay in my limits and I’m finding those out pretty well these days.

Lessons Learned:
1. Track line
2. How to trail brake and throttle steer
3. How not to trail brake and then brake again… this one is going to require some video study to make sure this was the problem. I will be posting video of this one and I assure you it will be worth the wait. Does the words 360º and kitty litter mean anything to you? (video to come)
4. Speed up in the cork-screw when you mind is telling you to SLAM ON THE BRAKES! Then, hard on the brakes when you mind is telling you, “what the hell are you doing… you just floored it going downhill in a double switchback?”
5. Re-learn slow in fast out for the hair pin.
6. Smooth driving. While riding with my instructor I noticed he drove the entire track without one straight line.
7. Careful letting your instructor drive your car… with DSC off… (video to come) However, I did learn a lot by letting him drive. PBOC encourages the instructors to drive the student’s cars the first few laps to show them the line. I think this is a great tool. Not so sure it’s great if the instructor takes it on at 90%+!
8. And one last one. TA, I’m not getting onto you. It really was a lesson. Don’t loosen the lug nuts too much before jacking up your car or you can strip the threads. Thanks, I seriously needed to be told that.

I’m sure I will have more lessons learned after I review the vids. Great track and great company with a fine organization. So, that’s my final track event of the year. It was fun guys.

SilverEIGHT

Here are a few images. More on the GA RX8 club site.

L8APEX

nice, better than mine. But I am working on them now, so I will post some as I get them done.

L8APEX

this one gets it's own post, because it was hysterical to watch and listen to this thing go around the track. Notice the tire tread pattern left on the ground, at the rear tires. Every lap by, he made new tracks, this was his second pass at full pace. He was consistent, because by the end of the session, it was just a black streak where he drove. He was Silver's instructor too.



I am working on others right now, and will post them later.

L8APEX

OK, I have a couple more worked on. This will take a while, I don't have as much free time at night as I used to.

Here is our TrackAddict, commonly seen ripping through turns at a track near you.


TorqueAholic in the same turn, just a little different look at it.


And the first of a series that I am doing, I have one for all 4 of our drivers for the event. Probably my favorite thing from the weekend was the four of these, and had they not turned out, I might have been really mad.



Enjoy. More to come soon.

SilverEIGHT

Damn nice sequence L8! Great creative eye! Can't wait to see more.

My internet access is extremely sparatic right now. I'll be lucky to get back on tonight

SilverEIGHT

He was a hoot to ride with too. he had to throw the *** end of that car into every turn to force it into the correct line. Scarred the crap out of me for the first lap then I got used to it. What a trip! You had to hold on for dear life because this was a rental car with no mods, automatic et al. Glad you got that shot! Yet another good shot, L8.

L8APEX

Here is TrackAddict's sequence through the kink.

SilverEIGHT

That's just freaking cool!

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

sounds like Barber was a trip. What would yall rate it on the fun factor?
TA --guess we need to talk about what to do for fuel starvation issues. I havent decided my plan yet. There are some options. I cant track my car until this is corrected--too dangerous.
When yall get time--give us all the stories OK?
Olddragger

L8APEX

thanks, I have one for you and MoodDude too, i will get them done tomorrow.

MoodDude

Silver - I still have a lot to learn, and my instructor was perfect. My biggest mistake that I was making was not getting my eyes up. Once I did that, man did on get faster on Sunday!

L8APEX - those are sweet pictures! Can't wait to see what you got of me.

TorqueAholic

Better late than never.. 4:30 came up awful fast this morning.. So from not so sunny california I am finally posting my impressions.

WE HAD A BALL!

Thanks to L8Apex we have awesome pics as well. We really appreciated you comming out and freeze your nuts out taking pics of the action. It was a bit deceptive out there as it was a beautiful sunny day but the wind had a pretty good bite to it!

In that really cool picture sequence it's interesting to see the car transitionning from balanced cornering (Near apex) to slight oversteer (next picture) when we put our foot in it on track out. Pay particular attention to how the front and rear wheels line up and you'll see what I am talking about. You can see it even more on the Marquis where the rear wheels are "Crabbing" quite a few inches further out than the fronts.

TA and I had an awsome time swapping cars for the 2nd session on Sunday. I had always wondered how the 'Eight felt on the track, now I know.. FABULOUS! We cruised around at an entertaining but reasonable pace. As such I was able to sample the famous RX-8 trailing throttle oversteer, the slight understeer on turn-in / oversteer on track-out, the awsome brakes, the fingertip shifter, et all. The car is well balanced and easy to drive on the track.

I think everybody improved their skills and learned a bunch.

Silver kept ramping up the speed and getting closer to the edge..

Mood Dude and his high tech rocket ship is starting to get seriously fast

TA is smooth and consistent as always and made the best out of the annoying misfiring situation by driving around it and keeping a great attitude (Sometimes it's hard to get some when she ain't in the mood...)

I was having a ton of fun showin' them fancy cars boys a thing or two around the corners with my American Iron. As silver mentionned I even had a heated battle with a Civic CRX?? He was walking me down the straights, I was reeling him in on braking and cornering. I know it's the reverse of the natural order of things between a CRX on Hoosiers R's and a Mustang on Hankooks R's but in this case I guess modifications scrambled things around:

His straight line speed:

He had a built Integra Type R motor putting out 220 HP at the wheels (Same as me) and his car is about 1400 lbs lighter than mine.

My cornering:

My unfair advantage, physics defying, Patent Pending, Titanium Johnson Rod of course!

As far as brakes are concerned: One set of Performance Friction Z Rated pads found on ebay + machining one set of rotors: about 70 bucks. Out-braking Porsches, BMW's, CRX's, Corvettes, Race Prepared Firebirds, etc all weekend: Priceless!

It was fun running with the Porsche Club, as usual we made some new friends and we were pleased with the format. It's nice to get a full 30 minutes on track for each session. They pretty much kept things running smoothly and on schedule, and there was some really cool cars, the Radicals are an impressive bunch!

I'll post the video's this weekend.

SilverEIGHT

L8, get sick, go home and post more of your awesome images. Screw work! I'm dying to see your next installment.

L8APEX

Thanks guys. I wish I could go home, my head is not into working today. It has already gone on holiday, and I can't get it back. But alas, I have to pay the bills, so I will have to work on them tonight.

TorqueAholic

Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever seen a better illustration of a line around a corner. Perhaps there is something copyright-able there?


Great contrast in lines between Silver's instructor, TA, and myself:

As you can see with my position vis-a-vis the tire marks I followed almost the exact same line as Silver's instructor, just a few inches tighter. The later apex is appropriate for a heavier / higher powered car to lenghten the straight and use the acceleration capabilities.

TA on the other hand had turned-in a bit earlier as he is tighter in and crossing the marks headed for a track out closer to the apex. The earlier apex is appropriate for a lighter / lower powered momentum car to conserve speed through the corner and use cornering capabilities.


L8Apex, It's easy to get sick, just over eat a bunch of Mexican food from the place we ate at on Sat nite...

SilverEIGHT

I sent an email to my instructor, he needs to come check this thread out.