sig11's Journal... not that anyone cares

ChrisSlicks

I have the same leg issue, however I compromise my legs for the sake of closer arms. If you can keep a break in your arms at all times you feel a lot more in control and can actually make faster steering inputs. 3-balls will be back at Mid-Ohio in September, if i can make it happen I really want to go.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

sig11

I might try shifting the seat forward a bit on the street. It's fairly difficult to adjust but not impossible.

October you mean? I've got my fingers crossed that I can make that trip too. All depends on harvest... Mid-Ohio is such a blast. I just realized recently that it's the track I've been to most now.

Next weekend is GingerMan and my first time camping in my new trailer. That should be fun. Hopefully the AC can keep up with the heat it looks like we'll be having. I'll have to find some way to make coffee too. Hmm.

ChrisSlicks

Sorry yes, October 27-28th. I've never been to Mid-Ohio but everyone says it is such a great track so I really want to check it out.

You have A/C in your car trailer? Sweet! I have electrical installed in mine but no A/C, I would definitely camp in it if I had that.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

sig11

Yep! I had to go to PA to get it but it was well worth it. I think I got it for a song. It would be so much easier to strap in the car if It was 6" wider though. I need to get a winch so I don't have to crawl out of the hatch when I load it.

wstar

Woah, I have trailer envy now

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7AT Track Car!
Journal thread / Car setup details

sig11

Was posted on NASA forums for a month or more and the fella even dropped his price. I have absolutely no idea why it took so long to sell. It was $3k cheaper than the next best trailer I found similarly equipped. I spent a couple thousand more than I planned but it was worth it for the extras!

ChrisSlicks

That's a super nice trailer! Generator and everything!

One word of advice though, get some better straps. You can get a full set of Mac's straps 10,000lbs each for reasonable money, stay away from the cheap made in China stuff you can get from Home Depot etc. Remember that G forces from any kind of accident (even minor) are going to multiply the weight of the car and could cause a strap to fail (which can then cause all the straps to fail).

Put to the Test: Vehicle Tie-Down Straps - YouTube

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

ChrisSlicks

Oh and if you would rather get out the driver's door instead of crawling through the hatch you can use a few stacked 2x10's to make a ramp for the front left wheel. I had to use 3. I just screwed them to each other, shouldn't need to attach them to the floor unless it is really slippery with the diamond plate.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

Mike

very nice trailer! I'm thinking of selling my texas roll-back and getting an enclosed one myself.

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sig11

I hadn't thought about that. Good idea. I think it would sit just fine. I need to pick up a couple of boards anyway for loading. I've just used a couple 2x4s that the old owner left in the trailer for a little bit of a boost up onto the ramp door. I still scrape the plastic a little bit... Probably should raise the car a touch.

Thanks! I'm talking with a friend about going down to Road Atlanta Nov 30 - Dec 2. NASA :: South East Region Would be nice to get a good group together if we do it. I'm a little afraid of the fuel cost to get down there but it would be fun. Hopefully I'll get a good idea of the mileage I get towing next weekend. If I cruise around 55-60 I think I'll get 10-11mpg. 70+ was getting me 8.5 empty through the mountains.

sig11

3balls is the best. Sitting around the fire having a beer.
Learned today that my car + me is 3040lbs.

sig11

Whoops. Must have had more to drink than I thought Saturday night. That weight should have been 3430!

sig11

Had a great weekend at Grattan Raceway with 3balls as usual... The unusual was that it was a charity event to raise money for melanoma research at the Karmanos institute! The group raised over $8000 with the silent auction and other activities and it was the first complete sellout in 3balls history.

Saturday started out bad for me though... I woke up at 6:30 after drinking with the guys until ~1:00 and found that one of my front right lugs was cross threaded. Eventually broke the stud removing the lug nut and moved on to the right rear where when torquing down the last nut to 85ft-lb I twisted off a stud.

Luckily I was able to hitch a ride into town (I managed to get my truck and trailer parked in) to get the last of the studs that the local NAPA had and a few extra lug nuts and was on track for the afternoon sessions.

I was pretty rusty the first session or two but finally got into the groove of things and started dropping my lap times. After the first session those hair-like mould things were still on the outside of the tire but they didn't last long after that. I have never heard race tires scream the way they were both days. There was some sort-of new sealer used on the asfalt that R-comps did not like.

Started off with a brand new set of R6s and came away very happy. They appear to have worn evenly but the rears look like they've barely touched the track. I suppose that's what happens when you have too large of a tire, eh? They all came up to the same pressures (~40psi) but the rears sure didn't appear to get as hot judging by the pickup.

Best times I had were mid 1:33s when I was following Kenny in his Panoz.... That helped my line a ton. I'll post video soon! Have some great shots of Ken's LeMons neon smoking the tires in the hairpin.

If I can swing it my next track day will be Waterford Hills on the 20th but if I can't get away it will be Grattan in September. I would really like to get back to Mid-Ohio sooner than October but I don't think it's going to happen.

ChrisSlicks

40 is pretty high for the R6, they usually prefer the 35 to 38 range.

Glad you got the car fixed up though, braking down before you even get on track sucks. What were you using for studs? I broke 2 of the H&R studs before switching out to the Nismo studs and those have been ok so far.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

sig11

Hm... could have sworn the "Hoosier care guide" said 40-42psi for long life on > 3000lb cars but now I'm only finding 34-39psi!

Stock studs! The one I broke torquing the wheel on sheared right at the start of the threads. You could see there was some heat stress on it too. I'm going to have Dustin@Z1 bring me a full set of ARP studs this weekend if I can find some open ended lug nuts that will work with the stock sport wheels.