My NEW RS 1st time on TRACK at VIR
02-22-2011, 01:19 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
My NEW RS 1st time on TRACK at VIR
After many years of entertaining the idea of getting my dream car I went all out and found a terrific Green RS that most everyone is familiar with. The Infamous Mikymu RS.
Mike made the buying experience exceptionally easy and gave me a terrific deal to boot. The car arrived on Valentines day and the 1st thing my wife says to me when I arrive home is "so you get an RS and I get a potted plant" LOL. I also bought her a yummy fruit tart which surprisingly she was nice enough to share.
After just a short cruise around town the following day I'm like I have to get this beast on track PRONTO. I'm signed up for BMW in about 2 weeks but that's just not soon enough so I check the weather and things look good for NASA the weekend following valentines day so BOOM I head down to VIR towing the FD and my honey (Morgen) will come down later with the baby (erin our 9 year old that we will always call the baby) in the RS. I arrive at about 10 and take the FD on track and impatiently wait for Morgen to arrive but she doesn't get there until after my last session so no dice trying out "Fiona" which is my wifes nick name for the RS which obviously named after Shrek's wife (Morgen names all my cars). It's a pretty ruff name for such a lovely machine but hey it fits, she's big and green.
Saturday morning arrives and things are hectic so I ask Morgen to put 24 psi in the tires and read the manual to figure out how to turn off traction control and set the susp etc.. for track use. After the instructor meeting I rush back to the car that my wonderful wife has prepped, warmed up and has ready roll but I forget to install the camera so I rush back to the truck install it and head to pit out.
Once I break through the 1st bit of traffic and start getting up to speed I quickly realize that Fiona's a real handful in the corners and it literally feels like I'm driving in the wet however shifting into fifth down the straights is SOOOO intoxicating it's almost as fun as nailing a corner and the BRAKES........DAMN!!!!
Seriously the brakes are soooo smooth, the pedal feels sooo good and trail braking is unbelievably nice.
I come back in sweating bullets and glad I stayed shiny side up. I end up driving the FD the rest of Saturday because I was hoping to Time Trial it on Sunday.
Sunday arrives and they won't let me sign up for TT because there are too many already signed up but it's cold and the FD loves some cold weather so I figure I'll run the 1st session in the FD.
Get the Porsche out again and I'm smoother with shifting and getting more comfortable but I still can't seem to balance the corners. Next session a student ask if he can ride while I'm waiting in the pits and I'm like sure because now I'll be able to share the most frightening experience of my life with someone else LOL. Again feeling more confident and really working hard to keep her from spinning through each corner I start to notice the flaggers are reaching for the yellow each time as I approach several corners that are giving me problems but fortunately they never had to wave it. After that wild ride I finally decide to check the rear tires but I'm skeptic because the fronts looked good but thankfully the rear tires are as bald as Curly Neal so that explains the terrific turn in followed by Fiona shaking her sexy ***. Sadly I have no vid from Sunday because my wife went gallivanting about town to keep Erin occupied, she did however ask me several times if I needed anything in the truck prior to leaving but I'm quite the space cadet
Here's my 1st time out vid from Saturday. I was in hurry with camera install so the position sucks and I didn't tighten it enough so it's leaning a bit hehe. Again I was having a hard time because of the severely worn rear 710s well that's my story and I'm sticking to it
I'll upload another vid later from this session that was an open lap that's a 2.12 FLAT OUT but I'm calling it a 2.1199 to keep my spirits up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxuCM4pIl10
Mike made the buying experience exceptionally easy and gave me a terrific deal to boot. The car arrived on Valentines day and the 1st thing my wife says to me when I arrive home is "so you get an RS and I get a potted plant" LOL. I also bought her a yummy fruit tart which surprisingly she was nice enough to share.
After just a short cruise around town the following day I'm like I have to get this beast on track PRONTO. I'm signed up for BMW in about 2 weeks but that's just not soon enough so I check the weather and things look good for NASA the weekend following valentines day so BOOM I head down to VIR towing the FD and my honey (Morgen) will come down later with the baby (erin our 9 year old that we will always call the baby) in the RS. I arrive at about 10 and take the FD on track and impatiently wait for Morgen to arrive but she doesn't get there until after my last session so no dice trying out "Fiona" which is my wifes nick name for the RS which obviously named after Shrek's wife (Morgen names all my cars). It's a pretty ruff name for such a lovely machine but hey it fits, she's big and green.
Saturday morning arrives and things are hectic so I ask Morgen to put 24 psi in the tires and read the manual to figure out how to turn off traction control and set the susp etc.. for track use. After the instructor meeting I rush back to the car that my wonderful wife has prepped, warmed up and has ready roll but I forget to install the camera so I rush back to the truck install it and head to pit out.
Once I break through the 1st bit of traffic and start getting up to speed I quickly realize that Fiona's a real handful in the corners and it literally feels like I'm driving in the wet however shifting into fifth down the straights is SOOOO intoxicating it's almost as fun as nailing a corner and the BRAKES........DAMN!!!!
Seriously the brakes are soooo smooth, the pedal feels sooo good and trail braking is unbelievably nice.
I come back in sweating bullets and glad I stayed shiny side up. I end up driving the FD the rest of Saturday because I was hoping to Time Trial it on Sunday.
Sunday arrives and they won't let me sign up for TT because there are too many already signed up but it's cold and the FD loves some cold weather so I figure I'll run the 1st session in the FD.
Get the Porsche out again and I'm smoother with shifting and getting more comfortable but I still can't seem to balance the corners. Next session a student ask if he can ride while I'm waiting in the pits and I'm like sure because now I'll be able to share the most frightening experience of my life with someone else LOL. Again feeling more confident and really working hard to keep her from spinning through each corner I start to notice the flaggers are reaching for the yellow each time as I approach several corners that are giving me problems but fortunately they never had to wave it. After that wild ride I finally decide to check the rear tires but I'm skeptic because the fronts looked good but thankfully the rear tires are as bald as Curly Neal so that explains the terrific turn in followed by Fiona shaking her sexy ***. Sadly I have no vid from Sunday because my wife went gallivanting about town to keep Erin occupied, she did however ask me several times if I needed anything in the truck prior to leaving but I'm quite the space cadet
Here's my 1st time out vid from Saturday. I was in hurry with camera install so the position sucks and I didn't tighten it enough so it's leaning a bit hehe. Again I was having a hard time because of the severely worn rear 710s well that's my story and I'm sticking to it
I'll upload another vid later from this session that was an open lap that's a 2.12 FLAT OUT but I'm calling it a 2.1199 to keep my spirits up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxuCM4pIl10
02-22-2011, 02:02 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Here's a pic of my SEXY BEAST and my even FINER WIFE and BABY!
She had such a good time driving it back and forth from Charlottesville to VIR and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the girls zipping by me on 29 on the way home.
02-22-2011, 02:23 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
02-22-2011, 02:29 PM
#7
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Fritz, you can't imagine how happy I feel reading this post. Fiona could not have ended up in a better home. Who needs to see patients once I started to watch your video. My medical assistance had to remind me I had a patient waiting
The video was great as it is. I always wanted to try out VIR and I felt like I was in the driver seat. You had very good car control and Cameron Diaz definitely got herself a new Stig.
Back to the rear tires. I think the problem maybe two fold. These rear tires have over 15 heat cycles and I think they are heat cycle out. I was told you can't heat cycle out Kumho V710 but I think we prove them wrong. These are my first set of V710 and I did experience some major lack of rear traction last time out at Laguna Seca but the track was super damp and filthy. I attribute the lack of rear grip to the poor track condition but now I think more than 50% to blame are the tires. You have another set of rear V710 in 305/30/18 coming. They may be a bit narrow on the 18x12 rear CCW but give it a try and see if it makes any difference. They only have 3 heat cycles so the rubber will be good. Another thing you might want to check is tire pressure when hot. Anything over 32 psi hot in these V710 becomes really slippery.
Morgan and you baby girl look super cool in your RS
The video was great as it is. I always wanted to try out VIR and I felt like I was in the driver seat. You had very good car control and Cameron Diaz definitely got herself a new Stig.
Back to the rear tires. I think the problem maybe two fold. These rear tires have over 15 heat cycles and I think they are heat cycle out. I was told you can't heat cycle out Kumho V710 but I think we prove them wrong. These are my first set of V710 and I did experience some major lack of rear traction last time out at Laguna Seca but the track was super damp and filthy. I attribute the lack of rear grip to the poor track condition but now I think more than 50% to blame are the tires. You have another set of rear V710 in 305/30/18 coming. They may be a bit narrow on the 18x12 rear CCW but give it a try and see if it makes any difference. They only have 3 heat cycles so the rubber will be good. Another thing you might want to check is tire pressure when hot. Anything over 32 psi hot in these V710 becomes really slippery.
Morgan and you baby girl look super cool in your RS
Last edited by mikymu; 02-22-2011 at 04:17 PM.
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02-22-2011, 02:39 PM
#8
Former Vendor
Hey fritz - When I first went out doing track days my heart rate was 120 plus just waiting on the grid!
Cruella, that is truly funny! Good job, now go have fun!
Cruella, that is truly funny! Good job, now go have fun!
02-22-2011, 02:52 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Fritz, you can't imagine how happy I feel reading this post. Fiona could have ended up in a better home. Who needs to see patients once I started to watch your video. My medical assistance had to remind me I had a patient waiting
The video was great as it is. I always wanted to try out VIR and I felt like I was in the driver seat. You had very good car control and Cameron Diaz definitely got herself a new Stig.
Back to the rear tires. I think the problem maybe two fold. These rear tires have over 15 heat cycles and I think they are heat cycle out. I was told you can't heat cycle out Kumho V710 but I think we prove them wrong. These are my first set of V710 and I did experience some major lack of rear traction last time out at Laguna Seca but the track was super damp and filthy. I attribute the lack of rear grip to the poor track condition but now I think more than 50% to blame are the tires. You have another set of rear V710 in 305/30/18 coming. They may be a bit narrow on the 18x12 rear CCW but give it a try and see if it makes any difference. They only have 3 heat cycles so the rubber will be good. Another thing you might want to check is tire pressure when hot. Anything over 32 psi hot in these V710 becomes really slippery.
Morgan and you baby girl look super cool in your RS
The video was great as it is. I always wanted to try out VIR and I felt like I was in the driver seat. You had very good car control and Cameron Diaz definitely got herself a new Stig.
Back to the rear tires. I think the problem maybe two fold. These rear tires have over 15 heat cycles and I think they are heat cycle out. I was told you can't heat cycle out Kumho V710 but I think we prove them wrong. These are my first set of V710 and I did experience some major lack of rear traction last time out at Laguna Seca but the track was super damp and filthy. I attribute the lack of rear grip to the poor track condition but now I think more than 50% to blame are the tires. You have another set of rear V710 in 305/30/18 coming. They may be a bit narrow on the 18x12 rear CCW but give it a try and see if it makes any difference. They only have 3 heat cycles so the rubber will be good. Another thing you might want to check is tire pressure when hot. Anything over 32 psi hot in these V710 becomes really slippery.
Morgan and you baby girl look super cool in your RS
There's no magic rubber or brake pad so that's a real comfort to hear and I can't wait to get some decent rubber back there. However it was a great way to learn how Fiona handles as I mentioned it truly felt like dancing in the rain and there's nothing better than some rain to learn how to balance a car properly so those tires were a great lesson for me.
02-22-2011, 03:24 PM
#11
Thanks for the vid! Was that HPDE3 run group? I reconginzed some of the cars.
You went by me Friday in the RX7 and that car corners amazingly well. I assume you don't have to surf for traction as much in that car.
Enjoy your new car!
You went by me Friday in the RX7 and that car corners amazingly well. I assume you don't have to surf for traction as much in that car.
Enjoy your new car!
02-22-2011, 03:34 PM
#12
Racer
Hey Fritz! I haven't seen you and the RX-7s in some time. Nice to see ya in P-Car. Heck, THE P-Car for track guys. Will you be doing the Audi event at VIR in April?
-KJ
-KJ
02-22-2011, 04:45 PM
#14
Burning Brakes
Great write-up Fritz! Thanks for sharing. Great video and solid skills for sure!
A couple little tid bits to help dial her in. With stock dampers and setup, 997 RS tends to suffer from snap-oversteer (beyond the standard 911 handling characteristics). It takes some work to make it more balanced like it's racing counter part. Did you do a fresh allignment and corner balance? I would take her to a shop that knows GT3's and has a dialed setup for VIR. Sways are key here as well. I would upgrade to a beefier rear sway bar. Also, did you try driving it with PASM off? Depending on setup, this can make it a bit more predictable. But in the end, stock dampers are not the best for geniune track driving. You need more adjustability to get the most out of the car. Also, has the LSD been rebuilt recently? This makes a huge difference in keeping it planted in and out of turns. Typically, with a less aggressive setup, worn tires will be felt first in the front with loss of turn-in grip. If the rears are wearing first, you may need to soften the rear and stiffen the front. Generally, it's better to set the car to be prone to understeer at the limits and gradually adjust setup to give more front grip (keep in mind, this takes away grip from the rear) until the car is setup to your balance preference. Again, thanks for sharing and keep us posted!
A couple little tid bits to help dial her in. With stock dampers and setup, 997 RS tends to suffer from snap-oversteer (beyond the standard 911 handling characteristics). It takes some work to make it more balanced like it's racing counter part. Did you do a fresh allignment and corner balance? I would take her to a shop that knows GT3's and has a dialed setup for VIR. Sways are key here as well. I would upgrade to a beefier rear sway bar. Also, did you try driving it with PASM off? Depending on setup, this can make it a bit more predictable. But in the end, stock dampers are not the best for geniune track driving. You need more adjustability to get the most out of the car. Also, has the LSD been rebuilt recently? This makes a huge difference in keeping it planted in and out of turns. Typically, with a less aggressive setup, worn tires will be felt first in the front with loss of turn-in grip. If the rears are wearing first, you may need to soften the rear and stiffen the front. Generally, it's better to set the car to be prone to understeer at the limits and gradually adjust setup to give more front grip (keep in mind, this takes away grip from the rear) until the car is setup to your balance preference. Again, thanks for sharing and keep us posted!
Last edited by Laguna_Dude; 02-22-2011 at 05:13 PM.
02-22-2011, 05:27 PM
#15
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
The FD is no joke for an old car. In the last TT on VIR full it ran 2.052