I thought about running in the Time Attack July 26th & 27th in Nashville. I don't have a fast enough car though. He said I could attend the driving clinic. Has anyone ever attented one of thier driving clinics? If so could you please break it down for me what exactly it encompases? I don't know weither to enter the time attack or just do the driving clinic. I don't have track experiance but I do know how to drive fast, and the track looks easy enough. I lived in germany 3 years while in the Army, so driving fast comes second nature to me. Still I have alote to learn and am wondering just what they will teach me. I'm sure I can already do the easy stuff. I can't do heal to toe though and a few other things. I can and have run for over 350 miles before never droping under 110 on the highway. I once went 550 miles in 5 and 1/2 hours and thats stoping to get fuel too. Any advice is apriciated.

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Import Alliance, High Performance Driving Clinic (RTA726-2)

This is registration for the Redline Time Attack High Performance Driving Clinic. You must also register for either Saturday's Open Track Day or for the 2-Day track registration.

The High Performance Driving Clinic is an excellent way to improve your driving skills quickly and safely. The clinic includes classroom and in-car instruction for our very skilled Instructors. Even if you have prior track driving experience, it always helps to receive advice from a Professional.

Our Price: $50.00
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Yea... Take that driving clinic before competeing for sure.

 

Im sorry, but this is probably one of the funniest posts i have read in a long while. Is that last bit meant as a joke, or were you serious when you said that? I would love to see you apply for a competition license, and when they ask for your past experience, tell them that bit.

 

Nobody said anything about a license troll. That was just an example as too my skills. And no its not meant to be funny. Don't you think if I can go 550 miles through heavy traffic in 5.5 hours I can drive? Lets stay on topic here, if you've nothing to add please don't post. Just because I don't have officialy recognized experiance doesn't mean I'm not qualified. I been raceing for over 23 years just not on an official track.

 

can we throw him to OT!!!???
can we!!!? can we!!!???

 

Ok, lets be constructive.

Please understand. Many of us have a compulsion to drive fast. We have heavy right feet. We keep up with the average flow of traffic. Some of us even run around back roads with our hair on fire strapped to the front of rocket sleds.

This being said, until you are on a track, in track conditions, seeing things and reacting at near track speeds, you just don't know.

I can recall my first time out. I was so giddy, I was on fire wanting to get out and get after it. My car was as strong as it could be and well prepped for the event, I was rested and anxious. By the time I came off the track I was half beat to death. I felt like everything was out of sorts and I felt like an utter noob. I had no idea what was going on and everything I did was backwards. I sucked.

Second time out was even worse. I knew at this point just enough to know how little I knew and I got in my own way like crazy. I early apexed everything and could not get smooth to save my life. It was turn to turn driving at its worst.

Third session was a little better. I knew the turns a bit and get a little smoother.

Fourth even better.

By the end of the two days I was beat, tired and my car was ragged. The tires were worn off, the brakes stunk but I was hooked.

In short, do not do the time attack, you will be in well over your head, you just don't know it. No offense, it's just that nobody short of baby jesus is going to strap in and take off out of the box and know whats what.

In a few years and maybe 25 track days maybe you will want to try a TA but until then, have fun, learn your car and enjoy the ride. Its a fun one.

PS- Please note the great many threads on first track days as there is a bunch of great info in them. Good luck!

 

Hey, im sorry i laughed, but your post is way too funny. FYI, im the furthest thing from a troll. The reason why nobody has really responded to your thread, is because nobody cares how fast you can drive on the freeway, or how long it takes you to race to the supermarket in your neighborhood. Show up to your local NASA event, or SCCA event and tell the guys there, "I can't do heal to toe though and a few other things. I can and have run for over 350 miles before never droping under 110 on the highway. I once went 550 miles in 5 and 1/2 hours and thats stoping to get fuel too."

Youve been racing for over 23 years just not on an official track? And because of that you think your example of how you, "can go 550 miles through heavy traffic in 5.5 hours" is supposed to entail that you can drive on a track? You must be joking. That is one of the most ridiculous statements i have ever read. Perhaps if you do stick around and get into track events, or if you ever compete with NASA or the SCCA, or some other sanctioning body, youll one day realize how ridiculous your post is. If you cant learn to laugh at yourself because you said something that was worthy of a laugh and some friendly banter, than youre going to have a difficult time everywhere.

As far as advice: I would recommend that you sign up with NASA in HPDE 1 and take it from there. They will provide you with plenty of in-car instruction. As you improve you can move through their HPDE groups from 1-4 (1 is for new comers, and 4 is for the advanced drivers). If you like NASA and if you ever want to take things to the next level, you can eventually compete in their TT series, or you can get into one of their racing series groups.

 

I understand I'm not profecient, though I have studied the technigues and practiced some. What I want to know is what exactly they will teach me those 2 days. Nobody answered that yet includeing the redline rep. Had I entered the race I didn't plan on winning or anything. My car isn't anywhere near fast enough and I'm sure I'm not that good yet. I was just wanting to try it to see how I would do, but then after I told redline I had no track experiance he suggested I take the class instead to learn how to keep my car in the road at maximum adhesion. I quess I'll take it and see what I learn. I know rear wheel drive better, not sure as much with FWD. I can drive at around 85 percent probablly. Now off road is where I shine but I can't afford to do that, too much expense will tally up on my car. I drove a speed 3 today it was alright. Then I sorta drove an Evo X GSR but am holding off in getting it yet due to all this rain keeping me from working. I say sorta drove it because I get in the car and he says. "You can't go over 40. You can't go over 3500 rpm, and you can't go into boost. Wtf! Thats like driving an escort not an Evo. I did notice the shifter wasn't smooth like the 9. It actually was pretty rough. The car felt more like a beemer than an evo. I didn't have to slip the clutch like I did the 9. At first I didn't like that 3500 rpm limit, but then after I left I got down the road I changed my mind. Someone will buy that 35k car and they deserve it to be properly broken in and not abused. They had a dark grey one in the show room, thats the better looking one. I have a silver mitsubishi, but don't like it as much on the new models. He said he is getting a black MR in july I'm gonna come back then and drive it.

To any of you guys that race some questions. For my nimble but weak mirage I am considering race preeping it for the track. I have access to one of Toyotas factory tuners. He said he will help me with my car. He is a friend of a friend and they are both at FT cambell rite now.

Anyway back to the point. What do you think my best swap would be? I have narrowed it down to 4 choices.

[1] 1.6 DOHC MIVEK: I found a rally prepped one with 200 whp but if it tears up I think it will be hard to fix in the U.S, where can I get parts other than RPW? I think this would be plenty of power for my 2183 pound mirage, does this sound rite to you guys? Good thing is I should be able to put all this in in 2 days, at least thats what RPW says. O' and better gas miliage than even my 1.5 liter I have now, though it needs 100 octain to be reliable. Expecially if I end up with one that cuts 2 cylinders out at low rpm on the fuel saver cam.

[2] 2 liter mivek, not really more power stock than the 1.6 above and will change the balance of my car.

[3] V6 MIVEK 2.0 out of an FTO most likely. Again will change my balance and I hear hard to modify.

[4] 4G63 with turbo and the AWD converted to my car. I have not saw anyone do this to a 2 door yet. Good thing would be massive parts to mod, but not that I'll really need to do much to it, maybe too much power. Good thing is If it breaks no problem getting parts. Bad would be it will cost a mint to source the parts and get it set up rite in my car. This would actually put my car into super car powerwise pretty much instantlly though. I figure 300 at the wheels will anyway or 5 pounds per H.P. Would be damn close already by the time I put pipes CAI, ETC, and then have my tuner dial it in. Will be hard to plant that power with the tire space I'll have availiable.

Whats your thoughts everyone. Expecially you Bueller. I know I can get a bit abrasive but I can't help it too much warrior blood, lol. And please nobody tell me to just get another car, heared it before. I like this car and think its under rated, plus it looks good too. I'm running parada spec 2's in 205/45/16 rite now and can't get a wider tire under it in the front without rolling the fenders. It will carve a 30 mph hairpin now at around 90 no problem. Not enough power though and will cost too much just to end up with around 150 whp.

All these choices but the evo mod will allow me to run in street class. So I know this was kinda long and thanks for reading, any thoughts are much appriciated.

 

Never mind about the TT, I'm kinda tired its late but I figure out it was time attack, lol.

Could you please break those classes down for me. I think 1 is pretty self explanitory, but what qualifies me for 2 through 4. Also what is the TT series? Thanks for your time and info. Sorry about the troll comment btw.

 

If you have no on-track experience, you should forget about running in any of the RTA's (Redline Time Attacks). I dont understand what sort of racing you have been doing for 23 years that does not involve an official track. And if youve been racing for 23 years why are you so interested in competing in the RTA in the first place? With all that experience of yours, why are you asking us? Why not race with NASA or the SCCA, or some other sanctioning body?

As far as Time Attacks, and the RTA as an example, dont get me wrong, the RTA and all the other Time Attack events are great, but there are plenty of other places where you can challenge your driving abilities. To sum up what the Time Attack events (like the RTA) are about, ill quote our TT director,

"Guys, one thing that you should remember about "Time Attacks" in general, is that the original purpose of these events was to highlight the tuners and manufacturers of the vehicles and aftermarket products (Japan), not really the drivers. Yes, a few of the Japanese drivers have become famous along the way. This is still the primary purpose of Time Attacks that have very loose and open rules in their classing structure. If you can build the fastest car, you can put a variety of different drivers in it and they can win. NASA Time Trial has a different purpose and goal. We are trying to focus on the drivers' abilities much more than the cars'. Yes, there is still a significant component of building a car for the class you intend on running in, but the goal is to have a competition between drivers. Our very close competitions at both the regional and national level in all of the classes show that we are obtaining our goals on a number of levels. Whether we are talking about TTR, TTU, or a Time Attack, to be successful in a relatively open class, it is going to cost lots of money."

I pretty much agree with how he described Time Attacks in general. Although, like i said earlier, dont get me wrong, i think these Time Attack events are great. They are great for business in many ways. They are also great for all sorts of drivers. There is plenty of publicity involved so everyone benefits from it, including Motorsports in general. However, if youre looking to challenge your driving abilities, NASA's TT series is where its at. (Btw, TT stands for Time Trial) The RTA started structuring their rules this year in a manner to limit some things. But their rules are still very wide open. I dont know how much they will limit their rules because thats how they want to run it. They want it to be all out in every class. Whereas NASA imposes strict limitations in many different aspects. With that method the competition begins to revolve more around who are the better drivers, as opposed to the RTA, which revolves more around who can build the fastest car. Sure, you still need talented drivers to pilot the cars, and there are many talented drivers piloting most of the fast cars. But pretty much limitless rules will logically entail who has the fastest car more often than who is the better driver.

Regarding NASAs HPDE groups, and their TT series: You basically start off in HPDE 1. While you improve the NASA staff will observe you. They will be the ones who allow you to move from 1-2, and eventually to group 4. After that, if you want to compete in their TT series, you will have to apply for their TT license. And again, they will be the ones who will give you permission to run in TT. When you are approved, even then you are still observed to see how you do. If they feel you are not ready they will send you back to their HPDE group. I have witnessed several TT newcomers get sent back to HPDE. Why? Its different for everyone. But generally, just because someone is comfortable and doing well in HPDE 4, doesnt mean that they will be comfortable and do well in TT. Whereas the RTA, from what i recall, allows anyone to come compete in their events. I first hand have witnessed noobs run in their events. So at any given RTA event, youre going to see a very wide variety of skilled drivers, or lack there of. It was said earlier, if you navigate through all the Motorsports older pages, you will find many threads that will help explain what noobs need to know.

As far as your car and what you should do: I have no idea what to advise you as to how you should mod your car. I have set my car up for the class i compete in. So there are specific reasons as to why i have done certain mods and what not. My best advice would be to not mod anything now. Just make sure all your fluids are new, your pads and rotors are in good condition, that you have some decent street tires, and youre pretty much good to go. Then go register for HPDE 1 and take it from there. Be patient and let things settle before you rush and mod your car. You may mod something that turns out to be useless, or it may turn out to be more of a headache than anything else. The best mod you can do is to mod yourself as a driver.

Good luck with your venture.

 

 

I am going to ignore all the nonsense that went before and try to answer the question asked about the Redline "driver control clinic." Redline Track Events started out as a SoCal HPDE (High Performance Driver's Education) group for years before they started running Time Attacks all over the country. I know the owners of Redline pretty well, especially Chris Willard.

I assume that the clinic will be run like any other Redline HPDE event. If you are a newbie, you will have an instructor. First there is a short classroom session to go over basic concept like flags, passing rules, driving line, etc. and most importantly, saftey. Then you go out on track for "ducks in a row" in which students follow instructors around the track to learn the driving line, braking points, turn in points, apexes, etc. Then you go out with the instructor in your car. I don't know if they let the instructor drive your car, but it's better if he does (but you are on the hook for any damage). Then you drive and the car and the instructor sits in the passenger seat and critiques you. Then they let you out on your own and you practice what you learned. You will get five 25-minute run sessions per day at most Redline HPDE events (maybe only 4). It is well worth it.

We have tons of these events in California but I understand they are pretty rare in other parts of the USA.

By the way, Redline's chief instructor is Jeremy Croiset, who won the first season of Set-Up on Speed Channel. I don't know if he will be at this event.

If you go out for your first HPDE, I recommend that you do absolutely nothing to modify your car for the event. Just bring a helmet, listen to your instructor, and have fun. If you decide this is really for you, the mods can come later.

 

ha ha ha.. this is awsome

 

^agreed
-just go to a HPDE to the OP listen, learn, and have fun.

 

Thanks for answering my question. Yea down here its drag raceing or nascar. I don't care for either one. At one time I liked drag raceing but now its just BS. There isn't a whole lot of legal racing like some of you guys can do regulary. I know some people don't understand that. So there is more off road and unsanctioned street and dirt raceing here. I know these profesional drivers here think its not raceing, but it is. Its still takes skill to win and a good car are truck, bike, etc. There was a time when there where no tracks and everyone just found a race and raced. I don't agree with this most of the time though. Sometimes you have access to closed off roads or woods and its safe just like the track is safe.

To the racer who asked me about my experiance. I started not to answer because I think it could break the forum rules. Anyway I work construction, in fact I build roads. Some times they are in the smokey mountains and sometimes they are 4 lane Highways. While we are building the road its under our control and if after work or even that weekend we wanna race we can. I built a road for a bunch of chalets about 4 years ago, it took about 9 months to finish. The road was a perfect rally course. It had cliffs to one side where you could look down for a thousand feet. It made a set of big giant circles back to itself with creek crossings, uphill shots, lotsa curbs and switchbacks, etc. Actually it had 2 of these circles. When I say circle I mean the road comes back out where it started. Anyway when the job started we had a dirt track around all this with cabins to either side. There where also a few roads shooting off up a mountain that just ended like the one at the water tower. Latter on the course was gravel and we raced. After that it was paved and we raced. We raced 4 wheelers, T REX 40 ton dump trucks, cars, SUV'S, etc. All this was Behind a locked gate and nobody was in danger except us.

So thats just my example of experiance. Just because I never payed to race at a track doesn't mean I can't drive. I can drive fast enough through turns that hardly anyone will ride with me for a demonstration ;]. In Germany I had a 318I RALLY CAR. It had a 4 in the floor fog lights and all. I raced it all over germany. We did night races, day races, we raced.

So that should give you an idea. My mirage I practice my driving all the time at work. We where building a wal mart in N.C a few years ago. Before we tore out the air strip I whould practice on it. The site was a small airport. I can't tell you how many times I practiced with my E-BRAKE there. I would run up to 70 mph and grab my e-brake and slide it around back the way I came.

Also I was a combat engineer for 8 years. The military trained me to drive flat out in dump trucks and hummers. I have phase 1 through 3 combat defensive drivers license. To get the thired I had to do high speed manuvers through road cones in a gravel lot at speeds up to 80 mph. When you kill tanks you better know how to drive, cause when about 3 of them roll into view you don't have time to mess around. One minute your putting in a mine field or concertina across a road to re route armor, the next your driving flat out in a 5 ton dump truck with C-4 and personel in the back across terrain you may or may not have even saw before.

So yea I'm one of those crazy drivers with *****. I just want to run some sanctioned races and have fun. I've had some good instruction over the years but not as much on paved roads. When I was 14 my dad bought me a 260z with california side pipes and weber carbs. He said you can have this car when your 16 but not until you can do this. He proceded to take me for a high speed drive through the curbs and back roads. I got the car the very next year ater I got my learners. I passed his test. When he died I was a junior in high school. He left me a kieth black tuned 454 with a 400 turbohydromatic and shift kit running 389 12 bolt semi posi rear end. This was in a long bed chevy truck and made 650 horse and about 550 torque on regular. It was fast I even keept up with hurricans and ninjas on the back roads my friends owned. When you can control a truck that does 110 in second gear then you can drive. So don't think I don't know nothing about raceing. I don't know how redline does things but I guarantee you I am an excellant high speed driver on road or off road. The only thing I ever raced at the track was go carts and I usually won.

Go ahead, I know someone just can't waite to take a crack at this response. I got the information I needed from the gentilman above who was so kind to break it down for this newbie. So anything negative wrote now won't bother me. You can even tell me I know nothing about raceing but I'll just laugh, smile and drive on. :]