I did the Panoz (or should I say Skip Barber) track day last weekend. Unfortunatlly my turbo died on me early in the day, but it gave me a chance to focus on my technics instead on how fast I was going each lap. I had enough speed to take the corners on the limit and the only thing that was totally different were the breaking points because of the low speeds on the straights. I started a dialog with one of the senior instructors everytime i finished a session and he helped me debrief as he was watching me at different places around the track. Some insights: Turn 1: this is a FAST FAST corner. I saw people breaking for 2-3 seconds into it - no need. You "cheat" by "stealing" some extra road on the left just before the turn in point, bleep the brakes (if at all - depends on your speed) and turn in. DON'T shift down to 4th (for STIs) the car flies by the corner worker's station and sticks coming our of the turn using the camber and the uphill. It is important to focus on your position coming out of the turn and settling the car towards 2 & 3. Don't fight the car coming out of 1 - it WILL stick and start turning right - don't put too much right steering input, it will just unsettle the car and slow you down. Turn 2: follow the groove in the road that leads you to the right line for 3. Turn 3: break HARD in a straight line, shift down to 4th and throw the car into 3. Cut the corner as much as possible (I call it "the rally corner") and don't worry about the bump in inside of the curb - the weight of the car is on the other side. Hitting the curb actually helps you rotate the car as you prepare for turn 4. Turn 4: many people insist on "hugging" the curb and feel they take the right line. The truth is you can carry more speed by letting the car drift a little to the middle of the road - BUT (an important BUT) make sure your steering input is constant! first it feels like you are too fast for the corner, but as you scrub speed the car will stick and go to the direction your are pointing at. Shift up to 5th, lift a little to take the right line into the forst S and go as fast as you can down and up the hill. Turn 5: coming our of the last S, stick to the left to create a short straight before turn 5. use this straight to shift down to 5th AND DON'T BREAK. All the cars I followed breaked (some heavily) before the turn, and I think the reason is that the apex is misleading. Coming out of the turn you have endless road to use. You throw the car into the corner (it is scary at the first couple of times), the car screams as it passes the apex, hits the curb on the outside quit violently - all 4 wheels are on the curb at you point it slightly to the left (not too much as you can easily loose it and spin to the left - straighten your hands as much as possible) in order not to hit the pit in the grass just as the curb ends. Taking 5 fast can save you a lot of time... Turn 6: is all about entry speed. As turn 7 comes just right after 6 - you shouldn't care about the exit speed. Turn into 6 TOO fast. Trail break into it so you feel the limit of the car. I aim for an imaginary apex that is a little early so the car actually hits a later apex while drifting out because of the speed. make sure you are fast enough so the car actually hits the outside curb between 6 and 7. Turn 7: Break HARD in a straight line (trail break if you feel comforable with the car as this is a slow corner and it is easy to lose time) and turn the car looking at the exit on the far left of the track - use all the curb when you exit 7 accelerating hard. Turn 10a: This turn should enable you to learn the limit of your car's breaking capacity. The right breaking technic (many people do the opposite) is to start by breaking HARD and then easing off as needed making sure you still break a little when you start turning. Don't waist time (and risk spinning) by gradually breaking harder and harder. Take 10a tight and keep to middle/left 3rd of the road to straighten the exit line out of 10b. Exiting 10b is VERY important to your top speed at turn 1. Your left wheels sure be touching the curb coming up the hill on the exit of 10b. 10a requires a good H&T technic - the car is much smoother with it, but i admit it is hard to do it all (breaking, H&T, shifting, thinking about the next corner, etc.) and get it right every time. Accelerate hard going uphill - don't be afraid of the fact that you can't see what is coming (because of the crest). Position your car under the yellow flag on the bridge (I take a slightly different line) and find the right line that will have you putting as little steering input as possible - the input should be constant all the way to the turn in point of 12. Turn 12 - having a slow car helps you see the track from a different pespective. My rule for 12, is take it as late as your balls let you (seeing the concrete wall coming fast on the left) - this bring me to the right (sightly late) apex out of 12. Having an AVCR helped me fine-tune my line by reading the cornering speed every corner. That's it - it is longer than I expected, but I found the inputs from the instructor constructive as they made mylap more flowing and raised my confidence in the car's ability to turn. BTW - no question - the RE01's are much stickier than the RE070's. Much better fedback also. Tal
The turbo was completely seized and was not oil was leaking. It effectively turned it self into one of these and actually increased the power. Everyone should ditch their turbos and try one.
That kind of thinking can get you a government job :rofl: BTW your driving is plenty scary without the 35r.hnoes:
Thanks Tal. Having never been to RA, I'll print out your post and take it to the track the first time I'm there Any events coming up?