Beginner track day fun (long)
Beginner track day fun (long)
I was reading this post: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=159515 ... and got inspired to tell my story of a track day a couple weeks ago.
As soon as I got my '05 RS, all i could think about was breaking in the engine so I could attend a Shelby club track day that was about two weeks away. So with about 1200 on the odo and two previous track days under my belt with my 300ZX twinturbo, I signed up to run in the beginner class at Portland International Raceway. I also threw on some Hawk brake pads, I can't stand the stockers.
My '05 RS just ate up everybody in the beginner class. I didn't get passed once the whole day, even when they combined part of the intermediate class with my class. Passing was allowed on the front and back straights of the approx 2 mile track.
I really enjoyed passing a new C6 Corvette, as well as passing a couple Cobra replicas. I also enjoyed passing the turbo 240sx, BMW 3 series on hoosiers, the WRX, a few mustangs, assorted Focus things, assorted SHO things; and with another lap or two I would have had the AMG CL55 but the session ended.
After one session I let the car idle for awhile to cool down, and then a few minutes later borrowed a tire pressure gauge to check the pressures out of curiosity. 55 PSI. Wtf. Heh, guess I was driving a little hard. A friend helped me lower the pressures down.
The EVO was incredibly predictable and easy to drive. I was a little worried about not having ABS, but this proved mostly to be a non issue. It's fun practicing threshold braking at 120mph. The brakes were easy to modulate, didn't really fade much with the hawk pads, only came close to locking up a few times. At the chicane I managed to get the car loose enough where I could really feel the limited slip differentials doing their job. This makes me happy to have a front lsd and ACD.
The last session of the day I accidently pre-grided early, which actually ended up being a good thing; as I didn't have any slow pokes in front of me. I was first in line. I still ended up catching up and passing some cars after a few laps though
I did notice the car stutter a couple times the last session. It felt like the ECU started to cut some timing or something from the car. I think this was probably because I got the car a little too hot running ***** out for 20 minutes
The odd stutter hasn't come back after driving the car a couple weeks on the street, hopefully it won't be back.
I was seriously impressed with the performance of the car on the track. I knew it would be good, but I didn't expect to run down 400hp corvettes already (even if the owners couldn't drive). I can only imagine what the car's going to be like modified.
Also, in case you were wondering, the RS seems quicker overall around the track than my modified 300zx twinturbo.
As soon as I got my '05 RS, all i could think about was breaking in the engine so I could attend a Shelby club track day that was about two weeks away. So with about 1200 on the odo and two previous track days under my belt with my 300ZX twinturbo, I signed up to run in the beginner class at Portland International Raceway. I also threw on some Hawk brake pads, I can't stand the stockers.
My '05 RS just ate up everybody in the beginner class. I didn't get passed once the whole day, even when they combined part of the intermediate class with my class. Passing was allowed on the front and back straights of the approx 2 mile track.
I really enjoyed passing a new C6 Corvette, as well as passing a couple Cobra replicas. I also enjoyed passing the turbo 240sx, BMW 3 series on hoosiers, the WRX, a few mustangs, assorted Focus things, assorted SHO things; and with another lap or two I would have had the AMG CL55 but the session ended.
After one session I let the car idle for awhile to cool down, and then a few minutes later borrowed a tire pressure gauge to check the pressures out of curiosity. 55 PSI. Wtf. Heh, guess I was driving a little hard. A friend helped me lower the pressures down.
The EVO was incredibly predictable and easy to drive. I was a little worried about not having ABS, but this proved mostly to be a non issue. It's fun practicing threshold braking at 120mph. The brakes were easy to modulate, didn't really fade much with the hawk pads, only came close to locking up a few times. At the chicane I managed to get the car loose enough where I could really feel the limited slip differentials doing their job. This makes me happy to have a front lsd and ACD.
The last session of the day I accidently pre-grided early, which actually ended up being a good thing; as I didn't have any slow pokes in front of me. I was first in line. I still ended up catching up and passing some cars after a few laps though
I did notice the car stutter a couple times the last session. It felt like the ECU started to cut some timing or something from the car. I think this was probably because I got the car a little too hot running ***** out for 20 minutes
The odd stutter hasn't come back after driving the car a couple weeks on the street, hopefully it won't be back.
I was seriously impressed with the performance of the car on the track. I knew it would be good, but I didn't expect to run down 400hp corvettes already (even if the owners couldn't drive). I can only imagine what the car's going to be like modified.
Also, in case you were wondering, the RS seems quicker overall around the track than my modified 300zx twinturbo.
