NASA Racing @ PMI - Chasing a 911 & STi

Not long after the off-course slide behind the STi around turn 10, I noticed my left front V710 had no tread. At first, I thought it just ripped up the tread on the shoulder, but when I pulled the tire off, it had nothing across the middle - just cords! I went back out on my RT-615s and was sticking like glue in comparison to the corded V710s. Ended up running my best street tire lap of 1:46.9. That STi's best time was 1:53.xx.

High-res version (70mb)

 

Hey man really nice video ... On a few turns, including the last one where you went off the track, your apex is too early (or at least it appeared so in the video). I think you may be going in a bit too hot, but it is hard to tell since I am not in the car ....Keep up the good work...

 

Too early for how the tires were behaving at the time, but I had gotten used to them being at full grip when learning this track. My best time on them with good tread was 1:45.5. For reference, the best time of this weekend event was 1:45.2 by an American Iron Camaro SS. Doesn't mean that's fast, but it's at least fast relative to the other cars that come to our events so far. I had to change up my lines/apexes a bit when I put on the street tires.

 

You go out WAY too hot your first lap. Keep your cool, let the tires warm up. Slow = fast.

You also drive way too hot for the tires. Drive the track with the tires, not what you think you should be doing. Rest will follow.

That part at the end should tell you that you need to slow down.

 

Good video Warr. The road seem a bit rough though.


Carlos

 

Agreed, you need to slow it down for your skill level. Dont take this the wrong way, but I know you're in a hurry to get into NASA group 4 and TT. You have a long way to go in terms of seat time before you should consider that. Honestly, some of that stuff is just unsafe. The 2 off at the end looked very scary, a little more off like that and sideways like you were trying to save the car, you would have ended up on your roof.

Don't worry about laptimes right now. Infact, take the camera and any timing equipment out of the car now. Don't even think about laptimes. You need to work on being a smoother, safer driver. I would get some instructors back in the car with you to help with smoother inputs, hitting apexs at the right time, and tracking out in the right place. I saw a few turns where you were either way too early or you just didn't hit the apex at all. You should not be going 2 wheels off 2 times in an event, I don't care how "cold" your tires were. To be safe to yourself and everyone else around you (key point, your actions do affect others on the track), slow it down and get used to driving smooth, correct lines. Believe me, the speed will follow. I know you're in a hurry to compete, but you need to take your time. Be safe out there, that last 2 wheels off, you were VERY lucky. You should take that into consideration.

Sorry for my long rant, I just don't want to see people hurt themselves and others out there, being an instructor myself.

 

scary and def over driving the car. just be safe, is no fun wracking. u can still learn to drive fast by going slow.

 

I could not agree more with dohcvtec....
Not trying to rain on your parade, it's great to be enthusiastic, but you do need more seat-time to be safer, smoother, increase your competence. You might think about hiring a coach, someone like Paul G, for example, or hooking up consistently with a respected NASA racer or instructor in your region. Also, I'd recommend indoor Karting, which if you concentrate on driving the line, using your vision correctly, etc, is great kinesthetic training fro what you will do in the car as well. Good Luck, and be safe.

 

I understand what you guys are saying, but what I was saying above is that the way I took that turn was no different than normal, but my tires were just not working anymore. I felt it about 1/3 of the way around the bend and just let it ride. I didn't just let off the gas so as not to whip the tail around. The tires weren't cold - they just had no more grip, and it happened right there during the lap shown. When I went to my regular street tires, I had no more problems and was taking the turns harder without any tires off or issues. I had tons more grip, even though it was less than when my V710s were still functioning.

Bryan, I was too hot on that first lap, but I had just come off the track after some hot laps. I had just come in for a minute, then went right back out. I don't normally just go out and on my first lap go crazy like that, but since it wasn't my first lap, I was getting into the gas right away. Those 2 little rear end kicks you see are the first 2 times I've ever done that on those particular turns, and that includes both race tires and street tires. I should have realized then that something was wrong (with the tires).

 

I've done a decent amount of indoor go-karting like you mentioned, and I've already gotten together with Paul G at the track AFTER this vid to start learning some things. I plan to get some actual coaching from Paul here in the near future...

You may be raining on my parade a bit, but this isn't a video game, so constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.

 

yea uhh CLOSE THE window!!! i couldnt hear the engine roaring . A few times i saw u almost lost it there but great driving!

 

Can't close the windows for safety reasons, so I need to figure out how to rig up some sort of wind filter. My camera is great EXCEPT for the lack of a wind filter, bah.

 

Warrtalon, from the video i see. it seems like the car has no rotation (might be the cam angle also), this tell me 2 things, either the car is overdrive and not braking enough to let the tires do the work or is a bad setup. maybe just try to brake a bit more next time and let the tires rotate ur car, this way u can get on the gas faster. and dont take this the wrong way, i am a student of this sport and just like to share my exp with others. thats how i pickup new things from other good driver also. and i think turn-in was a bit early on a lot of turns

 

The best wind filter in the world is a remote mic hooked to the camera and placed in the passenger footwell near the firewall. I have also seen some suby guys run the mic out the trunk and tape it to the bumper. It gets rid of the wind noise completely and the sound is great.

jeff

 

Yeah, you're right, Swordfish, I keep forgetting. I just need to get a remote mic...

Cityhugo, I'm on stock suspension, so the setup definitely isn't optimum. I have little rotation with a lot of body roll and tires that overpower the suspension. Typically, though, on these tires on that track, the lines I was taking and the apexes I was hitting (or trying to hit) work with plenty of rotation. In this vid, I'm pushing wide a lot, which was confusing me while it was happening. I did not know the tires were gone until later. I didn't bother with the camera after switching tires, because I was focused on doing all the things I needed to be doing in order to drive properly, stay on the track, and be safe. I had much more fun during the 2nd half of the 3hr session with no tail whips or wheels off.