macfly

Here is my Slate Grey at Willow once more, this time with correct alignment and a very high driver feel good factor! Many thanks to those Rennlisters who helped with getting me the correct track specs!

The red GT3 was another student at Driving Concept's great day out, I gave him one of the Rennlist 'nice Porsche' cards, so maybe we'll see him here too.

Steve N.

Gosh, that sport seat on the passenger's side looks a little strange.

rockitman

Looked like a spectacular day at Willow Andrew!!! The Red and Slate GT3's look great together... :-)

macfly

Gosh, that sport seat on the passenger's side looks a little strange.
Yep, I know, but practicality is the master at work here, it allows two very important things.
1. Easy access to the rear 'seat' area for luggage etc for long weekend drives up to Laguna, Sears and so on.
2. Height adjustable chair for my 5'2" finace!

Steve N.

Can't you get her a pillow?

macfly

Yep, could do, but then we can't get the luggage in the back, and we love doing long weekends away, so it would be more of a pain that a pleasure, even though it would look neater.

Anyway I spend my time looking out, not in, so I don't really care.

Dirt Track Racer

Two questions:

1. How the hell do you keep your car so clean while at the track?

2. Do you get instructors to ride with you with less safety equipment on the right side than the left?

macfly

1. How the hell do you keep your car so clean while at the track?
The benefits of small image sizes, they blend in the dirt that is there nicely, but SoCal isn't that dirty, so long as you stay on the black stuff!

2. Do you get instructors to ride with you with less safety equipment on the right side than the left?
? Unless you're meaning that you feel the OEM chair itself as less safe than the (not DOT approved) GT3 chair everything else in the car is OEM, so there is no difference in safety on either side.

Steve in FL

macfly: When my @#$% car finally gets here you'll have company in the GT3 seat on driver side only club.

The issue with the GT3 seat for driver and sport seat for passenger is that the sport seat isn't designed to accomodate a 6-pt harness. One would be less "safe" in the passenger seat in your car due to lack of a sub belt opening and the shoulder harnesses passing around rather than thru the seatback. The PCA DE guidelines call for equivalent equipment for both driver and passenger/instructor so you may run into cases where an instructor will refuse to ride with you.

macfly

Thanks for the clarification Steve. I've already given up hope of attending either PCA or POC DE events here in SoCal. Their guidelines and focus on 'real racers' means both lack of track time for DE students and impractical harness, cage & belting for my daily driver. Also as I've said elsewhere on the boards, I've be bitten, and my track focus is now going to be on the Radical, not the GT3. It'll have just a few days out a year, but mostly it'll be getting me too & from the tracks.

race911

Macfly,

What are your impressions at Willow? After my (too) brief run at Laguna yesterday I'd guess a 1:27-1:28 with decent tires. Now when I start thinking 1:21 in a Radical 1300......well, I've got a long way to go!

macfly

Ken, I have never timed myself at Willow, but I have kept average speed logs using the car's onboard speed reader. In my old M3 I could do a session at an average of 88mph, so far in the GT3 my best is 83mph. I expect as I get more used to the car it will climb above the M3's average. Once I have the feel of the car down I'll be changing up onto the Sport Cup tires, which should give the car a significant boost.

Dirt Track Racer

I would say that having a race seat for the driver is much safer than the non bolstered sport seat for the passenger. I would love to see you use the DOT argument with a PCA insturctor. But as you say, its a moot point since you wont be doing any more DEs in it. Make sure you have two of the same seats in the Radical so that the instructors will still ride with you.

Dirt Track Racer

Macfly, please dont take this the wrong way. Just some friendly advice.

Your speeds relate in the real world this way: 88mph in the M3 = 1:39 lap time. This is two seconds slower than a front of the pack (not pole or lap record) Spec Miata. Your 83mph in the GT3 is equal to a 1:46 at that track. This would put you at the back of the SSC field dicing with the backmarker stock Dodge Neon cars. These are not race tuned cars, but showroom stock. Cant even change suspension on them.

So with that said, I GREATLY encourage you to spend some more time on your driving skills before getting the Radical. I have driven and raced them and can tell you that they are VERY unforgiving and fast. Plus they have aero and ground effects. This is like nothing you have ever experienced. You are asking for trouble jumping into such a capable car. Never mind the fact that it will mask all your errors since you wont be driving it anywhere near the limits - and you will think you are.

Trust me. You need to learn to drive a race car before buying a radical. Buy a SS race car, or even a SRF and race SCCA for a year. The difference between a real race car like the SRf with 100 hp and higher cornering speeds than a well driven 996 and similar lap times to a well driven 993 track car is nothing short of incredible. Plus, you could buy the SRF for less than $20k and sell it in a year or two for what you paid for it.

I just don't want to see you become a grease spot on some armco barrier in a nondescript desert in CA because you thought the Radical would be a good next step. Only way to learn to drive race cars is to race. Not putt around the track in them at DEs pretending to be fast compared to all the street cars you are passing.

race911

Hey Dirt Track......lighten up on the poor guy!

You claim you've raced "them".....meaning Radicals" Which model? SR3? Then you caution to have the same seat for an instructor. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but it's a fiberglass shell the width of the cockpit. Sure, you can pour a bead seat to conform better; but it's all one seat.

But the further issue I have is that you claim the cars are "VERY unforgiving." Uh, ok. The SR3 (as are most race factory produced sports and formula racers) is the easiest thing I've driven on the track. Probably ever. That said, if you don't know what you're doing you'll just be slow. But if you want to LEARN, as opposed to play "I'm a racer", it's a fantastic platform. If you've got the bucks, and the kids aren't going to go hungry, I don't discourage it at all.

I'm not running hard into the aero effects yet; I've only had my car out for 8 days, and mainly at different tracks each time (Thunderhill, Willow Springs, Sears Point, and Reno). So I'm really steep on the learning curve. My first day out at Willow was Days 1 and 2 after the engine break-in. Was working into a consistent ~1:25 and not really into the aero. 1:21ish is about where a 1300 car tops out. But the car from lap 1 gave excellent feedback. What then confused me was going back into my RS America race car. Promptly spun in 2 my third lap out when another 964 racer started pushing on me!

Going back to learning. That's where I think the biggest challenge for Macfly and the other beginners lies. Sure, Morris/Radical West will do the complete arrive and drive. But what else? Do they have Richard Fite coaching you guys? I've seen some extremely erratic behavior coming out of that entourage. You've got approach it with a plan. Can't just hop in and stand on it, thinking you'll figure it out. I'm going back and forth on what DA system to use.....Motec, AIM, Motec, AIM.

So enjoy the thrill ride and let me know if you want to hook up with us over on the Radical Registry or just talk about stuff.