Hello from Northern California

[nova6speed]

As a 40 year old track rookie, I learned a lot. But I'll keep it short. I maxed out my car's "street" manners at the event. The speeds are so much greater on the big track compared to autocrossing or even pushing the limits on the street. I've autocrossed at Pleasanton Goodguys events and at a local club where we run on an old airport runway for the past 3 years. The Goodguys events are short tracks and last about 30 seconds. The club events run about 45-50 seconds long. Top speeds are not that great, 70 mph at the most at the club events and much slower at Goodguys. The Hooked on Driving class that I attended was a class act. They recommended going 7/10ths of you and your car's capabilities. Track manners are a must. I reached 120 mph on the main straightaway in 4th gear reaching 6k RPM. We ran 5 sessions all day making 5-6 laps around a 3 mile track. I mostly stayed in 3rd and 4th gears throughout the track. A huge difference compared to an autocross. I have 12 inch Wilwood disc brakes both front and rear with the Dynalite calipers and the "street" pads.

I changed my front end alignment as track ready as I could. Caster 4 deg, Camber 1.5 deg negative and toe out 1/8 inch. I maxed out my camber and still had outside tire wear issues. I constantly checked tire wear and pressure after every session. There is such a huge difference in brake pad compound/performance for street and race/autocross. I didn't experience brake fade, but came very close.

I knew coming into this event that my lap belts and stock bucket seats were going to be an issue, any they were. The lap belts and stock buckets give you NO stability when you're flying around the track. When I was a passenger for two laps and my driving instructor, had a very hard time holding on. You can't place your hand on the outside drip rail for support. We got flagged for it. My recommendations...change out the stock buckets and install a race seat (even for the one event), make sure to have at least a 3 point belt system. Autocrossing and track days are VERY different and safety should be paramount.

I have a Rock Valley fuel tank attached to a stock filler neck tube. At high speeds and any turns, the fuel was creaping up the filler neck and leaking out my gas cap. The odor of gas was nauseating. They almost didn't let me run again.



I pushed my car and loved every minute of it. My thought has always been....If it breaks, then I'll fix it. Nothing broke, but I'll need seats, belts, better front and rear end adjustments and fix the fuel issue before I go back out there. But if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it.......