Running Road America - Pt. 2 (PICS)
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
From: Chicago Suburbs
Running Road America - Pt. 2 (PICS)
Part Two – Things Start to Click
Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – April 8-10, 2005
The coupe leaning after turn-out exiting Turn Seven. Coming up - the Hurry Downs!
All lessons learned in AutoX and earlier HPDE's are starting to come back home – all those Sundays of spinning and knocking over cones, of skidding too wide on Turn Eight, and of being passed by impatient Miatas driven by drivers with more talent in their left small toe than I had in my entire body. Now some skills were starting to show, those lessons learned in the somewhat unglamorous Autocross settings of parking lots and test pad surfaces had helped teach me how my car liked to be driven.
Road America does have technical sections – for example the dance through five-six-seven and the snaking run from the Kink to the Carousel. But it’s mostly a gut-check, a time to believe in your car and yourself and a time to revel in the velocity of the Wisconsin course’s three long and fast straights that are followed by turns that test your intestines as well as your intellect.
Making me look like a good driver - the G has great balance, great engineering, and great looks!! Shot from turn Six under the Toyota bridge.
There was some screamingly fast cars - the fastest laps were 2:23 and 2:31, the first by a race-prepped Cobra, and the second by a driver I have met a couple of times at Road America, Damian in his turbo RX-7. But the cars don’t have to be fast to be memorable. There was Bob and his black VW Turbo Beetle. I came by to ask and see about the unique roof spoiler on the car I had heard about and found out that it was supposed to operate only above 85 and that even then it sometimes worked, and sometimes didn’t. Still the car was impressively quick on the turns and Bob was driving it quite well overall.
Kenton had a big white race-prepped Mustang 350 that was one of 250 made in its’ production run. It boasted a powerful motor, stripped interior with racing seats, fire extinguisher, and even a factory-installed fuel cell. I rode with him on a lap and appreciated its’ torque but also noted that it didn’t ‘dance’ like the coupe through the turns. It seemed to hammer its way around the course, snarling and emitting groans as the tires rubbed – sometimes alarmingly so – on turns, particularly right-handers! :shocked:
Coming out of Turn Eight - there are cuts into the track surface that, if you follow them, will lead you perfectly through this demanding turn.
The rest of the HPDE students had a variety of cars, ranging from new Corvettes and EVO VIII to a VW Turbo Beetle and a BMW M Roadster. There was a 350Z Roadster in bright yellow, and according to its’ owner it was one of only 10 such vehicles produced for the USA in 2004. A big silver E55 AMG Benz sporting engine, brake, and suspension modifications had over 500 horsepower. A couple of Miatas, a trio of Honda S2000s, and a non-turbo RX-7 were amongst the others.
Due to my experience I would modestly say my car was probably the second-quickest around the course in our group. I would have loved to have a little informal time trial with the Z roadster – we’ll leave that for another day I guess! The E55 hauled some distance back on the Beastie Coupe a bit in straights, but brake overheating – even with huge aftermarket rotors – had that two-ton silver rocket lugging and chugging out of turns, whilst my lighter (dare I say it?) coupe was able to jump on the throttle quickly.
The S2K’s are great performance cars and must be a joy to fling through the five-six-seven combination, but I spent most of the time smelling that metallic stench of brake pad when I was pulling up to pass them! They were exhibiting that newbie phenomenon of over-using the brakes on the wickedly fast track. As such, brake fade slowed them down quickly and I only lapped the Miatas and the Turbo Beetle more often.
The Beetle was surprisingly composed in the turns and had more oomph than I thought it would – but it was no speedster. The Miatas growled angrily but, being mostly stock, simply did not have the power of the VQ/G35 combo. What did have that power was the Z roadster (pretty with the top down, but not to my taste with the top up to be frank.) The driver was an older gentleman – erm, like me!
He obviously had some track experience and the Z and Beastie Coupe were a pretty even match. He did pass me once shortly after one of my ‘adventures’ on the Canada Corner, but hey, I was taking it easy and going back to the pits for a check-up after the trip into the kitty litter! 
Otherwise, the only glimpse I had of him was in the paddock.
'Dancin' in Wisconsin! 'Nuff said!
This was another thing that the weekend boasted – not much in the way of traffic while driving in the HPDE sessions. This allowed me to test more fully the capabilities of the coupe on every corner and straight without worrying about running up into slower traffic, or angering the occasional visitor from the race or time trial groups (which did happen occasionally.)
A couple of high-powered Cobras also ‘visited’ our humble HPDE 1 & 2 session briefly – but were far more cordial in their behavior. I found it somewhat gratifying that at least once they labored mightily to catch the coupe– only doing so on the Home Straight of the last lap just as the checkered flag fell! On another session they passed the G on the Moraine Sweep – even though I felt I could have held them off – as my instructor asked me to pull over.
I tried to give several car lengths of space while setting up to pass on one of the three allowed passing zones for HPDE 1 & 2 drivers – between turns fourteen and one (the Home Straight), between turns three and five (the Moraine Sweep), and a far smaller one between turns ten and eleven (between the end of The Carousel and The Kink.)
Most of the passing was done on the Home Straight or on the Moraine Sweep, although I do remember passing a Miata once on the short straight between The Carousel and The Kink.
Ah, The Kink … that’s a gut-check equaled only by perhaps the one you get braking and turning on Turn Five. ‘Bowing to the Kink’ as Damian the super-fast RX-7 turbo driver calls it – that ‘bow’ being a slight lift on the throttle or a prudent tap on the brakes to settle the front end and scrub out some of the understeer that tends to pop up nastily. Then immediately back on the throttle hard for the winding blast through the Kettle Bottoms.
Interestingly enough, The Kink is the one place on the course where a slightly early apex might be justified. Just don’t make it too early or it’s pinball time and your car may indeed ‘tilt’! Tilting is not something you want to do in pinball, and it’s definitely not something you want do while performance driving! :shocked:
At the end of the Kettle Bottoms drivers will be easily going 110-115 or even faster and are approaching the right-handed, increasing radius exiting uphill turn called the Canada Corner. The uphill nature of the track-out point plus the increasing radius can give one a false confidence at the Canada Corner and, as described before, led me to my most ‘interesting’ moments of the weekend (‘interesting’ equals ‘frightened’!)
There is something important to remember about ‘adventures’, ‘excursions’, or ‘interesting moments’ as one might diplomatically put those unintentional off-track exits. That is that there is a time to try to ‘save’ the car, and a time to accept the situation and make the best of it. It is NOT good practice to try to turn out of a slide into a run-off zone with kitty litter. The fine and deep pebbles that compose the ‘litter’ will grab the wheels and could well flip the car if you enter sideways with enough speed. That’s when you get the wheels straight, apply brakes steadily, and let the fine gravel do it’s job – which is to slow you down before you hit anything hard!
Fortunately no one had contact with anything hard this weekend – which was very nice! There were just some adventures into the kitty litter – the worst probably being a trip by a Corvette into the large run-off area beyond Turn One that seemingly had two acres worth of sand and fine pebbles in it! It had to be towed out – which is Rule #2 to remember about ‘adventures’ into kitty litter – don’t try to drive out!
Another shot of the coupe putting happy feet down in front of the Road America position sign.
My two ‘adventures’ at the Canada Corner were fortunate (and brief) because I only barely exited into the run-off area and had two wheels pretty much still on pavement. That allowed me to drive out – counter-steering slightly to compensate for the ‘slingshot’ effect of coming back onto the track with all four wheels.
In closing I realize that I still have just started to understand the coupe and performance driving – but I can now at least say that I know how it feels to ‘dance’ through a racecourse and I feel much more connected to the wonderful machine that is the Infiniti G35 Sport Coupe. May all of you who enjoy this vehicle have some way to appreciate its’ virtues. It doesn’t have to be on a track or even on an AutoX course – a clear road, some ‘twisties’, and a little sunshine will do nicely!
Happy and safe motoring to you all!
- Riff
Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – April 8-10, 2005
The coupe leaning after turn-out exiting Turn Seven. Coming up - the Hurry Downs!
All lessons learned in AutoX and earlier HPDE's are starting to come back home – all those Sundays of spinning and knocking over cones, of skidding too wide on Turn Eight, and of being passed by impatient Miatas driven by drivers with more talent in their left small toe than I had in my entire body. Now some skills were starting to show, those lessons learned in the somewhat unglamorous Autocross settings of parking lots and test pad surfaces had helped teach me how my car liked to be driven.
Road America does have technical sections – for example the dance through five-six-seven and the snaking run from the Kink to the Carousel. But it’s mostly a gut-check, a time to believe in your car and yourself and a time to revel in the velocity of the Wisconsin course’s three long and fast straights that are followed by turns that test your intestines as well as your intellect.
Making me look like a good driver - the G has great balance, great engineering, and great looks!! Shot from turn Six under the Toyota bridge.
There was some screamingly fast cars - the fastest laps were 2:23 and 2:31, the first by a race-prepped Cobra, and the second by a driver I have met a couple of times at Road America, Damian in his turbo RX-7. But the cars don’t have to be fast to be memorable. There was Bob and his black VW Turbo Beetle. I came by to ask and see about the unique roof spoiler on the car I had heard about and found out that it was supposed to operate only above 85 and that even then it sometimes worked, and sometimes didn’t. Still the car was impressively quick on the turns and Bob was driving it quite well overall.
Kenton had a big white race-prepped Mustang 350 that was one of 250 made in its’ production run. It boasted a powerful motor, stripped interior with racing seats, fire extinguisher, and even a factory-installed fuel cell. I rode with him on a lap and appreciated its’ torque but also noted that it didn’t ‘dance’ like the coupe through the turns. It seemed to hammer its way around the course, snarling and emitting groans as the tires rubbed – sometimes alarmingly so – on turns, particularly right-handers! :shocked:
Coming out of Turn Eight - there are cuts into the track surface that, if you follow them, will lead you perfectly through this demanding turn.
The rest of the HPDE students had a variety of cars, ranging from new Corvettes and EVO VIII to a VW Turbo Beetle and a BMW M Roadster. There was a 350Z Roadster in bright yellow, and according to its’ owner it was one of only 10 such vehicles produced for the USA in 2004. A big silver E55 AMG Benz sporting engine, brake, and suspension modifications had over 500 horsepower. A couple of Miatas, a trio of Honda S2000s, and a non-turbo RX-7 were amongst the others.
Due to my experience I would modestly say my car was probably the second-quickest around the course in our group. I would have loved to have a little informal time trial with the Z roadster – we’ll leave that for another day I guess! The E55 hauled some distance back on the Beastie Coupe a bit in straights, but brake overheating – even with huge aftermarket rotors – had that two-ton silver rocket lugging and chugging out of turns, whilst my lighter (dare I say it?) coupe was able to jump on the throttle quickly.
The S2K’s are great performance cars and must be a joy to fling through the five-six-seven combination, but I spent most of the time smelling that metallic stench of brake pad when I was pulling up to pass them! They were exhibiting that newbie phenomenon of over-using the brakes on the wickedly fast track. As such, brake fade slowed them down quickly and I only lapped the Miatas and the Turbo Beetle more often.
The Beetle was surprisingly composed in the turns and had more oomph than I thought it would – but it was no speedster. The Miatas growled angrily but, being mostly stock, simply did not have the power of the VQ/G35 combo. What did have that power was the Z roadster (pretty with the top down, but not to my taste with the top up to be frank.) The driver was an older gentleman – erm, like me!
He obviously had some track experience and the Z and Beastie Coupe were a pretty even match. He did pass me once shortly after one of my ‘adventures’ on the Canada Corner, but hey, I was taking it easy and going back to the pits for a check-up after the trip into the kitty litter! Otherwise, the only glimpse I had of him was in the paddock.'Dancin' in Wisconsin! 'Nuff said!
This was another thing that the weekend boasted – not much in the way of traffic while driving in the HPDE sessions. This allowed me to test more fully the capabilities of the coupe on every corner and straight without worrying about running up into slower traffic, or angering the occasional visitor from the race or time trial groups (which did happen occasionally.)
A couple of high-powered Cobras also ‘visited’ our humble HPDE 1 & 2 session briefly – but were far more cordial in their behavior. I found it somewhat gratifying that at least once they labored mightily to catch the coupe– only doing so on the Home Straight of the last lap just as the checkered flag fell! On another session they passed the G on the Moraine Sweep – even though I felt I could have held them off – as my instructor asked me to pull over.
I tried to give several car lengths of space while setting up to pass on one of the three allowed passing zones for HPDE 1 & 2 drivers – between turns fourteen and one (the Home Straight), between turns three and five (the Moraine Sweep), and a far smaller one between turns ten and eleven (between the end of The Carousel and The Kink.)
Most of the passing was done on the Home Straight or on the Moraine Sweep, although I do remember passing a Miata once on the short straight between The Carousel and The Kink.
Ah, The Kink … that’s a gut-check equaled only by perhaps the one you get braking and turning on Turn Five. ‘Bowing to the Kink’ as Damian the super-fast RX-7 turbo driver calls it – that ‘bow’ being a slight lift on the throttle or a prudent tap on the brakes to settle the front end and scrub out some of the understeer that tends to pop up nastily. Then immediately back on the throttle hard for the winding blast through the Kettle Bottoms.
Interestingly enough, The Kink is the one place on the course where a slightly early apex might be justified. Just don’t make it too early or it’s pinball time and your car may indeed ‘tilt’! Tilting is not something you want to do in pinball, and it’s definitely not something you want do while performance driving! :shocked:
At the end of the Kettle Bottoms drivers will be easily going 110-115 or even faster and are approaching the right-handed, increasing radius exiting uphill turn called the Canada Corner. The uphill nature of the track-out point plus the increasing radius can give one a false confidence at the Canada Corner and, as described before, led me to my most ‘interesting’ moments of the weekend (‘interesting’ equals ‘frightened’!)
There is something important to remember about ‘adventures’, ‘excursions’, or ‘interesting moments’ as one might diplomatically put those unintentional off-track exits. That is that there is a time to try to ‘save’ the car, and a time to accept the situation and make the best of it. It is NOT good practice to try to turn out of a slide into a run-off zone with kitty litter. The fine and deep pebbles that compose the ‘litter’ will grab the wheels and could well flip the car if you enter sideways with enough speed. That’s when you get the wheels straight, apply brakes steadily, and let the fine gravel do it’s job – which is to slow you down before you hit anything hard!
Fortunately no one had contact with anything hard this weekend – which was very nice! There were just some adventures into the kitty litter – the worst probably being a trip by a Corvette into the large run-off area beyond Turn One that seemingly had two acres worth of sand and fine pebbles in it! It had to be towed out – which is Rule #2 to remember about ‘adventures’ into kitty litter – don’t try to drive out!
Another shot of the coupe putting happy feet down in front of the Road America position sign.
My two ‘adventures’ at the Canada Corner were fortunate (and brief) because I only barely exited into the run-off area and had two wheels pretty much still on pavement. That allowed me to drive out – counter-steering slightly to compensate for the ‘slingshot’ effect of coming back onto the track with all four wheels.
In closing I realize that I still have just started to understand the coupe and performance driving – but I can now at least say that I know how it feels to ‘dance’ through a racecourse and I feel much more connected to the wonderful machine that is the Infiniti G35 Sport Coupe. May all of you who enjoy this vehicle have some way to appreciate its’ virtues. It doesn’t have to be on a track or even on an AutoX course – a clear road, some ‘twisties’, and a little sunshine will do nicely!
Happy and safe motoring to you all!
- Riff
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
From: Chicago (NW Burbs)
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading parts #1 & #2 of your writeup of Road America. I could almost feel the G's in the corners, hear the tires howling, and smell the rookie brakes roasting! I'll definitely have to put a RA date on the calendar for next year. Thanks for sharing your experience! 
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
350Z_Al
Exterior & Interior
133
Oct 29, 2020 07:44 PM
