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Tracked my car at willow springs yesterday (Wednesday)
My first time tracking any car, 1st time at willow springs. Got invited for a track day with a few of my buddies that always attend. Mostly Porsche, And race miatas, and a few M3’s. Saw 1 red GTS there too.
1st impressions, My car gripped pretty well even with the stock tires considering I’m sporting pure turbo stage 2, catless DP’s and tune. The turns are crazy, being that it was the first time tracking any car, turn in, braking, acceleration is so important. Anyone who is familiar with willow springs, turn 4 is insane, if you go in fast you’re screwed.
Most of the people tracking were pro’s so I’m sure I looked like an idiot but nevertheless it was pretty fun and a lot more challenging than I thought.
The weird thing is, on the straight away I pushed the car to about 130mph but I didn’t feel the speed at all. I did not even realize I was going fast. Acceleration on the regular street feels a lot faster. Is that due to the track being wide open?
just thought I’d share. Any input or tips on the track would be greatly appreciated.
by the way my tires were around 36psi when I gauges them a few times, was running 91 gas, and was driving sport plus auto most of the time.
18 AMG GTC and 22 F150 Limited. Past owner 16 Maybach, 17 Brabus Smartcar, 06 Ford E150, and 22 G70
Yes I have a TIP have fun. We brought these cars and dam it is good to enjoy them. Taking them occasionally to the track is not going to hurt them as long as your not psyco driving.
I have yet to take the GTC to the big track but have autocrossed it and was very impressed, lot easier to go fast than a Corvette. I have had the Maybach out on the big track and that was a blast. Nothing like learning you can drive a 5300 pound car just like a sport car. That was an eye opener to me.
My first time tracking any car, 1st time at willow springs. Got invited for a track day with a few of my buddies that always attend. Mostly Porsche, And race miatas, and a few M3’s. Saw 1 red GTS there too.
1st impressions, My car gripped pretty well even with the stock tires considering I’m sporting pure turbo stage 2, catless DP’s and tune. The turns are crazy, being that it was the first time tracking any car, turn in, braking, acceleration is so important. Anyone who is familiar with willow springs, turn 4 is insane, if you go in fast you’re screwed.
Most of the people tracking were pro’s so I’m sure I looked like an idiot but nevertheless it was pretty fun and a lot more challenging than I thought.
The weird thing is, on the straight away I pushed the car to about 130mph but I didn’t feel the speed at all. I did not even realize I was going fast. Acceleration on the regular street feels a lot faster. Is that due to the track being wide open?
just thought I’d share. Any input or tips on the track would be greatly appreciated.
by the way my tires were around 36psi when I gauges them a few times, was running 91 gas, and was driving sport plus auto most of the time.
So do you have any times? WSIR was one of my faves back in my racing days and I know the track like the back of my hand. High horsepower track. If I remember correctly, in Motor Trend Pro Shoe Randy Pobst was running 127.xx or perhaps 128.xx. Street tires. Very impressive. One needs to have a lot of confidence there as if you know what you are doing and you come out of turn 9 fast and right you will rip the front straight and gain lots of time on cars that don't do turn 9 correctly. Also turn one was faster than most people take it as there is lots of run off room at the exit but you need to be turned correctly. I wonder how fast a person could be in turn 2 - the steady-state sweeper without pushing. Anyway, congratulations for running at Willow! Brings back memories
Glad you had fun pushing yourself and your car! How were the brakes?
I never raced a GTS at Willow Springs. I mostly just raced sports 2000 spec sports cars in SCCA. Mine was a Swift DB2. This is a very different sort of use of the track than Time Trialing or other sorts of fun and recreational uses. This was wheel to wheel competition and loads of fun using purpose built race cars. S2s had a spec 4-cylinder Pinto engine. It would put out 140 - if you were lucky 145 hp. The tires were slicks and only had about 10 pounds of air pressure in them. And the brakes were hardly used because the car was so light - spec 1,320 lbs with the driver in it. Most of us had to run with ballast to make min weight. Of course the photo I have here is with me in front! I believe this is coming out of 3 going up the hill into 4.
AMG GTBS, AMG GTR Pro, AMG GT, C63 AMG, Porsche Panamera 4S, RX-7 FC Turbo II
Originally Posted by Bijan Kohan
My first time tracking any car, 1st time at willow springs. Got invited for a track day with a few of my buddies that always attend. Mostly Porsche, And race miatas, and a few M3’s. Saw 1 red GTS there too.
The weird thing is, on the straight away I pushed the car to about 130mph but I didn’t feel the speed at all. I did not even realize I was going fast. Acceleration on the regular street feels a lot faster. Is that due to the track being wide open?
Street acceleration at high speeds feels faster because it is relative to other cars going significantly slower, it is more dangerous and it is illegal.
Did you ever get your issues sorted out with the car being down on power?
Yo, I had an appointment to go back to my installer but covid happened and still haven’t gone back. I still haven’t had the chance to pump 101 gas and use my handheld tuner to tune for 101.
Yo, I had an appointment to go back to my installer but covid happened and still haven’t gone back. I still haven’t had the chance to pump 101 gas and use my handheld tuner to tune for 101.
thanks for checking in btw. Hope all is well.
Wait...so you're tracking the car even though it was down 100+hp from what it should be making last time you dynoed it? Probably not a good idea dude.
Wait...so you're tracking the car even though it was down 100+hp from what it should be making last time you dynoed it? Probably not a good idea dude.
How come it’s not safe? The car is still running very strong. There are so many turns on the Willow Springs track that you don’t even need high HP to do well. You just need to know the track well. There were a handful of Miatas, 1 stock, with a very experienced driver who killed me on the track. Again, it was my first time.
How come it’s not safe? The car is still running very strong.
If the car is only making 565 hp with Pure Turbos, I'm guessing there is a mechanical or tuning problem somewhere. Doesn't seem prudent to beat on it, let alone track it.
If the car is only making 565 hp with Pure Turbos, I'm guessing there is a mechanical or tuning problem somewhere. Doesn't seem prudent to beat on it, let alone track it.
This is 100% true. You should never take a car to a road course when the ‘tune’ isn’t perfect. You are apt to blow it up.
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