"Power is nothing without control" Chin HPDE write-up

[RoadRacer]

I had a great time at the Chin event today... there were a lot of fast cars out there. I got a couple of hours of track time and am very tired right now.

I started the day off on the wrong foot as I spun the car during the opening session, first lap! :-o See the title... The tires were not completely warm and I was too aggressive with the throttle coming out of the water tower turn. I didn't go off course but probably still startled the corner worker... who probably hadn't even finished his coffee! :lol: I was much more delicate with the throttle the rest of the day, but I was still over powering the back tires in many corners. I am going to switch from the Falken 205-50-15 to a 225-50-15.... probably an A032R orToyo RA-1

The brakes worked great...I had a problem with bad fade at the last event. Before this event I switched to a more aggressive track pad, put in a 1" master cylinder and ran cooling ducts to the rotors.

I was seeing tires temps of 145 - 150 and brake rotor temps of 240 - 350. How does that compare to you guys?

Patrick

[Loren]

It was a perfect day for driving at Sebring! Sorry I didn't catch up with you today. What do you drive?

I kept the car pretty well reigned in today. I did go off once, but it was by choice. I botched the entry to the carousel, lost my focus and ran out of track coming out of the last turn... just opted to keep the car straight and under control. It worked.

I got approved to drive solo today, that was cool.

Didn't take any temperatures today. My tires are Hankook Z212's, and they performed wonderfully. I think they're a better track tire than autocross tire. They seem to really get grippy once you get some heat in them. (well, relatively... still not on par with Azenis) Before today, I thought they were starting to heat-cycle out on me after 8 months, 2 track events, 8,000 street miles and who knows how many autocross runs. But such is not the case.

For brakes, I'm running Cobalt SM pads (full race Spec Miata pads) on stock rotors with ATE Blue brake fluid. Not a hint of a problem from the brakes all day.

Dialed in my tire pressures a bit and tweaked the shocks on my all-new suspension. The car felt GOOD in the afternoon after I got it sorted.

Oh, and somebody clocked me at 3:05 in one of the late morning sessions. Is that good? I'm sure I got a little faster later in the day, but it's hard to say how much.

[RoadRacer]

Yea we should have planned it better... next time! I drive the grey 240 with the black fenders. 3:05 is good when you look at the fact this was your 2nd time at Sebring.... i think. My best time with a relatively clear lap was 2:52, but like you someone else clocked it for me.... I would like to get a timing system for the car, but the car still needs a lot of chassis stiffening first. Are you going to the Jan, short course event?

[Loren]

Okay, yeah I saw your car a couple times there. Not sure about January yet. I've never run the short course, could be fun.