Ran the track today at Buttonwillow, outside of Bakersfield California. A largely flat track, about 3 miles in length with 23 turns, very technical. Sponsored by Speedventures, it was well organized and good fun. Perfect weather, temps around 60 degrees F, clear skies, only a whisper of breeze.

A lot of people took unauthorized sorties into the grass and mud. One poor lad in a Subie lost it at turn 1 (course orientation #13, CCW) at the end of the front straight, got off course, overcorrected, snapped the rear around and then when the wheels touched track surface and got traction, shot perpendicular across the track and nose first into a concrete wall. Then burned. He is ok. But he needed a bus ticket to get home. One of the Evos pushed it too hard in a diminishing radius turn (21) and got it up on two wheels, then went off track in a huge cloud of dust and marbles....the inside of his car looked like someone had reversed flow on a vacuum bag...yuck. Another Subie lost it on a high speed turn (the "Magic Mountain") and got bogged in mud off track...his entire wheel from rim to rim was solid goop....and somewhere in there was a rotor and caliper. That turn is sadistic. You come hurtling at it in fourth gear, 80mph+, from left to right, then sharply up a rise that turns blind left and drops at the crest of the hill. Obviously that makes the car light, especially the rear, and if you do not have it set up perfectly, and carry too much speed, you are going to drift....or spin. Several did.

I had the only Infiniti this day. No Z cars either. Some Subies, Evos, S2ks,Toyota Supra twin turbo, Porsche(twin turbo awd, GT2 with 600rwhp, boxster, Carrera), half a dozen Miatas, a MiniCooper S, Acura NSX, Audis, Dodge Stealth, couple of Bimmers (M coupe and E36), and of course a couple of Vettes. Basically, just about anything that you could consider an enthusiasts car, and a few others, were there.

Ran the car with the Toyo RA-1's, and they gripped like crazy. But on one session they gave us extra laps (to make up for the long wait while they towed the by then cooled and crusted piece of plastic and metal toast that used to be a Subie off the course) and on the last two laps (9 and 10) the tires started to slide and behave a bit "greasy" under hard load. They were cold psi 30, but 36 when I checked them after the run. Remember, at that point you have been running about 22 minutes hard, and have taken about 180 turns, so everything is hot and "cookin". A lap takes about 2 and 1/2 minutes for the fast beginners and intermediates. The advanced group drivers of skill get it down to about 2 minutes and five seconds, and a couple of really good drivers could turn a minute and 56 seconds. Your first few laps are typically over 3 minutes long, and many people were turning 3minutes 12 seconds their first session on the track. (My first laps were about 3 minutes five seconds, and my third session laps were about 2minutes 28/29/30 seconds). It gets impacted by having to wait on someone to pass, or to pull off line and let someone else pass, but those are roughly good numbers culled from review of the transponder times printed and posted at the event.

My observations of the day, and I am exhausted right now, so if there is interest I will add more later:
Driver skill is more important than car features on tracks, at least at these amateur levels. It was amazing to see times from low hp cars match those of big displacement monsters. Basically it is just a series of small straights, and a couple of big ones, connected with a serpentine assortment of turns, some of them very devilish. So the big boys could not unwind their motors all the way, and their heavier weight made it more difficult to maintain speed through the turns, so the little guys would just crawl right up their backsides. They would tear away at the straights, and then the little gnats would be on their license plate five turns later. Generally, the gnats took it. Overall, while it was nice to have hp...it was the suspension mods and braking that carried the way to good results on this course. If you the driver did not set the car up properly, then the carried speed would eat you up and in correcting to keep from going cross country lose all that speed. If you got it just right you snapped right out of the turn and the results were very big....for seconds before the next one.

Stiffer sway bars, tight shocks, grippy tires, big brakes, that is what made one go fast on this track. There was a GT2 that just could not keep up. Partly because the owner, with serious six figures invested, was not inclined to toss it around with abandon...but also because on the course it was twitchy. It had a rear that could snap around almost without warning, and he was concerned about several times when the turbos would suddenly kick in at a sensitive moment when he was not wanting them to and it would violently kick the car forward, to his great dismay.

The Subies and Evo, which had been so impressive at Laguna Seca last month, were getting thrashed. I think part of it was that the turns, several of them anyway, were deceiving. You had to really straight line brake DEEP into the turn, and SLOWER than your first expectation of what you should do to go fast. Then crank over and dive at the apex, while bringing the throttle down smoothly...no stomping or mashing it. The Subies and EVOs were just used to carring more speed into corners, and when they did the technical elements were just too fine, and they slid to their demise. The 2wd vehicles are a little more used to carring less speed into the corners anyway, so the adjustment was not as severe (but plenty of them went weed collecting too).

I did not spin or go to pasture, but came close half a dozen times. Three times at the same turn (hey, how much or many repetitions does it take to teach me something? sheesh what a dope I was!).

So....for performance driving, do not forget to think about the things that make the car turn and brake better at least as much as you think about adding ponies under the hood. And more than anything, invest in yourself with driving lessons and experience. A skilled driver in a Miata wipes the floor with a dweeb in a Vette.

And yes, I passed the GT2. But a better driver in the M Coupe took me easily. He just did the turns better, even though he could not get by on the straights. So I pulled over and let him by, hung with him for half a lap through the twisties, but then felt it was too much "pushing" on my part. Following his exact line was helpful, but backing off was prudent. 5% too slow is acceptable...the consequences of half a percent too fast......were imbedded in a wall off turn one.

Great learning experience. Given the vast hole of ignorance in my head to fill here, how could it not be?


Cpe 6MT/Aero/Prem/ATI/RT cats/Borla hdrs-catbcks/Nismo flywhl-cltch/TS-ECU/Tein flex EDFC/Stillen sways

 

Damn you write good. You carried the reader there with your superb narrative. I enjoyed this on several fronts, not the least of which is your ability to write without grammatical mistakes or spelling errors. See kiddies, it can be done. You just need to read what you've typed before submitting it.

Your description of the track and the various driving styles, and consequences, were spot on as were your analysis of what makes a car fast where it really counts.

I have unintentionally become a real fan of your writing which prompts me to ask if you are a professional? Anyway, keep up the good work and I can't speak for the other folks, but I really appreciate your stories.

Doug

2004 6MT, Desert Platinum, Side Molding, Splash Guards, Sat. Radio

Asheville,NC

 

Thank you Doug. Most appreciated.
No, I am not a professional writer.
Just appreciative of the help and comments, insights and advice that many here have contributed, and trying to give something back to the community with hopefully a measure of content that will be useful.
Best regards, Ed.

Cpe 6MT/Aero/Prem/ATI/RT cats/Borla hdrs-catbcks/Nismo flywhl-cltch/TS-ECU/Tein flex EDFC/Stillen sways

 

Here is a couple of pics of the subie that crashed and burned.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4287507349

Cpe 6MT/Aero/Prem/ATI/RT cats/Borla hdrs-catbcks/Nismo flywhl-cltch/TS-ECU/Tein flex EDFC/Stillen sways