Catching up. So I did another NASA Time Trial back in March plus a practice day the day prior with Just Track It(highly recommend them). It was an absolute blast. I consider Road Atlanta and VIR my "home" tracks, regardless of where I live and have the most laps there than anywhere. My flight got delayed and I didn't end up getting to the track until around midnight. I crashed in my truck. It was in the low 30's so I started the truck a couple times during the night to get warm. Friday morning, I installed the new Hawk brake pads and bled the brakes. My student was in a brand new C7Z. Always a fun car. After trying to finish getting the car ready and balancing my student requirements, I was able to get four sessions in to shake some rust off. A bunch of friends came down from the NE so I spent a lot of time getting them up to speed. Weather was wet on Saturday, but cleared up as the day went on and was perfect for Sunday. I managed a best of 1:38 on some A6 from 2011.
As far as the IRS mods, they def. helped keep the car more planted. The car feels much smoother. Hard to say exactly which part is doing what as I added them all at the same time, but I'm happy with the results. Next mods for handling will be more tire and higher spring rates.
I had a crappy few weeks following Road Atlanta. Immediately after Road Atlanta, we went house hunting in Savannah. I caught a stomach virus on the second day and it took me down for a few days. My wife got it after that. I ended up missing VIR. Last minute work requirement kept me from NCM a couple weeks later.
I also installed GT350 half shafts after I noticed the driver side half shaft boot was leaking grease. Driver side was easy and popped right out. The passenger side was a PITA to get out. I ended up using the wedge someone suggested in from amazon. C Clip:
Sorry for the shaky video. It was the first time I got the Sony camera out in probably 5 years and forgot to set it up for the track. I had planned to overlay the video with my traqmate video.
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My next event should be with NASA at HPT on May 27-28.
I competed in the NASA Central Time Trial last weekend at Heartland Park Topeka. It was the 2.5 GP course with the faster chicane coming off the front straight, but the slower chicane on the back straight(confused yet?) The asphalt from the fresh repave is getting grippier every time I go back. I made a few setup tweaks before the weekend and it helped a good bit. My gopro died so I didn't get any video unfortunately. :(
Brent-have you been back to the track since you installed the headers? I'm curious if you've had any issues at tracks with dB limits. I've got Kooks headers and a Borla S-type (currently running the X-pipe), and I can't possibly imagine that it's less than the 98 dB at some of the tracks near me. I was thinking about picking up the Borla resonator for track days.
I'm long overdue for an update. I was able to get the 18x11 Apex EC-7's with the 315 hoosiers mounted and hit up Road Atlanta with NASA last weekend. I was at a training exercise in the Mojave desert for a month, then had to head out of the country for a brief period. I got back on Friday night at 8 pm and had not touched the car. I woke up at 3:30 am on Saturday morning to prep the car and get packed up.
18x11 Apex EC7's with Hoosier 315's:
I have the aFe/Pfadt coilovers that have the slotted upper bolt hole to be able to gain one degree of additional camber(roughly -3.5 maxed). I used a 25mm spacer. When I first mounted the wheels/tires to the car, the front tires were rubbing on the strut. I had to remove the offset and center the upper strut bolt. Once I did so, the wheels cleared with a few mm's of clearance. I did not have any rubbing issues at all during the weekend. The tradeoff, however, is that my camber is now maxed at -2.5 degrees of camber. I saw on the apex blog that another guy was running a 30mm spacer and clearing with the upper bolt hole still offset, so it sounds like it's still doable. -2.5 camber should be plenty for most. I, unfortunately, did not turn enough laps this weekend to get any real data on tire wear to start trying to dial this setup in.
For the rears, they fit without a spacer and have plenty of room inbound. I'd still like to eventually find a 18x12 to run a 335 in the rear.
I sold my rx7 racecar back in June and sold my enclosed trailer with it. My diesel truck and enclosed trailer were honestly the best track investment I ever made around 10 years ago. I highly recommend both if you are in for the long haul with tracking. The enclosed trailer allows you to bring so much more to the track and not have to worry about bringing things in at night to secure them. It also helps with "out of sight, out of mind". Plus my trailer was nothing special so it wouldn't turn any heads. It's also really nice to be able to hang out in during the summer days and not ever have to worry about an EZ UP tent. I'm more attached to my diesel truck than any vehicle I've ever had. 275k miles and still runing strong.
Due to not getting in until late Friday night plus car prep Saturday morning, I didn't get to the track until Saturday afternoon. I needed to log at least 2 sessions to be eligible for contingencies, so I scrambled to get through registration, tech, and unloaded in about 15 minutes. I left my street tires on and just went out and played around to shake some rust off. I figured the last session of the day I could try and put together a decent lap. Unfortunately, there was an incident on the first lap and the session was red flagged so I didn't get to log any real times on Saturday.
Sunday they gridded me at the back because I didn't have any real times. We were the 1st session out and the track was wet and pretty foggy so I took it easy. The next session was good. They tried to grid me in the back again because they didn't get an updated sheet, but I jumped to an open spot on mid-grid. I pushed the car a little bit and was feeling pretty good. I managed a 1:37.1. I wanted a 1:35.X the next session, but it was again, red flagged on the first lap. I probably got a total of 10 laps all weekend, unfortunately. Still a great time with family and friends.
Here are a couple laps. I picked up a new Garmin Virb 30, which is awesome... but I had it mounted too low and my external mic I had connected to it was cutting in and out... so not a great video(due to operator error)
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I also picked up and E46 M3 back in the summer. An 05 Jet Black with Imola Red Interior:
Thanks! I am still selling the car. I have not really tried too hard to sell it and I am staying pretty busy so we will see if anyone shows any interest. If not, it'll collect dust in the garage the next year.