OP
OP
honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #226
As I mentioned, I got to drive COTA in the Dark. What an awesome experience.
This was my first time to COTA. I'd driven it quite a few times in games, but it never was my favorite track - it's quite technical and very hard to get right. You need to go slow in order to go fast. However, in person it's an entirely different story. It feels much faster than the game and definitely is rewarding for getting it right.
We spent the first 2 sessions learning the track and adjusting to the heat. It was 99 degrees and 60-70% humidity during sessions 1-3. Pretty nuts.
During session 3, we got to finally turn it up. Tires were dialed, I was getting comfortable on the track, and things felt good. Fastest of the session ended up being a 2:33.xx. Unfortunately my Solo 2 DL wasn't properly configured, so it wasn't storing lap times, only showing me live times. Whoops.
Here are a couple of laps.
After 25 mins of that, the checkered flag flew right as the car hit limp mode (I think). Temps looked to be around 240ish CHT, 283 oil, and 256 rear diff. The car flashed the Check engine light, the exhaust tone changed, and it was limited in RPM (felt around 3500, but didn't test it). After the back straight, it was back down to normal as temps were 10-15 degrees cooler. Never happened again the rest of the night. If anyone has insight, feel free to share
Session 4 it started to get dark. We started at twilight and went into the night. This legit felt like Forza. Unreal. Some video below. Spooky
Interesting was that lap times increased by 4-5 seconds even tho air temps were lower and grip was better. Guess self-preservation kicked in
Additional thoughts:
It was bloody hot. As mentioned, 99 degrees with 70% humidity. There were (4) ZLI 1LEs in my run group and none of them could last longer than 18 or so mins. They were a blast to run down. No doubt, they're faster than the 350 - but not by much. Very doable to keep up with on track - especially if they're a manual. They were losing ground needing to shift so much.
I was taking the esses in 4th to keep the RPMs down. 3rd allows you rotate the rear more, but temps were running 15 degrees hotter. I also never touched second on track. Really felt like it didn't need it. I left a lot of time on the table, but if you can carry more moment through Turn 1, turn 12 (back straight), and turn 20 (last turn), you can easily stay in 3rd.
High speed on the back straight was 161 mph. Going from 161 down to 35mph was epic. I have professional photos on the way that show the brakes glowing
Sway bars
the new bars felt great. I ran them on the softest setting up front and the stiffer setting in rear (OEM location). I definitely need more stiffness upfront - plan to move to the middle whole. No front splitter rub under braking/body roll compression, so mission accomplished.
This was my first time to COTA. I'd driven it quite a few times in games, but it never was my favorite track - it's quite technical and very hard to get right. You need to go slow in order to go fast. However, in person it's an entirely different story. It feels much faster than the game and definitely is rewarding for getting it right.
We spent the first 2 sessions learning the track and adjusting to the heat. It was 99 degrees and 60-70% humidity during sessions 1-3. Pretty nuts.
During session 3, we got to finally turn it up. Tires were dialed, I was getting comfortable on the track, and things felt good. Fastest of the session ended up being a 2:33.xx. Unfortunately my Solo 2 DL wasn't properly configured, so it wasn't storing lap times, only showing me live times. Whoops.
Here are a couple of laps.
After 25 mins of that, the checkered flag flew right as the car hit limp mode (I think). Temps looked to be around 240ish CHT, 283 oil, and 256 rear diff. The car flashed the Check engine light, the exhaust tone changed, and it was limited in RPM (felt around 3500, but didn't test it). After the back straight, it was back down to normal as temps were 10-15 degrees cooler. Never happened again the rest of the night. If anyone has insight, feel free to share
Session 4 it started to get dark. We started at twilight and went into the night. This legit felt like Forza. Unreal. Some video below. Spooky
Interesting was that lap times increased by 4-5 seconds even tho air temps were lower and grip was better. Guess self-preservation kicked in
Additional thoughts:
It was bloody hot. As mentioned, 99 degrees with 70% humidity. There were (4) ZLI 1LEs in my run group and none of them could last longer than 18 or so mins. They were a blast to run down. No doubt, they're faster than the 350 - but not by much. Very doable to keep up with on track - especially if they're a manual. They were losing ground needing to shift so much.
I was taking the esses in 4th to keep the RPMs down. 3rd allows you rotate the rear more, but temps were running 15 degrees hotter. I also never touched second on track. Really felt like it didn't need it. I left a lot of time on the table, but if you can carry more moment through Turn 1, turn 12 (back straight), and turn 20 (last turn), you can easily stay in 3rd.
High speed on the back straight was 161 mph. Going from 161 down to 35mph was epic. I have professional photos on the way that show the brakes glowing
Sway bars
the new bars felt great. I ran them on the softest setting up front and the stiffer setting in rear (OEM location). I definitely need more stiffness upfront - plan to move to the middle whole. No front splitter rub under braking/body roll compression, so mission accomplished.
