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What happens when you crash your car at the track?

You'll have fun driving a RX7 (FD) if you like the miata's handling.

The RX7 has a stiffer chassis and is fast.

Sorta like combining the good performance qualities of the NSX and Miata.

I always like FD btw. Thanks for reminding me. If I'm not FI phobic, I would probably get a RX7 in the 1st place... I had driven RX7 numerous times but none of them were tuned right.
 
to get the miata running in nsx lap time on a "real" track will cost you quite a bit. It can be done, as my freind's miata still smoked me, his miata is more expensive than my nsx though. ;)

Depends on the track. At Texas World speedway - 2.9 ml Roval, I am doing about 2:03's in the NSX and 2:05's in my SM(Spec Miata). A well sorted SM can do 2:01's on that track.

Btw, my SM - caged, gutted, vinyl graphics, race engineering spec motor, and 3 sets of wheels was for less than $15k. I still have the original Toyo's and just upgraded the pads after 18 months of track use.
 
LOL... OK... what's a Spec Miata? As opposed to a non-spec Miata?

The 1990-1993 1600cc, 1994-1997 1800cc and 1999-2005 1800cc Mazda Miata (2008 specifications) has been approved by the SCCA for Regional and National racing in all Divisions. The cars will be using a Bilstein shock with an adjustable coil-over suspension with Eibach springs and sway bars (front and rear, adjustable), steel braided brake lines. Toyo, Kumho, Hankook and Hoosier tires are in use in the various regions.

See also: http://www.specmiata.com/specifications.htm
 
What he said, re: Spec Miata.

Spec - in racing class terms just means that all the cars are the same (all the components are "specified".) Note he said Bilstein shock, not "aftermarket shock". Similarly, the engines are "stock" (very few mods allowed) and this helps to keept he costs down, cars relaible and the racing close.

Spec racing also tends to reward the best drivers more than those with the most money or some trick engineering accomplishment. Therefore, winning a "spec" class race over many entrants is a fairly significant accomplishment.
 
What happens when you crash your car at the track?

Usually you get to fix it. :smile:



This is a very important point. I don't think most of us "track junkies" can stop going to the track just because of the potential risk of damage/lack of coverage.

Hey, even pros have incidentals from time to time..... now what really counts here is your attitude. :biggrin:

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As I read in another thread here, there have been reports of many cars crashing right at the front gate to major motorsport tracks across North America.

Hmmph. Never heard about that epidemic, I'll pass that along at the next drivers meeting. :wink:

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Talked to a guy whose turbocharged Radical SR3 burned to the ground (fuel leak they think) while on track. No insurance and he probably had $100,000 in the car. IMHO, seems for $3,000 it would ahve been a wise investment.
Feff

Umm. So would have been the optional fire system for like $500.

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http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/Images/L/2465-006.JPG




Not sure about Acura, but I know that Subaru is very strict about this same type of thing. They will have 'undercover' reps at major race events to record license plates and vin numbers, just in case someone should report a blown trans, engine, etc. Yeah, I'm sure the ins co's are all over it, too.

Whatcha ganna do when they come for you? :biggrin:

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Re: Save the scenery for a family drive

Thunderhill has only one wall (turn 15) to be aware of. It's an extremely safe & fun track to learn on.

Noobs should kiss the T-Hill track (soon to be re-paved), especially if they've seen tracks like this in John's neck of the woods.

http://www.vimeo.com/1139893

Beautiful track that probably only dries out for a few days in August. :rolleyes: You gotta be tough to live and race in the Pacific NW. :biggrin:
 
Re: Save the scenery for a family drive

Noobs should kiss the T-Hill track (soon to be re-paved), especially if they've seen tracks like this in John's neck of the woods.

True. True. Pacific, Bremerton, and Mission are pretty shoddy and some-what unforgiving. Lots of hard things to hit. In the wet it puddles up. But really, what can you do? Since the re-pave, PIR is nice but we still lost 4 cars on one day not long ago. As others have said, it's not for the faint of heart.


Beautiful track that probably only dries out for a few days in August. :rolleyes:

Weather forcasts up here are worthless. Even out 12 hours is fruitless. Start of summer, it poured here most of last week. A lot of half and half days due to the convergence zone. Here's what we have to look forward to:

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You gotta be tough to live and race in the Pacific NW. :biggrin:

Oh yeah you know I get that a lot. Ted, let me tell you.... you gatta be a man's man. No girly starbucks sippin' men found around these parts. Work hard and play hard. Did you watch the last episode of axe men? A lot like that. :biggrin:



Sure. The orange formula libra. It's fast. Always kicking and taking names. Some day.

We were there that day for the double national. I ran crew for Eddie; he took first in SSB twice in a row, battling it out with Lance (a former IMSA & speed GT driver) in a very close race. We bet on a new set of hoosiers and it paid off, won two more sets. Threats of protests and glaring looks after a race is always a good sign.

I raced my Z that day. Here's the part I remember. They grouped all the regional & national closed wheel classes together for qualifying. Grid was packed- GT, GTL. My race tires hadn't arrived yet so I was on like used 615's. I was getting dive bombed by cup cars and tube frame corvettes three wide at like 150mph. I'm trying to get my boat slowed down and Walsh is still at WOT for the next three hundred feet. I couldn't get in a lap to count because I was busy trying to not get run over. Fun Fun.

On Sunday my race went ok, I can at least say I took second in class. Made someone work for it. No further details available. :wink:
 
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I may be using the wrong terminology, I am far from a pro or what I would even consider a highly accomplished driver on the track. I'll try to explain - Came out of the turn too hot and late turning left, hit the rumble strip with the right side of both tires, front then rear tire of course and caught a lot of traction, the car then what I refer to snaped or pulled the rear of the car around clockwise spinning me off the track rotating clock wise - 3 rotations. When I realized I couldn't correct with more power and turning, I just turned the wheel hard into the direction I was rotating like my instructor told me to in order to help rotate the car in the direction of the spin and hit the brakes and clutch.

It was definitely a good leason, this was actually on my second track event, just pushed the car and myself to hard. Experience is definitely measured in hours and not events, this was maybe my 8th hour out.

I was really learning how far I could push the NSX (even spun off the track once - late apexed a turn and snap over steer got the best of me).

That's very interesting. I've never heard of snap over steer from a late apex.
Maybe it was something else you did...like lifting or not unwinding the steering wheel..very interesting.
 
I may be using the wrong terminology, I am far from a pro or what I would even consider a highly accomplished driver on the track. I'll try to explain - Came out of the turn too hot and late turning left, hit the rumble strip with the right side of both tires, front then rear tire of course and caught a lot of traction, the car then what I refer to snaped or pulled the rear of the car around clockwise spinning me off the track rotating clock wise - 3 rotations. When I realized I couldn't correct with more power and turning, I just turned the wheel hard into the direction I was rotating like my instructor told me to in order to help rotate the car in the direction of the spin and hit the brakes and clutch.

It was definitely a good leason, this was actually on my second track event, just pushed the car and myself to hard. Experience is definitely measured in hours and not events, this was maybe my 8th hour out.

PUSH is the word here, from your discription, you clearly missed your apex, you weren't unwinding the wheel on your track out... or just simply say, you were overspeed into the corner...again, pushing yourself into doing something impossible... I do that on GT3,4 and now prologue ALL THE TIME. I just sent my beloved 430 on the air 6 spins last night......

But then again, I wouldn't do that in real life. As soon as you track more, the nsx is amazing of telling you what it will do and what not, you will develop a sense of how much you approaching the limit of the car.
 
I handled an insurance claim for someone who did exactly that after hitting the wall at the drag strip in Vegas. Last I heard, he was still sitting in prison.
I know ten people who did the exact same thing and DIDN'T. :rolleyes:

Ain't rocket science people...

The 4 commandments of filing a track claim to your regular ins. policy;

1) wipe off all window/track numbers, taped off lights, paint off a tracks retaining wall (if u hit that), etc. Track peraphanillia in general.

2) Do NOT have in towed off the track and just dumped "on the side of the road." This is the most foolish thing you could do. Becuase your vehicles damage won't correlate with skid marks or surrounding indictors (broken tree's, guardrail damage, torn up grass, etc.) Hence, you just have it towed to your house then call in the claim AFTER you do that. At that point its easy to cherry pick the perfect place that would leave little to no accident indicators should they ask to see the site of the accident (which most ins companies WON'T anyway) Saying you swerved to avoid hitting a dear is just one excuse, in some ins companies thats even considered no fault*

3) If asked, you didn't call or file a police report becuase there wasn't any other vehicles or people involved, you were the only one in the car, and you saw no reason to get the cops involved as you didn't sustain any injuries either and were fine.

4) Lastly, and most important* ...pay CASH for any and all track events you plan on attending/running at. How stupid would you look IF they were to check your credit card records to see "Virginia International Raceway - VIR, DE reservation fee's" a day or two before you coincidentally called in a totalled sportscar...lol. Use your head people...

Consider this a gift, happy tracking!! :biggrin:


~ Former Geico claims underwriter*











*Disclaimer: I am not encouraging anyone to defraud any insurance companies, always be honest when filing a claim, I personally have never and would never defraud any insurance companies or perform any illegal acts. All the information I have provided is for entertainment purposes only. No illegal acts or behavior is intended. :smile:
 
I know ten people who did the exact same thing and DIDN'T. :rolleyes:

Ain't rocket science people...

The 4 commandments of filing a track claim to your regular ins. policy;

1) wipe off all window/track numbers, taped off lights, paint off a tracks retaining wall (if u hit that), etc. Track peraphanillia in general.

2) Do NOT have in towed off the track and just dumped "on the side of the road." This is the most foolish thing you could do. Becuase your vehicles damage won't correlate with skid marks or surrounding indictors (broken tree's, guardrail damage, torn up grass, etc.) Hence, you just have it towed to your house then call in the claim AFTER you do that. At that point its easy to cherry pick the perfect place that would leave little to no accident indicators should they ask to see the site of the accident (which most ins companies WON'T anyway) Saying you swerved to avoid hitting a dear is just one excuse, in some ins companies thats even considered no fault*

3) If asked, you didn't call or file a police report becuase there wasn't any other vehicles or people involved, you were the only one in the car, and you saw no reason to get the cops involved as you didn't sustain any injuries either and were fine.

4) Lastly, and most important* ...pay CASH for any and all track events you plan on attending/running at. How stupid would you look IF they were to check your credit card records to see "Virginia International Raceway - VIR, DE reservation fee's" a day or two before you coincidentally called in a totalled sportscar...lol. Use your head people...

Consider this a gift, happy tracking!! :biggrin:


~ Former Geico claims underwriter*











*Disclaimer: I am not encouraging anyone to defraud any insurance companies, always be honest when filing a claim, I personally have never and would never defraud any insurance companies or perform any illegal acts. All the information I have provided is for entertainment purposes only. No illegal acts or behavior is intended. :smile:

Good advice. Yep, this guy was driving a Viper at the dragstrip, lost control and hit the wall. Had a friend tow him to the side of the road out in the desert. Called 911 saying a phantom suburban ran him off the road. Taken by ambulance to the hosptial complaining of back pain. Checked out and released. We totalled the car. (must have been an idiot auto adjuster to not see the white paint all over the side of the car.)

The thing is, he later bragged about it. You know what they say. If you want to keep a secret, kill yourself. One of the people he bragged to called to let us know. We started looking into it and everything snowballed from there. False insurance claim, false police report, mail fraud (signed our insurance forms and sent them through the mail, and there were a few others which I can't remember)
 
Good advice. Yep, this guy was driving a Viper at the dragstrip, lost control and hit the wall. Had a friend tow him to the side of the road out in the desert. Called 911 saying a phantom suburban ran him off the road. Taken by ambulance to the hosptial complaining of back pain. Checked out and released. We totalled the car. (must have been an idiot auto adjuster to not see the white paint all over the side of the car.)

The thing is, he later bragged about it. You know what they say. If you want to keep a secret, kill yourself. One of the people he bragged to called to let us know. We started looking into it and everything snowballed from there. False insurance claim, false police report, mail fraud (signed our insurance forms and sent them through the mail, and there were a few others which I can't remember)
OMG, what a moron...rofl!!! I'm sure he gave you guys a good chuckle. You should use his story on that show "world's most stupid criminals" lol. He did so many things wrong I wouldn't know where to begin...a textbook example of what NOT to do if ever attempting to file a false claim... (or anything illegal for that matter, lol)
 
I would feel safe on a track with almost no walls and no guard rails. If you spin out and you hit dirt and gravel, you will be allright. Right?

But how many tracks are like that? can anyone name a few?
Gingerman (MI)
Putnam Park (IN)
Spring Mountain (NV)
Motorsport Ranch (TX)
Roebling Road (GA)
Mid-America Motorplex (IA)
BeaveRun (PA)
 
Larry,
[ I'm waiting for my instructor(s) to give me the green light to enter Low Intermediate by the end of this season. BE CAREFULL WHAT YOU WISH FOR IT COULD HAPPEN:biggrin:

BTW,
I've seen most track incidents occurring at the end of the day (last session) when a driver becomes fatigued and tries to get in one last run:rolleyes:[/QUOTE] This is true, you are on your way


Steve
 
Re: Just when you least expect it

How about this for a sad story. I was at T-Hill with NCRC/ARC this weekend. It was an ARC race weekend and they asked me to evaluate a guy who wanted to be accepted to race with the club. He had a nice race ready M-3, all the best personal equipment and 40-60 track days under his belt. Besides being modest, he made it clear that he only wanted to know if he was good enough to race and that he was not ready to race this weekend because he had just gotten married, was buying a house etc and didn't need the stress of a first race. OK, sounded pretty level headed to me. So we do 4-5 laps in the advanced (open passing) group and he's pushing it like he's in a race, but he's showing excellent car control and good judgement when passing slower traffic. We chat about a couple of different lines he should try but overall he's definitely ARC race material.

Then up in T-9, he makes a little mistake and does a lazy half spin on the exit. We're on the racing line, but at the top of the hill, highly visible and right in front of the corner worker. We wave at the corner worker that we're cool, and sit there 8-10 seconds, waiting for traffic to clear and he's saying he was distracted by a low oil pressure light that came on. Again, 8-10 seconds, plenty of time for anyone coming along to see us and the waving yellow flag. But here comes 2 Porsches nose to tail, still at speed. The lead car sees us at the last second and does a wild evasive maneuver, but the second car, a very clean GT-3 plows right into our left front at about 65 mph. I don't know, but if it's less than $10k to fix, I'll be surprised.

So, here's my guy trying to take care of himself as best he could, and he gets victimized by "advanced" drivers missing a waving yellow. Phuquing inexcusable.
 
Just read the latest news bulletin....DE death this past May. Be smart and careful out there.

NASA regretfully announces passing of Joe Drey

Posted May 27, 2008

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) regretfully announces that Joe Drey of San Juan Capistrano, CA has succumbed to injuries suffered in an accident on May 24, 2008 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. Joe was participating in a NASA event behind the wheel of his beloved Mini Cooper S and despite the best efforts of the rescue team onsite and the medical teams at the hospital, he has now left us.

Joe started racing at 15 enjoying street drags with his friends. He got into formal track racing with an early 60's Corvette when he was in his early 20's. He eventually transitioned into Porsches, owning several over 3 decades and racing them all over California with a trailer and his own crew consisting of his two sons. As he got older he pulled away from the sport and it wasn't until the new Mini came out and he got the 9th one off the boat that his passion welled up in him again. He began immediately modifying the car and loading up on gear while frequenting his favorite track Willow Springs and taking courses including two trainings with Bob Bondurant.
 
Just read the latest news bulletin....DE death this past May. Be smart and careful out there.

NASA regretfully announces passing of Joe Drey

Posted May 27, 2008

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) regretfully announces that Joe Drey of San Juan Capistrano, CA has succumbed to injuries suffered in an accident on May 24, 2008 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. Joe was participating in a NASA event behind the wheel of his beloved Mini Cooper S and despite the best efforts of the rescue team onsite and the medical teams at the hospital, he has now left us.

That's horrible.

A Mini Cooper S.... I never thought you could go fast enough in one to hurt yourself? :confused: :biggrin:
 
Re: The car is cheap compared to doctors

saw this happen a couple weeks back at Buttonwillow. Judging from this thread the guy is probably out a lot of money for his nice M3.......and the ambulance did take him away (although they said he was fine) so I guess he will pay that out of pocket as well.

And at the opening meeting the instructor was mentioning that the prior weekend a car went off into the dirt and flipped............

Yikes........be careful out there......

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