NHIS Test Day - Thursday May 10

[chaos4NH]

Drat! No tires! But plenty of rubber to burn up!
I will set up my Hot Lap unit for ya.
Do these track guys give any kind of a briefing? Or just smile when they take the cash?

[enjoythemusic]

Drat! No tires! But plenty of rubber to burn up!
I will set up my Hot Lap unit for ya.
Do these track guys give any kind of a briefing? Or just smile when they take the cash?

He looks at your competition license, takes your cash, and if he is not familiar with you or your car he might do a brief tech inspection. i'll be there at 6:45am as the gate opens at 7am. If you have any troubles let me know and will help as i can.

There is no drivers meeting or anything.

WARNING: it is akin to the Wild Wild West. Other than a flagger at Start/Finish and at the crows nest it is up to drivers to be civil and remember with so few flaggers that some turns are more faith than knowing if there is trouble, so the uphill (T3) can be, well, interesting. Open track is not for the faint of heart for those who demand SCCA or COMSCC-like flagging.

Also, some guys do leak fluids that are not caught by the flaggers, so be careful as one guy was leaking FUEL towards the end of a session and he never knew about it until we talked in the pits.

[rajito]

Nice. Thanks Sam

Raj

[enjoythemusic]

Hi Everyone,

Was GREAT seeing so many COM'ers at the open track event! Color me embarrassed for running out of fuel on the second to last run, sorry guys as the car has no fuel gauge and was not sure about consumption

Raj, am glad you are doing well and the car will be fine (will let Raj post what happened).

Mr. Mazda 3, that thing is amazing! Remember to PM me your address and i'll send you the magazine with the Mazda 3 review.

Upon driving home everything was like VERY slow motion as compared to the track. Sure this was normal, but today it seemed extra slow motion on public roads. Man that car is addictive beyond belief. Got to re-read Bruce's notes as my data says theoretical is 1:10.5 and my best laps once i got some idea of that last little bit of good lines and braking points down were in the 1:12 to about 0.75 seconds less consistently.

Again, great seeing everyone at NHIS today and look forward to seeing everyone in Canada.

[Mark Swinehart]

I heard the rear quarter panel has a dent in it.

Sounds similar to a rouge Nissan I've seen.

TTIWWOP

[PaddyMcP]

lots of COMers there today. This was our last chance to sort out the clutch problems. Looks like we're on good shape for calobogie.

[chaos4NH]

I heard the rear quarter panel has a dent in it.

Sounds similar to a rouge Nissan I've seen.

TTIWWOP

You know Raj better than that! Would he stop with just the REAR quarter panel dented?

Spare radiator hoses were in great demand among the WRX bunch!

Hey Steve, you looked very professional up there! You do a heck of a job with all the fussing around a car of that type needs! As for running out of gas, your timing was good cause the McParland beast was just about to gobble me up when they threw the yellow for you! Actually, I saw you sitting there off line waving your arms around and thought you were swatting at skeeters

As for the MS3,............tires!! Give me tires! I ran my fastest during the open session from 800-900, after that session the RT 615's were cooked. Never came within 2 secs of the best and thought I was driving on ice.
I have to hand it to those stock pads, though. As much as the were spongy after 4 laps, they still hauled the car down when needed.

So, NHIS is not kind to high horsepower FWD cars in stock form! A touch of rear toe in or + camber would help get the rear around. My RA1s will be most welcome and carbotech is shipping me some track/autox pads, and I look forward to the wide open spaces at Calabogie!
Great fun and great to be there with the numerous COM members.

[offcamber09]

So, NHIS is not kind to high horsepower FWD cars in stock form! A touch of rear toe in or + camber would help get the rear around.

If your FWD car is under steering- you will want a little toe out in the rear- not toe in. Don't go too crazy though as you will staring at your ass end passing you with too much toe out. I would keep the neg. camber.

My .02.

[chaos4NH]

So, NHIS is not kind to high horsepower FWD cars in stock form! A touch of rear toe in or + camber would help get the rear around.

If your FWD car is under steering- you will want a little toe out in the rear- not toe in. Don't go too crazy though as you will staring at your ass end passing you with too much toe out. I would keep the neg. camber.

My .02.

Thanks Scott!! You have to love this club and the advice the experts pass out!
Oh, Scott would you also know someone who can make tha adjustment for me

[offcamber09]

So, NHIS is not kind to high horsepower FWD cars in stock form! A touch of rear toe in or + camber would help get the rear around.

If your FWD car is under steering- you will want a little toe out in the rear- not toe in. Don't go too crazy though as you will staring at your ass end passing you with too much toe out. I would keep the neg. camber.

My .02.

Thanks Scott!! You have to love this club and the advice the experts pass out!
Oh, Scott would you also know someone who can make tha adjustment for me

No doubt! I have a STI waiting for me 1st thing tomorrow.

[StephanAlfa]

"If the car is understeering you're not going fast enough" = Mario Andretti

[enjoythemusic]

Hey Steve, you looked very professional up there! You do a heck of a job with all the fussing around a car of that type needs!

A most humble thanks. Am just trying to understand the car and get a good idea what she likes, dislikes, and whatnot. Raj was kind enough to give me a point by exiting the first chicane one lap and got a bit too aggressive on the Loud Pedal coming out of ?2b? and got her a bit sideways for a fraction of a second. Am really a newbie and just trying to be safe while also learning the limits of the package's (me and car) ability. Sat out a session (the third one) due to needing a moment to gather myself back up, read the data, and see what it all was telling me.

Pulling those G's, plus the extremely stiff suspension, means bolts checks and safety wire checks are a must. Of course small niggles but nothing major, just learning the car and which bolts like to wiggle a bit out from time to time. The car was 'retired' from GTP Motorsports, the USA Van Diemen importer and #1 race team in the pro-level series, did a great job at maintaining the car over the years. NHIS is a great track to see what likes to vibrate loose. Today will be doing a fine-tooth check and spray her down with WD-40.

To finish first, first you must finish (and not run out of gas )

As for running out of gas, your timing was good cause the McParland beast was just about to gobble me up when they threw the yellow for you! Actually, I saw you sitting there off line waving your arms around and thought you were swatting at skeeters

(Humor) Naaa not skeeters, you see, well, i feel kinda embarrased to say this. You see, i ate two burritos for breakfast and because of the very small cockpit you can imagine the...

So, NHIS is not kind to high horsepower FWD cars in stock form! A touch of rear toe in or + camber would help get the rear around...

FWD... need to re-read the review in the magazine more carefully as i felt it was RWD. The guys here know how to tweak FWD cars and are great.

Again, was great seeing so many familiar faces at NHIS