willhave8

Anyone going to the Mazdadrivers event at VIR June 17/18? It will my first track session and I am looking forward to it.

Now to buy my helmet...

Elara

No, but I wish I was(being 7 months pregnant kinda kills any kind of fun driving events)- have you been to VIR before? GREAT track, lots of fun. You'll have a wonderful time even if you are the only 8 there!

willhave8

Elara, you have new and different thrills ahead of you. First track time for me and VIR will get to see all my glory or not... Craig

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

you mean June 18/19 (aka Fathers Day weekend)

and yes I'm going :D

TreknMazda

I'll be there standing in PIT OUT controlling access for the run groups. And "Elvira" should be leading the parade laps again. This is the new GRAND course... 4.2 miles. Hope I don't get lost on the track

TreknMazda

Oh, and the track event days are the 18th and 19th. Evening of the 17th is just for advance tech inspections.

willhave8

Great to hear there will be some moral support from other 8 owners. I will be the Titanium driver from PA with the shiny new helmet in the newbie group

Gotcha on the 18/19 event days -- See you there.

Craig

slow_eddie

Anyone here heading NORTH that day, up to the SCCA's tristate regional HPE days up at Pocono? Been to VIR, nice track, but Sunday I'll be a little closer to home, down at Summit Point. VIR is too far from my house (7 hours) to make it reasonable for a weekend event.
Hope you vetern drivers have fun, and take the time to be nice to the newbies, as we all were there once. Some have moved forward in the skill level, some haven't moved past the middle group, hence my name "slow_eddie"

willhave8

Stupid me, I am driving 7 hours south to go to VIR and learned too late that 45 minutes north of me there was going to be an HPE that same weekend. Oh well, I will enjoy the track time and hate every minute of Route 81 and staying in a hotel. I am taking it one step at a time but might look to hit an HPE later this year closer to home - Pocono, Watkins Glen, Summit Point etc.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

you won't regret coming to VIR! it's a beautiful course with VERY FAST sections and high speed corners that the 8 will love!

willhave8

ZoomZoomH, I have watched all the videos and am confident it will be worth the drive. I have even added the SpinMOUNT from Spin9k to my car to take my own videos. << I may wait until the second day to film as I don't want to get my stupidity on tape >> Craig

Hey - this is my 200th post!! I am only a few thousand behind many on this forum.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

^can i borrow the SpinMount for Day 1 then? :D

btw is he making this mount and selling them, or are you DIY and making one from his instructions??

JackInTheBox

Never been on a track in a car before but I've been to VIR on my bikes a few times, great track. I'll have to try out a track day in the car one of these days. Wonder if motorcycle helmets are good enough for driving in the car.

willhave8

For this event an M95 approved helmet would be okay but a Auto racing Snell 95 or better helmet was recommended to me. I was told the main difference being that the M or motorcycle helmets are made to only protect from one contact whereas a Auto helmet will protect from multiple contacs.

JackInTheBox

Yea, motorcycle helmets are kinda like how cars are designed these days, eat up one major impact and its the end of its use. Probably the venting wouldn't be nearly as good either since its made to be catching air in the open instead of inside an enclosed space.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

bump for this weekend! i'm really psyched up for this!!! :D

TreknMazda

Good Morning from VIR! They have a wireless network in the North Paddock area now. This is day two of the high speed training on the Grand East 4.2 mile course. Since I work the pit out area, Elvira only gets to go out to lead the parade laps. Fun, fun fun! Everyone is finding a few surprises in the new course. Actually several instructors have gotten ill from the turns. I think there are 28 turns!

Well, time to get to work. Wish you were here, don't you. :D

willhave8

Been having password problems the past few weeks...

The weekend was great. VIR Grand East was just as I had been told - fantastic and MazdaDrivers run a great series of days. My thanks to Dave Nugent , VIR and all the other workers for making Father's day weekend one of my best ever.

The car performed very well and yes the DSC is a good thing. Only mods I had were RB Sway Bars and REVi. Stock brakes and Fluid. When I do this again, I will have DOT 4 fluid as I pretty much cooked the DOT 3 fluid and I will probably change to EBC Green STuff pads. Tire pressures at ~35 cold worked very well - They went to 40psi when hot.

I am not an expert but my impressions were that the car 'turns in' very quickly and will understeer as a first tendancy. Perhaps with the DSC off that could be moderated with some Gas pedal to bring the rear end around but that is for another year and many more laps of experiance.

My last impression is that there are some very sneaky fast Mazda Protege's out there. I was used to the Vipers and Big block Chevy's drag racing away from me on the straights but it was hard to watch the Protege do it...

Craig - Looking for some more track time in the Northeast...

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

it was nice meeting you craig, however brief it was

i had a great time at VIR that weekend too, the stock brake pads, along with ATE SuperBlue DOT4 brake fluid, held up extremely well, though i did end up with a nice thick layer of brake dust on my front wheels!!! :D

I didn't feel any understeer or oversteer tendancies, the car was amazingly neutral at all corners unless I made a mistake at a corner

but I did feel the softness of the stock suspension, the car was wobbling all over the place at the high speed uphill esses, had to back off on the throttle to settle the car down.

oh yeah, those ain't your garden variety Mazda Protege's, those are Mazdaspeed Proteges with a turbocharged engine and arguably one of the best factory-tuned suspension for a FWD 4 door sedan, plus I know for a fact that not a single one of them are bone stock

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

oh yeah i have a base 8, so no electro-nannies to get in the way of my fun! :D

willhave8

ZoomZoomH -

It was also nice to meet you, sorry I didn't drop by earlier. The two days actually went by pretty quickly for me. Yea, good correction on the Mazdaspeed Prototeges - they are wolves in sheep's clothing.

A couple of other after thoughts. I had fun watching the cars ahead of me - many of them would out accelerate me only to be caught in the braking zones and within a few corners. This included just about all the cars in my beginner group D. In watching my videos since the event, it was pretty evident that I closed on many cars in the braking zones at the end of any of the straights. Beyond that, if I took the proper line, my car was as fast as any in the group and faster than most in the corners. I don't have a direct comparison to make track to track but from my on-ramp -- off ramp experience with stock bars as a guide, the RB sway bars were a big help on the track. The car is just plain flat. The only time I felt it struggle was when I waited to late to brake at the end of the main straight and really laid on the brakes, it shuddered and chattered quite a bit.

It was fun watching two cars in particular. One was a Hyundai Elantra whose driver was really throwing it around. I know he was having fun although his instructor was probably getting motion sickness. The other was a VW station wagon (Passatt VR6 -- ???) It was pretty quick on the straights but got real squirrely in the corners almost going all the way around a few times.

Yes, I am hooked and am now looking for another track event closer to home. Anyone know of any August through October HPDE events at the Glenn, Pocono or Lime Rock? I am only aware of another MAZDADRIVERS event at Summit Point 3&4 September (Labor Day Weekend) Not sure I can swing that time.

Craig

amp

met an 8 owner at the picture booth...unfortunately cannot recall his name..
check here and here for some pics....