Functional FB

I had a fantastic weekend at the track. Went to Carolina Motorsports Park and participated in the HPDE 1 which is essentially and introductory experience into racing. Each day started off with a class at 8AM followed by a track session. Total there were 3 class sessions and 4 track sessions on Saturday with Sunday having 2 classes and 6 sessions with the remaining 2 of HPDE 1-2 to run together. This weekend was packed with most of the paddock filled up by Friday night. This track surface was repaved back in February so I can see why there were so many people out there.

First session out was interesting. I had done my homework before coming down for the weekend by watching videos online, seeing what the best line was, etc. Driving a FWD car is fun and challenging at the same time. It understeers A LOT and to combat that you either need to trail brake into the corner or have more supporting mods to make it a little easier to handle. My first session final lap was a 2:35:27 which is incredibly slow. By the 5th session I had cut my time down to a 2:03:44. Not that bad considering I have never done this before. The biggest thing I need to work on and have been trying to work on for years is heel toe braking. I wear a size 13-14 shoe and it becomes very difficult to heel toe. I also need to source a lower seat rail to optimize driving position.

The Hankooks that I am running did ok but was told that if I plan to drive more on track to find a tire with a 200 tread wear. I had to play around with the air pressure a lot moving to 33 psi front and 30 psi rear and it seemed to help a little. I plan to upgrade to a coilover suspension probably later in the year around fall or maybe try to find some shocks that allow some dampening. Also a camber plate of some sort with aid in more negative camber for more turn in response. The hawk pad performed great. I did cook the them in the 4th session which gave me a little brake fade and spongeyness but after an hour of them cooling off I got the firmness back in the pedal.

Having the biggest sway bar is going to make a huge improvement. Got the chance to talk with a few of the Honda Challenge guys and they mentioned the bigger the better. Hopefully the Progress bar gets here soon.

I will try to have some of the GoPro video uploaded within the week.


 
Congrats. That sounds like you had an awesome time
 
I'm dying for the footage.. I really would love to get in to this kind of thing
 
The nice part for me is that living in NC, some of the best tracks are within 3 hours of me. Virginia Intl Raceway is 2 hours north, Road Atlanta is 3 hours southwest, CMP (the track I was at this weekend) is 1.5 hours south, and then if Im brave enough, Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Roval are 15 minutes up the street.
 
That’s awesome and the guy seemed cool that rode with you. Looks like you had some good lines for your first event.
 
webby said:
That’s awesome and the guy seemed cool that rode with you. Looks like you had some good lines for your first event.
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I was kind of hoping to get paired with an instructor who drove a FWD car but overall this guy seemed pretty knowledgeable. He is used to driving Ariel Atoms and currently drive a TRX open cockpit car with a Hyabusa engine
 
Also here is the fastest time from Track Addict. The turn in the bottom right corner was one I know I could carry more speed through, probably around 60-70 mph, but I puss'd out lol. Theres another track day through a different club that Im probably gonna sign up for. Im hooked and I love it!

 
Took a nice trip up to the mountains today with a group of people. Kind of an odd ball group, two FB's, a GTR, WRX, bagged Passat, a genesis, and a couple of Kia's but Im just glad people came out at all considering it was Mothers Day. The route planned was called the Diamondback 226A. It started with a drive up NC-80, also known as The Devil's Whip. From there its a 15 minute drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway to a town called Little Switzerland. We did a couple runs up and down NC-80 just trying to get clean runs but ended up getting caught behind a lot of Ms Daisy drivers and cruisers -__-

I did a solo run down Little Switzerland (226A), a road I have never been to before, but a place that I will be going back to real soon. I think I like it more than the Tail of the Dragon.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYuJ76N7Ylk&t=1036s
 
Welcome!

I have the same car; but, since I already have a project, the Civic is my daily.
 
bry_si said:
Gonna hopefully be starting the new "half wrap" design this weekend. Its for 2 purposes really....one to hide the terrible crows feet on the hood, roof, and trunk, and because I like the way this looks.

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I dig it! :thumbsup:
 
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