Track Day in the coupe

sreams

sreams

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Thought you guys might enjoy a few shots from my track day a week ago. This is Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA with the Golden Gate Lotus Club. This was also my friend Mark's first track day. He's in the 911SC in a couple of the shots. So much fun!

http://www.liquiddaw.com/Scottcssmall.jpg
http://www.liquiddaw.com/Mark911cs2small.jpg
http://www.liquiddaw.com/Scottcs2small.jpg
http://www.liquiddaw.com/Mark911small.jpg

Added video below. Sorry for the shakiness and changing focus. The camera was mounted to a bar attached to the passenger seat headrest, and the track telemetry app doesn't allow setting a fixed focus.

https://youtu.be/xWgTUg6_nlo
 
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sreams said:
Thought you guys might enjoy a few shots from my track day a week ago. This is Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA with the Golden Gate Lotus Club. This was also my friend Mark's first track day. He's in the 911SC in a couple of the shots. So much fun!

http://www.liquiddaw.com/Scottcssmall.jpg
http://www.liquiddaw.com/Mark911cs2small.jpg
http://www.liquiddaw.com/Scottcs2small.jpg
http://www.liquiddaw.com/Mark911small.jpg
Click to expand...

nice, nice, you were driving hard uhhhh !:-)

which colour is your coupe ?

rgds
 
Great shots, hard not to have a smile on your face doing track days. Looks like the front right wheel off the ground on your buddies Porsche with a big grin on his face....classic.
 
I have in-car video from the day. I'll try to get it posted later.

deQuincey said:
nice, nice, you were driving hard uhhhh !:-)

which colour is your coupe ?

rgds
Click to expand...

Originally, the car was Nachtblau. I repainted it with a dark blue that I really liked. A little bit lighter and with a little less red in it. In retrospect, the paint I used isn't the best quality, but I love the color, even if it isn't factory.
 
The C pillar looks like it has a grab handle, or maybe that is part of the roll cage.
 
Thunder Hill , what a great track.
Looks like you had a blast, maybe someday when I get my Coupe back we can join in. It would be cool to get the NorCal guys out.
What tires are you running ?

B


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'd be game to go. Need to roll fenders and do ball joints first.

How did your brakes hold up? I can fade mine in no time flat with reasonably fresh fluid.
 
MyFemurHurts said:
I'd be game to go. Need to roll fenders and do ball joints first.

How did your brakes hold up? I can fade mine in no time flat with reasonably fresh fluid.
Click to expand...

This is my third track day in this car. I ran into an issue with boiling brake fluid during the track day before this latest one. This time I flushed the fluid and replaced it with Motul DOT 5.1 fluid (not silicon-based DOT 5). The stuff has a boiling point about 100 degrees higher than the DOT 3/4 I was using. No problems on a 100+ degree day.

I also use semi-metallic pads (full-metallics would probably be even better). Organic pads tend to work well at low temps, but fade under heavy use on the track as things heat up.

I did forget to pull my wheel center caps this last time... and the front wheels heating up due to brake usage warped the plastic and glue, causing the logos to fall off, and then the caps to loosen up and eventually pop out later in the day. Fortunately, they are cheap and I had a couple of spares. (Wheels are style 61 from a late E38 7-series).
 
BarryG said:
What tires are you running ?

B
Click to expand...

They are actually pretty cheapo tires. Chinese Farroad 205/55/16 up front and 225/50/16 in the rear (just like the staggered 16" Alpina setup). They are on their last legs, so I thought I'd burn up the last bits at the track before getting something nicer. My friend in his 911 was using Bridgestone Potenza RE11s, which look fantastic and get rave reviews for track events. Same sizes as mine. I'm considering those or the newer Potenza RE71r for my car.

BTW... I have Carl Nelson springs, ST sway bars (28mm front, 22mm rear) and K-Mac strut mounts which allow for quick camber and caster adjustment. I was running about 2 degrees of negative camber in the front for the day. You can kind of see the result in the pictures. The outside front tire has a nice flat contact patch in hard cornering. Rears also have about 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber just from lowering.
 
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Great fun for sure but something I only do with somebody else his car.

Did it years ago with my 911's but to dangerous and to hard on the cars, most certainly if you want to keep their paintwork in perfect condition.
 
Philippe db said:
Great fun for sure but something I only do with somebody else his car.

Did it years ago with my 911's but to dangerous and to hard on the cars, most certainly if you want to keep their paintwork in perfect condition.
Click to expand...

I actually feel the other way about it. I feel safer during a well run track day than I do on public roads. On the track, it is not a race. Everyone is driving in the same direction, is hyper-aware of who/what is around them, and is courteous. The only real danger comes if you drive too close to the limits of your ability, or if you aren't on top of your vehicle maintenance.

As for paintwork, I do 2-3 track days a year, and I get far more chips in my paint from simply driving on public roads near other vehicles. On the track, if there is any notable debris up ahead, the flaggers will give you fair warning as you approach it.

All of that said, my car is a driver - not a show car. So if keeping paintwork in perfect condition is your priority (nothing wrong with that), you probably aren't driving your e9 nearly as much as I am anyway. :)
 
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