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car looks so good in this livery. Thanks for sharing
Thanks! It really stands out and yet belongs on the track. Definitely increased the overall enjoyment of the car.
Originally Posted by idk_alex
Thanks for sharing, the Senna is crazy fast
McLarens are just mega fast, it is almost silly. Here in the Bay Area there are a ton of them on track, and In a way they are the new "Corvettes", as in block someone in the turn, then floor it and accelerate away until the next turn! Rinse and repeat!
Well it has been a wild end to the year with some good and bad activity. PDC had an open track day at Thunderhill with the 3 mile bypass configuration. They invite drivers based on reference and always have a low car count (sub 30) for all day of driving. It was amazing sunny weather in the 60s, meaning good driving and fast lap times. Alekshop adjusted my alignment for the Hankook slicks and it made an incredible difference with the balance and feel of the car. This was going to be day #2 for the tires with 4 heat cycles on them already.
Two of my GT4 friends attended as well, so someone to chase or be chased by. Loading up!
One of the guys was brave enough to tow his GT4 with the Macan GTS and a U-Haul trailer...it worked...barely...
Setting up at the paddock!
The tires performed incredibly well throughout the day and lasted for another 5 heat cycles, yielding very consistent and fast times. In the middle of the 9th heat cycle they just gave out and it felt like all grip was lost. Overall thrilled with the price-performance-feel of the tires. Here is the fastest recorded lap of the day, although the fastest non-video lap was a 1:53.2. It is certainly a new personal best.
In the afternoon, I switched to RE71Rs so I can drive with some friends of mine. Unfortunately during lunch I opened my hood for everything to cool down. Someone closed the hood to take some pictures and of course did not latch it; I got distracted and forgot to check, which resulted in the hood flying off during track entry. Embarrassing and dangerous, but luckily no one was hurt or damaged.
Car came back without a hood, while the tow truck retrieved the hood itself. It was in a good enough shape to be re-attached to finish the day.
Once back on track I did end up chasing my friends...some cool footage. Nothing beats the fun of driving together!
Well, it has certainly been a while since the last update and I feel like a lot has happened. New year, vaccines, 5 birthdays in my life in January and adventures with the car. Let's see where we left off...
After the CF hood flew off at TH, I was in the LA area and LA Dismantler happened to have a salvaged 997 hood that was a perfect fit. I transported it back, Alekshop installed it and Dan from Magnagrafik quickly re-printed the livery. Was a nice and expensive adventure!
Next up was Laguna with Exclusive Trackdays. I am liking that organization more and more, with low car count and higher sound limits (usually 105 db), it all makes to a much more pleasant driving experience. Overall it was a "mixed experience" kinda day. I had a new set of R7 Hoosiers and decided to try them. The car felt pretty good with the R7 have a much more crisp and responsive turn-in but less overall lateral grip in the rear. The net result for the day was my new record PB of 1:34.
The bad part about the day was that my mid-coolant pipe burst into the entry of corkscrew, sending me 360 degrees downhill. It also spilled coolant and made 2 cars behind me spin. It was just a crazy circumstance as my engine hoses are pinned and fine, my front radiator hoses were new as well, but it was the small section connecting to the transmission that gave up.
Needless to say that was a "code brown" moment. It was a bitter-sweet end to the season. Lots of personal bests and lots of random "learnings" along the way. The R7s were pretty decent, but their fall off is much steeper than Hankooks and they felt done between HC 10-12. Given that Hankooks are cheaper, faster and last longer, I believe that there is no contest. The R7 did heat up faster, which is better for immediate DE speed and had better turn in responsiveness but that's about it.
Few more nice shots from the event...
After this event it was time to take a little break and do a few extra things! More updates to come shortly.
Code Brown for sure, do you have video of the spin?
Glad to hear everyone is okay!
I do have video of the car following me. He was OK, but the other two cars behind him also spun off the track. Definitely fortunate that everyone was OK and all the cars were insured. Since it's not my video, I am not sure I feel comfortable posting it, otherwise I would.
Originally Posted by flsupraguy
I love this car and love this thread.
Thanks! I missed documenting some updates, as it makes a nice read over time.
After the Laguna "spin" and another lockdown, it was time to take a break during the winter and take care of some chores and activities. Exclusive Trackday had a random, pre-event weekend, Laguna walk, which I could not refuse. This was my first time walking the track and I was very shocked just how rough and abrasive the pavement is. It can almost cut your skin open if you wipe your hand across the surface. No wonder it eats tires alive. A few pictures.
The break also gave me time to re-organize my tools and clean up the garage. I live in SF, so not much space.
Some interesting IPA helped the process!
Dan from Magnagrafik also makes phone covers now apparently and sent me a version for my phone. It is a bit much, but still fun?
I do have another "fun" update coming up shortly...
Enjoyed reading the whole thread for the first time the last few days. Very informative. Fantastic as I am a track newbie. I'll have to be cautious inside this rabbit hole!
Enjoyed reading the whole thread for the first time the last few days. Very informative. Fantastic as I am a track newbie. I'll have to be cautious inside this rabbit hole!
Definitely one of the most unique hobbies/experiences you can have, and also incredibly expensive. Luckily there is no "wrong" approach to it, as long as you self-reflect and define what is fun for you. Enjoy it! It is certainly a privilege.
In the infinite boredom of December - January and more COVID quarantine, I decided to build myself a simulator setup. Outside of cars I build gaming computers and entertain myself that way, and I never had a proper sim setup, so another fun project. After tons of research I settled on Fanatec DD2 set and Trakracer chassis.
It was an awful experience purchasing all this gear as all of the companies are outside of the US and are generally amateurish in terms of availability and customer service. The Trakracer chassis is amazing, but was the worst thing I ever had to put together, taking me easily 17 hours or so. First iteration of the setup!
My daughter was into it it!
Naturally a single monitor setup was just not enough, so decided to go all out with more monitors and a better PC!
I went against VR as it was making me sick and I like the physical feel of things. Subsequently spent 100s of hours playing and I must say that the races are super fun. It is not real life, but you get 70% of the fun for 5% of the effort/risk. Interestingly I was much more competitive on tracks that I drove in real life (i.e. Laguna and Sonoma) rather than new ones. The game also shows you what kind of a "racing personality" you would have. For me it is consistent and fast, willing to sacrifice speed to win, but if anything goes wrong I am done! In game you also tend to make similar mistakes as in real life (e.g. braking too late or too hard, turning in early, etc.). Good fun!
Did you look into “Next Level Racing”, Motion Platform V3 in conjunction with their Traction Plus Platform? I have been considering a SIM rig as well during “our Bay Area Lock-downs”. I do much better when “driving” a dynamic rig vs a static set-up.
I have done way too much research on all this as well...then I just get frustrated with it all...not sure what to do or what to buy. Too many options and decisions for an uneducated gamer! Ugh! Having said that, Fanatec DD2 made my short list : ]
Doesn’t help I’m a MAC guy as well and know nothing about PC’s.
I just found this thread and enjoyed reading all of it! I didn't realize you wrapped your car so I didn't connect the dots when seeing the green livery this past summer, as I've been to a few events with you over the last year or two. How much down time do you think there will be before the car is ready again?
I don't want to derail the fantastic thread, but a quick (further) aside re: sim setups... Like VID, I keep getting temped to jump into the sim racing world. For me the big hang-up is the lack of depth-perception. I've used some decent setups in the past, but I get annoyed by the implications of ultimately a 2D view. Which leads me to thinking I would prefer a VR setup. But I'm not sure that the VR headsets and associated support is quite where it needs to be yet. It's really roll of the dice in the end... spend thousands of dollars to see if you like the setup or not.
10-29-2020, 10:24 AM
