I had a meeting down in NC yesterday (Monday). It just so happened that I had a track day down in NC on Saturday at a track called NCCAR. So that worked out nicely.

Here is NCCAR. We ran it clockwise, starting and finishing on the big tarmac area along the straight. The first half of the track is just a series of adjoining turns with very short (or non-existent) transitions between each turn, including the giant never-ending forever-turning circle that goes on forever and doesn't end in the middle.



And here's me.









My alignment is way off and my car is pulling pretty hard to the left, and it messed me up pretty badly on the track. I had absolutely zero front-end grip. I just pushed through every single corner, even when I tried to powerslide the rear around. So I'll be getting an alignment done as soon as my schedule allows.

The end of the run is on the front straight, so I was getting up to 100-110 (depending on my exit from the hairpin) and having to get hard on the brakes to make the track exit. My brake rotors got all sorts of toasted and my pads are squealing like mad.



I shot a few videos with a GoPro Hero2. I had a Hero3 mounted in front of my driver's side rear-view mirror, but that one belongs to my buddy so I have to get the memory card from him before I can get the vids. This video used only the Hero2's internal microphone, which did pretty well at capturing sound without much distortion (although the bass from the exhaust did tax the mic pretty badly). I couldn't push my car nearly as much as I would otherwise have pushed it because of the lack of grip, so save your commentary about my mediocre performance

The HD version wouldn't upload with FB or Photobucket, so this one will have to do:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...50008843870557

For those that don't know, my car has the AM Power Pack and RSC prototype cats and exhaust (original like a boss what what). So that's what you're hearing

The weekend gave me some great testing opportunities for my oil catch can. In ~700 miles I had stop-and-go traffic, long drives (3 hours, 1.5 hours, 1 hour, and 4.5 hours from Friday-Tuesday), and 20 hot laps on a track.

This is where the catch can is sitting. I'm still waiting on the mounting bracket, so it was held in place with a 3' zip tie (heck yes, 3-feet long). The hose coming from the top of the catch can is able to go above or below those three hoses. I put it above them to help keep it stable since it isn't hard mounted. The connectors at the PCV and intake manifold are the actual AM factory connectors. I wasn't happy with what I was finding elsewhere, so I ordered new hoses and cannibalized them for the connectors. Sorry for the crap pics, I took them with my crap cell phone. It looks far better in person.







After about 700 miles, including 20 laps at NCCAR, it caught over 1/4 of an ounce of very thick oil.



And, on the way home, this happened.

 

very cool

 

Interesting looking track. Probably good for the vantage though as it does quite well in turns in my limited track experience. What is the length of the track and the length of the straights? I just competed all my exhaust mods, headers, cats and exhaust and will run the following track next weekend. It will be the first time since installing these mods as well as the velocity rotors and porterfield pads. Can't wait, will try some video from a buddies go pro.

http://eaglescanyon.com/httpdocs/2008/facilities.php

 

Looks like a lot of fun! A couple of questions / observations:

1. What tires are you running? I found the OEM Bridgestones truly awful on track and quickly replaced them. And good luck with power oversteer - you won't get much unless you are in second or first and that would require a very tight corner.

2. Have you done anything with your brakes or are they OEM? I've banged on about this before, but they are right up there with the OEM tires as the biggest problem on track.

 

Here's the info on the track:
http://nccar.us/facilities/road-course/

I don't have anything more specific than that, sorry!

I've got Hankook Ventus V12 tires. They were excellent at Road Atlanta, but my front end wouldn't bite at all this weekend. I'm 99% certain it's because my alignment was (and still is) off.

I have more aggressive pads, don't remember which, though. And brake cooling ducts, but stock rotors. If I can't get a mild resurface done on the rotors, I'll be getting the 2-piece rotors from Velocity. My brakes have held up very well, considering all I've put them through over the last couple of years, so I have no complaints.

 

Which cooling ducts?

 

RSC's prototypes, which are now in production and on their website.

 

Looked at the website again. Can't speak for the 4.3L fitment, so great if they are working for you, but looks like the same garbage I tried on my 4.7L. The air inlets would be better in the bumper as opposed to little slits like these under the car, but the worst part was the tubes themselves, which had to be bent into a pretty severe S to get to where they need to be. I figured they were doing pretty well nothing, or maybe even worsening the situation.

 

Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Upsize your front tires one size if you can to minimize understeer. Those Hankooks are avg street tires, they are not track tires MSPP can be taken to the track (although some report they can get a bit greasy).

Also, you have to remember that at full temps, tires increase PSI roughly 6-10 PSI depending on how hard you are pushing so you have to run them hot one session then immedately as you get off track you have to bleed out air to the desired level (34PSI hot front/rear is a good starting point, you can fine tune from there).

If you want crazy braking power, you need Carbotech XP10s. They bite like ceramic brakes, but are friendly on steel rotors. Only downside is they squeal when cold (but you can always switch back when done after track).

Brake Fluid: Castrol SRF, its the only fluid any serious track guy runs, Even Motul 600 & 660 boils over, but SRF most likely won't. And the fluid can come back where as Motul, once it overheats its toast and you have to reflush.

That track looks awesome, very wide run room, looks like a great learning track.

 

They were already on the car when I bought it, so to me there isn't any real loss if they don't work properly. I don't see how they could be making anything worse, though. I'm getting a wild hair up my *** to tinker with my car a bit more over the winter, and I might look into the ducts a bit.

 

Vid added to original post

 

+1 for the video - gorgeous sound. Thanks for sharing, very cool!

 

awesome! Car looks great, and its nice to see that someone actually is living a bit and taking these more than capable cars to the track.
As someone that races, I can tell you, these cars are amazing.

as far as improving the performance, the larger tire up front will help. the compound, matters, but its tough to find a tire that performs well. DOT racing tires, like a Toyo RA1 is the way to go. still full tread, but a sticky rubber that is fairly quiet. for what you are doing, its all relative.

you will find that if you start around 30psi, that will get you to the hot pressures of 35 or so, after the tires heat up. anything higher, expecially in the 40s hot, will make the tires feel like ice skates. trust me on this one.
I remember a entire gaggle of NSX drivers that all were skidding off the track at an event I was coaching at. they had all one thing in common..... 40psi start pressures. anyway, they all went to 30psi cold, and they said it was the best mod they have ever done!

sometimes braking style can even help the push. hard on the brakes and trail braking, plants the front end, gives lots of grip, and then you get on the power and monitor the oversteer on the exit. the bigger front tire will help too . alignment, pulling is a big problem. could be the rear end that is out of toe. caster up front can be a cause, but unlikely. toe just makes the steering wheel align poorly. and camber will make the tire wear funny. (toe in scrubs the outside, while too much toe out, rips out the inside edge)

as far as pads, get something aggressive, like pagid black (street) or even pagid orange (mild race) . they don't squeal on the street and have plenty of bite. maybe something slightly more mild if you only hit the track a couple of times a year.

Braking style can save your pads and rotors. they shouldn't ever over heat , if you have racing style pads. street pads can boil the fluid, and even race pads need to be bedded before they even remotely work. (i.e. 2 laps, almost to over heating, and lots of fade, 1 lap cool down, and they should be good to go)
what I mean by braking style, is breaking straight and hard as you approach the turn in points. no dragging the brakes, or pre-braking before you really brake. this is how brakes overheat and fluid boils.

 

I second the comments on tire pressures. I used to set my race car up on 28psi front & 26psi rear. After a cool down lap & getting extracted from the car, they would usually be around 36-38psi. Yokohama 032R IIRC.

 

Really? Never? No early braking or pedal dragging here, DSC off, high temp fluid, Brembo race rotors and Pagid Yellows, but boy, did those front brakes get hot. I think the pads were just holding up, as braking stayed fairly consistent, but I was starting to worry about excessive heat build up. My wheels and front calipers turned a nice yellow colour, OK on a race car maybe, but not on a street car. I started to wonder what might happen to other things like wheel bearings if I persisted. IMO the car just doesn't cool its front brakes effectively, and is just too heavy for prolonged track use.