commasense

I'm back from three days at the Glen with the Delaware Valley BMW CCA, Wed.-Fri., July 13-15. I had a great time: plenty of track time, not too hot, not a drop of rain (except for the drive home), and I improved my track time by almost ten seconds from the first day to the third! My best lap was 2:25.5 in my stock Z on new RA-1s. And it cost only $375, $100 less than Car Guys charged for two days!

I only knew one person going in, Michelle (gray Mini Cooper S), who was at VIR in February and Mid-Ohio in April, but as always, I met a bunch of other good folks. (It was thanks to Michelle that I knew about the session.)

The organizers ran a smooth event, well-organized, clean, and not very crowded: only about 20 cars in each run group on average, which is practically nothing on that 3.7-mile track. There were four 25-minute sessions each day. I was a little disappointed when I found out on Tuesday night that Friday was only half a day: only two sessions for each group, with the last group off the track by noon. But on Thursday afternoon they announced a change: on Friday the four run groups would be combined into two and go out on track starting at 8 am, alternating half-hour sessions until noon. So everyone got four sessions in those four hours. And since the groups were small to start with, and some people had left Thursday night, the combined groups were not too large.

Traffic was hardly ever a problem. In fact, it was almost too empty. Unlike some DE drivers, I like having other cars around to pace me and prod me into going faster. At VIR in February, my best sessions were driving in close quarters with other instructors, where we could pass anywhere. It was very exciting. This wasn't quite that good, but Watkins is always fun.

In three days there were only two incidents: an E36 M3 ran off the end of the toe of the boot into the tires, and a Lotus Esprit blew a gasket and dropped oil on the track just before the bus stop.

My MaxQData data acquisition system (which I'd had problems with for a while) worked perfectly, with a new GPS module that gives much higher detail and accuracy.

The key to improving my times was the old standard advice: keep your eyes up. I was struggling with the bus stop, trying to find the right angle through each turn. Early in the second day I realized I was focusing on the curbs I was passing, instead of looking ahead to the next turn. As soon as I made a point of looking down the track to the next turn, I didn't have to worry about the angle, I was just there at the right place, and moving faster.

All in all, it was a great time. I'm just sorry there weren't any other Zs there. (BTW, my 350Z drew more attention in the town of Watkins Glen than I've gotten since the car was brand new. It was really cool.)

I've been having problems uploading pix to this forum (can anyone tell me if it's something with the site, or something I'm doing?), but I'll keep trying and I may post some to my own Web site later on, and post a link here.

amolaver

iTrader: (1)

love to hear more about the data acq system... i'm starting to evaluate them for purchase next year.

i don't know why, but i've had such difficulty coming to grips with the glenn's layout (the off camber downhill left hander). i need to get back up there for some more practice

glad it was fun!

ahm

FCallender

Understanding you had lots of room on that long track I'd like to hear how you felt about the Z's performance versus the Bimmers. On long tracks my experience has been just about all the Bimmers will overhaul the Z.

commasense

amolaver: See my comments about MaxQData here, or go to the MaxQData Web site: www.maxqdata.com.

FCallender: My Z is bone stock (except for the RA-1s and safety items like SS brake lines, roll bar, harnesses), and it seemed like most of the E36s and E46s could walk away from me fairly easily (the E46s faster than the E36s). But not the E30s. Of course, some of those later cars were more heavily modded than others. But even the slow ones were able to pull away from me. Just about the only cars I passed all weekend were the 1980s vintage BMWs and the Minis.

But none of them look as good as a Z! And I'll bet a million dollars that no one came up to a Bimmer owner and asked "Is that a Lamborghini?" (A little girl in town asked me that about the Z!)

The only downhill left-hander I can think of is leading down toward the toe of the boot. But I don't think it's really off-camber. Just a late apex, like most of the turns at the Glen. The key here, as with pretty much everywhere (and on every track) is to look ahead as far as you can. And going down that hill, you can look over the apex to the exit point. When I kept my eyes there, I hit the apex correctly every time. Ocular driving!

After running the Glen again (I had two days there with Car Guys in 2003), I've come to realize that, although it's a fun and fast track, to me it's not quite as challenging as others like Mid-Ohio, VIR (full), or even Summit Point (main), mainly because there is so much banking that helps you through the turns. It's a track that rewards horsepower much more than handling.

The scariest part for me was the middle left-hander in the Esses: you're heading uphill, and you turn in for the corner when you feel the car get light at the top of the hill. I was WOT through there, and a couple of times went a little wide or turned late, or breathed the throttle, and got a little wiggle. I never came close to losing it, but the idea of sliding sideways into that pretty light blue Armco was enough to get your attention!

BTW, for guys who haven't been there in a while, they've changed things a bit in preparation for the IRL race in September. No changes to the track surface itself, but they've moved and modified some of the barriers (tires instead of styrofoam outside Turn 9 and elsewhere), and put large catchfences that overhang the track in many places.

John

iTrader: (17)

In my experience, a stock Z will edge out an E36 M3 by a narrow margin. Now that my car is modified, I'm pulling about the same times (or a bit faster) as many I-Prepared E36 M3s are pulling at VIR Full. At the Glen, I didn't get any times, so I can't make any comparison there.

Now when it comes to E46 M3s, that's another story.

James, I agree with you about the challenging aspect of the Glen. Like Road Atlanta, it's an easy track to drive at 8.5/10ths. The remaining 15% or so is pure kahunas. Regardless, it's a blast to utilize the banking and have the foot to the floor for much for the track.

About the esses, my car felt a little unsettled at the crest of the track in the middle left-hander. I suppose it may have been because I was also getting used to my new tire setup and sway bar setting change, and the car felt completely new to me. Once I stayed on the throttle, I had no problem at all. Now if you want a scary crest, I find the one at the Shenandoah Circuit to be the most unsettling (as you approach the bowl).

Another big change to the track was the removal of the gravel trap at T1, which has been replaced by all asphalt. I personally thought the track was much bumpier than it was two years back, most notably in the T5 sweeper. Additionally, I found the concrete strips to be a bit rough, as they reminded me much of Summit Point.

zillinois

iTrader: (6)

Nice review Commasense.

I agree about coming out of the busstop. Its easy to look straight ahead right there, instead of down track. Especially since you have to turn your head so far. I also agree with John about the ease of driving 8 or 9 out of 10. The track does reward ballsy driving.

Can I ask how you are using your Datalogger to improve your times?
I recently purchased a video datalogger and have started to crunch numbers. I'm back on my home track this Friday. So I'll be testing out a new driving technique that I picked up at the Glen. I made some spreadsheets of old runs and printed out stuff like average corner entry speed, apex & track out, as well as, average time through the corner. Wondering what info you find most useful out of the myriad of stuff you can collect with the MaxQ.

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

Glad you had a good time James! I would have loved to have stuck around to run another 3 days!

I never had an issue through the esses, even after I eventually grew my kahunas to enter T2 flat! D*mn, I like the esses!!!! Just gotta take T1 faster! I think this combo is the key to a fast lap. Maybe it was my fancy suspension that was working there.....I don't know. But, my Z didn't like the 2 right hand sweepers. Nasty bump steer.

John, we did get a time on you.......A couple of the Flatlanders got under 2:20........No, not me...I guess I was in the 2:70 range!

Not so sure about the BMW's being faster....I think experience means a lot on this track.....and I can't wait to get more! With BFJ driving my Z, he blew buy a few ZO6's......

The Armco only bothered me exiting the boot, as it is VERY close to track out. Otherwise, I concentrated on the tarmac.

I can't wait to get back to the Finger Lakes soon!

commasense

Pictures here.