Laguna Seca Trackmaster's event Sept 10 & 11

[sperry]

Originally Posted by bemanii

I recognize your name though!
Doug put me in low intermediate too; he told me he could move me up to high intermediate if they still have space there on the 26th.

Ahh, so that Leung is you! Nice! At least there'll be one familiar face there. I wonder if I'll be able to move up to B1 as well. I have a feeling the new 2.5L Doink mobile will be a little faster than the people out there for their first track event.

[qksubi]

Sept 9 might be added if enough drivers sign up that day is assgned for 92db

[qksubi]

Just to let everyone know that Scott and I will be rocking Seca this weekend!I want thank my sponsers Visa and Mastercard and maybe a little Amerix and a big thanks to MATTQUEST.COM for suppling me with Trailor and tie downs and I my wife for letting me go

[doubleurx]

Have a great and safe time. Should be a blast. That track is so much fun - Turn 9!

Remember to lift between 5 & 6 if you are too loud.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

Have a great and safe time. Should be a blast. That track is so much fun - Turn 9!

Remember to lift between 5 & 6 if you are too loud.

Short shift, don't lift... No lifting, especially in turn 9... Have fun.

[doubleurx]

Originally Posted by Dean

Short shift, don't lift... No lifting, especially in turn 9... Have fun.

I didn't say lift on turn 9! that would sucko bigo, Nonetheless I stand corrected - yes short shift between 5 & 6.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

I didn't say lift on turn 9! that would sucko bigo...

I didn't say you did. I was only saying that Laguna Seca is really a track where there is no lifting... The only possible place I can think a lift might work instead of a brake is before trun 4. OK, maybe a hair between 8 and 9 if you must, but I think a little left foot is safer. There really is no place where a classic lift will help you much. In many respects, it is a point and shoot track except for the corkscrew. Not many linked elements at all really.

Sears is quite different in that respect. many things are linked, and the wheel is seldom straight for any length of time except on the 6-7 & 10-11 straights.

[bemani]

MotoGP rocks! Made them fix up the berms, its so nice to be able to use the curbs.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by bemani

MotoGP rocks! Made them fix up the berms, its so nice to be able to use the curbs.

Which curbs did the change? Hopefull not the gator backs in he corkscrew. That would be terrible!

[bemani]

Basically all of them.

[MattR]

Eric and Scott did not have too much to say when I talked to them...I think they were speechless due to the awesomeness of Seca.

[sti deede]

Originally Posted by MattR

Eric and Scott did not have too much to say when I talked to them...I think they were speechless due to the awesomeness of Seca.

So then it sounds like both of them were able to run. In Erics car I'm guessing.

[sperry]

Dean, according to the "locals", the curbs are completely changed, and have made Seca a *much* faster track. *All* the gators are gone, making every turn about 3 feet wider.

Too tired to post a lot, so here are the two good pictures I got of Eric:

[bemani]

There were some fake grass or something on the exit of turn 11 too ... I didn't try making the turn wider and driving over it though.

[GST Mike]

Did everything go ok with the car Eric?

Mike

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by sperry

Dean, according to the "locals", the curbs are completely changed, and have made Seca a *much* faster track. *All* the gators are gone, making every turn about 3 feet wider.

Wow.. they're all just smooth curbs now?

[Dean]

Dang... There goes a lot of the character of the place.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

Wow.. they're all just smooth curbs now?

The inside half of the curbs are flat, with only minor serration on the outside half. Plus the paint they useds on 'em has grit in them to make them sticky for the motorcycle tires so they don't take a spill using the curbs. All part of making the track MotoGP legal.

The paint on the apex curb of turn 6 is completely worn off, if that tells you anything about how easy it is to use the curbs now.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by GST Mike

Did everything go ok with the car Eric?

Mike

Eric's out of town right now, so I'll answer for him.

In a word, the car was awesome.

Early on we thought there was a problem, because while I was driving it, it cut out twice. Turns out, with Eric's key chain on the key, I was hitting it w/ my knee and turning the car off... but because the turbo timer was active, I drove around for 30 seconds before it cut out.

Then there was the check-engine light and rough idle we noticed about mid-way through day one. But once we re-attached and zip-tied that little vacuum line as you recommended, the car ran great, and the responsiveness came back.

I was driving the car in the High Intermediate group and Eric's STi would pull on just about every car out there except for the brand-new Viper that was in my group. Unfortunately my driving isn't quite as good as those in my group, so a lot of the cars would get away from me in the corners... especially this one Miata from Boise... but that was cool because then I would just light-foot it down the straights and do my best to learn the line from the more experienced drivers in front of me. The last guy I wanted to be was the tool in the fast ass car that would pull away on all the straights and then hold up people behind me in the corners!

Anyway, aside from the two little issues I mentioned, the car ran like a champ, handling double duty between me and Eric. Unfortunately with two runs left on day two, we decided that the brake pads we had were through, and instead of swapping them out, we just called it a weekend a little early. No point in trashing the rotors or spending time doing the swap.

[doubleurx]

Sounds like a blast Scott. Was that the little vacuum line at the back of the intake manifold (the same one that blew off mine at the track as well)?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

Sounds like a blast Scott. Was that the little vacuum line at the back of the intake manifold (the same one that blew off mine at the track as well)?

I'm not sure which one you blew... it was right next to the throttle body, on the passenger side, kinda near the PCV, but on the intake manifold. It was a *tiny* little hose, which is why neither Eric or I noticed it when we checked over the motor. We were getting 0171 codes because of it (IIRC).

[doubleurx]

Originally Posted by sperry

I'm not sure which one you blew... it was right next to the throttle body, on the passenger side, kinda near the PCV, but on the intake manifold. It was a *tiny* little hose, which is why neither Eric or I noticed it when we checked over the motor. We were getting 0171 codes because of it (IIRC).

Same one. I remember all of us looking at my motor at the track and we couldn't find it even with the hiss. I have the same fix for it. Pretty big difference in boost when you close up the system.

So how did you like driving the STI at Laguna............sorry dumb question.

[GST Mike]

I'll never understand why Subaru didn't make that fitting on the manifold barbed, for something as critical as pressure to a FPR it's plain silly.

[doubleurx]

Originally Posted by GST Mike

I'll never understand why Subaru didn't make that fitting on the manifold barbed, for something as critical as pressure to a FPR it's plain silly.

Agreed. What was it designed for - exactly 14psi, at 14.1 psi it blows!

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

Agreed. What was it designed for - exactly 14psi, at 14.1 psi it blows!

Mine has never blown, even when kissing 24psi.

These track days thingies sound like fun. I need to try it.