himself

Maybe once. It's quick and fun but not really a good track car. Convertible and AWD and heavy(ish). Most likely going to put the GT3 back into rotation. SPB was fun, but racing required too much time and too much money for the smiles earned. DE is just enough for me. Oh, and we're having kid number 6 in August, so racing would be on hold anyway... -td

Got rid of my 997 cab and my SPB. *sad face* But --- got R8 V10 Spyder to replace the two. *happy face* Worth it. Car is phenomenal. Probably best car I've ever owned. Few pics below. All stock pics from dealer. I'll post some others when I get 'em done up real nice like. -td 2014 R8 V10 Spyder

So, we've talked many times about the line from gut check through sugar and spice (Turns 15-16-17 going CCW). Some time ago, I ran all 3 "main" lines people run. I ran these in the same session, so there isn't a lot of variance. No traffic for these runs, so the data is about as good as it's going to get (for me). 1) The outside line [red trace] 2) The deep line [green trace] 3) The trail brake line. [blue trace] The outside line: this line is a result of taking an early turn in at the front end of the gut check. This is the line most/many drivers run. For DE, it's an OK line, but really slow. For racing, you will get passed on the inside every lap you do this with a trailing car. You miss the first apex by at least a car width running this line, but your car is oriented on the right line, just displaced from the apex(pointed towards the middle of the rumble strips). The deep line: this is the line that is runs farther into the braking zone and uses a portion of the run off area. Some people run 2 tires over the rumble strips. Some people run all 4 tires out there. This is also an OK line for DE, but lateral load at turn in has to increase sharply, so the car isn't set as quickly. You miss the apex by over a car length. Your car is not oriented correctly relative to the apex [poitned towards the first part of the rumble strips] The trail braking line: this appears like an inside line, but it's closer to the middle of the track. You actually clip the first apex running this line. In the data below, all the traces are essentially equal at the left apex of gut check - so any time differential is solely due to the the sugar and spice segment. The outside line misses apex at the last part of the gut check and the car stays to the right. The deep line hits the apex, but is still pointed to the right. The trail brake line hits the apex, but is pointed parallel to the inside edge of the track. In short, you brake less, carry more speed and end up saving almost 8/10s of a second over the deep line in just one corner. You save almost 1/2 second over the outside line. As you will also see, the cars all merge into the same line at the rumble strips. And, mid-corner speed is a few Mph higher - with a flat spot at the bottom - for the trail braking line. The other 2 lines have a dip at the bottom, which is the slowest spot and corresponds to turn-in. What this means is that you have to over slow to enter the corner and your minimum speed is at turn in. Then you get to mid-corner and your speed is increasing slightly. Note that at mid corner all 3 traces have the same speed - BUT, under trail braking, you get that speed at turn in and don't go under it. Every other line requires you to go under mid-corner speed and then accelerate back to it. For me, in my car, the difference in just this one corner is between .5 and .8 seconds. I've seen the difference as high as 1.5 seconds - just for this corner (for example, driving the way outside line or dive bombing the corner). Running the blue trace is free time. Literally free. Just don't drive way out to the right. -td

Cool. Congrats on PB! some food for thought and (possibly) free time: (1) consider downshifting at the end of the braking zone instead of at the front; (2) pointing right to turn left generally means you have to over slow on entry (sugar and spice); (3) I always ask myself, "do I really need to brake going into the keyhole?" [Nah]; (4) and: "can I change my approach to gut check so I don't have to give a full lift." Q: I don't see (or hear) a throttle blip on downshifts. Is there a heel-toe goin' on? -td

I ended up using Moorespeed. http://www.moorespeed.com/ -td

Any recommendations for a PPI in Austin for an Audi R8? Thanks! -td

SCCA GCR has 103 as the limit. At MSRH last Sept, SCCA upped that just a bit to 107. I was still sound boarded a couple times. Note: you can easily see the sound station. So, if you are going to exceed the limit, you either need to be in a pile of cars where they can't pin you, or lift a little when you go by. Turn pipes work wonders I hear, but I haven't tried them. -td

Trying to get the boss to let me run. Long drive to Cresson... Will be in EProd if I make it. -td

There are a lot of decent BRZ/FR-S's out there under 25. Fun little cars. Have you considered the Hyundai Genesis R-Spec? I've never ridden in one, but they seem decent. I'm not a subi fanboy, but the WRX has always been a car I'd buy. STI if it fits the budget. Like you I'm leery of certain cars, but I'm not really that worried about german cars. I'm pretty sure a Golf TDI would run for 200K.... any beyond!!!! [unrelated: are you going to the SCCA race in cresson at the end of Jan?] -td

1st SCCA is the same weekend as MSRH - but SCCA is at Cresson. go figure! Check out the SCCA classes, Alan and see if it'll work! -td

Sweet! I blew my transmission right before lunch on Saturday and called it a weekend early. Doh!

In (for the CR - SPB). -td

Turning too late is one way of saying you over slowed. You should have a slightly late apex for the bus stop (rather than a slightly early one like the keyhole) - but not a very late turn in. It's just short of the optimal line. Not a huge variance (which it sounds like you may have been doing). That is, you want to maximize the straight going to the keyhole, and you can't do that with an early turn-in to the first part of the bus stop. If you are hitting those big rumble strips all the time at the exit of the bus stop (or if you aren't on power from the second apex (turning left) to the keyhole, you probably turned in early at the front end of the bus stop. If you are coasting from the first turn in to the rumble strips, it's about the same. If you are on a straight diagonal between the two apexes and having two steering inputs, same. -td

Anything over the crest in the road is definitely the wide line. That is, middle of the track and anything farther to driver's left. [any part of your car in the 3rd seam] And, for most cars, the low line (inside the first seam) is the fastest line for the segment. [T1 through entry to diamond's edge] Some folks like to straddle the first and second seams, but it's not any faster through there and then you can't get on the gas at the same spot for the straight. -td

The event was interesting indeed. It had a ton of positives and some realizations (at least for me). The format was great - low car count in each group and passing everywhere with a point in all run groups. Everyone had an instructor for the first 3 runs and then the instructors ran with all groups in the 4th session. Lots of classroom time as well. I think the students enjoyed it as well (at least the ones I talked to or overheard). I'll mention a few areas that folks can continue to work on every event. Some are harder than others and you may not be able to practice them in every corner. There's a lot of free time out there! Drive the "right" line. Don' cheat corners or creep to the middle of the track. If you need a second brake application, you're not on the right line. Don't take the wide line in carousel (CCW). Don't turn-in early at the bus stop (CW/CCW). Make sure you DO turn-in early at the key hole (CCW). And, of course, if you are pointing left to turn right at sugar/spice (CCW), you're going to be slow. Stop creating false limits. Over braking on entry, trail braking too long, and picking up the throttle late all contribute to the feeling that the car is not "right." You have to make a conscious effort to get off the brake and get on the gas, but when you do, you'll see that the back end plants and the car is ready to go. Steer with your feet. The steering wheel only points the car. You drive corners with your feet. Trail braking and throttle steering make everything faster. Work on it. Everywhere. For example, if you recognize that you are coasting in a corner, you should recognize that you parked the car on entry and need to work that corner the next lap. Brake at the same spot, but softer and trail it in. Don't give up a corner when the car starts to get a little squirrelly. No mid-corner braking, double braking, coming off the gas/late to gas. Countersteer and maintain throttle. Correct and keep going. You'll quickly realize that a little movement every corner is perfectly fine. As a corollary to the last point: stay ahead of the car = mentally prepare for every corner. Reacting to a little back end wiggle should tell you that you weren't prepared. You should already know what you're going to do for every corner. -td