Spohn's First track Day
 

EDIT: http://contour.com/stories/spohn Here's a vid from my second session. I just had reduce the tire pressure and it took some getting used to. I lifted a lot in this one but not so much on my last session. Not sure how to embed this one but here's the link.


Today was officially my first track day. I don't even know where to start but I hope you guys will read and I welcome any feedback you can offer. The hole day was so wonderful. Got off to a late start but for myself it was well worth it. My car held up well. Below is a map of the track at Atlanta Speedway. Mostly a oval track for Nascar but they do have a road course built in which I believe hasn't been used in awhile. But we got to enjoy this track along with the banking it offers.

http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/..._3147611_n.jpg

First before I get started I'd like to give my instructor a big thanks. You guys know him as Mike here on the boards. He was very informative telling different lines to try, relating steering to throttle control, how to look threw a turn, and much more. He hadn't drove on this track either but he quickly knew what to do. It's was like having a computer in the car with me data logging. LOL.

We first went out for two quick laps to have us drivers see the layout of the track and what to expect. Mike went out earlier during the instructors meeting. My first impressions of the course was it seemed intimidating. Had lots of gravel and not much room for error in a lot of the corners. Then we headed back to the pits and starting staging for our first session. I/ we took off with a conservative pace to learn some angle of attacks and about 3 laps later Mike had a good bluprint of what lines to take a began coaching me on where to hit them along with throttle control and how it upsets the car. With each passing lap after that I started to pick up the pase but wasn't getting on the banking yet. That was next session. Basically that's the short of it. We went back to the garage area after the first session and discussed my flaws. Mike began to tell me how to look threw a turn and steer towards that (hope I worded that right, but you get the point). Also how I was getting in the throttle to much to soon when exiting a turn. Also before going out Mike told me to check my tire pressure and reduce it to his recommended levels. Which that ended up being the best thing I did. It gave so much more traction, better feedback, and more predictability.

So after that I was ready to attack the next session. As soon as it begun I had less fear (Mike probably still had some being I was a newbie :icon17:) and was picking up a good pace now while also trying to nogotiate my braking zones and down shifting/ rev matching for I have a base model with no rev matching. And not good at heel to toe especially in this enviroment. It really just seems harder to me in the Z. But anyhow Mike was still telling me lines to take while in the meantime I was trying to get my braking and down shifting correct. I need to work more on the correct time to shift. Which I was doing late. Sometimes I waited to late for things happen so fast with all kinds of random thoughts. So getting my braking zones down pat should lead to proper shifting points. Mike did say I was smooth but I know what I have to work on more. Which Mike like that fact that I knew how to identify my flaws. With each passing lap I was choosing the correct gears for each turn which in turn was bring me more speed in the straights. I also got to pass a couple of people this time. But I also noticed that some drivers would catch up to me before entering turns but I would leave them halfway threw the apex and so on. Which makes me believe they where coming in deeper and faster but they were in the wrong gear and were braking threw majority of the apex (either or ). With the lower gears and putting down more power because of that it demands more respect and carefullness. Which caused me to catch a decent drift coming out of turn that had some people in the garage talking about it (in a good way). I know some of the camera guys were loving it. But I was defiantly in control. Thanks to my OS Giken LSD. So that session ended. Again went back to the garage. Mike gave me some more sounded info. Which basically came down to mild bad habits from my past and more repetitions of the do's and don'ts.

The third session was great by far. Reduced the tire pressure a little more and was getting faster while staying on my lines most of the time. The reduce tire pressure played in so well. I was really learning my strong points, weak points, and some limits of my car. My car can be pushed more but I still have to get there by far after seeing what Mike can do behind the wheel on another 370 (not his). I have to learn to trust my tires a little more. Mike was trying to get me to push it a little more in a particular exit of a sweep but I guess I felt uneased about it for it would of made me slide a little (my terms). Sort of like loose is fast. In the end I was getting up to 125mph on the back stretch. That's about as far as I'm going to take this session.

In the end I know what I have to work on and look forward to some more track days soon (Nov.). Mike really was happy about last session and made a comment along the lines of how well I did for a first track day. So that was good to hear. The track wasn't too bad on the brakes either. So my HP+ held up pretty nicely for this event. But I'm going to go ahead and get some Carbotech's XP8's before the Hawks tear my rotors up. I also early next year going to get some different type of coilovers. I beat myself you for not going with something better especially being money wasn't a factor. The Stance are just not made for this. But are good for everthing else, even spirted driving. I also need to raise my car up for in some transitions points my upper control arm was hitting. I kind of already knew this. So thank you much if you read threw all this and my expeience of my first. Feel free to comment.


http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/...Day2011044.jpghttp://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/...Day2011065.jpg

Looks like a scarily-fast track layout all along the bottom there. I'm the same way with trusting the tires. When I hear them start to barely slip, I treat that like a limit, but when a better driver is in the car telling me I can push it harder, I find there's actually a lot more grip left out there to take advantage of. I guess it just takes more experience driving closer to the limit to really feel the edge of loosing traction just due to cornering speed.

Must have been a lot of fun :tup:.

rule #1 get home in one piece
rule #2 dont hit anything
rule #3 have fun and learn what you can

you made it all, enjoy the next one

Chris did an excellent job. During the 4th session I felt like I was riding along with an advanced level student. He was very smooth throughout the day. I took a video of his sencond session with my iphone so we could critique it afterwards, since its kind of hard to listen to feedback on the last turn while you are negotiating the next one, but there was so little to critique that we didn't need to review it. I'm trying to upload it to my idisk so he can download it and do what he wants with it, but its a rather large file.

Nice, glad you had fun. You picked a great instructor!

A squealing tire is a happy tire! :tup: (and driver)

I just saw the track map. Lucky you weren't going clockwise, else you will be in the fuel starvation thread...

Good write up Chris. Was an awesome day yesterday.

So much fun, so much to learn!

Cossie yah! alot of people were thinking that. That one hard right sweeping turn we were getting some starvation on the later sessions.

That's right. When you leave how you came that's one of two main objectives.
Nice words Mike. Thanks. If you want you can load to youtube and PM the link. Rep for yea.
No doubt.

True. I ran on RE-11's and when reducing the pressure that grip very well. I know the guys at the track were talking a lot about the AD08's. Might have to try those next time around.



Also I did an inspection on my car earlier and everything seemed great. Pads and all. I did see a small leak on the driver side bleeder screw where it must of leaked a little yesterday. I believe this can be common due to tracking and higher temps. But I tighten this down a little more. I really want some better coilovers. I also believe I need to raise my car more. I kept getting the upper control arm hitting in a couple turns due to the transition of the road. Which was usually in the middle of turn.

Nissan wants to join NASCAR, maybe the 370z is a sign that they only want us to turn left :)

I think I had it happen one time very briefly when I was down to 1/2 a tank. I had just come out of a right sweep and went to get in the throttle 100% and the revs just remained the same for a brief moment then shot up. So not fully sure.
Defiantly a great time. Rep for us track guys yesterday. Better return the favor or I'll stand on your wheels like that kid yesterday.:shakes head:

Sounds like a successful trip and a good time.


Bummed I wasn't able to make it out this year.

Man that looks like a blast. I would love to try a banked oval track someday.

I had the same thing actually. The outer (Speed-)bleeder on my right rear caliper leaked a bit of fluid straight out of the threads my first time at MSR-H. I didn't notice until I was going over the car back home (and it also cleared up fine with a very slight tightening). Be very wary of over-tightening bleeder screws though. It's easy for the bleeder screw threads to cut the caliper threads. Since there's a definite bottom to the bleeder screw hole, the screw won't actually go deeper when it bottoms out, it will just cut up the threads and cause a permanent leak. Went through this on my last car, ended up just replacing the caliper after that mistake.

Thanks for the advice. Yea I only turned it so slightly. It was defiantly already tight. I believe that will solve that issue.

I think the issue isn't that the bleeder is loose, but that as the caliper gets really hot, it expands a little tiny bit and fluid seeps out around the threads.

Did anybody get any lap times?

Not that I know of. Mike did record one of my sessions so maybe later I'll see what I did. I really want to invest in a data logger for this prupose. I know now I'm going to buy a GoPro.

comparing data and videos are great learning tool

Only problem is that a lot of clubs will not allow data logging for beginners/novice students. (PCA, and NASA notably)

Also just signed up for a membership through Chin Motorsports. Now I'll have access to several tracks several times a year.

There are some decent datalogging apps for iPhone or Android if you already have one of those platforms. They're not really "professional"-level, but it gets the job done for reviewing your sessions to learn from mistakes. The important thing is just bringing together OBD-II data (RPMs, inferred gear), GPS data (track position, speed) and video. You can do the video separately on GoPro and then sync that with other data from the smartphone software later on a PC.

I'm defiantly going to have a GoPro for my next event.

my best lap in Daisuke's car was a 1:54 according to my video.

wish we had more lap times to check.

i shoulda borrowed your mount for my last session see where i was at.

Here's a vid from my second session. I just had reduce the tire pressure and it took some getting used to. I lifted a lot in this one but not so much on my last session. Not sure how to embed this one but here's the link.

Contour | Stories | Spohn

Nice video. Combined with the track map for reference it's easier to see where the lines are. I'd love to try out a banked track some day, accelerating onto that must be a blast. I think Texas World Speedway is banked, I'll probably end up running there at some point.

don't run it unless they go counterclosewise

Chris check out from like 8:18 onwards.. its me, then Josh then you.

Yea I saw.

Good point! At least, until phunk's fuel-starve solution comes out :)

I'm going to track again in Nov. and more next year so I'll be interested in Phunks fuel canister.

who all you going with pm me a link.

I'm going threw Chin Motorsports in Nov. The weekend just after Thanksgiving. It's a two day event. You have to sign up for a 13 month annual fee for $50. Then you have access to several different tracks throughout the year. Which is a lot. Most events are two days but some are one. There about $550 a weekend plus instructor fee. I'm going to have Sharif instruct me there. I just signed up yesterday. Can't sign for the track Fay until next Monday.

Also FYI I just bought a wing 20 mins ago. Awesome.

Their pricing seems pretty high, but they are limiting the number of cars. $600 a weekend.

I don't know if I approve of your wing purchase at this point. That's something you usually do when you've found yourself exceeding the limit of high speed traction. If it was for cosmetic purposes then that is fair enough.

Wings=500hp!

I'm not going to lie that is one of my other reasons but it does serve the purpose. I plan on doing a good amount of tracking and I want to be ready. Its not a hugh wing. Just a APR GTC 200. My car doesn't even have a spoiler so I need something back there and what better than a wing that serves a function for my future events. Mostly I'll be going to Road Atlanta.

Yea they do limit the number of drivers so you have more time on the track. Plus they have great instructors.

damn chris i was just looking at those last night. Ill call you later.

Ok bro

Ah your car started out as non-sport? Be interesting to see how much difference you see at the track with the wing in any case, both in terms of better grip in places, and any slowdowns from the extra drag.