Thunderhill Track Day April 11th - Recap

So I flew up to the bay area and went to a Thunderhill track day on Saturday April 11th ran by Speedventures. It was really quite a fun day, SuperGoober, Timmy, and myself all drive, and the Acupuncturist and Duff came along for rides. Duff had never received rides before on the track, and I think he really enjoyed it.

SuperGoober drove his Evo X of course, Timmy drove the 87 cherry Supra, and I borrowed a car from a friend named Hurts (you figure it out). It was a rear drive 4 door sedan, not japanese and not american,and somewhat underpowered and under tired for its 3600 curb weight. Plus of course it was an automagick slushy gearbox, which basically meant the car was not nearly as fun as you would think it woudl be.

I actually only drive it for I think 3 sessions, and put some time in the Evo X (some VERY cautious and careful laps, no shennanigans this time, nothing more than 6/10ths this time around). I mean I hit the limiter maybe once or twice, and hammered it in the straights, but was very cautious with my braking and my turn entry speeds. I also turned some laps in the Duff's Scion XB "the box". I have to say, that car is a frickin hoot to drive on the track. Now it could definitely use another 50-100HP, but even with its 105-120HP it was more fun than the not japanese/not american 'borrowed' sedan. It had more handling than power, and the sedan had more power than handling, and it didnt have THAT much power (well twice as much as the box now that I think about it!).

Duff has done some work on the box, not a lot, but with our guidance has done what really makes sense. I believe his list of mods is comprised of the following;

• Exhaust work (maybe cat back, maybe just a muffler, either way it sounds decent.
• Axxiss Ultimate Brake Pads.
• ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid.
• Lowering Springs.
• Cold Air Intake?
• Lighter than stock wheels with some decent aggressive street tires on them.
  

The bottom line is that car was pretty damn flat, and handled really well, its shape/form would lead you to believe it is top heavy, but in fact it feels quite flat when driving it at the limit. I would love to get one, retrofit a 300HP v6 or v8 Lexus/toyota motor behind the front seats, convert it to rear drive, and then replace the rear drums with discs and just show up everybody at the track who thinks a 'box' cant be fast!

I really can't report anything more on the sedan, other than I need my own damn track car, I want something I can REALLY learn with. I want a car that's MINE and one I can learn inside and out, get a bunch of track days under my belt with it, and start exploiting the limits of capabilities. With 'borrowed' cars, from people named Hurts and Dohlar it's really hard, and even borrowing your buddies cars it tough. You really don't want to break your buddies cars and need to take it easy in them, especially the nonsense fast ones like the EVO X!

So back to the EVO X. The Goob turned his fastest lap ever at Thunderhill, a fairly impressive 2:16.100. Buttttttt, I keep telling him Lap Times don't mean very much, as was made clear by the fact that he said this was a HIGH DRAMA super dirty lap, and he beyind his comfort level. i.e. he was driving at probably 9/10ths and really having to be ultra focused on what he was doing. He and I talked about his 2:16 and my 2:16 (and my best time, a 2:16.391 was slightly slower than his best time of the day). What he said was "You went out and had a drama free 2:16 driving at 6/10ths and my lap of the same time was a mess and I was on the edge of control". That can be explained in 1 simple sentence;

"50+ track days vs. 7 track days"

I am by no means a pro, far from it, but I have done probaly 1750-2500 laps at thunderhill, and I feel like I know it decently well (I still feel like I need a few thousand more to REALLY REALLY know the track) whereas the Goob has only been there 3 times!

I think if I owned the EVO X that he has, and got to know the car, and pushed it I could probaly turn consistent 2:12's in it, and maybe get down into the 2:10's with some seriously hot (and at the egde) laps.

You can see the EVO's lap times here. Anything in the Blue Group is SuperGoober and anything in the Black Group is me, you can see I only turned 4 laps in the car, and was really self concious and nervous for the first 2 since last time I drove the car I frickin spun!

Here is a video of me turning my 2:16 lap. There was so much wind noise I just put a soundtrack over the top of it so you wouldnt go crazy watching it!

Here is one of SuperGoober's sessions with me passengering. Note: This is NOT when he turns his fastest lap, instead he is working on some good lines, consistent braking, and smooth driving. [NOTE: This is his whole session, is not edited, has horrible wind noise, and ultimately will be extremely boring to the average person!]