What a beautiful track I'm so glad the car and you were OK I think I might've had to change my undies after that! What sort of TopSpeed do you see the end of the straight? Maybe Someday I can get my Vantage on the track.
Ron

 

Hope I'm not going too off the thread here but does anyone know what the best way to install a good HANS compatible harness system in the vantage. I've been looking around and haven't been able to find anything and watching a friend go off track last weekend on turn 9 at NHMS and down a hill got me thinking again that this is really needed

 

Here is some speed info from my video at PIR using Harry's Lap timer. I had a passenger hold the camera since I forgot my mount so the telemetry will be a bit off.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9NQggDYxRFk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I'd find a local race shop and consult with them. Safety equipment needs to be done right to be effective!

Wow, not much room for error on that track. Makes me really appreciate all the grass around Summit Point!

 

Hope you guys will enjoy this clip too.

 

That track looks fun, and FAST

 

That's Road America - 4 mile 14 turns. We were the only AMs over that weekend.

 

Glad you are safe. Like they say it's not if but when.

I'm a slowpoke & yes that is a mini cooper. She was quick.

 

I think my next big investment in my car is going to be a set of coilovers. I've got the standard struts (non-Sport) and H&R springs. If you look closely at my car when I'm going around the turn, you can see exactly what led to the actual loss of control. After going over the bump, the right-hand side of my car bounced... and kept bouncing. It isn't a ton, but it's enough to make me lose it mid-turn. A lot of people have complained about the "pogo effect" of H&R springs with the Sport struts. I've never really felt it too much with my car, but... there it is.

So I'd say that in street driving, you probably won't feel any pogo because you're not pushing the car hard enough to feel it much on the street, even if it's a bumpy road.
You're also not likely to feel it on the track, because track pavement is generally smoother and flatter than street pavement.
However, if something causes your car to bounce on the track (as was the case with me), you'll get the pogo effect and, in the right conditions, it can lead to nasty results.

I love the springs on the streets (they're low and stiff, but I like them). They're also great for occasional track duty if you aren't going 9/ or 10/10. But given the way I push my car, it's time to step up to something a bit more suitable. I was at 7/ or 8/10 in the video and would have been pushing 9/10 by halfway through the session. The accident was from a bad line. Had I been going 9/10, it would have been much worse.

Slowpoke? Hey, you're out there having at it. Slow is all relative and you've done more than most would do with their cars

 

I didn't gloss over this, sorry for the delay, trying to get you an answer.

I don't have anything about them in the paperwork that came with the car, other than a dealership invoice mentioning that they're aftermarket pads.
I checked the pads themselves but they don't (or no longer) have any markings on them.
I called the original owner and he can't remember, but he's calling Hershel at RSC to see if he remembers. Apparently my car was used for a bunch of RSC's development work on the V8V.

 

Road America is one of my favorite tracks. Who were you there with? I could have been tempted. Never had the Aston out there, but my S2000 is a blast on that track. Got it into the 2:41's on street tires

 

A little more info

Oil leak from oil sump vent hose
I pulled up the parts diagrams and there's an o-ring under this connector:



The connector with o-ring is about $30. I'm pretty sure I can source the o-ring alone for pennies after pulling it out and taking specs. I might already have one on hand.

R4-S brake pads
My observations based on looking at the pads while still on the car:

The pads have a ton of life left. Looking at them, I think the relative lack of initial bite (compared to my last set) is due to the drastic taper of the pad material. Brake pads have a taper in the pad material to reduce chatter across the rotor, giving you smoother engagement with less noise. The R4-S pads are designed as a street rotor. As such, they've got a someone drastic taper to make them extremely quiet. The taper, however, reduces the contact area of the pad and rotor. Fine for a street pad, but noticeable on track.

 

Would be interesting to hear if you find a good high temp track pad with reasonable rotor wear.

 

At PIR? Its actually really safe for offs, there are walls but I have only heard of one getting hit once.

You want to see tough, look at Pacific Raceways, lots of walls and a big bump on the front straight that is known to flip cars. This is in my Lotus Elise track setup car with slicks, notice the G's sustaining at 1.3

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AM7xAQJ-nPs?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Despite being advised not to do so I was in a pinch last weekend (as Porterfield r4 pads were back ordered and I didn't want to use my R4s pads again on the track as I was not happy with them at all) I got a set of EBC yellowstuff pads for my Evora on a recommendation from the parts guy from BRG. I was actually quite impressed with the Pad it had good consistent braking without any fade. This was on a very brake intensive track which had hard braking from 100+mph every 25 seconds.
The pad also performed well on the trip to and back from the track and actually had a fairly low dust level. EBC also claims they are "rotor friendly"
I know EBC has a bad rep and maybe I just got lucky but I have also heard that they have made some major improvements over the past couple of yrs.
After last weekend I have to believe this is correct