So all of that stuff last month about building dedicated cars for each track? Eh... Still sorta on the table, but it kind of limits what I can do with my stable of (potentially rentable) racing Miatas.
Last weekend was NASA Mid-Atlantic's Summer Breeze at Summit Point. It was far and away my best overall weekend of the season, with the best weather, turn-out, and camaraderie. Winning 4 tires didn't hurt, either.
I went to Summit Point with a plan. That plan was a bit hamstrung by the age of my tires (this was the 5th event on a single set of Hoosiers), but that kind of played into my hands just a bit. Lemme 'splain...
The wing, as previously mentioned, is an anchor at VIR, taking a full 1-second improvement on the front half of the course and throwing it away in 4000' on the back straight. My plan was to switch back to last year's configuration, balance the car perfectly, and see if I could make an overall improvement at Summit Point just by driving better. I was, after all, getting key data inputs like throttle-position and brake-actuation.
What I quickly found, though, was that even though we scaled and balanced the car to knife-edge perfection, there was just no grip in the rear. New sticky Hoosiers can mask a lot of deficiencies in a suspension, but old ones cannot. The Spec Miata sway bars that used to feel so good and solid at preventing body-roll also place excessive duty on the tires. Again, that's fine when they're new, but at roughly 30 heat-cycles, not so much.
I tried to put down any sort of decent lap over two sessions and came out putting high 1:28.x laps. That's awful considering I'd done several high 1:26.x laps in April.
I also very carefully documented tire temps and pressures after each session, and the rears just weren't doing what I had hoped for. Fortunately, I'd brought the wing and stock sway bars to experiment.
I switched back to that configuration, re-filed my class sheet, and hit the track again, immediately taking off almost a full second and keeping the car firmly planted in the rear. The next morning, over the course of two more sessions I took off another full second, ending my weekend with a 1:26.862 lap, within 0.3 seconds of my personal best and on tires that had no duty-cycle left. And the crazy thing is, there was plenty more performance to be had.
So now I have a new quandary! The wing is a proven benefit at Summit Point, to the point where I believe I have a reasonable chance at setting the lap record for TTE. But it is also a proven boondoggle at VIR.
My plan for October had been to switch back to the beefy sway bars and just hope for the best in comp school, but then i realized that I'm taking exactly 7 points for aero. What if I ran another dyno reclass for TTE/PTE with one star? That one star could represent a bump in horsepower or a significant drop in weight (I have about 70lbs of ballast in the car right now), or both. No aero, compliant suspension, more horsepower, and less weight. Could that be the ticket, or will the car be too unstable at high speeds?
I must find out!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
NASA Heat Wave at VIR
I find myself in a relatively unique position. I just had what I should call a very bad weekend at the track, but I came away with so many ideas swirling around in my head.
After finishing a very close 3rd on Saturday (by less than .2 seconds), I came a very distant 3rd on Sunday--1.5 seconds out of contention for 2nd. Both cars that finished ahead of me were running with significant advantages: new rubber and superchargers. My car, meanwhile, was running on tires that were first mounted in February, and dealing with residual high-idle and overheating issues and a suspension setup that's always just been guessed at--never properly calibrated.
I knew going into the weekend that a win was out of reach, and that 2nd place may not happen either, but still, it was a shock to be beaten so soundly on Sunday.
But I learned a lot. And I mean a whole lot.
I learned that ballast cannot go behind the rear axle. I didn't think it was a good idea when I did it, but I really didn't want to risk interrupting fuel and brake lines to mount it in the driver's compartment. I will fix that for the next event. At one point a car braked quite early and off-line in front of me, causing me to swing right to avoid his bumper. When I turned the car back to the left for the corner, the back end washed out. Not cool. I removed the ballast and ran with extra fuel to prevent that happening again.
I learned that my wing does, indeed, cause significant understeer at corner-entry. It was nigh impossible to get the car to the apex of T1, though I was able to carry more speed than ever before into South Bend (95mph), and brake even later for T14.
I learned that urethane bushings don't make a car faster, they just reveal inefficiencies in your suspension setup. I had an off-line entry into T4 that, when I corrected with a touch of oversteer, caused the car to skitter across the track in a very unsettling series of bounces. At one point the horizon began to rotate and I had to do some very creative steering to get it back under control. The lower esses are just an exercise in bouncing, though it doesn't seem to affect top speed. I may need stiffer springs & shocks in the rear, though experiments with tire-pressure should help resolve that question.
I learned that I'm running too much negative camber. I've had a tire pyrometer for years and have never used it. This time I had K pull temps, and inners were 10 - 20 degrees higher than the rest of the tire surface.
The most important thing I learned, though, is that my car simply isn't competitive for VIR in its current configuration. And that's got me thinking about my plans for the other car. Bridget (orange) is very close to lap-record time at Summit Point, a track with significant time spent in corners. Aero is important at Summit Point, because without it, I cannot carry speed through Turns 3, 4, and 10, and braking into 1 and 5 are weak. But at VIR, with a 4000' straight-away and a whole lot of time spent going straight-ish, the aero just holds the car back.
Last year I was just under 2:20 and seeing 118mph on the back straight, and 117 on the front straight. This year I'm seeing 116 on the back and 114 on the front. My competitors are seeing 120+ on both. The wing is slowing the car down. Worse yet, I had one of the supercharged Miatas behind me on the back straight, and he sucked up under my wing and passed me like I was tied to a tree. So not only does it slow my car down, but it speeds my competitors up. Decidedly not awesome.
So what to do? Do I run a supercharger at both tracks? The Chute (T4) at Summit Point is scary, and I do not really want to run that track without aero. But I'm not really interested in doing full motor-swaps between events.
The solution may be Stacey (the new car I bought last November). Stacey is currently getting a roll cage, and her development track had been to run in Chump then TTD/PTD. But nobody's racing PTD, and the registrations for TTD are consistently slim. So what if I built a Spec Vinny car out of her? Supercharger, TTE* with shocks, springs, LSD, and Hoosiers. One car for VIR, one car for Summit Point. One with power, one with aero.
In any other situation it would be a profound absurdity to consider, but I have two cars to run. And running the power car at VIR would save me from having to get dyno-ed for every single event, since temperature variations make a dramatic impact to horsepower.
After finishing a very close 3rd on Saturday (by less than .2 seconds), I came a very distant 3rd on Sunday--1.5 seconds out of contention for 2nd. Both cars that finished ahead of me were running with significant advantages: new rubber and superchargers. My car, meanwhile, was running on tires that were first mounted in February, and dealing with residual high-idle and overheating issues and a suspension setup that's always just been guessed at--never properly calibrated.
I knew going into the weekend that a win was out of reach, and that 2nd place may not happen either, but still, it was a shock to be beaten so soundly on Sunday.
But I learned a lot. And I mean a whole lot.
I learned that ballast cannot go behind the rear axle. I didn't think it was a good idea when I did it, but I really didn't want to risk interrupting fuel and brake lines to mount it in the driver's compartment. I will fix that for the next event. At one point a car braked quite early and off-line in front of me, causing me to swing right to avoid his bumper. When I turned the car back to the left for the corner, the back end washed out. Not cool. I removed the ballast and ran with extra fuel to prevent that happening again.
I learned that my wing does, indeed, cause significant understeer at corner-entry. It was nigh impossible to get the car to the apex of T1, though I was able to carry more speed than ever before into South Bend (95mph), and brake even later for T14.
I learned that urethane bushings don't make a car faster, they just reveal inefficiencies in your suspension setup. I had an off-line entry into T4 that, when I corrected with a touch of oversteer, caused the car to skitter across the track in a very unsettling series of bounces. At one point the horizon began to rotate and I had to do some very creative steering to get it back under control. The lower esses are just an exercise in bouncing, though it doesn't seem to affect top speed. I may need stiffer springs & shocks in the rear, though experiments with tire-pressure should help resolve that question.
I learned that I'm running too much negative camber. I've had a tire pyrometer for years and have never used it. This time I had K pull temps, and inners were 10 - 20 degrees higher than the rest of the tire surface.
The most important thing I learned, though, is that my car simply isn't competitive for VIR in its current configuration. And that's got me thinking about my plans for the other car. Bridget (orange) is very close to lap-record time at Summit Point, a track with significant time spent in corners. Aero is important at Summit Point, because without it, I cannot carry speed through Turns 3, 4, and 10, and braking into 1 and 5 are weak. But at VIR, with a 4000' straight-away and a whole lot of time spent going straight-ish, the aero just holds the car back.
Last year I was just under 2:20 and seeing 118mph on the back straight, and 117 on the front straight. This year I'm seeing 116 on the back and 114 on the front. My competitors are seeing 120+ on both. The wing is slowing the car down. Worse yet, I had one of the supercharged Miatas behind me on the back straight, and he sucked up under my wing and passed me like I was tied to a tree. So not only does it slow my car down, but it speeds my competitors up. Decidedly not awesome.
So what to do? Do I run a supercharger at both tracks? The Chute (T4) at Summit Point is scary, and I do not really want to run that track without aero. But I'm not really interested in doing full motor-swaps between events.
The solution may be Stacey (the new car I bought last November). Stacey is currently getting a roll cage, and her development track had been to run in Chump then TTD/PTD. But nobody's racing PTD, and the registrations for TTD are consistently slim. So what if I built a Spec Vinny car out of her? Supercharger, TTE* with shocks, springs, LSD, and Hoosiers. One car for VIR, one car for Summit Point. One with power, one with aero.
In any other situation it would be a profound absurdity to consider, but I have two cars to run. And running the power car at VIR would save me from having to get dyno-ed for every single event, since temperature variations make a dramatic impact to horsepower.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Last Day of Kindergarten
Today is Alastair's last day of Kindergarten. We're super excited for him, but last night I cried a little.
He's gotten to do a whole bunch of amazing things this year, made lots of new friends, and excelled in his academics. In all respects a good start to his schooling. But getting him to tell me about his day has been an epic struggle. All I ever get is his behavior report, a list of his recess playmates, and maybe what main class they had that day (if I'm lucky).
So I was really excited when I found out they'd been keeping journals at school. I figured the contents would be very basic, and they were, but they were so full of insights into my little guy. Insights I hadn't experienced before, which tore me up.
I realized last night while looking through his pictures that I'm already losing him. I know his favorite colors are blue and black, but I had no idea his favorite animal was the cheetah, or that it had at one point been the lion. Small details, but I used to think he told me everything. I learned that his favorite farm animals are cows, and that he thinks they're funny. His favorite reptile is the crocodile, and his little pictures of them are ADORABLE. He loved the zoo and Disney World and has really enjoyed the time he's gotten to spend with K. He even included her in his description of his favorite event of the school year: their second field trip on which K was a chaperone.
The fact that there could be so many revelations in a book of maybe (maybe) 20 short sentences and doodles just floored me. How could he have grown so much? How could he have secrets? Why doesn't he share with me? Have I created a wall between us? So many questions to fill my soul with self-doubt!
I know he loves me, and I know he tells me what he can think to tell me, and that there's a TON of stuff going on in that little head, but I want so desperately to share in every moment of his brief youth. But I also want him to be independent. Being a parent is the most wonderful miserable experience.
But enough of that: today I am infinitely proud of my little guy. 9 months ago he'd never done a full day of school, and in 3 months he'll be a first grader! Today, however, he's a kindergartner, and I'm gonna squeeze him and love him like crazy.
He's gotten to do a whole bunch of amazing things this year, made lots of new friends, and excelled in his academics. In all respects a good start to his schooling. But getting him to tell me about his day has been an epic struggle. All I ever get is his behavior report, a list of his recess playmates, and maybe what main class they had that day (if I'm lucky).
So I was really excited when I found out they'd been keeping journals at school. I figured the contents would be very basic, and they were, but they were so full of insights into my little guy. Insights I hadn't experienced before, which tore me up.
I realized last night while looking through his pictures that I'm already losing him. I know his favorite colors are blue and black, but I had no idea his favorite animal was the cheetah, or that it had at one point been the lion. Small details, but I used to think he told me everything. I learned that his favorite farm animals are cows, and that he thinks they're funny. His favorite reptile is the crocodile, and his little pictures of them are ADORABLE. He loved the zoo and Disney World and has really enjoyed the time he's gotten to spend with K. He even included her in his description of his favorite event of the school year: their second field trip on which K was a chaperone.
The fact that there could be so many revelations in a book of maybe (maybe) 20 short sentences and doodles just floored me. How could he have grown so much? How could he have secrets? Why doesn't he share with me? Have I created a wall between us? So many questions to fill my soul with self-doubt!
I know he loves me, and I know he tells me what he can think to tell me, and that there's a TON of stuff going on in that little head, but I want so desperately to share in every moment of his brief youth. But I also want him to be independent. Being a parent is the most wonderful miserable experience.
But enough of that: today I am infinitely proud of my little guy. 9 months ago he'd never done a full day of school, and in 3 months he'll be a first grader! Today, however, he's a kindergartner, and I'm gonna squeeze him and love him like crazy.
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