Yup. I'll be leaving at 5:30 in the morning. Talk to Varun. Maybe you guys can carpool up. I have to leave the house at 5:30 in the morning. You guys might be able to leave in the morning and work your way up a little later in the day.

 

First Track Day
Hypermeet 2008 @ Thunderhill Raceway

So the story continues. As you know, I've been spending the last few months prepping for today's event. The last preparation actually happened last night. I changed the oil and oil filter and gutted my car from a bunch of crap from the months that have gone by since I last cleaned my car. My friend Dan came over and gave me a hand bleeding brakes and installing the harness. Went pretty well. Finally got around to bedding the pads. I found a long, empty road in Davis and did my 65-5 mph stops. Everything went really well...

Until morning came by. Finally got to bed about 2:30 AM in the morning. I was going to set my alarm and my cell phone to wake me up at 4:30 so I could head out and be on time, but then realized my cell phone died. Had no idea why. It was hella stupid. Went to bed anyways.

Anyways... woke up at 8:30 AM. I overslept!! Rushed out of the house only grabbing what I needed. All the main stuff was already packed in my car. Just had to grab my wallet, keys, shoes, and helmet and into the car I went. I left my place in Davis at 8:40. Drove up I-5 average... well... faster than the speed limit, but within reason, and made it to Willows at about 9:40. I missed the driver's meeting, the classroom portion, and the first run session. I pulled into the paddock area. Aaron (International B) greeted me with a big "You showed up!!" deal, then directed me to Wilson, who ran me through all the paper work.

I got that all squared away and started prepping the car. The typical stuff. I was then introduced to Adrienne (sp?) who was going to be my instructor for the first run session. I actually spun out on turn #10 for my first session. Haha.

After lunch, Aaron instructed me for the next 2 run sessions, which was awesome. Also spun out on turn #11 on one of my sessions. Went in a little too hot. Fun stuff though. (added on: Aaron says that both spin-outs weren't really true spin-outs. They were more like lose control and point 90 degrees toward the wall.)

I also had a chance to ride along with Chris Lock in the GranAm Legacy. That s*** was fun. Haha.

The last session, I had an opportunity to drive with Adrienne again. He said that there was a huge improvement from the first session, which is great to hear. The session was an open session. Was on the track with a few other peeps. Henry was on my a** turns 2 through 4 or something. Haha. Damn you and your turbo!! Did 4 or 5 laps then some rain started to come in. I finally decided to call it quits after that. Toward the end of the day, the track and car started to crap out. I noticed that traction was starting to be an issue. Even on the previous session, Aaron and the track organizers were talking about it when I was black flagged for "spinning out." Something about the track cooling very quickly in a very short amount of time.

I'll have to add more onto this story later, but now for the good stuff. Pictures. I purchased a CD from gotbluemilk.com guys. Here are the pictures.

 

nice shots... any on turn 5?

 

wow, looking like a pro driver Kev!!you did any 3 wheel motions that day??Do they host also Drift events at thunderhill?? I know that couple of my cousins friends out there run at thunderhill..You ever seen the Car Club DEVINE WIND?? Keep tearing up the course MENG!!

 

Some of these may be from the bypass. Not sure though.

Not sure. Thanks for the compliments.

 

Lookin good Kev! Glad the weather held out for you guys

 

nice pics man! looks like some good times!

 

Hey Karlton. It was a blast. I thought it was going to be really wet out there, but the weather surprised me. We did get some light showers here and there throughout the day, though. So many people were passing me. I had like no power at all. Haha.

It was great. Expensive, but great. Now I need to pull out the harness and replace my back seats and seat belts. Fun, fun. The great thing was that everything worked really well. Brakes held up just fine. Suspension was awesome. I just wish I had a little more power and some wider tires.

 

good stuff Kev

sucks to hear you ran late, but looks like you had tons of fun out there.

 

Awesome Kev! Based on your experience on the track, what do you think the next mod project will be to the "L"? Did you get to play with any suspension adjustments?

 

Hey Gus. Next projects? Hmm. Don't really know. I wish I had a little more power. Maybe I am just slow or something, but on the straights, I rarely went faster than 80mph. In terms of the set-up for suspension, it was awesome. The brakes held up really well. The shocks held up great. No rubbing or anything. I would like to get a 5-speed MT in there. The throttle response would be a lot better than the automatic. For auto-x, it isn't bad, but for tracking, it kind of lagged. There were some points where the tranny would be funky. In turn 11, It would be in 3rd, then downshift into second, then pop back into third. Kind of have a mind of its own. Also, a new set of tires would be awesome. Going to see if I can get the 235/40/17's in there.

 

Kev, Subaru automatics will hold 2nd gear if you shift it there. It might come up short in some corners and limit your speed, but that can be better than the time you lose while it's hunting gears.

 

I might have to try that sometime. I am going to try to get my hands on some tires. I think that's my next course of action. I would like to have a good summer set that I can use for auto-x next season. Going to try to learn some new stuff and break bad habits (lift-off oversteer and braking while turning). I think for THill, I think I am generally not in the range for 2nd. At least not on the straights. I didn't really keep my eyes on the tachometer. I put it in 3 in ran it like that. I know down the straights, I was hitting 80ish. Next time, I'll keep an eye out and see. I know that my top speed in 2nd is about 55-60ish. Hmm... maybe I might be able to run mostly in 2nd with the exception of the straight aways.

 

dude nice, track is hella fun. that looks like it must have been a blast

 

It was. It was a great learning experience. I would definitely like to do another one. Tons of seat time also. I can't wait until the next event. Auto-X or track day.