It just wasn't a good day for yellow cars yesterday! Losing ABS was not fun. That was my affliction most of the day. Toby, I know gas was a problem on one session but what happened on your last?

 

Fuel starvation or vapor lock. Not really sure. Todd is looking at it today. Will try again this afternoon.

 

Rob, nice talking to you on Friday... Thanks for the input on tires. As it turns out, I had to make a decision on a new set at the end of Saturday, and went with your suggestion to try the R6. (Friday lap times off the PBOX indicated fairly consistent 1:27's. (Also clocked a 1:26.8 after I got past some traffic and had a clean lap). Toby concurred that I would probably see an improvement by switching. They'll be mounted later this week; hope to measure any improvement later this month. Stopped by the villa once to see your SPBOX but you were out. Next time... cheers!

 

Nice meeting you as well. Sorry I missed you back at the Villa.

It was actually the R1 I recommended, the BF Goodrich tire. They will last longer than the Hoosier R6 and for DE, is a better bang for the buck than the Hoosier. I have run both and prefer the R6 to race on, but otherwise like the BFG tire for non-competition events. If you did order the Hoosier, make sure you read this: https://www.hoosiertire.com/rrtire.htm

If you end up on BFG, this will help: http://bfgoodrichtires.com/specs/g-force-r1/3824.html (note the care and feeding file on the page that you can download)

Either way, your times are good and consistent and I think you'll see an improvement with the next level of tire. Keep in ming that many people won't see an improvement the first time out. You may have a little learning curve as you learn the break-away characteristics and feedback of the new rubber.

 

Got it. PST had to back order the R6's, and Hoosier only ships one day each week (I think Thursdays), so I can still change. I'll definitely research the links; thanks!

I plan to use either the 1.7 CW or 3.1 weekends ahead to get familiar with the new tires, and then assess the cost/benefit against my 1.7CCW times on the 24th. Who knows, I may find that rubber is not the weakest link after all!

 

FWIW, I ran R6s for DEs only not long after my Toyos died. Although they were a little faster at the (my) limit than the RA1s, IMO the cost did not justify the improvement in lap times. [I got the R6s as a birthday present, but I wouldn't use/buy them for DEs only, as the smile factor doesn't increase at the same rate as cost.] You may get lower lap times, but it's still a DE. And, as a negative side effect, my Toyo "specific" alignment ended up eating through the rear R6s pretty quickly.

As a compromise, I ended up buying take off Rolex endurance compound tires. IMO, these are very close to the R6 in grip (based on lap times and lateral Gs) and were WAY cheaper. We're talking $80 a piece. Another plus is they last longer then the R6.

You can use the difference in tire cost as payment for a full days coaching with Jason Hart.

-td

 

You see?

This is why I can't come up with a cabriolet exit strategy ... too many variables to consider, and all we're talking about here is rubber!

Separate topic...
Here's a clip from Friday. I call it "The Problem with Corvette Drivers". http://www.vimeo.com/2719519

 

Private.

No fair to give a great title and then forget to make it public! Twenty lashes!!!

-td

 

Ouch!

Fixed it, but it's probably anti-climatic now.

 

From your title I knew who you'd be talking about. The car appeared to be a fully race prepped but driven s l o w l y. 1:28-1:31 I would guess? The guy driving had a whole crew working with him, including taking temps or pressures in the hot pit. After one session his crew came over to me with the time sheets, looking confused, asking which one was me. Not sure why. Clearly more car than the driver needed.

 

Yep, I knew you would recognize him!

The red GT3 in the video had been riding his rear bumper for the 2 laps prior to the start of the clip. My PBOX blocks the view of his pass just prior to big bend, but it was clearly executed with a message. It was also an awesome display of GT3 acceleration at speed. I have to admit, I got a kick out of that. I also got a kick of adding insult to injury a few laps later.

 

Why would he want to do that when he can have me coach him instead?

 

I hear that you are not very considerate regarding the condition of passenger seat upholstery.

 

LIES