Redline held their second east coast Time Attack this weekend at Shenandoah Circuit at Summit Point, WV. Some say it's one of the most technical courses in the nation. Fast straights, lots of elevation change, tight corners and a large concrete banked turn that the Nurbergring if famous for.
There are three classes: Unlimited, Modified and Street. The biggest difference between these were the tire compounds allowed in each. Each of these classes had drivetrain based sub divisions, AWD, RWD and FWD. The first day would consist of four 25 minute practice sessions, two the following Sunday morning, and finally two Time Attack sessions in the afternoon. The Time Attack sessions are the only times that matter. Each driver does 5 laps, a warm up, 3 hot laps and a cool down. After all the classes have ran two Time Attack sessions they hold awards ceremonies providing free dinner and drinks.
At the previous Time Attack this year I managed to pull off 2nd place in RWD Modified class, running RT615's against other cars equipped with RA1's and V700's. They changed the rules allowing the NSX to compete in street class. It was on.
Thinking about this further I realized that my staggered tire setup along with my lack of suspension modification was not going to help at all. I decided to keep the front RT-615 215/40's on the car but mount the stock sized 225/50/16 Hankook RS2 tire on the rear. I figured this would dial out a lot of the prevelant understeer. Yes, but still, the tight off camber downhill turns were horrible! The car plowed badly, changing my line did little, I was basically forced to slow down a lot and rely on powering out of those turns. I can't imagine how it would have been with an even greater stagger in tire size!
After struggling with the car to get it rotating I had the problem of being able to apply the power. On a lot of the turns it's off camber increasing then decreasing radius turns(two of which lead to long straights). The problem was that after pussy footing through the other off camber turns I'd have to be easy through these faster sections since the Hankook tires turned greasy quick and would not hold the rear end stable.
On to the competition. There was one S2000 that had all the NA bolt-ons plus some other goodies- namely the Amuse wide front fenders allowing the use of 255/40/17's on all four corners! Combined with coilovers and a little bit of good driving the car was running mid 1:46's at the end of the first Time Attack session. Me? In 3rd with a 1:47"4 and 2nd was an LS1 Camaro SS at 1:47 flat. I felt I was driving my ass off to get it down to that time.
The second Time Attack session came and went, the car felt just as slow as previous however they withold these times until the awards ceremonies for suspense. So on to those. They anounced Street RWD class second. In third place with a 1:46.XXX was the Camaro SS. In 2nd place, with a 1:45.8 -me! Holy crap! I really don't know what I did differently. Wow! Everything after this is pointless to mention. I had a great weekend and learned a few things too:
First, I need swaybars. A lot of body roll, everywhere.
Second, I need more camber in the front. A lot of it.
Third, my passenger side CV joint is leaking badly, but it looks as though the cover may have just slid off somehow. I'll have to check it out in a bit.
I will be attending as many of their events as I can, they are well organized, fun and great people!
1st Place Street RWD:
AMS Evo 8: Ran a 2nd fastest overall lap time of 1:32.XXX
There are three classes: Unlimited, Modified and Street. The biggest difference between these were the tire compounds allowed in each. Each of these classes had drivetrain based sub divisions, AWD, RWD and FWD. The first day would consist of four 25 minute practice sessions, two the following Sunday morning, and finally two Time Attack sessions in the afternoon. The Time Attack sessions are the only times that matter. Each driver does 5 laps, a warm up, 3 hot laps and a cool down. After all the classes have ran two Time Attack sessions they hold awards ceremonies providing free dinner and drinks.
At the previous Time Attack this year I managed to pull off 2nd place in RWD Modified class, running RT615's against other cars equipped with RA1's and V700's. They changed the rules allowing the NSX to compete in street class. It was on.
Thinking about this further I realized that my staggered tire setup along with my lack of suspension modification was not going to help at all. I decided to keep the front RT-615 215/40's on the car but mount the stock sized 225/50/16 Hankook RS2 tire on the rear. I figured this would dial out a lot of the prevelant understeer. Yes, but still, the tight off camber downhill turns were horrible! The car plowed badly, changing my line did little, I was basically forced to slow down a lot and rely on powering out of those turns. I can't imagine how it would have been with an even greater stagger in tire size!
After struggling with the car to get it rotating I had the problem of being able to apply the power. On a lot of the turns it's off camber increasing then decreasing radius turns(two of which lead to long straights). The problem was that after pussy footing through the other off camber turns I'd have to be easy through these faster sections since the Hankook tires turned greasy quick and would not hold the rear end stable.
On to the competition. There was one S2000 that had all the NA bolt-ons plus some other goodies- namely the Amuse wide front fenders allowing the use of 255/40/17's on all four corners! Combined with coilovers and a little bit of good driving the car was running mid 1:46's at the end of the first Time Attack session. Me? In 3rd with a 1:47"4 and 2nd was an LS1 Camaro SS at 1:47 flat. I felt I was driving my ass off to get it down to that time.
The second Time Attack session came and went, the car felt just as slow as previous however they withold these times until the awards ceremonies for suspense. So on to those. They anounced Street RWD class second. In third place with a 1:46.XXX was the Camaro SS. In 2nd place, with a 1:45.8 -me! Holy crap! I really don't know what I did differently. Wow! Everything after this is pointless to mention. I had a great weekend and learned a few things too:
First, I need swaybars. A lot of body roll, everywhere.
Second, I need more camber in the front. A lot of it.
Third, my passenger side CV joint is leaking badly, but it looks as though the cover may have just slid off somehow. I'll have to check it out in a bit.
I will be attending as many of their events as I can, they are well organized, fun and great people!
1st Place Street RWD:
AMS Evo 8: Ran a 2nd fastest overall lap time of 1:32.XXX
