Clark Kent

Had a great time over the weekend 2/27 - 3/1. Friday was dry and fun. Saturday & Sunday was wet . . . and fun. Shared a garage with two M3's and a Porsche 911. Everybody was on track tires except for me. Oops, next time definitely R compound. One M3 was a E90 and the other was a F80.

In this session I passed a Miata, SLS AMG, Stingray Corvette, and a prototype racer of some kind. I probably got passed by that same 911 GT3 that passed me nearly every session

In other sessions (not uploaded) passed a Boss 302 and was hounded by a Camaro SS in the corners but left them high and dry in the straights. Same with the Audi R8. Either they didn't engage in battle along that long back straight - or they did and faded away in the rear view mirror. I couldn't tell which.

I managed 148 mph in the dry and consistently hit 140 mph in the wet. That was a bit hairy.

But, most importantly (to me) I reduced my lap time significantly since my first time at CoTA a year ago. Lots of improvement still to be had though. Some Nitto's will help in the corners.

Case1906

Sweet!!! Nothing like a point by from a purpose built race car. Any overheating problems?

Clark Kent

None. First, I have a 2010. Second, it was 38° out. My oil temp was between 235-240.

Case1906

Excellent, where is should be. That ambient temp and long straight helps. But trust me, the Pre-FL can over heat at the track and go limp mode.

bhamg

Good stuff...you must have felt like Superman.

rentzington

Wonder how bad it would be at cota in the summer
I did see the bmw club is doing an event there but it's during sxsw ..good luck with finding a hotel then

Clark Kent

I hit limp mode once last summer at a shorter, harsher track. June in Texas where ambient temps were 90-95 and I was playing with S+ and was often in high revs. Never limp'd at CoTA.

BTW, I bought the photo package and saw some previews. Beautiful IISSM. I'll post some after I get them in April.

g-f

Good stuff.

I never drove that track but judging from the video you don't seem to be using the full width of the track in numerous turns. You could probably lower your lap times by using the whole track a bit more.

In F2000 we would drive over the entry curb on the outside of the turn to widen our line and carry more speed. Because I never drove that track I can't say for sure, but I'd bet there are at least a few tenths hidden in a couple turns.

From the video you seem to have some smooth lines, that's always good!!

Clark Kent

I agree. Last year I had the camera on the driver's door and I studied that for a year - and made improvements. So this year I put the camera on the passenger side.

Next year I'll do better. Believe me, I see what you see and I propose to squeeze those tenths out.

My favorite improvement this year came after watching Vettel's in car footage. I gave more throttle through T2, tracked out wide(r), then goosed it before lining up T3. I always closed the gap with that one

solekeeper

were you in manual mode the entire time?

JRHolt

Wow looks like fun! Thanks for sharing

Clark Kent

I was in S+ every session.
As discussed in another current thread, I too find S+ more predictable and more responsive than M.

austintipton

I'll be out on COTA in April. First time taking the C63. Did one set of tires and brakes last all weekend?

Clark Kent

Yes, both brakes and tires lasted the whole weekend.

For both of my 3 day events there I had Porterfield R4S pads and I ate up about 1/3 of the pad. They weren't glazed or damaged and I used them for the rest of the year on the street.

First 3 day event I was on Michelin PSS. They showed some wear, especially on the outer edges but were still streetable for a little while after. Definitely shortened the life of that set but got another 2-3 months of street driving.

Second time I was on Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R's and they did their job by providing more grip but at the expense of life. I never intended to keep them on the car for street driving afterwards so they were swapped out right away. The Bridgestone's have one more track day in them then caput.

What event are you signed up for? Edge Addicts, Chin Motorsports, etc ?

austintipton

That's good to know. On a smaller track, I've eaten up the front tires in four hours on a super tight, low-speed corner.

I'll be on PSS and probably new OEM brakes. Getting that much use out of brakes when stopping from 140 over and over is awesome.

I've signed up for a Friday with Speed Ventures. Looks like sports are still open if you want to join.

http://speedventures.com/events/eventdetail.aspx?id=560

Clark Kent

The smaller tracks are certainly more harsh on our heavier cars. CoTA flows better with lots of room and time in between hard braking zones. The other braking zones are to scrub just a little speed.

Thanks for the link. I took a look at the prices and they are a bit higher than the events I have signed up for. I won't state Speed Venture prices here but I will say my last 3 day event (Feb 2016) cost under $465 per day.

I am already registered for a one day event in June that was an even $500, so I'll pass on this one. But thanks for the invite.

Dogtag114

When we did COTA in Dec in the PRO AMG Academy, they allowed us to bring the software/videos home on a USB drive (both instructors laps and ours). I've replayed it countless times to see how the instructors were 1-2 tenths better in every corner which adds up over the whole lap... generally, they were "slower in - faster out" on every turn. Three seconds after most turns they were 5-10 mph faster at the same point in the track. Instructors were doing 2:31 laps while we were 2:36 and greater... most around 2:40. I assume with all traction control off, they could eek out some more...


As an aside, the technician analyzing our data said there is like 10 people on track and another 20+ back in Germany during F1 races to help optimize... crazy.

AA717driver

Hey! On Sunday, I flew an MD80 in there (right over the track at about 2500') around 10-10:15 am. Just after the sky cleared. I was sitting on the left side of the cockpit so I couldn't see what was running.

Wish I could have seen the cars.

TC

Clark Kent

Those videos sound like a great teaching tool. I had a single day event in December also, right after you guys left. All of the Academy cars were still there and being loaded onto the trailers and the mechanics were packing up their stuff as well. They offered me free tires from the many stacks of tires queued up to be tossed out. Turned out there wasn't any in the right size that had enough tread to be worth the price of mounting.

I think I'll try experimenting with 'slower in and faster out' next time.

Clark Kent

lol - isn't 'left seat' supposed to be concentrating on the runway ahead instead of the track below?

saildoc

Exactly. When you first go onto the track it feels like you are flying and there is all this space. As you gain confidence with your car and the track you will start using the whole track and really push the car. They say if you are not on the edge of adhesion all the time you are going too slow.... it will come in time...

zcct04

Interesting comment on the tires. What kind are they using?

zcct04

It depends a bit on whether the corner is followed by a long straight or another tight corner, but slower in and faster out is usually the quickest way around a track.

Screaming into the corner and braking at the last second may put you ahead by a carlength, but if it leaves you fighting the car through the corner and delaying your acceleration a bit, then it's usually much slower. Coming into the corner under control and starting your acceleration sooner can give you a several MPH advantage coming out of the corner. This can shave a lot of time, especially when exiting onto a long straight.

Here's the math. A 5 mph faster corner exit speed lets you pull ahead down the following straight by over 7 feet every second. If a thousand foot straight takes 10 seconds, the faster corner exit gives you more than a 70' advantage by the end of the straight. That's huge, easily a half second faster.

Clark Kent

Most of the discarded tires were Continentals. There were a few others, but since none interested me I didn't commit them to memory. The tires that had enough tread in the center of the tire to be of interest also had the outer edges depleted. A few seemed almost worthy to take, but then they were from a different car and not the right size. There were about 15 stacks of 6 tires and I couldn't find two worthy enough to re-claim.

I had definitely envisioned using the 'slower in, faster out' at T11 and T19. I applied it fairly well last time at T11 and launched down the back straight much better. But at T19 I often don't get the downshift that I request and find myself entering a bit too fast and fighting through it.

FYI, this thread is over a year old. I did much better this last time out (end of February) and dropped my lap times by 3-4 seconds. I posted a video of that as well - as you guys have probably seen. It has faded away to probably page 3 or 4 on this forum by now.

AA717driver

I was! I "wouldn't have" if I had a view of the track.

The FO was doing a fine job of flying, however.

TC