Track forum general chit chat

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

This may be a dumb question - but is there a specific torque spec for the adjustment screws or is it just "tight enough"? I can't find a value anywhere

18ftlb?

[NYG]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

This may be a dumb question - but is there a specific torque spec for the adjustment screws or is it just "tight enough"? I can't find a value anywhere

What size are they?

[RugbyBro]

Got an official answer from GC - the adjustment bolts should be torqued to 15 ft/lbs

[RugbyBro]

Auto-X’d yesterday - was an absolute blast and an awesome way to feel out the limit and intentionally send the car over the limit. Spent the first half of the day working on lines and speed and riding the limit, second half going over the limit and power over steering, drifitng, and working on corrective inputs. Must have gotten at least 30 laps in

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

Auto-X’d yesterday - was an absolute blast and an awesome way to feel out the limit and intentionally send the car over the limit. Spent the first half of the day working on lines and speed and riding the limit, second half going over the limit and power over steering, drifitng, and working on corrective inputs. Must have gotten at least 30 laps in

That's awesome. Last time I did one think it was only a dozen laps or so.

Agreed, great way to safely develop car control and limit expense as well. In my experience, the dedicated autocross guys who cross over to track days are usually quick, find time in technical track areas.

Perfect way to get started in the hobby. it's how I'll start my son in a couple of years for sure.

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

That's awesome. Last time I did one think it was only a dozen laps or so.

Agreed, great way to safely develop car control and limit expense as well. In my experience, the dedicated autocross guys who cross over to track days are usually quick, find time in technical track areas.

Perfect way to get started in the hobby. it's how I'll start my son in a couple of years for sure.

Yeah it was a great time - went with my buddy and his track prepped E90 M3 that he tracks often. He had a blast as well and we cat/moused all day to get lots of runs in. It was 2 alternating groups from 9-12 then fully open from 12-5. Did a ton of runs in his E90 (and him in my F82) which was the first time I’ve driven E9X in a performance setting - wow I love that car, I get why people love that engine (very easy to control). I was actually very surprised how similar both generations feel, you can very easily tell they are from the same family (aside from power delivery and iterative changes of course). Course was also a great setup (pic attached) in a dedicated drift pit so literally 0 chance of hitting anything unless you purposefully wanted to full send into a wall.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

Yeah it was a great time - went with my buddy and his track prepped E90 M3 that he tracks often. He had a blast as well and we cat/moused all day to get lots of runs in. It was 2 alternating groups from 9-12 then fully open from 12-5. Did a ton of runs in his E90 (and him in my F82) which was the first time I’ve driven E9X in a performance setting - wow I love that car, I get why people love that engine (very easy to control). I was actually very surprised how similar both generations feel, you can very easily tell they are from the same family (aside from power delivery and iterative changes of course). Course was also a great setup (pic attached) in a dedicated drift pit so literally 0 chance of hitting anything unless you purposefully wanted to full send into a wall.

Nice. Yes, E90 is a fricking gem. Such beautiful balance on power and always predictable. Miss both my 6MT and DCT versions.

Any DE where you get to drive both gens is one to remember for sure.

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

Nice. Yes, E90 is a fricking gem. Such beautiful balance on power and always predictable. Miss both my 6MT and DCT versions.

Any DE where you get to drive both gens is one to remember for sure.

I can't stop thinking about that E90 now... after driving it the way I did over the weekend the experience is seared into my brain. It was just so damn enjoyable and such a perfect compliment to F8X after doing the back to back thing. My eyes are definitely now peeled for a cheaper/trackable E92 in the next few years when, hopefully, prices come down from crazy-town

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

I can't stop thinking about that E90 now... after driving it the way I did over the weekend the experience is seared into my brain. It was just so damn enjoyable and such a perfect compliment to F8X after doing the back to back thing. My eyes are definitely now peeled for a cheaper/trackable E92 in the next few years when, hopefully, prices come down from crazy-town

My man, you're preaching to the choir. Plenty have happily moved on from the E9X, but I'm not one of them. In my view it is a. irreplaceable, especially as an all-rounder (I used mine through four seasons and for everything), b. a perfect compliment to an F8X. Problematic combination.

As for various M performance driving experiences sticking with you, E9X isn't the only problem. Don't make the mistake of driving a track-prepped, lightened E36 (or E46). You'll end up needing one of those as well.

Gratuitous E90 power oversteer shot. That car coming out of a 2nd gear hairpin and sliding onto an exit curbing... That's a wrap, doesn't get any better imo.

[dth656]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

Yeah it was a great time - went with my buddy and his track prepped E90 M3 that he tracks often. He had a blast as well and we cat/moused all day to get lots of runs in. It was 2 alternating groups from 9-12 then fully open from 12-5. Did a ton of runs in his E90 (and him in my F82) which was the first time I’ve driven E9X in a performance setting - wow I love that car, I get why people love that engine (very easy to control). I was actually very surprised how similar both generations feel, you can very easily tell they are from the same family (aside from power delivery and iterative changes of course). Course was also a great setup (pic attached) in a dedicated drift pit so literally 0 chance of hitting anything unless you purposefully wanted to full send into a wall.

i believe that was the sunday configuration correct? what car were you in? i was in a black F80, and had a lot of fun getting the car sideways. the course and structure definitely felt a bit sketchy at first (compared to the BMW CCA autocrosses at Marina), but I got used to it by lunch time.

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by dth656

i believe that was the sunday configuration correct? what car were you in? i was in a black F80, and had a lot of fun getting the car sideways. the course and structure definitely felt a bit sketchy at first (compared to the BMW CCA autocrosses at Marina), but I got used to it my lunch time.

I was there Saturday! Sunday had a longer straight but still similar configuration. The moving cones could feel a little sketchy but it didn't get too bad except for the slalom at the end which was all over the place so my buddy and I just took that as a straight away lol. Honestly I had so much fun - awesome way to do it. No timing, just go out and do as many runs as you want and make an awesome day out of it!

[dth656]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

I was there Saturday! Sunday had a longer straight but still similar configuration. The moving cones could feel a little sketchy but it didn't get too bad except for the slalom at the end which was all over the place so my buddy and I just took that as a straight away lol. Honestly I had so much fun - awesome way to do it. No timing, just go out and do as many runs as you want and make an awesome day out of it!

got it, i was there only on sunday. i think being able to do as many runs as you wanted was a huge plus. i felt that i learned a lot about recovering from slides and tank slappers (albeit at slow speeds)

[D_SheerDrivingPleasure]

sorry, but what's a "tank slapper"? it sound like a fun phrase but I should probably know what it means before calling one it.

[Suds]

A tank slapper is when the car over steers one direction and then over rotates to the other side in a slide, sometimes from lifting off throttle. Not a good thing.

A car chassis with good stiffness will allow a car to oversteer and then slide back into track with the correct amount of power.

[fanatic1]

Originally Posted by D_SheerDrivingPleasure

sorry, but what's a "tank slapper"? it sound like a fun phrase but I should probably know what it means before calling one it.

Good compilation of “Tank slappers”

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

That's awesome. Last time I did one think it was only a dozen laps or so.

Agreed, great way to safely develop car control and limit expense as well. In my experience, the dedicated autocross guys who cross over to track days are usually quick, find time in technical track areas.

Perfect way to get started in the hobby. it's how I'll start my son in a couple of years for sure.

That's how I started too. Joining the Formula-SAE in college is what introduced me to autocrossing. However, I got tired of it very quickly, spending all day in a parking lot and doing cone duty, all for barely 10 minutes of track time in the whole day .

[melanthius]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

That's how I started too. Joining the Formula-SAE in college is what introduced me to autocrossing. However, I got tired of it very quickly, spending all day in a parking lot and doing cone duty, all for barely 10 minutes of track time in the whole day .

Yeah general poor availability of autoX in SF Bay Area (not much space and a large population generally intolerant of cool cars) combined with good road course availability relatively close by means I'm pretty much going to the track guaranteed.

[kpaso]

Originally Posted by dth656

i believe that was the sunday configuration correct? what car were you in? i was in a black F80, and had a lot of fun getting the car sideways. the course and structure definitely felt a bit sketchy at first (compared to the BMW CCA autocrosses at Marina), but I got used to it by lunch time.

I was there too! In the bone stock 20 year old Miata.

[shaddy]

Had my first hot track day at ECR yesterday, was about 95 degrees. Car felt great other than boiling my brake fluid earlier in the day running GTS MDM. Turned off traction control and was able to keep my brakes cool the rest of the sessions until pitting. But the car also felt more natural! I didn't have any unwanted braking/cut in power I was sometimes getting with MDM. Started tracking the car last year and am feeling more comfortable so will probably run with traction off unless it's a wet day.

Going to flush my fluid before the next event since it's still going to be hot, am using RBF 600 now will probably go with the same with the expectation to flush mid-year.

Some cool pics I took

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by shaddy

Had my first hot track day at ECR yesterday, was about 95 degrees. Car felt great other than boiling my brake fluid earlier in the day running GTS MDM. Turned off traction control and was able to keep my brakes cool the rest of the sessions until pitting. But the car also felt more natural! I didn't have any unwanted braking/cut in power I was sometimes getting with MDM. Started tracking the car last year and am feeling more comfortable so will probably run with traction off unless it's a wet day.

Going to flush my fluid before the next event since it's still going to be hot, am using RBF 600 now will probably go with the same with the expectation to flush mid-year.

Some cool pics I took

Very nice! Maybe you want to try SRF next time, it is one bleed per year and you're good to go!

MDM/etc will overheat brakes and generally create a false sense of security. As an instructor, I encourage my students to disable it early on in their learning process. It is a lot easier to catch mistakes early on than have to correct it once the student is faster.

Basic good habits like unwinding the steering wheel as you go WOT are really important, but running with DSC on can completely mask mistakes and make you feel like going WOT while pinching the wheel is a valid technique.

[shaddy]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Very nice! Maybe you want to try SRF next time, it is one bleed per year and you're good to go!

MDM/etc will overheat brakes and generally create a false sense of security. As an instructor, I encourage my students to disable it early on in their learning process. It is a lot easier to catch mistakes early on than have to correct it once the student is faster.

Basic good habits like unwinding the steering wheel as you go WOT are really important, but running with DSC on can completely mask mistakes and make you feel like going WOT while pinching the wheel is a valid technique.

Thank you for the suggestion! I have some left over RBF, and will consider the switch to SRF in the winter. I initially thought there might be some cost savings but it's probably about the same due to having to flush more. I'm running DS1.11 currently on track.

And great point.. When I first started I felt like I was kind of throwing the car like a brute and letting MDM catch me. I have about 6 track days since starting in October and my focus has been primarily around finesse and good lines. With everything off the car communicates well and the feeling when you just get it right through a turn is addicting!

[fanatic1]

Never know what you'll find at the track