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This is the first of a series of posts that I'm going to be making through the eyes of a newbie HPDE driver.
Before I left San Diego for a Panama Canal cruise a couple of weeks ago, I was staying at Hotel La Jolla, sipping on some wine with my wife when we both heard the unmistakable sound of not one, but two GT-Rs slowly making their way up the driveway to the valet. Needless to say, they wouldn't let the valets park their cars, and instead parked in a single long parking spot normally designated for buses.
I sent out a "sighting" post in the R35 forum and long story short, an impromptu meet up at a tea house was organized. Although I didn't have a car there, we ended up with 5 GT-Rs. The two GT-Rs belonged to Dmitri and Richard, who drove down from the Bay Area to see a car show.
I told the group about my upcoming Road Course Bucket List trip, consisting of the following events, a mixture of road course and drag racing:
May 2-3: Sebring International (FL)
May 18-19: Watkins Glen International (NY)
May 21: Maple Grove Raceway (PA)
May 28: Lime Rock Park (CT)
May 29: New England Dragway (NH)
June 3: Atco Dragway (NJ)
June 6-7: Summit Point Motorsports Park (WV)
Richard suggested that I start a thread that I update after each event with impressions, successes, failures, attaboys, etc., and that a lot of members might be interested in how this all turns out.
I should start by stating that I have never driven in any sanctioned road course event. So, I am a true beginner. I had much to learn just in order to make the right decisions about how to transform a FBO car set up for drag racing to one set up for road racing. I decided early on that, in order to obtain the best support for purchased equipment, that I would buy from authorized dealers. I know that most off-road applications come with little or no warranty other than maintaining a good name in this niche market, but that's important leverage. This decision cost me a few dollars, but could pay off down the road.
Second, I decided that I'm no longer the DIY guy that I was in the mid-90s. I had a 4-level cervical laminectomy with fusion in August and most people think I am sick in the head for having resumed drag racing in September. I would toss my hard collar into the trunk before tech so that I wouldn't get thrown off the track. I'm not up for getting under a car, or anything involving the contortions we find ourselves in when working on our cars. So, I put together a detailed game plan and took it to TR3, who shepherds a couple of fully race-prepped Ferraris all over the country and works on passenger cars as a revenue generator. The TR3 team has a lot of hard core race experience and I came to appreciate how much that experience helped.
For instance, the front rotor/caliper cooling system that Stillen ships includes a pair of fans whose brackets broke twice. To Stillen's credit, they overnighted replacements, which also broke when tightened wrist-tight. TR3 sourced a similar fan and had a local marine repair shop reinforce the bracket by bonding another piece of urethane over the original bracket. Problem solved.
I broke the project into the 3 pieces:
1. Install CCM-X rotors, pads, and cooling systems
2. Replace HKS resonated midpipe and Legamax with factory midpipe and cat back and dyno to determine (a) how much power is lost, and (b) get a data log for Bill Guthrie (SIR) to verify that the extra heat buildup won't create too much knock.
3. Procure and install harnesses and HANS device
You are probably asking why we restored the stock exhaust. Because Lime Rock. Lime Rock has an 86 dbA noise limit. I bought a $29 sound meter (forget those free apps for your iWhatever or Android). With a no-cat, no-muffler configuration, my car registered 107 dbA at a distance of 50 feet from the track. When you pre-pay for an event that's 1,100 miles from home, you don't want to be black flagged for noise on the first lap. It is not a mistake to err on the side of caution. On a road course, 20-30 HP won't be missed as much as on a drag strip.
The next thing I learned is that my Pure $XXM umbrella policy doesn't cover damage to my car incurred during off-road events. I needed track insurance. I Googled around and found a couple of companies specializing in policies that cover HPDE events. I talked to both and found Steve Katz at OnTrackInsurance.com to be the most straightforward and knowledgeable not only about insurance, but HPDE, TT1, TT2, and straight out racing. He raced semi-pro for a few years. For 7 track days, I paid $2,600.
I learned about submarining, and why 4-point harnesses are all but banned at any serious road racing event. Steve advised me to go with a 6-point harness. Unfortunately, a 5- or a 6-point harness won't work properly with the stock front seats. The bottom straps would have to go through the middle of the seat and be bolted to the floorboard. So, without anyplace for the bottom straps to bolt to, I'd need to go with race seats. My budget is already busted, so decent race seats are out of the question. I read the fine print in NASA's safety harness rules over and over and determined that the Schroth's Profii II ASM (anti-submarine) is allowed, due to a special design that, when the straps are tightened (as in a collision), one shoulder strap gives way a bit more than the other, which forces your body sideways so that you don't submarine under the steering wheel and into the pedals. Solved.
Then, the question becomes where should we attach the shoulder straps? We were hoping for an inconspicuous single harness bar solution that attaches to the B pillars, but nobody makes them any more. We needed to go to a roll bar. We found Forged Performance. Now, I'm starting to run out of time. Since I was leaving for a Panama Canal cruise on April 11th and not returning until the 28th *and* my first event is Saturday May 2, meaning I have to leave on Friday, May 1, I needed the car ready to *before* April 11 so I could park it in my garage, go on the cruise, come back, get the clear bra, and break in the pads. Unfortunately, Forged had a queue, and couldn't just crank out a high precision rollbar in 8 hours. So, I left the car with TR3 and PM'd Sarif and Bobby at Forged and told them the situation. They responded and assured me they'd make the date, and that the rollbar would be so easy to install, it should take no more than one day. My wife and I left for San Diego with me being optimistic but following up occasionally by e-mail, text, and PM.
Sure enough, the rollbar was completed and shipped on the 20th. Pictures in a future post.
On the 24th, while I was touring the lock system at the Panama Canal, I stepped on a section of curb, twisted my foot sideways and broke my left foot. For you orthopedic guys out there, it's the metatarsal bone leading to my little toe. A "Jones" fracture. My wife and I both heard the bone snap. I hit the walkway, but I remember thinking on the way down, "This is my left foot -- I can still drive!"
We got a temporary cast at the ship and flew from Cartagena, Colombia to Ft. Lauderdale near where I live. My neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon, so yesterday I e-mail him and asked if he could see me. He got back to me and told me to tell his secretary that I'm a neighbor of his and to fit me in with his partner, who specializes in feet. Left feet, I'm pretty sure.
I got the news that I'd have to stay off my left foot for 6-8 weeks and I'd have to come in for follow-ups. First one is May 4. Good. I can fit Sebring in. I told him that I'd been planning a 3-4 week trip to New York, and that I'd be away for a month. He said no problem, just keep my foot elevated. My wife drove me down to TR3 and dropped me off with crutches, my laptop, helmet (for HANS fitting), and my EcuTek cable. I got fitted for the harnesses and finally got a close-up look at the Forged rollbar and harness setup. Way cool !!!!
We put the car on the dyno. The PC running the dyno computer blew something, but I was able to get enough run data to send to Bill. I later learned that Bill had been in the shop last week to tune another GT-R and went ahead and loaded the Nismo TCM ROM. He had sent me the file a couple of weeks earlier, but I didn't have access to my car. So, that was a really nice touch. That's Bill. Just a while ago, he e-mailed me and said that the data log shows that I'm losing power due to the exhaust, but the tune is fine, and the car is ready for Sebring.
Even I, an obviously deranged guy, know that I'll need some help at Sebring. TR3 offers full "track support". I didn't need "full service", so they agreed to give me one pit guy for both days. He'll have a truck, tools, 4-wheeler, ethanol, nitrogen, tire temp/pressure gauges, and everything I'll need. I probably won't need to do anything but pay attention in the drivers meetings, get into the car, and drive. As an HPDE1 guy, I automatically get an instructor assigned. For at least one day. If I do okay, I could possibly get signed off to solo on the second day.
Wednesday is clear bra - lip, bumper, hood, fenders, headlights, mirrors, rocker panels, and rear panels. I am going with the 3M. This came recommended by a body shop company that fixed a boo boo on my lip. I've not heard much negative about 3M, and their YouTube video is pretty impressive. If I don't like it or it yellows as some of the naysayers claim, I'll simply remove it and go with one of the other products when the time comes.
Last, but not least, I want to give props to my wife of 17 years, Geri. She has seen me go through two mid-life crisis and knows that I'll eventually pull out of this one. I have tested her patience with this passion, and she keeps on giving. I only hope that I get the chance to show her how much I appreciate her.
My next post should be sometime after the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on 5/2. Hopefully, Chateau-Elan will be showing it !!!
BF
Before I left San Diego for a Panama Canal cruise a couple of weeks ago, I was staying at Hotel La Jolla, sipping on some wine with my wife when we both heard the unmistakable sound of not one, but two GT-Rs slowly making their way up the driveway to the valet. Needless to say, they wouldn't let the valets park their cars, and instead parked in a single long parking spot normally designated for buses.
I sent out a "sighting" post in the R35 forum and long story short, an impromptu meet up at a tea house was organized. Although I didn't have a car there, we ended up with 5 GT-Rs. The two GT-Rs belonged to Dmitri and Richard, who drove down from the Bay Area to see a car show.
I told the group about my upcoming Road Course Bucket List trip, consisting of the following events, a mixture of road course and drag racing:
May 2-3: Sebring International (FL)
May 18-19: Watkins Glen International (NY)
May 21: Maple Grove Raceway (PA)
May 28: Lime Rock Park (CT)
May 29: New England Dragway (NH)
June 3: Atco Dragway (NJ)
June 6-7: Summit Point Motorsports Park (WV)
Richard suggested that I start a thread that I update after each event with impressions, successes, failures, attaboys, etc., and that a lot of members might be interested in how this all turns out.
I should start by stating that I have never driven in any sanctioned road course event. So, I am a true beginner. I had much to learn just in order to make the right decisions about how to transform a FBO car set up for drag racing to one set up for road racing. I decided early on that, in order to obtain the best support for purchased equipment, that I would buy from authorized dealers. I know that most off-road applications come with little or no warranty other than maintaining a good name in this niche market, but that's important leverage. This decision cost me a few dollars, but could pay off down the road.
Second, I decided that I'm no longer the DIY guy that I was in the mid-90s. I had a 4-level cervical laminectomy with fusion in August and most people think I am sick in the head for having resumed drag racing in September. I would toss my hard collar into the trunk before tech so that I wouldn't get thrown off the track. I'm not up for getting under a car, or anything involving the contortions we find ourselves in when working on our cars. So, I put together a detailed game plan and took it to TR3, who shepherds a couple of fully race-prepped Ferraris all over the country and works on passenger cars as a revenue generator. The TR3 team has a lot of hard core race experience and I came to appreciate how much that experience helped.
For instance, the front rotor/caliper cooling system that Stillen ships includes a pair of fans whose brackets broke twice. To Stillen's credit, they overnighted replacements, which also broke when tightened wrist-tight. TR3 sourced a similar fan and had a local marine repair shop reinforce the bracket by bonding another piece of urethane over the original bracket. Problem solved.
I broke the project into the 3 pieces:
1. Install CCM-X rotors, pads, and cooling systems
2. Replace HKS resonated midpipe and Legamax with factory midpipe and cat back and dyno to determine (a) how much power is lost, and (b) get a data log for Bill Guthrie (SIR) to verify that the extra heat buildup won't create too much knock.
3. Procure and install harnesses and HANS device
You are probably asking why we restored the stock exhaust. Because Lime Rock. Lime Rock has an 86 dbA noise limit. I bought a $29 sound meter (forget those free apps for your iWhatever or Android). With a no-cat, no-muffler configuration, my car registered 107 dbA at a distance of 50 feet from the track. When you pre-pay for an event that's 1,100 miles from home, you don't want to be black flagged for noise on the first lap. It is not a mistake to err on the side of caution. On a road course, 20-30 HP won't be missed as much as on a drag strip.
The next thing I learned is that my Pure $XXM umbrella policy doesn't cover damage to my car incurred during off-road events. I needed track insurance. I Googled around and found a couple of companies specializing in policies that cover HPDE events. I talked to both and found Steve Katz at OnTrackInsurance.com to be the most straightforward and knowledgeable not only about insurance, but HPDE, TT1, TT2, and straight out racing. He raced semi-pro for a few years. For 7 track days, I paid $2,600.
I learned about submarining, and why 4-point harnesses are all but banned at any serious road racing event. Steve advised me to go with a 6-point harness. Unfortunately, a 5- or a 6-point harness won't work properly with the stock front seats. The bottom straps would have to go through the middle of the seat and be bolted to the floorboard. So, without anyplace for the bottom straps to bolt to, I'd need to go with race seats. My budget is already busted, so decent race seats are out of the question. I read the fine print in NASA's safety harness rules over and over and determined that the Schroth's Profii II ASM (anti-submarine) is allowed, due to a special design that, when the straps are tightened (as in a collision), one shoulder strap gives way a bit more than the other, which forces your body sideways so that you don't submarine under the steering wheel and into the pedals. Solved.
Then, the question becomes where should we attach the shoulder straps? We were hoping for an inconspicuous single harness bar solution that attaches to the B pillars, but nobody makes them any more. We needed to go to a roll bar. We found Forged Performance. Now, I'm starting to run out of time. Since I was leaving for a Panama Canal cruise on April 11th and not returning until the 28th *and* my first event is Saturday May 2, meaning I have to leave on Friday, May 1, I needed the car ready to *before* April 11 so I could park it in my garage, go on the cruise, come back, get the clear bra, and break in the pads. Unfortunately, Forged had a queue, and couldn't just crank out a high precision rollbar in 8 hours. So, I left the car with TR3 and PM'd Sarif and Bobby at Forged and told them the situation. They responded and assured me they'd make the date, and that the rollbar would be so easy to install, it should take no more than one day. My wife and I left for San Diego with me being optimistic but following up occasionally by e-mail, text, and PM.
Sure enough, the rollbar was completed and shipped on the 20th. Pictures in a future post.
On the 24th, while I was touring the lock system at the Panama Canal, I stepped on a section of curb, twisted my foot sideways and broke my left foot. For you orthopedic guys out there, it's the metatarsal bone leading to my little toe. A "Jones" fracture. My wife and I both heard the bone snap. I hit the walkway, but I remember thinking on the way down, "This is my left foot -- I can still drive!"
We got a temporary cast at the ship and flew from Cartagena, Colombia to Ft. Lauderdale near where I live. My neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon, so yesterday I e-mail him and asked if he could see me. He got back to me and told me to tell his secretary that I'm a neighbor of his and to fit me in with his partner, who specializes in feet. Left feet, I'm pretty sure.
I got the news that I'd have to stay off my left foot for 6-8 weeks and I'd have to come in for follow-ups. First one is May 4. Good. I can fit Sebring in. I told him that I'd been planning a 3-4 week trip to New York, and that I'd be away for a month. He said no problem, just keep my foot elevated. My wife drove me down to TR3 and dropped me off with crutches, my laptop, helmet (for HANS fitting), and my EcuTek cable. I got fitted for the harnesses and finally got a close-up look at the Forged rollbar and harness setup. Way cool !!!!
We put the car on the dyno. The PC running the dyno computer blew something, but I was able to get enough run data to send to Bill. I later learned that Bill had been in the shop last week to tune another GT-R and went ahead and loaded the Nismo TCM ROM. He had sent me the file a couple of weeks earlier, but I didn't have access to my car. So, that was a really nice touch. That's Bill. Just a while ago, he e-mailed me and said that the data log shows that I'm losing power due to the exhaust, but the tune is fine, and the car is ready for Sebring.
Even I, an obviously deranged guy, know that I'll need some help at Sebring. TR3 offers full "track support". I didn't need "full service", so they agreed to give me one pit guy for both days. He'll have a truck, tools, 4-wheeler, ethanol, nitrogen, tire temp/pressure gauges, and everything I'll need. I probably won't need to do anything but pay attention in the drivers meetings, get into the car, and drive. As an HPDE1 guy, I automatically get an instructor assigned. For at least one day. If I do okay, I could possibly get signed off to solo on the second day.
Wednesday is clear bra - lip, bumper, hood, fenders, headlights, mirrors, rocker panels, and rear panels. I am going with the 3M. This came recommended by a body shop company that fixed a boo boo on my lip. I've not heard much negative about 3M, and their YouTube video is pretty impressive. If I don't like it or it yellows as some of the naysayers claim, I'll simply remove it and go with one of the other products when the time comes.
Last, but not least, I want to give props to my wife of 17 years, Geri. She has seen me go through two mid-life crisis and knows that I'll eventually pull out of this one. I have tested her patience with this passion, and she keeps on giving. I only hope that I get the chance to show her how much I appreciate her.
My next post should be sometime after the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on 5/2. Hopefully, Chateau-Elan will be showing it !!!
BF
