This is a view from a car that started farther back than I did in the final session of the August ‘08 BMW club racing school at Thunderhill. You can see me assert ownership of the apex of turn 5 on lap 1.
Archive
I’m considering big brakes up front. Within BMW CCA rules for Prepared cars, I’m limited to 4 pot calipers. There are several choices that I’ve identified:
- Performance Friction, at Bimmerworld 323 x 32 mm two piece rotors, forged billet two piece calipers, $2,900
- Stoptech, at Bimmerworld — 332 x 32 mm two piece rotors, two piece calipers, $2000 (also sold by Tuner at $200 premium)
- Brembo, at Turner Motorsport — 332 x 32 mm two piece rotors, two piece calipers, $3200
- Alcon at UUC — 325 x 28 mm floating rotors, two piece calipers, $2400
- Wilwood at UUC — 325 mm floating rotors, two piece billet calipers, $1500
- Rotora at evosport — 330 x 30 mm two piece rotors, two piece billet calipers, $1700
The UUC units come with factory floating rotors (from the E46 M3, I think), which are cross drilled by the factory. I won’t run cross drilled rotors, so those are out, unless there’s an aftermarket two-piece rotor that fits the application. The Performance Friction units sure are pretty, but they ain’t cheap. The Brembos also suffer from very high prices. The Rotora look like serious racing equipment (e.g. ceramic pads), are near the low end of the price spectrum, and are supported by a (sort of) local tuner.
No decision yet, but I seem to be leaning Rotora.
My car came with a pretty decent cage. But it’s going in next week for improved NASCAR bars on the drivers side. More protection and better egress are the goals.
While I’m at it, or more accurately, while TC Design is at it, I’m thinking about making other improvements. The car lacks a tube behind the dash connecting the A-pillar hoops. It could probably use a couple of gussets here and there. I’m planning to have at least one race in 2009, so I might as well get the safety equipment done. (See post below.)
On the suspension front, the car is due for new lower control arms in the front. I’ll upgrade from steel to aluminum. And I’ll have the shop (probably Dinan Campbell) go through all the bushing, ball joints, rod ends, etc. to make sure it’s ready to run another season.
Off season runs from December 9 to January 15, and that’s only because I’m passing on some December events due to travel. The cosmetic stuff may have to wait.
This car went on to qualify, compete and finish an endurance race. Cage by TC Design.
I spent the day at Laguna Seca with Hooked on Driving yesterday. This was my first event with HOD, and my second day at Laguna with the new race car. Some observations:
- Shaved 5 seconds. Finished the first session about where I was at my last visit, in June. Technically speaking, in June, I was RFS — really fockin’ slow. Five seconds sounds like a lot, but there’s 2-3 easy seconds still available. There’s more after that, but will be harder to harvest.
- In T6 I improved about 5 mph, and I still need to refine the line. There’s another 5 mph if I can consistently nail the right line. (T6 at Laguna has one totally excellent line, and any other line is crap.)
- I could be faster in 5,6,8a,9,10 & 11.
- With a camcorder that shoots glorious 16:9 HD, with a wide angle lens, and with 60 progressive frames a second (the way sports video should be), the “happy hands” are real easy to see. Was that a hitch, or a twitch or a saw? Why yes it was. How about all three? Maybe I can cut it down to 4:3 before posting.
- Widest range of cars I’ve ever run with. An E36 can get a little bit of tow through T1 off a Lotus 7. A tow off a Lancer is better. SRF’s are hard to see from a (relatively speaking) ginormous production car.
- Used the HANS for the first time. My upper traps hurt. Was I doing it wrong? Just need to get used to it? Should I go for the ultra padding? Getting in and situated takes more time. Getting out is harder, and slower. I now have ample motivation to do the NASCAR door bar, for sure. Fast egress is a good thing. The driver could use some modification also. Ahem.
- Based on this one day, HOD puts on a good event.
Love that whole Drifting thing. Sychronized swimming of motorsports…
Heh.
(On the other hand, I always thought of drifting as the ice dancing of motorsports.)
For me, the best part of racing is the dice — two drivers in hot competition for position. This can be a quick thing — draft, tuck, see ya — or it can last for laps. One of my favorites was from the 2000 French Gran Prix, which is the only F1 race I’ve seen in person. I was in the grandstands overlooking the biggest speed transition on the track — a hairpin at the end of a monster straight. David Coultard tried over and over to get past Michael Schumaker in that corner. Each time, Michael shut him down. Finally Coultard dove into the corner at a speed that clearly sent the message, “Your call Michael, I pass or we crash.” That was what it took to cause Schumaker to give room.
In contrast with that elegance, let me present a video. I’m going through a level of indirection, and linking to a thread that features a link to the video. That thread also has some discussion of driving skill and etiquette, some links to some street racing video by the same guy, and a link to another thread discussing the video. All kinds of fun.
Without further ado: “Where’s my point-by?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”.
This video helps explain why I’m very picky about who I run with.
Update
The S2K guy’s canyon “racing” videos got some attention on a motorcyclists’ forum. They don’t have kind words.