My first trip to a road course!

KilledbyKenne

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brother and I went to an amateur-ish road racing event at the local road course. They place cone gates to slow people down. It was really fun even though the laps are not timed. Some videos if you are bored.


[video=youtube;bo36hi9B5Bs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo36hi9B5Bs&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[video=youtube;YnvYsjOLCNw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnvYsjOLCNw&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[video=youtube;sYIGkk6g3lg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYIGkk6g3lg&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 

F.D.Sako

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Doesn't driving your car on a road course make you love appreciate your car even more? I know that's how I feel after every event!
 

Branhammer

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Is that Miller Motorsport Park by any chance? Looking forward to taking my 2015 up there for one of these events after I take delivery and wear it in a little.
 

KilledbyKenne

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Doesn't driving your car on a road course make you love appreciate your car even more? I know that's how I feel after every event!

I love my car regardless of what kind of driving I do, but this was an absolute blast. I can't even fully describe the thrill I had even though it is a handicapped event. I did however leave contemplating what I need to do to delay the brake fade I experienced after 3 runs. lol

Is that Miller Motorsport Park by any chance? Looking forward to taking my 2015 up there for one of these events after I take delivery and wear it in a little.

Yes it was MMP. I am located just north of you (If I recall correctly, you are in the SLC area). Have you done any events out there before? I'm sure you will have a blast. We are thinking of hitting the Aug. 5th event. If you end up going maybe we'll see each other there. :)
 

CobraBob

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That looks like a lot of fun. There are quite a few folks here on SVTP who race on road courses. Nice Cobra, too.
 

SVT_Troy

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awesome! Start with steel braided lines and fresh fluid and brake cooling ducts. After that look for track oriented pads
 

starnsey

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Interesting line they make you drive. But like you said, it was set up to slow you down. Go to a fully open HPDE and get to feel the real power going through the turns and you'd for sure be addicted.
 

KilledbyKenne

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Miller's looks like a beautiful track. Wish I can drive it one day.
cobra sounds good!

It really is a fantastic facility. The portion we were able to drive is actually only half the track. They run both sides of the track separately for this event which allows for more cars.

They also have a huge outdoor go cart track as well as a large open surface to set up different autocross configurations on. I would like to try both of those events as well one day.
 

RedRocketMike

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I like how open it is around the track. It would be hard to wreck your car there, how it should be.
 

Branhammer

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I love my car regardless of what kind of driving I do, but this was an absolute blast. I can't even fully describe the thrill I had even though it is a handicapped event. I did however leave contemplating what I need to do to delay the brake fade I experienced after 3 runs. lol



Yes it was MMP. I am located just north of you (If I recall correctly, you are in the SLC area). Have you done any events out there before? I'm sure you will have a blast. We are thinking of hitting the Aug. 5th event. If you end up going maybe we'll see each other there. :)

I recently did the Gotham Dream Car event and that was pretty cool. Haven't been on the actual track yet but I plan too after the 2015 GT finally gets here. August 5th I'll be in OKC for a work conference, unfortunately. Might see you there some other time though. I'm planning to be there frequently.
 

Torch10th

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You've gone over the edge now, no looking back!

I'd recommend taking a look at your local sports car clubs. NASA, SCCA etc and see what they are offering. NASA Rocky Mountain does make trips to MMP on occasion.

Those sanctioning bodies are going to put you together with an instructor that will teach you things like brake management, car control and driving up to the limit of the car and you're ability. You also won't have to deal with those pesky speed zones.

As far as your braking concerns go, the course you were on with it's speed traps forces a lot more braking than you would typically be doing out at MMP. Think of your experience as a really fast auto-x.

The brakes on the Cobra's are more than adequate to handle a large fast road course. I never did anything exotic to my 99 Cobra and it saw several seasons of track duty without fail. I used the following:

Factory calipers and blank rotors (nothing cross drilled or slotted)
Fresh ATE Super Blue fluid after each full weekend of lapping
Cabotech Bobcat compound pads. (the name of this compound is now the 1521)

If you are exceptionally hard on your brakes or run stickier tires than typical street rubber, you will want to step up to a higher temperature rated pad. For a 200 treadwear tire like an Azenzis I'd recommend XP12's in the front and either the same pads in the rear or the XP10 in the rear. These pad types should not be used on the street and will reduce rotor life as well. I found the bobcat compound to be great on the street and adequate on the track.

If you want stainless lines they help give a bit better pedal feel, but I never used them and had good success with the factory lines. Simply removing the dust shields are going to provide you with greater cooling as well.
 

TrackpackGT

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I did my first HPDE event a few months back at Roebling Roads Raceway. Talk about crazy feeling! It's a great track for not being too hard on your brakes. Talk about a mentally challenging day and experience, not to mention getting physical! Oh, and you definitely realize how much better your stock car is than you (unless you have some super duper driving talent immediately).
 
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tunedin302

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Nice driving! I thought you were going to smoke a couple of those cones but you didn't. :rockon:
 

smitty2919

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Two hands two hands!

I don't see how anyone that enjoys cars can NOT like being a road course. It would be fun to take some drag racers and put them in a road course car and see what they enjoy doing more after doing both.

I was converted after only RIDING in a race prepped C4.
 
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flattrack53

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Looks like you had a great time! Try focusing on keeping both hands on the wheel and don't focus as much as hitting perfect shifts.
 

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