GSlender's Track Beeotch!

[Magpie]

I say the camera is on the helmet.

Looks like your were fighting the car for control G. Hopefully be seeing you at the track more in 2016.

[rascal]

Footage from a camera helmet is usually REALLY painful to watch as the image jumps around all over the place as people move their head around. Especially when filming street footage,as they look left and right at intersections, etc.

You kept your head quite still. Probably best helmet footage I've seen for while.. Good job..

[Trackphotos]

Could be another half second quicker again if you put the roof up :p Good stuff.

[gslender]

Looks like your were fighting the car for control G. Hopefully be seeing you at the track more in 2016.

Nah, it is me learning the grip levels and getting used to the behavior of the car... I'm not pushing it that hard and it looks worse than what the car is to drive. I've not had as much track time as you yet. I know if I chilled out more and drove it smoothly I'd probably knock another second or two easily... I'm also not 100% happy with the level of front end grip - too soft/vague and would prefer it with a touch more grip/response.

Could be another half second quicker again if you put the roof up :p Good stuff.

At this stage I'm still not full throttle through the kink or bus-stop and the engine pulls plenty strong to go harder, so for now I'll enjoy the sun!

Keen for any tips on lines, I see there is a split on whether to take turn 2 from the left side or hug the right. Some people hug the right side (off centre) and turn in early, others go left, and turn late drifting slightly to make the exit through the next apex a little straighter up hill.

I'm also trying to work out how best to tackle hungry... ??? thoughts???

[MXO005]

I'm also trying to work out how best to tackle hungry... ??? thoughts???

From a complete novice (me) but this is what I remember from Doug's talk/walk around the track re Hungry.

Coming down from the bridge you use the track warning light or the J of Jones on the Jan Jones advertising board (outside the final turn onto the straight) as sighting markers.
This gets you to the outside of the track at least 50 metres before Hungry.
Straighten up and drive parallel to the edge of the track before braking and turning in. Doug's advice was "if you are going to be turning towards 10 o'clock then it is much better to be doing it from a position of already pointing at 12 o'clock rather than 2 o'clock". Watching a few others later you could see that they were heading directly to their turn in point and therefore making the actual turn at Hungry much bigger.

I can't remember the exact white curb marker that you aim for as the apex (most corners it was the third one) but Doug pointed out that it was the one that had the thick layer of rubber on it's edge and to take this particular patch of rubber (as opposed to earlier tyre marks pointing at walls ) as an indication that you were in the right spot.

As said before I'm a complete newbie and there is already youtube evidence of my excursion. So take my "tips' with a pinch of salt.

[gslender]

...and it wasn't all smiles and unicorns!

[MXO005]

Nice save

Doug's tip for Karousel was stay out wide on the left for the approach, count the "floating" tyre barriers and adjust your braking point according to them.
Turn in around about the final tyre barrier.
If you get it right you should be holding the wheel steady right through both corners and exit close to the edge of the "drain" kerb.
If you're fighting the wheel or making constant adjustments then you've got it wrong. Advice was to back off as MX5's will correct themselves
If you get anywhere near the outside edge of the track anywhere except the exit then you've probably turned in too early.

Looks like you dodged one there.

Jamal was very honest with the clip he's put up on youtube. Can't believe he got away with his one. That kerb looks evil.
Kept laughing through everything though

[Trackphotos]

Nicely saved Grant, perfect catch. No overcorrection, no throwing hands all over the wheel, just reacted exactly as quickly as you needed to and powered through until it was straight.

Straighten up and drive parallel to the edge of the track before braking and turning in. Doug's advice was "if you are going to be turning towards 10 o'clock then it is much better to be doing it from a position of already pointing at 12 o'clock rather than 2 o'clock". Watching a few others later you could see that they were heading directly to their turn in point and therefore making the actual turn at Hungry much bigger.

I can see the merit in that theory, but loading up the right side suspension by having a small amount of left lock means when you begin to turn in for Hungry, you aren't having to load the suspension as suddenly as if you were starting your turn in with your wheels straight. It also means less distance to travel since you're drawing a straighter line than you would be by running out to the edge, straightening up, and then starting your turn in. I prefer to draw a straight line from the bridge until the braking point, using the ripple strip and pointing straight toward the flag marshall point.

If you get it right you should be holding the wheel steady right through both corners and exit close to the edge of the "drain" kerb.
If you're fighting the wheel or making constant adjustments then you've got it wrong. Advice was to back off as MX5's will correct themselves
If you get anywhere near the outside edge of the track anywhere except the exit then you've probably turned in too early.

There are two apexes through karussel, but as you say, if you get it right you can treat it as a single corner, with minimal steering lock adjustment. I feel that 'sawing' at the wheel like Grant did in the slide clip (before it let go) is definitely a sign that you're not in complete control of where the car is headed. The first apex is in the middle of the first ripplestrip, but the second apex is actually slightly after the middle of the second ripplestrip. It's very easy to get the first half dead on, and then find that you're apexing slightly too early on the exit and pushing yourself wide, having to turn too tightly and losing too much speed to stay on the track. And of course, with the entire back 'straight' being full throttle from karussel until Hungry, exit speed is absolutely critical. Ideally you need to be on the power between the two apexes, using the extra speed to alter your line to apex later before exiting.

I'm also trying to work out how best to tackle hungry... ??? thoughts???

There are two lines there, I'm undecided which is faster for low powered cars. You can either apex early and push the car right out to the ripplestrip, maximising your corner speed for Hungry but minimising the size of your corner arc through eastern loop, or you can apex late, carry less speed through Hungry and have a wider, faster line through eastern loop. I feel like the early apex, higher speed up the hill offsets the tighter line in eastern loop, particularly since the inside line through eastern loop will also minimise the physical distance you have to travel to get through the corner. That line does give less room for error though, since if you run wide, you're on the grass and have very little time to pull it back onto the track before turning into eastern loop.

Here's onboard from a 64.0 of mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS4oCA8D2Gc

Karussel braking/line at 0:14-0:27. I got that one a little wrong, you can see I apexed slightly early there.
Bridge/crest/Hungry lines at 0:37-0:49. Reasonably close to how I'd prefer, maybe a little too slow entering Hungry.
Eastern loop line from 0:49-0:59. Tighter line than entering the loop from the left side of track, which means lower corner speed. It also means shorter distance to travel, which seems to work for me.

[MXO005]

Thanks for the reply Trackphotos.
From your reply there is obviously a lot more involved than could possibly be told to first timer in an hour or so and I may also have done Doug a disservice with my selective memory quotes
I'm just desperate to get involved and get back out there

Looking at more of the racing footage available it's amazing to see the different lines that can be taken and yet small groups of cars are still staying in such close contention with one another.

[tbro]

Grant,
You need to get out of that habit of having your thumbs wrapped around the steering wheel.

Buy a set of good gloves and it will be easier to develop the habit of thumbs outside/on top the wheel.

[gslender]

Had the car at the alignment shop today!

I went with the SuperMiata Race Alignment which is...

Ride height: 3.75~ 4.5" front pinch weld height with rear .25" higher.
Front camber: -3.5° (or as close as you can get to it)
Caster: >+4.5° or max available once you reach camber targets
Front total toe: 0
Rear camber: -3.0°
Rear total toe: +1/16~1/8"

I was able to get settings exactly on spec, but boy the front is low... I'm gonna have to roll the guards or do something to stop chewing up the front tyres!!

G

[Trackphotos]

Wish I could get 3deg camber :/ that'll feel very pointy.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

[gslender]

Wish I could get 3deg camber :/ that'll feel very pointy.

Lower it and you will !!

G

[ndragun]

Rolling the guards is pretty easy. I had to do it with mine due to the bigger offset 6ULs and lowered XIDAs. If you ever come and pick up those brake pads there is a guard roller in the pile of bits that you're welcome to borrow ;)

[Trackphotos]

Wish I could get 3deg camber :/ that'll feel very pointy.

Lower it and you will !!

G

It's already as low as it should be for a track like Lakeside. Need a decent amount of suspension travel.