Jan 28th Post Event

[twistedwankel]

This was the "tightest" course I've ever driven(?) only because there was ONLY ONE line thru it for all of Moby's drivers. Too late Ron thought up the idea of Ebraking around the tighty whities. We could have actually done that as the E foot Brake doesn't lock up with the car in D...only in Park. Damn we all could have been in the 33's on 215/70/15" -420 AS FireSTONES. They don't hook up quite as well as the RE71 BridgeSTONES. I doubt I could have been in the 29's even with my RX8 BUT I might have been able to run it ALL in 1st gear with my 18" Conti DW's - not so with the 17" Rivals...they are way too short to pull that off. Can only go 40mph in 1st.

[markzeronine]

Contrary to how I drove the car on spent re71s showed, I think that was the cleanest I've seen that facility. Very well designed and the short course didn't even cord my tires like I was expecting. By the third run I was actually having to grab more clutch to pull off my d-bag manuvers

[twistedwankel]

Double EDIT: Was not DFL - just saying!

You had a chance to be and gave away your turn to Ron. Besides who is this new autocross superhero "The Volt"? The great thing about a FAST Classic is even the DFL got a class sticker for 3rd

[twistedwankel]

Contrary to how I drove the car on spent re71s showed, I think that was the cleanest I've seen that facility. Very well designed and the short course didn't even cord my tires like I was expecting. By the third run I was actually having to grab more clutch to pull off my d-bag manuvers

Mark, a serious question. Your car weighs about the same as mine and obviously has a radical alignment + your 11/10ths driving. Did you keep track of how many laps your RE71's lasted? So far it looks like mine are not going to make 100 runs on concrete? Maybe they will if wear slows the last 5/32"? Got 23 hard/fast runs and 1020miles on the first 3/32". Not awe inspiring. Nexen is looking better and better with their new xcross design coming this February. OR back Toyo's again? They were 9/10's as fast as these RE71's at 5/8 the price locally obtained.

Thanks,
Doug

[ImpostorDan]

Double EDIT: Was not DFL - just saying!

You had a chance to be and gave away your turn to Ron. Besides who is this new autocross superhero "The Volt"? The great thing about a FAST Classic is even the DFL got a class sticker for 3rd

If only I had classed up (down?) from S4 to S3...

[twistedwankel]

Track surface comparo:

I was not at all disturbed by the track surface at Tampa Dog Track. Why? Because I have raced at the Tavares Sheriff's Training Track many times up North. Almost the same size at SPC only very rounded aggregate sticking out of the asphalt providing lessened tire patch and aggressive tire wear around the corners. (They have acquired two wheeled blowers to clean away most of the sand from the driving line.) This is a great place to break in a new set of tires and grind off 1/64 to 1/32" of raw tread if you get a co-driver and do 10-12 runs total bang. Also when you get home let the car set for 24hours and you have an awesome first important heat cycle. Bam. Just like that Chef says.

So for sure put the Dog Track on your list to not only "kill" that aging set of race tires but put it on your list of awesome places to break in that new set of RE71's

Or just let your wife let you bring the daily driver and have her ride along

[Z1NONLY]

My RPM's dropped to +/- 2200 on the second turn-around and +/- 2800 on the first. My Z would have done fine, but the FRS was lethargic. I'm not complaining. The course was great for that limited space and I enjoyed the challenges it presented.

Admin Note: Mike, I accidentally edited your post when I tried to reply to it (amazingly easy mistake to make when you have admin privileges, I'm surprised I don't do it more often). So, I put back the part of your post that I had quoted. But, I may have lost part of your post. Sorry! -- Loren

[markzeronine]

Doug, unfortunately I never kept track of it but I did mostly every fast event between march and October on them (no other events, not daily driving and no super agressive street driving otherwise) then put them back on for the fast school and this event to put a fork in them. I wish I kept track of how many runs since I get asked that often but by any standards it definitely wasn't a lot!

[Native]

Haha glad people enjoyed. I felt like a real idiot making people pick up a few cones but I feel like I've made people work harder certain days when I was actually going for a good time. Hopefully what I did today wasn't frowned upon by too many, I had such a blast finishing off this set of tires!

Good stuff!

I have to give a big shout out to Loren and Steve for both helping me yesterday. They both took the Focus for a few runs and really showed me that I could really attack the course a lot more aggressively.

Glad to be of help. Will happily drive your car, or anyone's, anytime!

Doug, it was fun to see you, Mrs. Mayor, and the others haul The Queen around. You never fail to entertain! And thanks for the GF lunch!

As for the 2-1 downshift, I used first in the east uturn before the finish. The others I tried both ways. My times were about the same, I was more comfortable leaving it in second and aiming to be smoother, as Joe said, and I got my fastest time using second.

I think it's funny that Ben and I each spun the same car, in the same place, on the same run number. Same style?

[twistedwankel]

Doug, unfortunately I never kept track of it but I did mostly every fast event between march and October on them (no other events, not daily driving and no super agressive street driving otherwise) then put them back on for the fast school and this event to put a fork in them. I wish I kept track of how many runs since I get asked that often but by any standards it definitely wasn't a lot!

Good info. I didn't used to keep accurate records until last year but now that top tier tires are a Grand-1200 a set it matters to me. I will be surprised if I get over 65-70 sticky runs out of these (but if they don't heat cycle out they might last longer past the wear bars - avoiding rain) which makes this probably my last set of RE71's unless they drop prices alot? Or I start finishing first That means beating the Focusses.

[markzeronine]

I definitely noticed loss of grip before they were looking completely dead. Unfortunately it's a noticeable amount competing with Chris for hundredths of a second lol. I'm very thankful to be able to buy these tires instead of tires for my last car being a c6 z06 (285f/345r) but it's still getting a little too expensive for me as well. I'm seriously considering the nexens myself. The 1st/ftd stickers are damn addicting though!

[Loren]

My RPM's dropped to +/- 2200 on the second turn-around and +/- 2800 on the first. My Z would have done fine, but the FRS was lethargic. I'm not complaining. The course was great for that limited space and I enjoyed the challenges it presented.

The thing to keep in mind is that shifting takes time. Shifting down takes time, and you're acceleration is zero during that time. It also takes concentration, which was the issue on this course. WHEN can you let your brain focus on that downshift? And, of course, if you grab first, you'll have to shift back into 2nd... and that costs time, as well. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not. But, usually... unless the car is REALLY bogging, it's not worth the time it takes to downshift and upshift again.

And if the FASTiva isn't enough of a reminder that "acceleration" ain't everything... look at Mike's no-torque havin' Insight. His car accelerates out of those turn-arounds about like most cars would in 3rd. And yet, he ran a 30.6... 10th overall... besting 26 drivers of faster cars.

I'm really growing to like the Dog Track. Much like Tampa Bay Downs, it's just different from the concrete airstrip. Less grippy, an little more challenging to drive.

[Carracer]

PICTURES
https://flic.kr/s/aHskN5SnZX
Big thanks to Andrea and Chad Myers for the pictures and Joshua Gdovin for spotting.

[Z1NONLY]

My RPM's dropped to +/- 2200 on the second turn-around and +/- 2800 on the first. My Z would have done fine, but the FRS was lethargic. I'm not complaining. The course was great for that limited space and I enjoyed the challenges it presented.

The thing to keep in mind is that shifting takes time. Shifting down takes time, and you're acceleration is zero during that time. It also takes concentration, which was the issue on this course. WHEN can you let your brain focus on that downshift? And, of course, if you grab first, you'll have to shift back into 2nd... and that costs time, as well. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not. But, usually... unless the car is REALLY bogging, it's not worth the time it takes to downshift and upshift again.

And if the FASTiva isn't enough of a reminder that "acceleration" ain't everything... look at Mike's no-torque havin' Insight. His car accelerates out of those turn-arounds about like most cars would in 3rd. And yet, he ran a 30.6... 10th overall... besting 26 drivers of faster cars.

I'm really growing to like the Dog Track. Much like Tampa Bay Downs, it's just different from the concrete airstrip. Less grippy, an little more challenging to drive.

When I replaced my 300+HP 350Z with the 200HP FRS, a lot of people in the Z community asked why I made such a choice. I have done my fair share of preaching the "acceleration ain't everything" gospel.

[Kdub085]

PICTURES
https://flic.kr/s/aHskN5SnZX
Big thanks to Andrea and Chad Myers for the pictures and Joshua Gdovin for spotting.

Awesome pics!! Thank you [emoji4]

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[AScoda]

Even thought the turnarounds were a bit slow and painful, when you got them right it was rewarding. Doug's white whale was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. You just had to get the timing of body roll down. Transitions in the slalom were....glacial. Still, I think that thing had a 34 in it. Not sure what was more entertaining, driving it, or riding with Ron watching him drive it. So much flailing arms.

[Native]

PICTURES
https://flic.kr/s/aHskN5SnZX
Big thanks to Andrea and Chad Myers for the pictures and Joshua Gdovin for spotting.

Thanks to you all!

[markzeronine]

The pics

[Z1NONLY]

PICTURES
https://flic.kr/s/aHskN5SnZX
Big thanks to Andrea and Chad Myers for the pictures and Joshua Gdovin for spotting.

Wow these are good! Thanks.

[dbeng]

PICTURES
https://flic.kr/s/aHskN5SnZX
Big thanks to Andrea and Chad Myers for the pictures and Joshua Gdovin for spotting.

Fantastic pictures Thanks to everyone who had a part in getting them taken and posted! Really enjoyed looking at all the action shots.