Tag Archives: TDE

MR2 Spyder Track Day at MSR Cresson

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This past weekend was my first “real” track day with the MR2 Spyder.  Following numerous mechanical issues, such as the coolant leaks, I finally had the car sorted enough to attempt a full track weekend.  I had recently taken the car to TWS for an Open Track Day, which wasn’t that productive other than getting the brakes bedded in.  It had revealed that the alignment was completely out of whack, which anyone could see just using their Mk-1  Eyeball.  So I had it aligned locally to -3.0F and -2.5R camber, with zero toe on the front and just a smidgen of toe-in on the rear.  The results were pretty dramatic, the car was now “driveable”.  That said, it was still very prone to oversteer, especially under braking.  I had to unlearn my trail-braking technique that was so critical with the M Coupe, and only brake in a straight line.  Any amount of braking with steering input would result in a horrific tail swing.

MR2 chased by Porsche 911All the car photos can be found here.

Most of Saturday was spent just getting used to the car’s tendencies, and relearning the proper line.  I’ve only driven the 3.1 configuration once before, and that was as a Green student in the M Coupe.  I was now in the Yellow run group, and soloing most of the time.  My instructor rode with me two sessions on Saturday, which was very helpful, other than the car being so damn loud that we couldn’t really hear each other on throttle.  He rode again with me one session on Sunday, and I even took a ride with him in a rental Camaro SS.  After the Spyder, the Camaro was like riding a Lazy Boy around the track.  Of course it’s handling was more akin to the M Coupes, requiring trailbraking to set the front and get it to rotate.

Here’s a video of my final session on Sunday, where I set my best time of 2:35.  That’s over 13 seconds faster than what I did in the M Coupe.  I’m not sure that’s very impressive, given that I’m now on NT01 tires and have a much better power-to-weight ratio.  Watch the entire video to see how the rear continues to get looser as the session goes on.  The heat was really building in the rears more than the front.

All in all it was a very fun weekend and a great learning experience.  I know I have a lot of things to work on, and the car needs a little help in the suspension setup department.  I really need to increase the grip at the rear end.  With the new square setup, the car easily (too easily much of time) rotates.  The front end goes wherever the steering wheel points it, with absolutely no hint of understeer.  That’s a huge difference when compared to the M Coupe.  I also need to get a better feel for the shifter action.  The gates are tighter, which can make mis-shifts easy.  The engine also has to be spun up to really produce power, which necessitates more shifts and use of 2nd gear in slow corners.  Hopefully I can get the car to another OTD or some other test n’ tune session to work on setup.

Texas World Speedway Track Day with The Driver’s Edge

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Dad in M Coupe at TWS

Nope that’s not me, and that’s not my M Coupe.  My parents came for a visit over the past couple weeks, two weeks ago we attended the ALMS and WEC races at COTA.  This past weekend we went up to Texas World Speedway for a couple of track days with The Driver’s Edge.  This was the first opportunity my folks have had to see exactly what all this track mess was about.  I’m not sure what they were expecting, but I think they were pleasantly surprised at the organization, people, and quality/variety of cars that show up.  My father attended the Saturday event with me, leaving the house in the dark at 0500 to make it to College Station for registration.  The weather outlook for the weekend was pretty bleak, calling for rain on and off both days.  The first session was pouring, resulting in very low speeds and nearly no passing, single file traffic.  My instructor, James, suggested running the dry line in anticipation of it drying out.  Fortunately it did, and I was better prepared for it.  The lap times kept coming down as the track dried.  In my third run I had one minor off track incident, where I came up on slower traffic way too quickly, driving the normal line and putting myself right up the rear of a Mustang.  I was forced to go wide into the grass, fortunately it wasn’t too water logged, and I was able to drive straight and back on the track. (Check my Driver’s Logbook for videos)

M Coupe pit lane at TWS Coupe Packed

Later in the day I convinced my father to take a charity ride, which are simply rides with instructors for non-participants, paying $25 towards a charity.  He’s an old Army pilot, so I figured he could hang, but he didn’t look so well after getting back, insisting that I not let my mother take a ride the next day.  One positive, he was able to take a ride in an M Coupe similar to mine, though the driver really knew what he was doing and was easily hanging with much quicker cars.  I tried to see if my father would take another ride, but he wasn’t up to it!  I did hand him the keys for the parade lap over lunch, unfortunately the sky opened up on us.  At the end of the day my instructor asked if I felt comfortable solo’ing the next day, and of course I said yes!  The next day my mother went with me to the track, the weather was more of the same.  I solo’d on my second and fourth sessions, it was nice to drive the track alone, and I ended up putting down my best time ever in the fourth session.  I even took my mother out on the slalom course to see how she would handle it prior to possibly doing a charity ride… yeah that didn’t happen.  All in all, despite the weather, it was an excellent event.  I haven’t been disappointed by The Driver’s Edge and TWS CCW has grown on me, of course my last time there resulted in near-heat stroke.

Cleaning the Coupe's Windows Mom in the Coupe

The Driver’s Edge at Motorsports Ranch Cresson 7-8SEP13

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I normally try to get these posts up a little sooner, right after the event if at all possible.  Unfortunately I’ve been sidetracked with work on the MR2 and cleaning house in anticipation for my folks (and dog) visiting this week for the ALMS race at COTA.  I’ve already posted up the paddock photo gallery, as well as a number of videos from the event.  This wasn’t my first time at Motorsports Ranch (MSR), but it was my first time driving the large 3.1 mile configuration.  I’d heard a lot of stories about this configuration, from the horrific engine blow-up to the spinning off in to the tire walls.  But one thing everyone agreed on; it’s one of the best tracks out there, and they were right.  I was spared any mechanical issues, my previous fix on the front coilovers held up just fine.  One thing that did rear its ugly head again; brake fade.  The same soft pedal (indicating fluid, not pads, was the issue) that I experienced on the second day at Texas World Speedway (TWS) was back again, despite bleeding the day prior.  That was my last try with ATE SuperBlue, so I dropped the car off at Performance Speed Tech (PST) at 0700 on Sunday for a flush and fill with some Motul 600.  The second day I had no fade, despite turning much quicker lap times, perhaps due to a boost in confidence.

Leading an RX-7, Boxtter, and BRZ at MSR Cresson

This was my second event with The Driver’s Edge (TDE), and I have to say they put on a fantastic event.  Their classroom sessions are lively and informative (I sat through Green and Blue), everyone is extremely friendly, and everything is well organized.  I definitely recommend anyone interested in trying out a track day or driver’s education (DE) to look into TDE.  I had already been promoted to Blue group after my last event, but they were full, so I begged to get a slot in Green.  It was probably were I needed to be anyways, as I had never driven the configuration and was planning on bringing the MR2.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the MR2 ready in time, so I packed the back of the M Coupe and drove up Friday night.  I ended up staying in Granbury, the nearest civilization to Cresson, and only about 10min away.  It’s a neat town, with a lake right in town, which my hotel was on.

As for the driving, other than the first session spent behind the slowest and longest train I’ve ever seen, it was a complete blast.  I didn’t really get that into the 1.7, but the 3.1 was is tons of fun.  Lots of variety, elevation changes, on/off camber corners, slow speed esses, and one completely blind crest/corner.  There are lots of passing areas, and speeds stay in the reasonable 100mph range.  So far (out of Harris Hill, TWS, and MSR 1.7) this is my favorite track.  The surface is smoother than TWS and way more than Harris Hill, so my head wasn’t bouncing off the ceiling.  And as with every track event, there was a great variety of cars to stare at, and the instructors were top notch as well.  Probably this best part; no heat stroke.  It was still in the upper 90s, but some very regimented hydrating and a cooling scarf made a world of difference.

Trying to stay out in front of a quick BRZ.