RX8SpdDmn

Hey guys, I was at Mid-Ohio April 8-9 with the N. Ohio BMWCCA. The surface was finished being repaved just the week before we got there! The track is a lot of fun and I just wanted to share some of the videos with you all. I've got a couple laps behind TC Kline (owns BMW racing teams), driving the Civic Si with a new suspension in it that they're tuning and will be marketing. Another vid is of one of my fastest laps (1:47.94) and another of some sliding and drifting around
The vids can be found here:
www.scottbarton.net/anthony/Mid-Ohio/Videos

Spin9k

Nice driving! That's an interesting squeal your tires give out. Is that their normal sound or is it perhaps the sound of new pavement?

Also, was TCline faster than you? ... or were you staying back to film... or was it because I heard the instructor constantly saying 'back off', but don't understand ... you were back quite a ways anyway? So your general thoughts on the Civic?

Also there were some nice long runs on the track...what was your top speed?

Thanks for the vids and looks like a blast! New smooth tracks are soooooo nice makes you want to just laugh while your driving I'm sure!

RX8SpdDmn

Thanks!
The tires emitted different sounds based on how hard they were being pushed or if they were sliding. The new pavement definitely impacted the sound.

TC Kline's Civic Si was not faster than my RX-8, but TC is definitely faster than ME! The Civic was pretty impressive for a $20k NA wrong-wheel drive car. It was on BFG KDWs with Konis and probably springs and sways. I don't think it was a straight-up coil-over, though. It was pretty entertaining to watch TC pitch that car into the turns so hard and watch it yaw on it's axis through the turns. He's a hell of a driver.

My car had a little more straight line acceleration (I was hitting 128 at the end of the back straight) and a little more grip in the turns. My instructor was telling me to back off because he was trying to get me to use a different line in some of the turns. Eventually, I figured out that all he needed to tell me was to use an earlier apex in certain turns, with a lower-horsepower car like mine. I could carry so much more speed through the turn (like Turn 1), but it could get a bit scary if you carry too much, as it leaves no choice but to head straight off the course! I'd rather be balancing a tail-slide!

Regarding that... in my second session of the first day, I had a huge PERFECT drift through 13 (I think?... left hander before the carousel). I kept quiet till the front straight as the instructor babbled about "nice save, but... blah blah blah". I cut him off and was, like, "hold on..... BWAHAHAHAHHAHA!!! I'm sorry, but that was SOOO much fun!!" He was, like, "Ok, ok, let's settle down "

lol, it was really fun

tuj

Mid Ohio is a great track. Since they resurfaced, did they get rid of the concrete patches? Those patches were critical as to car placement depending on if the track was wet or dry.

And yeah, turn 1 is hard if you want to go fast.... Its also a place where the fuel tends to starve.

dmp

The page cannot be displayed
There is a problem with the page you are trying to reach and it cannot be displayed.

RX8SpdDmn

I know, I know. I'm sorry. The site was overloaded this morning and crashed, or something. I'm waiting for it to get going again. I'll post a bump when that happens.

Sorry!

RX8SpdDmn

When my site gets back on it's feet, you'll see that the concrete is gone.
I know from Watkins Glen that there's generally more grip on the concrete (at least if it's dry) and car placement is critical there, too.

Turn 1 is fun. I just need more time and days there to fine tune and get a solid turn-in point, etc. Every time I go back and watch video, it helps IMMENSELY. Between Saturday and Sunday there was HUGE improvement. Watching the video was what helped me figure out how to take 1 and 13 better.

tuj

If I remember right, the turn-in point for turn 1 is right at the leading edge of the bridge.

Mid-Ohio is interesting because there are a lot of lines to take through places. At the last NASA event I was at up there, they had an ex-Indy car driver give a rundown on the wet and dry lines with diagrams of every turn. It was priceless advice; the guy really REALLY knew the place. A lot of it was about placing the car relative to the concrete strips and bad pavement.

Like at the end of the back straight, the pavement used to be really really slick on the left side of the track. So in the wet, you want to get off the line so you'll have better braking.

You can do a little trick in the key-hole too. After you get over the initial crest, set the car up, and drop a little throttle. That will rotate the car just a little bit, and allow you to go full throttle all the way out of the key-hole onto the back straight.

RX8SpdDmn

Yeah, I hear you. I figured out the keyhole trick to lift throttle to get the front to tuck in. It wasn't really a trick. It was just understeer city in the second half of the turn. The apex, for me, was the very end of the inner curbing.

LOL, I took out the "out" cone on my first session. On my first session of the second day, I hit the cone again. Except this time, I kept it.... I dropped it off outside of the left-hander after Madness, headed to Thunder Valley!

RX8SpdDmn

Please Right-Click and Save-As to your desktop!

http://www.scottbarton.net/anthony/M...ingTCKline.wmv

http://www.scottbarton.net/anthony/M.../DRIFTS!!!.wmv

http://www.scottbarton.net/anthony/M...Lap1-47.94.wmv

Thanks for your patience.
Enjoy