Got lucky and got much better weather than expected (i.e. not a ton of rain) this weekend at Thunderhill. I was surprised by how much the car pushed. Lots of room for improvement, but good fun none the less. Here is the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq5b5Emo8ZM

 

Looking good!

 

Thunderhill is a fun track. Thanks for sharing!

 

That was awful!!!!.....how many over-reved downshifts can that motor take?....Be a little nicer to your car...you will be better off in the long run...Steve C 97 993TT(Patrick Motorsports ECU, muffler by-pass, lightened flywheel, GT 3 clutch)

 

Having not driven the track, the line looks good and smooth. But I agree, the downshifts could use some smoothing up (in a hurry).

 

Hi TFord,

Cool video, was this a class at this track I take it?

Great track technically to learn on, that mid track chicane reminds me of Laguna corkscrew. Might have to make a trip out that way eventually.

I am not a car racer at all (well yet, will be when daughter # 2 graduates); however I did race WERA bikes for several seasons back in 1992-1997 under the expert class.

Great video and I remember being sensory overwhelmed when i first started.

One comment that really helped me early on that might help you more than worrying about lines, apex, squaring the corner and the like would be a quote from Reg Pridmore: "smooth is fast". Meaning, the more you can control/smooth out the rise and fall of the suspension during the on-braking, entry, off-braking, and then acceleration phases the faster you will be. If your car is up and down and up and down during transition, then you cant really put the car on the edge. at the edge big movements are big disasters usually.

Experience and time in the seat are the best best teachers, however a good coach can help you move along quicker with technique and prevent a lot of financial cost to learning the hard way. What was the quote, it takes a wise man to learn from his mistakes and a genius to learn from the mistakes of others?

Lines, well there is always more than one opinion on the fastest line, just watch the top guys, they all stay off the green area of the track (well mostly), but depending on technique, may enter/exit quite a bit differently. Seeing lines will come with time and experience. Focus on operating your vehicle without a lot of disruption to the suspension and smooth out the travel as it compresses and recoils and your lap times will drop.

Looking good out there, and wish I had a GT3RS, someday soon I hope!

Howard

 

Well said.

 

Be careful with that shuffle steer too, if you get the car out of shape, it's hard to figure out where straight is in the heat of the moment.

I'm surprised your instructor didn't say that.

 

Great comments. This was my first go round with in car camera, didn't realize I was blipping(slamming) the throttle that bad--that will be fixed post haste. And, yes, hand alignment as well.
-tford

 

Tford, thanks for posting the vid. What program are you using that it shows all the telemetry on the vid? How does it hook up? one wire into the obd II port and the other wire into the input on the cam? I'd love to get a set up like yours eventually. BTW, you had very good lines on the track it seemed. The good thing about in-car cameras is that it allows you to go back and see what you need to improve because you can't always tell when you're actually driving. Thanks for sharing! BTW, what's the white needle on the tach in the telemetry, when it separates from the red?

 

RS not that easy to blip with light flywheel

 

@ScottKelly911: The in-car camera is the AIM Smarty Cam. It hooks directly into the ECU of the car which makes it seemless. I went with the Smarty Cam due to local support for the system and their recommendation. I looked at Traqmate and Race Keeper as we well, which other people like--and everyone has an opinion. The guys at TC Design in Fremont did a fantastic install, but just as important, they provided great support when I was learning the system/software. Personally, I wouldn't get a system for which I couldn't get local support. Hope that helps.

The white needle is simply a lag indicator of where the maximum revs were prior to throttling down.

Cheers,
Tford

 

Awesome!! You have done what most men will never dream of... race a gT3 at a real racetrack. Thunderhill is a great place. I love the blind turns and changes in elevation. This is not an easy track at all.
If you dont mind some tips:
1. Try to go slower to become faster... I know it sounds like a yogi berra thing but it works.
2. Identify your braking points and memorize them.
3. Familiarize yourself with your gearbox ratios and rev range... lots of over-revs may damage your engine.
4. Work on your lines... maybe if you try to go slower it will be easier for you to find the best lines.
5. Be smooth... this is a very forgiving car, but when you upset a rear engine/rearwheel drive it can get pretty nasty.
6. Weight transfer is elemental. sudden braking and changes in direction can affect this quite significantly, thus smooth transitions will prevent losing control.
7. Never lift the gas on a turn. Brake before entering the turn, and get on the gas gently but as soon as you can...and avoid unnecessary gear shifting/braking in the middle of a turn (this upsets your chassis). You want to keep some weight transfer on the rear to optimize traction and allow the front tires to take care of turning.

I think you did a great performance and learning takes time and dedication. All cars behave differently and this is your first time on this one (right?).

Always look at your own videos and you will learn a lot more.

Cheers!