scott40

+1 Peter. Thank you for the insight. I have considered the same thing. Thought of a leap from Interseries to a 6 Cup. This is really helpful info to consider.

mooty

pete, great post.
it appears that the older one gets, the slower one learns ;-)

jenk12m

Cost of consumables will always go up with racing plus track support etc etc. I still want to give a shot one dayp

fleadh

Great post! I had a similar experience.

Couple tips after spending the last few years in various Cups:

* if you can drive correctly without the blipper, take it out. your gearbox will last longer. (but if you're faster w/ the blipper leave it in! )
* You can buy the same Yokohama slicks that're used in IMSA GT3 Challenge and ALMS GTC. If you're keeping your car mostly stock, I'd run those so you can compare lap times to the GT3 Challenge races if you ever go to those tracks. The tires have pretty good life too if you're going to run them through multiple heat cycles (compared to Michelins).
* i'm not sure which pads you're using, but you might want to look into some of the endurance compounds if you're not going to be changing them frequently (for max performance) compared to the stock Pagid greens (sprint compound).
* Personally, I like using a helmet blower in the car more than a cool suit. Obviously, you get weight savings but it's also less stuff to worry about at the track. If you have a helmet with a forced air option I'd give it a try.

Have fun!

-mike

Leigh2

Thanks Mike I'll give Troy at Trackside another call. I'd like to fit the clubsports that are now the 09 Patron rubber which I quite liked. Troy said the IMSA tires aren't available to us yet, but that was a couple of months ago.
I should try running without the blipper now that I'm more familiar with the gearbox and brakes...

Leigh2

Yes at my age the IQ is dropping as fast as the waist line increasing, still right side of the grass though

blake

Thanks Peter for a great write-up. I've been thinking about a Cup for years, and your comments help cement the idea as a good one...

Hope to meet you at Miller this summer.

-Blake

996FLT6

You come along way Leigh. Remember u driving a silver 6gt3 at thill. Great post. Anything cup stuff gets me excited : ). Mike

jcastle

mike,

have you seen blippers lead to early damage? the few cup drivers I've talked to said that their blipper gearboxes were getting more hours, not less.

jenk12m

Yea I heard blippers were saving gearboxes. Especially at the cup school at barber. There you have complete newbies to a cup car and they are holding up quite well

fleadh

The only people I've found who recommend them are those that sell them, install them, or rebuild gearboxes. If you think about how it works, it's to slow/late to reduce the load inside the gearbox. Far as I can tell, it's only purpose is to help drivers that have trouble keeping constant brake pressure while heal & toeing (and don't left foot brake).

Talking with guys who know more then me about the mechanicals of the car, blipper equipped gear boxes seem to do a maximum of 12-15 hours before failure where-as non-blipper cars can go much longer (if driven correctly).

That's my 2 cents anyway, take it for what it's worth. :-)

-mike

mikymu

can't agree more. I hate the none ABS and no power assist Cup brakes when I first got the car and now I LOVE it! You get direct feedback from the car which help gel the driving experience. When the car and driver are humming together in the right frequency it's like hitting every key right in a Piano concerto ... I sux at playing piano

aero997c2s

Thank you for including rough cost figures in your post. Definitely humbling to see how much it cost to play!! Be sure to post some pictures too!

CRex

Great post, thanks--you're my inspiration.

Slowandsteady

Inspiring.