Yes, I can finally post here! (Confessions of a track newbie)

[cleong]

I guess it finally had to happen, I was getting a little bored and apprehensive of fast road driving (safety, as well as law enforcement). So I cleared everything out of the car, chucked in a helmet and headed off to the nearest proper track with a couple of friends one WRX and a RX8. Both me and the RX8 have never fanged our cars on a track before, though we've done a bit of fast road driving and monkeying around......

We made it there half an hour late for the one hour session, so we shared the remaining half hour slot. We barely have time to pay, fill the indemnity forms signing our lives away from the responsibility of the track and their owners, workers, designers, pet dog, cat, grass, gravel trap etc etc etc...then pull on the helmet and away we go! In my haste to get to the track, I forget to set my tire pressures (I only realize this midway through the warmup lap ) No tire filling machines on the track, alright then, I'll have to run road pressures of 220~kpa instead of 250+

The WRX leads us out, so I'm following him for a while, and then he signals for me to go ahead first and so I pass him......

Its my first time around, so I'm taking it relatively slowly, but the bends are fairly wide and don't require too much braking unless you're hauling the car down from 200kph (120mph). My car only gets to 200kph with the help of a downhill, so its good to know I won't be taxing the brakes too much. I pay attention to the distance markers to each bend while I have the time on this lap also.

There's only 6 cars circulating the 2+ mile track, so when I catch sight of a Toyota Vios (that's the previous model Toyota Yaris Sedan) I start giving chase. It gets boring when you're alone in a slow car on a big track - you come out of a corner, the G-forces ease, you floor the throttle and you wait, and wait, and then you wait some more. You really have to wait for the revs to rise, and it annoyed me. Simply not enough grunt to get through the rev band quickly...... I nearly catch up to him when he pulls off into the pits! So I hunker down and start working on each corner in earnest.

By this time, the WRX comes steaming up behind me, and I flick my turn indicators for him, and try to follow him for a few bends. Simply no comparison, for in addition to the stock goodies the WRX has, he's also got Bridgestone RE070 semi slicks. Dialed! After the RX8 has passed as well I get down to finding out how my own car handles.

The car handled high speed straights pretty well (I probably saw 100mph on the straights), tracked straight and true with no hint of vibration or vagueness, the brakes worked dutifully for the 5 consecutive laps I put them through. In the bends, the suspension showed up as the weak link. With the car loaded with side Gs the lack of damping in the stock dampers was probably exacerbated by the TTE lowering springs (which are stiffer than stock). And so there was some disconcerting sideways hop when I carry too much speed in the bend, as well as some braking oversteer if I tried to turn hard while braking hard as well. There was still too much body roll, and some bends I got a little bothered if this little silver egg would simply decide to tip and roll off the outside of the bend! Now I really want some proper coilovers and anti roll bars! But in the handling department I would say its down to unfamiliarity that I did not push the limits hard. I push harder when I am driving my favourite stretch of fast winding road, and am more comfortable with the car pushing and sliding around.

There's not much I think I can do about the aforementioned lack of power without meddling with the engine either. I'd already thrown out all the excess stuff in an effort at weight reduction. Those aftermarket free-flowing air filters are suddenly looking very attractive, considering that on the track, I'm basically keeping the engine "on the boil" at above 4000rpm. The engine's great up to about 80mph, 3rd gear is my favourite, but beyond that, the car's simply overwhelmed. An extra 50hp would be good to have under the bonnet, but if I were tracking this car regularly, I would settle for any extra gain.

The footnote's probably the most interesting bit.

After the track session, I dropped by a service station on my way home. For all the fast driving I had done in the rush to get to the track, plus the WOT driving on the track itself, the fuel consumption was 13.2 kilometres per litre (31 MPG). Its as if I never visited the track at all......

[nurburgring]

a good read.

As promised, I'll join you the next time round. I should give u a decent challenge, I hope.

[cleong]

Originally Posted by nurburgring

a good read.

As promised, I'll join you the next time round. I should give u a decent challenge, I hope.

but it pays to remember, a track day isn't a race day......

[eTiMaGo]

Originally Posted by cleong

but it pays to remember, a track day isn't a race day......

heh... no fun then

[cleong]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

heh... no fun then

At least you have the Yaris Cup up there!

[Vanderkitten]

The future of endurace racing!! Thanks for sharing your experiences! I bought new wheels and tires and then got shafted from the track day so I am JONESIN' to see what the egg can do with the coil-overs and some proper DOT-R tires (I have the Avon's in a 205/50/15). I've been told that the DOT tire is a HUGE advantage, my friend with an Elise thought I would surely lap faster than he could (doubt it!), but I am thinking of what part of my soul I can sell for a Turbo kit. Any suggestions?

[Doc Zaius]

cleong... nice story, man!! I gotta get outta town and find some back roads!

[cleong]

Since LtNoogie made reference to my tracking diary, and my tracking videos are lost in the annals of the hack, here is a clip from the last time that I tracked:

[LtNoogie]

I loved the way a white car passes you at 5:40 into the video but he was not able to take the corner as well at your Yaris.

[cleong]

That's a WRX. The way it ran it looked quite the lag monster because it would come out of a corner slow and suddenly shoot away when it came on boost.

I think the driver wasn't able to handle the WRX and drive it to its full potential.

[LtNoogie]

It looks like he never passed you again AND you passed quite a few other cars. Your downshifts seemed a little rough but who am I to comment? I've got an AT. LOL!!

What's that thing stuck to your windshield in front of you?

[cleong]

I was only working third and fourth gear on this track. Probably too rough with the downshifts. Many of the cars that I did pass are probably on their warm-up or cool-down laps. I don't have delusions that my car can take an FN2R Civic Type R, or a Toyota MR-S, which do appear in the video.

In any case the thing stuck on the windscreen is a road toll transponder device. You insert a card containing cash value into it, and when you pass a gantry (either a toll road, or parking garage) it deducts value from it.

[TheRealEnth]

a road toll transponder device.

Ah, its just like a sunpass!