I love it when a plan comes together - well sort of
06-27-2016, 12:46 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
I love it when a plan comes together - well sort of
Had a hot, but wonderful time at Chin at TWS last weekend. Instructed two students who were friends sharing a Z28 Camero in Green. The two traded off every other session.
So I was instructing the guy after lunch on Sunday and he started putting things together and picking up speed. He seemed to do better with me being quiet and things went well for about 1/2 the session. Then he started getting sloppy about apexes. I watched him for an entire lap and when we got out of T15 on the front stretch I said, "Do you realize you missed about a dozen apexes on the last lap?". "Uh, no". "Ok", I said, "On this next lap I want you to hit every apex. Go as slow as you need to do that - I want to see you get all 15." To his credit, he got 14 of them on the next lap and all 15 on the one after that, then the session ended. I asked him what he thought and he said "It felt slower". "Yes it did, but I bet it was faster." was my response.
Two sessions later he hops back in the car, and tells me his partner was timing the laps from the hot pits. "Those last two laps where I hit all the apexes", he said, "were two seconds faster." We all know this is true, but it is really nice to get confirmation like this.
On another note, when it came time for the Saturday afternoon happy hour the other student was nervous about it. To me, the timing was perfect, because she needed to work on traffic management and I felt it would be good for her to run with faster cars. Chin's Happy Hour allows everyone on the track, with passing anywhere with a point. The difference is passing in corners is not required if one is not comfortable with it.
There are a lot of neat machines that typically show up to a Chin event and we had some sort of stock car with really long legs prowling around.
She did well. On one of the laps we come out of T15 and get about 1/2 way to the Start/Finish. I spy the stock car coming out of T15 on full afterburner and tell her "go low, point over the car to the right, and stay low". She responds, "Why?". I say, "Just do it and watch this!" We were likely going about 100 MPH and that stock car passed us like we were parked. It was an awesome show.
What made it extra sweet for me is I got to experience it from the right seat this time, as I've seen this sort of thing before. A weekend a while back I was working with VR and got smoked by another one of these high strung stock cars in the same place:
VR's response was priceless.
-Mike
So I was instructing the guy after lunch on Sunday and he started putting things together and picking up speed. He seemed to do better with me being quiet and things went well for about 1/2 the session. Then he started getting sloppy about apexes. I watched him for an entire lap and when we got out of T15 on the front stretch I said, "Do you realize you missed about a dozen apexes on the last lap?". "Uh, no". "Ok", I said, "On this next lap I want you to hit every apex. Go as slow as you need to do that - I want to see you get all 15." To his credit, he got 14 of them on the next lap and all 15 on the one after that, then the session ended. I asked him what he thought and he said "It felt slower". "Yes it did, but I bet it was faster." was my response.
Two sessions later he hops back in the car, and tells me his partner was timing the laps from the hot pits. "Those last two laps where I hit all the apexes", he said, "were two seconds faster." We all know this is true, but it is really nice to get confirmation like this.
On another note, when it came time for the Saturday afternoon happy hour the other student was nervous about it. To me, the timing was perfect, because she needed to work on traffic management and I felt it would be good for her to run with faster cars. Chin's Happy Hour allows everyone on the track, with passing anywhere with a point. The difference is passing in corners is not required if one is not comfortable with it.
There are a lot of neat machines that typically show up to a Chin event and we had some sort of stock car with really long legs prowling around.
She did well. On one of the laps we come out of T15 and get about 1/2 way to the Start/Finish. I spy the stock car coming out of T15 on full afterburner and tell her "go low, point over the car to the right, and stay low". She responds, "Why?". I say, "Just do it and watch this!" We were likely going about 100 MPH and that stock car passed us like we were parked. It was an awesome show.
What made it extra sweet for me is I got to experience it from the right seat this time, as I've seen this sort of thing before. A weekend a while back I was working with VR and got smoked by another one of these high strung stock cars in the same place:
VR's response was priceless
.-Mike
Last edited by TXE36; 06-27-2016 at 06:15 PM. Reason: hour not our
06-27-2016, 04:04 PM
#2
Rennlist Member
How was the track between 5 and 6?
06-27-2016, 04:25 PM
#3
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I was there in y'alls run group. Flat black z28, right? I was in the silver number 857 Miata. My first time at tws and first time with chin. Best de group out there. So much track time.
Turn 5-6 is fixed and fine.
Turn 5-6 is fixed and fine.
06-27-2016, 04:48 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
LOL I remember that! and you can even see my notebook 
06-27-2016, 06:05 PM
#5
Drifting
Thread Starter
The patch between 5 and 6 changed all weekend long. It stayed smooth, but markedly changed color. First run Saturday morning is was a very dark square with loose material. I could hear the aggregate coming off the tires all the way down the back straight. As the weekend wore on, the cars compressed and removed the loose material. By Sunday, the patch was multi-colored, with a distinctly lighter splotch in the middle. I should be able to post some video stills to show how it changed.
While other drivers said they felt no difference, it felt slick to me. I'm trail braking right there and I felt a distinct slide there every pass through - but it was repeatable and thus manageable. I did not feel it when running with my students in Green.
The student's car was impressive (2016 Z28), especially for Detroit iron. Handling, brakes and power were top notch and the seats were comfortable. Both students were new, so we drove the entire track in 4th. After two back to back sessions in 100 degree heat, coolant temp was a very normal 202F.
That flat black was vinyl - the entire car was wrapped. I have to admit, I kind of liked the look.
-Mike
While other drivers said they felt no difference, it felt slick to me. I'm trail braking right there and I felt a distinct slide there every pass through - but it was repeatable and thus manageable. I did not feel it when running with my students in Green.
The student's car was impressive (2016 Z28), especially for Detroit iron. Handling, brakes and power were top notch and the seats were comfortable. Both students were new, so we drove the entire track in 4th. After two back to back sessions in 100 degree heat, coolant temp was a very normal 202F.
That flat black was vinyl - the entire car was wrapped. I have to admit, I kind of liked the look.
-Mike