I decided to go to my Lotus Club track day on friday at Portland International Raceway and put the key in the lotus... click, click, click. Darn, guess I get to try out the Aston Martin, so loaded all my gear into the AM and took off!
I had just put on new tires. Yokohama Neova something or others. Same tread wear as the 050A's but seemed/felt stickier.
I had a lot of looks in the car, even though there were many cars worth more than mine, I had at least 5 people say they had never seen an Aston Martin on the track and that I had some big ***** to drive such a beautiful car so hard. I am one of those people that will drive ANY nice/fast car I get on the track. I have friends that own multiple ferrari's and lambo's and a Mclaren yet they won't take any on the track because they are to scared, not me.
Ok so how did it do.
Grip: More than I expected, maybe its because I am such an experienced driver maybe it was the car/tire combo, but either way I was taking down Porsche 911's and modified BRZ's in the corners, but I was in the intermediate group since i had never driven this car on the track and i am an instructor so I was probably pushing harder than many other drivers.
Power: Pretty good but still needs more. Had a hard time breaking the tires loose even with TC off, which means it needs more power. I did get about 7 MPH better on the straights in this car than in my Lotus.
Brakes: This car does have them right? I mean it doesn't really stop, especially after 3 laps my brakes would go bye bye and I almost had to use run offs a number of times because they faded. No fade in the pedal, it was still strong(had better fluid put in) but just no stopping. They certainly overheated because after my first session after getting used to the car I came in and the brakes were smoking and you could feel the heat from them from about 4-5' away so I took it around the parking lot to cool them down. The rest of the day I would do 3 hard laps, get aways ahead of everybody and then do a cool down lap while the other cars caught back up and then I would take off and run a few more hard laps.
Here is a video of my best recorded session a 1:34.14 with TC on. I turned it off to get a little more power coming out of the corners that it was being "allegedly" used and was able to get down to a 1:33.14 and I probably still have another .5-1 second I could drop with a wide open track since my phone battery didn't last to the end of the day when the track warmed up and I really felt comfortable pushing the car.

A few phots, I am buying them and I do have permission to post, hence the watermark until I receive my CD.

<a href="http://cwhitephoto.zenfolio.com/p944701574/e565200e7"><img src="http://cwhitephoto.zenfolio.com/img/s1/v46/p1448214759-2.jpg" width="400" height="267" alt="Charles White Photography: 10:00am Intermediate &emdash; " /></a>
<a href="http://cwhitephoto.zenfolio.com/p944701574/e56522c63"><img src="http://cwhitephoto.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v124/p1448225891-2.jpg" width="400" height="267" alt="Charles White Photography: 10:00am Intermediate &emdash; " /></a>
<a href="http://cwhitephoto.zenfolio.com/p709845609/e56512f28"><img src="http://cwhitephoto.zenfolio.com/img/s2/v59/p1448161064-2.jpg" width="400" height="267" alt="Charles White Photography: 9:00am Intermediate &emdash; " /></a>

 

Nice! I took mine to the track last month, but didn't get pictures like yours. I used to have an Elise, but it's been a few years, so it was difficult to compare the two at the track. Overall, it did much better than I expected. I didn't experience the braking issues you mention, but I'm sure I wasn't pushing as hard as someone with your experience.

 

That's cool. Only three more seconds to go, and you'll be as fast as a Spec Miata with 125 whp.

 

Yeah and a spec Miata is running on slicks with a cage/suspension and most importantly brakes that stop the car since it weighs almost half as much as the AM.
I'm so glad your good at comparing a full on spec race car to a GT style car. Do you often compare green apples to yellow bananas too?

 

Nobody compares green apples to yellow bananas. It's green apples to teriyaki beef jerky. Duh.

 

I don't know, your post made it sound like you think you are "racing" at a track day, so I figured I'd point out how slow you really are.

Am I being caustic? Yep. There is so much fail in your post. "Only you drive beautiful cars so hard." You "took down" 911s and modded cars. You are an "instructor" (God I hope no) who keeps a car on track with faded brakes and just narrowly avoid having to use run off, but you keep on trucking anyway.

I've been doing track days since 2001, and have been had a NASA and SCCA comp license since 2003. I've done track days in Esprits, Exiges, BMW M Coupes, M5s, and M6s, and raced my ITS TR8, an ITS 260z, several Spec Maitas, an ITE Lola T70 replica, an Ariel Atom, a Jetta TDI and probably some cars I've forgotten. I've won races at Charlotte, Rockingham, VIR, CMP, Road Atlanta and Roebling Road, and run at many other tracks. 2011 SCCA Southeast Division Champion in ITS, and a BMWCCA and Lotus Club instructor.

When I go do track days (headed to VIR in the V12 Vantage here in two weeks), I frankly HATE guys like you. I don't mean that personally, I'm just talking in an effort to improve the HPDE experience overall. I hate the attitude of "I'm faster than everyone in my group." I hate the terminology of "taking down" other cars at an HPDE. I hate guys in HPDE who have vid and data solely to post their "kills" online. And I really, really, really hate folks who have admitted mechanical issues with a car and yet keep on trucking, oblivious to the fact that there are others out on track with them who might pay the price for their mistakes.

I don't know you. I suspect, and hope, you are a nice guy in person. But seriously, HPDEs right now are headed towards trouble. When I started doing track days in 2001, about the fastest thing you saw on track was a Vette or maybe an M3. Most guys had Miatas or 2nd gen RX7s or 944s or E30 BMWs. Maybe 150ish to 200ish hp.

Now, you go to a track day and the paddock is littered with 400 and 500 hp cars. That's fine. UNTIL....attitudes like the above cause incidents and problems.

Look, I know you don't want to hear the above, and I'm sure I'll get a caustic response back. But I'm truly trying to help. You are NOT racing. If you were, you'd get your *** handed to you by an SM with 125 hp on Hoosiers...and with most likely a much better driver.

Take your Aston to the track. Have fun with it. Be polite and respectful. You aren't out to "take down" other cars. You and everyone else is there to have fun and go home safely at the end of the day. Put down the camera and the data and concentrate on the track, and having fun. And by God, if you have brake issues, park it. In short, don't be an ASSton.....sorry, couldn't resist....

If we ever meet up at the track, I hope we shake hands, have a great day on track, and a beer afterwards. But I'm afraid that won't happen if your attitude doesn't change. And that's not because I still wouldn't shake your hand. It's because if that type of attitude continues to show up at HPDEs, and cars keep getting wrecked, and instructors dying, we won't have HPDEs anymore.

Peace.

 

"take down"? That's a little scary, man!

 

Deep breath, everybody. I know this is an internet forum and all, but for the sake of discretion vs. valor, what say we all let this one blow over for a day or two? Go have a quick look in your garage and think about all the gifts you've been given. And then on your next ride, give her the full shovel of beans she's asking for.

 

Wow buddy calm down, maybe before you jump to conclusions you read what I wrote and your idiotic pig headed reply.
I NEVER said racing. I was commenting on performance of the car since the handling surprised me, I did not expect it to be so good. I said "take down" because the other cars were friends, its a joke, i even had wireless communication to the Porsche with my Senna headset so we could lead follow. He joked that I was "taking him down" in the corners so I used that wording but he had more speed in the straights and better brakes. So sorry I said "take down" we were not racing, we were lead follow and I was watching his line from behind and it was his joke, I guess I won't post others comments.
I mentioned the looks of the car because OTHER PEOPLE commented on it, sorry for PASSING ALONG others information. I commented that I was surprised that others were surprised that I took an Aston Martin to the track, it was meant to be commical since many people here take their AM's to the track. I thought it was odd so I passed along the info, I guess it offends you along with everything else I wrote. Once again I guess I won't post others comments since I get reprimanded for what others say. You know that old saying, don't kill the messanger.. guess you don't otherwise you would think before typing.
I mentioned I was an instructor because I didn't want to say definitivly that those cars are slower and that I was not in my normal group so with another driver they could be faster in the corners but I was surprised the Aston held so well in the corners. For a car of its weight I expected lesser performance.
As for the brakes, they were not dangerous. Lets say you brake at 650 feet and that is the limit of the car. If the brakes suddenly fade then you still brake at 650 feet since you didn't feel any fade on the last brake zone and now it takes you 30-50 longer to slow down, you start to run out. I NEVER went off track and NEVER get right behind people all times had safe stopping distance. I also mentioned that I then cooled down the car for SAFETY, but you didn't read that either. I was once again commenting on the Brakes, they gave out very suddenly and lost stopping power without warning, its merely a comment, not a reason to park a car when they just need a cool down. Many others have mentioned this without getting flack for it.
I never said I was the fastest either, you are and have been putting words in my mouth, you even used quotes "to make it look like i said it", I purely commented that maybe the performance difference was driver ability since you can't accurately compare cars without being in the drivers seat in each one on the same day. And for the record I was NOT the fastest in the run group, but there were only about 6-8 cars in the run group.

Safety is always my first concern, I never once put somebody elses or my safety at risk. The car was never driven out of control, the car never went off track, the car never spun and the car never had a detrimental impact on performance or safety that could have harmed myself, another or the track surface. So next time before you comment you need to read what is written and not be such a wacko trying to read into every comment and making up **** that I said.

So no, at this point I don't think I ever would have a beer with you. Thanks for making this forum a great environment for others to comment on and post about their experience. Have fun policing the internet and being the Racing and HPDE internet troll... I mean police.

Now if you so badly want somebody to hate, go talk to the Camaro owner next to me that said, "no its no fault out here, if I hit somebody we each pay for our own stuff, im not paying for them, if I hit them they must have been to slow hahah" Thats the type of person we don't want out there.

 

Oh and i would also like to add I was the only one at the track who took a guy with ALS out for a ride and helped him out of his chair so that he could experience the track, he did not ask me, I went up to him and asked if he would like to go for a ride.
That is the type of person I am.

 

Nothing about the original post sounded like racing or recklessness.

I'll lock the thread if another post to that effect is made.

 

Korn - Thanks for posting your experience. I did a track event (100% NOT A RACE) back in July in my V8V, similar to you - many facets of the car exceeded my expectations, except the brakes which I felt were the weak link. I also have a 991 - I enjoyed the Aston more on the track.

Based on the full write-up of your initial post, I understood the context as you intended, so don't be discouraged.

Personally - I find a post about a recent drive more interesting than a post bragging about years of racing experience (but I don't have years of racing experience to brag about - unless we are taling Mario Cart - in which case, I have tons of Take Downs).

 

Korntera: Thanks for posting, loved the video. If you plan on tracking the Aston in the future, perhaps you should upgrade your brakes (Stuart can help in this dept.).
I have the V8S which I track and I have found the upgraded S brakes to be just fine.
As for speed, a higher flow cat and re-map will help. Stuart can also help with this.

 

We make cars go faster (or stop faster.) It is true.

 

Probably won't be taking this car out much more. That's what the Lotus is for. I just want to safely test the limits of my cars so I can be a safer driver on the road. Find the limits and then move on.
I will be adding tuning and spacers and filters, just some basic stuff soon.
Currently working on adding a Gallardo to the garage so that's my next priority.

Car does have the factory power pack, and I have 200 cell cats coming in the mail that I bought from a forum member.