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I got to rip the new tire/wheel set up last Sunday...
The Federal RS-RR is easily worth every penny, i'm in love.
Anyway, I had competition in CS with the ND Miata. I ended up in the middle, faster than one driver and behind the other. Better than losing to them consistently! If I want to make excuses, this course was super tight and Miata's definitely have an advantage.
1st was 53.780 ND Miata
2nd was 54.575 by yours truly
3rd was 55.554 in the ND Miata again.
For fun, 1st in STU was a 53.172 in a Evo IX. I have a long way to go to catch that car.
Man the car has a lot of grip now. Crazy to think I'm in a street class with so much tire. The tire didn't seem to phased by heat but it was a nice cool day, so we will see how they do in summer. Even with the pinch up front the response is crazy, I'd imagine it would be even better on a 10.5" wide wheel. I'm not ready for STU yet though.
I drank some ultra sugar-injected coffee at Starbucks in the morning, after my first run my stomach was twisted in a knot, so my first runs are a bit slower. I tried a new angle for runs, starting at 2:15 its both exterior and POV running simultaneously. You can get an idea of how tight the course was. The course designer drives an itty-bitty civic so that might be why haha.
In the video I noted the tires were barely rubbing on the fender, I later figured out that it was actually tire dressing that got some dirt (maybe even rubber on the course) and stuck to the fender.
Not sure how many people actually read this but I will continue to update the journal!
Third event for me this year and CS had a quite a bit of competition. Course was fast, flowing and a bit technical. It really awarded those who setup lines properly to use little to no brakes.
My main competition was there in his ND Miata. I’m always chasing him down. The course was designed by a driver in a STU prepped Corvette, my car may have more of an advantage in this case. By the end of the first session I was barely beating him. In the second session we were swapping positions each and every run. Towards our last few he set a 48.066 and I was sitting at a 48.002. We were both itching for a 47 second run. Onto my last one I had a superman run, perfected my line and held as much momentum as possible and broke into the 47’s with a 47.729. I was ecstatic.
My competitor went on to his last run. He was also ready for his superman run. He was moving fast in that Miata and used every single inch of the course. Coming into the fastest section, going into third gear he missed a gear and went off course. Would he have beat my time? We don’t know. He came and congratulated me on my run and shook my hand. I felt so honored to be congratulated by a driver of his pedigree. I truly felt I improved as a driver this day and to this day this was my favorite track event. But with every good event, the itch for the next increases more.
Here is the video from the event. It is a vlog that includes my whole weekend experience and all of my runs. If you only care about the fastest run it begins at 23:12, Otherwise all of my runs are included, some of my codrivers, some of my instructional drive’s that I took new drivers on in their cars and ride alongs in a few different cars are all included in the video. Let me know what you guys think of this video, I hope you enjoy it.
Course was designed by a very skilled driver in a high end STX prepped 128i (Read: FAST). The course was pretty fast, almost like the last event. It was definetly challenging with the way the elevation changes were used. One of my favorite because of this. I only had two clean runs One run I hit 5 cones making me cone king for the day. I will take that title with pride! There was one bit of the course, left hander and the furthest part from start that really made you sack up to go faster, since it was high speed and next to the curb, my faster runs towards the end you can see me getting right next to them using my threshold of grip.
I'd suggest watching until 6:00 so you can see my cone carnage. Fastest run is at 8:28
I haven't posted for awhile, I thought I would have more time it being summer break but nope lol.
We had a weekend venue at a new location called the Maverik Center. I have actually raced here before with my 300ZX a few years ago. The lot is big, bumpy, full of elevation changes and extremely slick.
I went for both days to help make the event big for the club. The first days course was designed by a Miata driver. To be honest, it was so horrible I got home and thought to myself "I think I am done with autocross, it isn't fun." I got my *** handed to me by the AWD STU cars. I came third in class. The course did not like the heavy front engined cars. I did an instructional in a 500 Abarth and came close to my time. Definetly a course for small cars.
7:55 will host my fastest run. What I really didn't like about the course is that it pinched you a lot and it made you go to one spot, then the next gate is all the way over somewhere else so you have to wrestle the car over. It was a challenge, but it wasn't satisfying when figured.
Second day at the Maverik Center was a lot better! The course was designed by a Corvette driver, it was high speed and flowed well. We started with a weird figure eight kinda of deal that we go through once and then after one lap exit it for the rest of the course. One of the funnest to date!
Fun fact, the RS-RR's need heat tog grip. My first run was a massive drift run. It was quite beautiful. One friend had his camera out taking a video from the outside. Another got this beautiful photo of the initiation caused by the elevation change.
My kinda scrapefest. This part of the course made most cars hit there bump stop.
4:04 is probably the most entertaining run. 16:38 was fastest of the day. I was still third behind the AWD's. Talking to some of the more veteran drivers, no matter what, at this venue AWD will have a massive advantage. Some of these STU cars I have beaten in CS guise at different venues so we will see.
where do you order your federals? im always hesitant ordering them online.
I got them on Ebay if I am honest, most of the time the vendors on there offer free shipping. If you are looking for a actual shop I would recommend R Compound USA in California.
Some of the pro guys were telling the others to go autocross becuase of me XD
At the event I sold my CS GT wheel setup and right after I met someone for some manly loving... err i mean to buy some 18x10.5's. Kept the 275's I had before and mounted. Man they look good, can't wait to shake them down.
First event with the 10.5's, total success. A properly sized wheel and tire combo handles so much better, what a concept! I got first in class, 10th raw and 12th PAX.
I originally disconnected the ABS box so everything would be disabled. It was fun driving with no ABS but I plugged it back in and got my fastest time. Lesson learned!
My car was running hot, it was hot and at high elevation there. The gauge was moving a bit above the halfway point. Was I smart to back off or is that normal for our cars at the track? Nonetheless cooling system and a bucket seat are next on my list.
Yea we read it! What was the temp reading? Could hook up odb2 to double check.
Huh didn't even think of that, I had to borrow a scan tool from my instructor also. It would come back down below middle after maybe 10 seconds of cruising so I'm not even sure if I would have caught it fast enough.
Great video. Looks like you did great. I absolutely love to see the Z passing cars it probably shouldn't be passing. I've had a Camero not want to let me by as well. I wish I could have made it over there for the NASA weekend.
I about spun out like you did the first time I drove by myself on track. Kinda cracked me up.
Love the Instagram page as well. At least I think your page is Driven Z.
Great video. Looks like you did great. I absolutely love to see the Z passing cars it probably shouldn't be passing. I've had a Camero not want to let me by as well. I wish I could have made it over there for the NASA weekend.
I about spun out like you did the first time I drove by myself on track. Kinda cracked me up.
Love the Instagram page as well. At least I think your page is Driven Z.
Yup thats my page!
Last weekend I went to a new venue called Global One. No one knows the history about Global One, but it's a lot, with paved corners around it. I am bad at words, better at math, so here is a picture from Google Maps.
Pretty cool little place. It feels like a hybrid of autocross and a road course. At first it was hard to look ahead because of all the plants beside the road, for the most part the course followed the flow of the paved section.
My car felt like a Honda with how much the front wanted to push. The front tires are pretty toast (I blame the one event where I drove without ABS, and maybe I should have rotated sooner). Also the lack of front camber doesn't help. Next event I will run the worn pair in the rear and the better pair in the front, I would rather over than understeer. None the less, first in STU is pretty cool, 7th raw and 9th PAX.
As always, here is my video. I made this one a little more fast paced, I didn't include all of my runs, more highlights and of course my FTD.
03-17-2017, 07:48 AM
One run I hit 5 cones making me cone king for the day. I will take that title with pride! There was one bit of the course, left hander and the furthest part from start that really made you sack up to go faster, since it was high speed and next to the curb, my faster runs towards the end you can see me getting right next to them using my threshold of grip.
