cgfen

I wish I could show you my mind's eye video of the guy doing an AX with hoosiers for the first time.
He was a low - intermediate level driver and bought some speed at the tyre store.
I watched him get into a mild tank-slapper, hit a 6" curb @ 45mph+ and launch through a chain link fence.

<fortunately it was a 996 >

AND

This was at an AX, not a DE.

Seat time is most important once mechanical safety issues are addressed.

Have fun.

Craig

jbeachy

Thanks all again for the posts. I have two track events this month, so it will be good to test the new racing pads out, and get some good instruction through the BMW CCA event. However, the check engine light came on just before the holiday weekend, so I'm concerned about getting it addressed before the event next weekend. The code is PO302m misfire on #2 cylinder. Does anyone have experience with this. I don't think the plugs have been changed since I bought the car 2.5 years ago, so hopefully that's all it is???

jbeachy

The track weekend ended up going well. The Hawk Blue pads worked great (though I'm amazed at how loud they are on the street). They put me in the novice group (D) to start and then moved me up so I could start the second day with the C group. Things were going well, good instruction to get some tips on how to approach different parts of the track. Y'all are welcome to watch a lap and provide feedback as you feel inclined.


Towards the end of the second day, I could really tell that my street tires (Sumitomo HTZ) would fall off after about 15 minutes. To compensate, I tried to slow down, but that threw off my timing - I turned to hard into the esses and it came around - though I managed to keep it off the wall. Again, there's video of that below, at about the 2:25 mark.


All in all, it was still a successful weekend, and as many people have said here, the street tires are helping me to know when I've made a mistake. Again, comments welcome!

cavlino

Bill, what did you put in place of the cats?

Bill Verburg

Cat bypass pipes

cavlino

Okay, did you get one fabricated or buy from a suplier? I would like to make this change since my car is essentially only driven on the race track.

Bill Verburg

Both Cargraphic and FVD have them

cavlino

Thanks!

I found this one: (Catalyser Replacement - "X") http://www.cargraphicts.com/index.php?id=120356&L=1
Did you buy direct from Germany?

Bill Verburg

I don't care for the X version at all, the gas merge design sucks

I like and use what they call the cross over design w/ their ceramic coated tips.

The tips w/ the perforated lining look interesting too if noise control is an issue, which it increasingly is.

jdistefa

Hawk blues are IMHO awful pads in terms of feel & modulation. They're good for scrubbing discs but that's about it. Suggest you try a different compound or brand. Bill's suggestions were good.

Get more time on task and coaching and have fun ... The rest is baloney (at this stage).

cavlino

I appreciate your feedback Bill and will get the cross over design version. Did you buy direct from Germany or is there a North American supplier I can reach out to?

Chris@Fabspeed

Carm we also offer a catbyass X pipe that uses a cast center section. This allows us to have a nice, uniform tight radius bend with a center "talk" area that is tuned.

The nice thing about X-pipes in general is the noise is slightly less than with the crossover pipes, thus you should not have trouble passing sound at most tracks.

cavlino

Hi Chris, thanks for that info I will keep it in mind

NC TRACKRAT

Concur re: Hawk Blues. Hawk DTC-60's are a far better compound. You get what you pay for...if you're lucky. Congrats on keeping the sheet metal intact. RA is not the easiest track to start on. As you gain experience, you'll come to realize that you would've felt that thru your butt soon enough to have corrected and saved it.

driveline

I won't pretend to be a track master but having spent most of my career in obtaining better fuel economy in getting power to the ground, removing the emissions on a track car is a good idea for two reasons; weight in the rear and loss in power (it can be up to 10%). Now I would hold the German design at a higher level with lower than average loss in performance, but it is undeniable that cats will only reduce power. Don't forget the air pump as well.

I am planning my first DE at TWS in October, and my priorities will be in instruction and changing my brake fluid.