:. Racing .:. 2005/03/24 - Second Creek
Results: *none*
Writeup/Notes:
Another Wednesday outing. After watching the weather nervously with Jeff all morning, we decided to heat out, and hit the track just after noon.
After re-setting some of the suspension settings to baselines, the car feels a little bit better. I was able to cut exactly 1 second off of my previous best - down to 1:10.53 - and better still, did several laps in the 1:10's. My consistency is getting better, especially with the brakes.
The car still has a pretty bad push, but I am attributing that mostly to old tires, and the zero rake in the ride heights. The tires are old enough that they take about 4-5 laps to even get up to much usable temperature. Other possibilities might be too much rear wing, but I don't really know yet. Will be fun to try, but I imagine that new tires and lowering the front of the car will mostly solve the understeer.
Jeff came out in his Cheetah, and we held our own private club race, running back-to-back with eachother. It's as close as either of us will get to club racing this year, I think. He clearly had more stick in the corners than I did, but it looks like I was able to pull him in the straights. All that means is that we'll each come back with faster cars next time and duel again!
The car felt noticably better over bumps etc - much softer response by shocks with the reduced rebound and gas pressure. Still had understeer, although didn't seem as bad as last time. Pushed in Turn 1, 88th, and coming out of house. Not so bad in Spectator, although maybe I'm just not going fast enough?
Put rear bar on full hard at mid-day, seemed to help some. Lower ride height (car was as low as it could go on the 8" springs) caused no problems. Looks like heights were actually around 2 5/8" front, not the 2 3/8 I had hoped (with said long springs), so the car still needs more rake. Need to move to shorter springs F/R to go any lower. Will wait to see how existing spring rates work for Solo though, and then decide what rates to buy.
Changed brake bias towards the rear, as locking fronts was still much to easy. (had small off chasing Jeff) Car now seems *just* a bit loose under the brakes, so we may need to go the other direction, especially when I put on grippier tires & transfer more weight w/ brakes. Dash adjustable bias bar would be huge.
Personal goal is to get into 1:09's next time, on these old tires. If I can do that, then I think some new stickies will be worth at least a second, hopefully more, and that would get me into the 1:08/1:07 range. The SCR track record is held by Travis Duder (man that guy gets around!) with a 1:06.4, and the Speads did a 1:06.2 running as a CSR.
Long ways to go, but lots of detail work to do to get the car faster, and lots of practice behind the wheel too. Lots of Hoosiers to burn through learning to drive this thing.
Didn't think the smiles-per-mile could be much higher than it was with the 'vette, but this car is fantastic fun!
Ideas for next time: Play with brake bias some more. Try dialing *out* some rear wing to see if that cures some of the push. Try to be flat (or at least just a lift) through Kamikazee. (time to be picked up in that area of the track. Perhaps play with the shock settings a bit as Per Caroll Smith. Get some tire timeps to see how alignment and pressures are. Shorter springs to properly set ride heights. Note: Be sure to take some spare tires once I've got a jack!
NEW CHANGES:
- Reduced gas pressure in shocks
- Lower ride height (still no rake)
- rebound set at -15/-13
- Changed bar to full hard midday
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