Most of been the mods maybe and the ambient temp - I was amazed also.

 

What mazdaspeed stuff do you have?

 

Shocks, Springs, Stabilizer Bars, Shock Tower Braces, Clutch Line, Flywheel, Oil Cap, and Shift ****.

 

i dont think those mods would effect your gas mileage, more likely the track temp

 

Maybe the REVi cold intake helped. I thought I was driving hard, I hit 120 on the back straight

 

ahhhh, u didnt mention that. I bet that helped.

 

The vast majority of insurance policies have been ammended to specifically exclude coverage for HPDE and auto-x. If you damage the car during an HPDE, you risk having your insurance company drop your coverage if you file a claim for an incident that occurred at the track.

 

yup, pretty much all the major insurance companies have some sort of clause excluding HPDE and autox's now

moral of story? DRIVE CAREFULLY when you're on track, especially if it's your primary vehicle, track-only car? yea go ahead and go nuts :o

 

Has anyone inquired about Riders to cover HPDE / Auto-X? Possible? Cost?

 

you can get a special policy to cover you for track and autocross. Policy is cheap but deductibles are high.

 

And as I understand it, it's a "one bite at the apple" situation, meaning that you can't get a second policy after using it once.

 

It's better than nothing

 

http://www.americancollectorsins.com/de_quali.htm

cost is 1.5% of the value insured and their is a 20% deductible if you smack it up on the track and a $1000 if you have an incident in the paddock/transit.

For example,
my RX-8 is insured for $20,000 which costs $300/year. If I smack it up (bad) on the track, the first $4k in damage comes out of my pocket.
This covered is only for PDI (Physical Damage Insurance) for my vehicle. There is no liability coverage but many schools/clubs (SCCA, NASA) will provide that for you.

And I agree with ZoomZoomH when he said drive carefully on the track. And if anyone tells you spinning and offs build character or you need to make mistakes in order to learn from them is wrong. There is no need to drive 10/10th all the time either and sometimes you end up being faster when you aren't pushing yourself too hard because you make fewer mistakes.

 

true that^

I'm glad I didnt mess anything up my first time at teh track, I was super raw and made a ton of mistakes.

 

I left the traction control on for my first outing

 

This is a very good point, and one which can't be overstated, IMO. I will push sometimes, because I need to learn how to know when I'm approaching the limit, and to learn what the car will do. But I always choose lower-speed turns to do these experiments, with excellent run-off room, so that it I spin it, it's a very low risk proposition. I also didn't start doing this until I had gained some subtlety with the throttle, so that if I do go over the edge, it is easily recoverable. And I never push extra is there's someone near me.

There's a very high speed turn at our local track (Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle), that is taken at or near full throttle (depends on your nerve), but it has a blind apex, and the track is very choppy there, which is also the crest of a rise. My car has a lot of bump-steer, and I really never like the rear end stepping out at 130mph, so I tend to keep my speed down to 120 or so, at which my car behaves much better.

If I were racing, it would be different, but I'm only trying to drive the best I can on the track, and then to drive that same car home at the end of the day.

 

My instructor told me to never drive on the track with it on

 

the thing is, by turning it OFF, you know that if you mess up, you ain't got help to get you out of trouble, so HOPEFULLY that will make you extra careful and focused when driving :o

 

well, i don't got no traction control to begin with, so that's a moot point to me :o

 

oooh, base model! Almost killed myself twice in a base on a test drive

 

somebody got a little throttle happy there

 

lol and shifting fro, 6 to 3 at 80 mph doesnt help either