macfly

The LA GT gang were at it again today, and here are a few snaps taken by a friend who I took along. We had around 14 cars today, mostly GT3's, two GT2's, a Turbo, a 997, an M3, a 360 and a new Lotus. I got taken out for a handful of laps in the Lotus, and it is a really fun little car, it just feels so right. We didn't get round to a big group shot today, we were all way too busy having fun on track! (I turned 188 miles today, every one with a smile of increasing radius!)

Ryan S.

Darn nice pics. And im really loven that lotus.

Philip in AL

Andrew you probably have more track time than anyone I know. How does the GT3 stack up aginst the Porsche TT's, GT2's and Ferrari 360's in terms of Handling and sheer speed down the straights? Will the GT3 hold its own on a straight stretch VS a TT and a 360?

macfly

Button Willow running clockwise with the 'Bus stop' isn't a configuration that favours the superpower cars like the GT2 or the chipped TT. The fastest car of the day was Kevin in the white GT3, turning around 2.08 (I think?). Apart from Kevin, the only other car that passed me was one of the GT2's being driven by our instructor, who is a racer and full time instructor. I was runing around 2.17's, I managed one 2.15, but wasn't able to match it again, based on my passanger's timing using the stopwatch funtion of his mobile phone!

The Ferrari was pretty easy to catch as it was a 'regular' 360 on street tires, but it was intoxicating to follow, it had some kind of shiney big exhaust on it, ohhh what a lovely noise!

4carl

The most exciting part of the day for me was the thirty minutes the five of us spent looking for my lost key at the gas station. Just as I'm starting to dial 1 800 Porsche for a 150mile tow back to Santa Barbara a attendant finds it in the bottom of a trash bin in a puddle of coffee, still cant figure it out. I guess that's why they don't let guys my age fly fighter jets. Besides that and forgetting my helmet it sure was fun!! Great group. carl

offroadr35

Great to meet you guys and a great day! I was turning 2:18-2:20 consistently in the Lotus measured by stopwatch (couldn't get our timers to work). Andrew, the lap Coby drove with you in the passenger seat was a 2:15.

It was difficult for me to try to learn a new track in a new car. It was a lot of stuff to concentrate on. By mid day i felt pretty comfortable though and was hitting my apexes consistently. I never quite figured out the right lines in 2 and 11. I definitely left a lot of time on the track in those two turns.

-Steve

MetalSolid

Andrew, did your front wheel fall off in the third pic...?

Alan Smithee

I'm interested in hearing more about the Elise and 997S...this is the first I've seen of either at a So Cal track. With Buttonwillow being more technical, I'd think the Elise could run right up with the GT3s.

Yargk

Offroadr mentioned 2:18 - 2:20 in the lotus and on a new track in a new car. That seems to indicate that the Elise is up with the GT3s on this track. Interesting indeed.

Edit: On further thought, if the Elise was 5 seconds slower than a GT3, then people would say it wasn't "up there" with the GT3s. 5 seconds is significant. So we'd have to compare laps between equally skilled drivers that are equally familiar with the respective cars as well as the track. Still the Elise ain't bad, but then again, I bet a Mitsubishi Evo would keep up with one, or at least the new MR Evo would be as fast or faster than the current Elise. And I don't like the idea of an Evo MR being in the same league as a GT3, even if the gap closes with each new Evo. $35k japanese sedans that seat five and are powered by 4 cylinders....

Alan Smithee

My bad...saw the GT2 hood picture in his avatar and assumed he was driving a Porsche.

tdf360

We (my son and I) were doing around 2:14 with passengers. At other tracks we found a passenger adds about 2 sec to the lap times, didn't do any solo laps yesterday. In my experience, R tires are good for about 3 sec, may be more at this particular BW config, as long and twisty as it is. And it's a Capristo exhaust. Got my first ride in a GT3 (Jack's) and was VERY impressed, that is a great car, guys. Needs to be re-geared to optimize track experience, but overall quite a car.

Gary

tdf360

It was a fun day wasn't it? Great mix of cars, and a super bunch of guys. And no bent metal! And we hit a perfect break in the weather, it's pouring at my home now.

Gary

macfly

Needs to be re-geared to optimize track experience, but overall quite a car.
I find the gearing almost perfect for track days, especially BW, where most of the track is in 3rd in the powerband. IMHO it seems that you couldn't have geared it better for BW in the BusStop configuration, just one dip into 2 for turn two, and a couple of quick reaches into 4 before and after Star Mazda. If the gearing was 10-15% lower you'd be changing between 3-4 so much more, and in many of the wrong spots too I'd guess, so I'm not sure you'd gain any time from doing so.

What gears were you running where in the 360?

CodeRed

Jack should buy himself a couple of good cigars with any "refund" that is due. Thanks jack for setting the whole thing up. Great time once again!

tdf360

We were at redline in 4th in two places, about 127 mph. Third in the GT3 just seemed a bit tall for optimum performance. I have to admit if I owned one I probably would not change it. :-)

Gary