cooleyjb

This last weekend I finally put together the time and money and spent it with Skip Barber to pickup my SCCA regional license. Lucky enough to have Duck Waddle as one of the instructors too. Along with Steve Debrecht and Pete Holz.

While I had originally looked at a 944 for a comp car I actually ended up going with a Formula Continental. The lure of an open wheel car was too overpowering.

The car is an 1989 Van Diemen RF89 so it will be elgible for both FC and CFC.

I know it's not Porsche related but it does fall under racing. I'll probably sneak a Porsche embelem on it too.







Right now my biggest concern other than making it through my first race is what kind of paint scheme and cool stickers I should put on it.

Sorta cool to think back 15 years ago at my first PCA DE thinking that this is what I wanted to do.

Veloce Raptor

Congrats!!

hayaku

nice.. a real race car!

cooleyjb

I might have to make a winter trip down towards you soon to keep the dust from settling too much.

Veloce Raptor

Winter?

WINTER??

It is gonna be in the low 80's with low humidity for the next 6 days!!

Come on down!!

SundayDriver

Cool - Lawn Darts.

You are going to have a blast in that car and will learn mAdsKilZ. No street car will feel like much fun on a track after this. I assume you know about the ApexSpeed website?

As these kinds of cars are very sensitive to setup changes, I suggest you get a copy of Carrol Smith's Engineer in Your Pocket. I has some great troubleshooting stuff in there for setup. After you get a feel for the car, don't be afraid to make big changes during test days to start to understand what different things feel like.

cooleyjb

Funny you mention lawn darts since I just got a set in the mail the other day. My wife is a pediatrician and has to plan a picnic for the incoming residents this summer and I thought that lawn darts was the perfect game to play.

Been lurking a lot on ApexSpeed reading pretty much every post since the beginning.

Carrol Smith is sitting in the middle of my coffee table right now as a matter of fact.

Setup and learning more about it is one thing that really drew me to the FC. There seems to be a good solid group of guys here in the midwest that are very helpful too.

There is an upcoming DE that I'm going to that I'll be able to get hours of seat time to really work on getting comfortable with the car before I have to worry about traffic. I wasn't looking forward to having my first stint in a car be a qualifying session at a regional event.

paradisenb

That car is waay cool. I can sense the smile on your face as you work this thread. You have got to be over the top anxious to get it on the track. Looking at the pix makes me want to drive one. Congrats on the license.

SundayDriver

You have a lot of downforce to learn about. Something I was taught...

Start with full wings and the largest Gurney flaps you have. That minimizes the fall off between mechanical grip and aero grip. There may well be a corner that you can take at 90 mph and 95 will be at the limit. You just know that is as fast as you can go. But if you take it at 105, you have aero and the car will make it. Fill wings and flaps minimizes the gap and makes it easier to learn to drive in the aero range.

As I am sure you know, you should assume that you are completely invisible to the other cars at a DE in that thing. The upside is that you have so much more grip and braking, you can zip by them quickly and minimize your risks. I actually find that late passes tend to be safer in that situation than middle of the straights - they won't see you in either place but are more predictable approaching corner entry. You can get by so quickly, that even if you surprise them, you are long gone from the danger zone.

Have fun.

chris walrod

This is too cool! Congrats!!

Like others have mentioned, get yourself comfy in the car first -- seat fitment to your backside, pedals, belts, steering wheel location up/down, fore/aft, shifter position etc. This will allow you to concentrate on the important things.

As you already know, aero cars will allow you to drive a different line than road cars. Soak it all up and enjoy yourself!! Love to see more images!

SundayDriver

Oh and speaking of seats... I assume you need to pour a seat. If you are doing this yourself, I suggest doing the first one with medium density marine foam. Cheap vs. bead seat - not nearly as good. BUT, you will likely find that you do not really like the first seat you do and can then do it over with a bead seat kit. Bead seats are way too expensive to want to waste on a first test - ask me how I learned that lesson. Either way, see if you can get someone to help that has done some before - PM me if you need some detailed suggestions about how to make this go better.

BrianKeithSmith

How would this particular car compare to a Formula Mazda?
Lower/Higher in power?
More/less venues?
Higher/Lower cost?

(I'm not considering either one, just curious)

Brian

cooleyjb

Couple of big pluses on the car. It was owned and prepped locally. The shop that it is at right now is going to get me fitted to the car and pour me a seat. They are also going to go through and sort out the car's suspension before I bring it home. The only thing I need to bring to the equation right now is the driver and my gear along with a trailer.

I'll be sure to throw the occasional update on here.

Some more info on the car if anyone was interested.

Engine is 7 races into a regional rebuild. Double-adj. Penskes at the corners with one race on them since rebuild. Digital dash with RPM and temps. Hewland Mk 9 4 speed Transmission with a few gear sets. 2 Extra diffusers, the nose/front wing have been updated to a 1997 Van Diemen. 4 sets of wheels and tires which are still usable. Willans belts good through 2009. AMB Transponder included.

hacker-pschorr

Sweet ride!!!

Ok, I'll make some calls to put together some grid girls for the June Sprints.

Let me know what events you will be running at RA and if you need any help. If anything I'll just take a boat lof of pictures. I don't normally shoot these groups unless I know somebody - then I get trigger happy.

cooleyjb

I'm comparing this to the older FM cars not the new stuff.