SOWS 4/30 report. Big Wanda's first true track day video

[Chad-1stGen]

I've only uploaded one video so far.

However, here is the the raw footage of Big Wanda in action at streets of willow springs raceway!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmZXo4IJZSs

Don't mind the idiot who is attempting to actually give instruction ha ha

For those who have seen the tasteful tow hook thread recently you know the day could of ended better. The bright side is:

Doug popped his track cherry
While windy and colder temps in the morning we had very nice temps during the middle of the day (high's of low 70's)
I knocked a second off my previous best time to get into the 1:32's despite the addition of hay bales to make the Chicane even scarier. Doug's best was in the 1:35's. Anyone else run the full SOWS track CW before? What kind of times?
Despite my failure to install a baffled pan I had zero oil pressure issues :)
My rear Nitto NT05's are finally warn down enough to start getting slippery. I finally was able to get some oversteer going in some 2nd gear turns using my 280 hp loud pedal :)

Looking forward to the 15th and hoping that somehow Doug get's his car fixed in time!

[Chad-1stGen]

Thread wouldn't be complete without one of my token Harry's LapTimer vids :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhUIp-YQIvo

[79-TA]

A spin with an open diff? tisk tisk . . . just kidding, it happens.

How did the TH350 hold up? Does Doug run any kind of extra transmission cooler? What went wrong with the car at the end of the video?


My biggest reservation with the Trans Am has been transmission temperatures. Short 10 minute sessions like at RTTC are no big deal, but I don't know how it would cope with a longer session.

Thanks for the videos, Chad!

[Chad-1stGen]

Hey Brett. I don't know what kind of cooler doug has. I'd be really suprisee if he doesn't have one. May e he will chime in here.

A full session on the track will heat your car like nothing else! I don't remember paying a lot of attempt gion to my odometer on track days before but yesterday I put over 70 miles on the car from just track driving in just 3 sessions!!! So yeah 20+ miles or 20 minutes of extended high rpm driving will do a number on the car. Funnest automotive thing you can do bar none though.

Speaking of dogs trans he thinks the torque converter might be the culprit. In the video you see us pulling off because of a really bad vibration that appeared to be driveline related.

Doug was thinking about attempting to limp home but while in the outs going over the car we also figured out he threw one v belt and rolled another which apparently damaged the pulley or waterpump. So it became tow truck time. :(

[Chad-1stGen]

Oh and I'd love for you to bring the trans am out to a track day. I share your trans concerns though. You would need to fix the heat/smoking issues for sure before hitting a track. Id seriously consider investing in a trans temp gauge if you want to do track days given your trans history :)

Heck I've been thinking about an oil temp guage for my motor.

[DFRESH]

Thanks for putting up the video brother! That was a great first attempt, minus the carnage--which I don't know what has happend yet. I am suspicious of everything at this point. Will disconnect torque converter from motor and see if vibration goes away. If so, then trans/gear vendors will come out and start the process of elimination. If vibration is still there, then motor and everything thing comes out.

[Chad-1stGen]

Just got done playing with the data overlay on one of my 1:32 lap times. My first time pulling sustained lateral G's in excess of 0.90 since using Harry's Laptimer

Check out this lap from yesterday.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/05/23346894048_large-1.jpg

Compared to my previous best lap from a couple of weeks ago.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/04/23346894038_large-1.jpg

MOAR red! ha ha

I can't wait to get the rear bar on :)

[rrunner68]

Total bummer about Dougs trans. But it highlights why I wanted to get away from the auto. I went through 4 of those stupid things last year.

[LM7_67]

oh wow that looks like a blast! I hope nothing too serious is wrong with Doug's car

[Nessumsar]

Looks like you boys had a good time out there! Glad to hear you improved Chad; and I hope the damage is minimal Doug. I'm putting the blame on the convertor, I bet that spin damaged something.

[sik68]

Looks like you guys had a blast! I hope I can make it to SOW this year!

Chad, man you aren't kidding...understeer is your nemesis. I know the feeling from my car exactly...to a lesser extent now but it's still there mid-corner and corner exit. Definitely keep us posted in that thread on how you resolve it.

[Flash68]

Time to throw a T56 behind that LS motor when you install it Dougie!!

Looked like a good time though up until the issue... you'll be back in no time.

Chad -- thanks for continuing to post your vids. I am watching them to get a good feel for when I'm there in 2 weeks. Can't wait.

[Chad-1stGen]

Thanks guys.

@ Steven, will definitely keep that thread updated when I actually make any progress lol. I'm soliciting Brett with Fab53 to help with my rear sway bar install later this week so I hope to have that ready so I can test. Sadly I also need to replace the rear tires so I may consider disconnecting the endlink on my first session to establish a same day baseline and then reconnect to see the true impact of the rear sway bar.

I'm leaning more and more towards trying to stuff a fatter front tire up front. Trying to nail down my exact steering arms and if the short ones would be short enough to clear a 9" rim up front. Also, leaning towards R compounds hehe

@ Flash68 (first name Dave? I forget sorry). NP. Glad someone enjoys the vids. I really like reliving the moment when I come home and enjoy watching other folks track vids. I need to double check but someone on another board mentioned running SOWS CCW on the 15th which is the oposite direction. If that's the case it will be a first for me.

Here is the only actual picture I took that day...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[Flash68]

Yeah Chad, it's Dave here. I'm really enjoying this new (for me) track stuff and watching in car vids is a lot of fun. CCW being a first for you, maybe just maybe I got a shot at taking you down now. Haha ;)

Your car looks great - looking forward to the event. Will you be driving up the morning of? Brett is going to be there I know and will be bringing my new tow hook for me. Hopefully he will be bringing his Camaro but he was figuring out the roll bar thing with the event organizers last I talked to him.

[musclecarmatt]

looks like fun!...cant wait to get my car on track!

[John Wright]

Was Doug's tranny slipping in the first vid or was all of that tire spin?...tranny sounded soft, unless that was tire slippage.

Great vids...looks like a bunch of fun.