Homestead rocked!
 

This was my first HPDE. I did end up getting Jay as my instructor. Very convenient to have a guy that knows what the 8 does as your teacher :D..Had the student classes. Good info that I mostly already knew to be honest, but thats cause I read a lot :D

Jay took me out in my car for a couple laps, then he came into pit and we switched around. I started off pretty tentative, but managed to get better about halfway through. Never went over 100, even though it is a pretty fast track. Some of the other cars there where insane. Finally got to do some real heal-toe as well, since I dont really do hard braking in my everyday driving :D

My second session was pretty sad. I was missing shifts, missing the line, braking poorly, the works. Dunno why. Maybe those salty fries we had for lunch...

Third and final session was MUCH better. I had 2 particular trouble spots all day that I finally got right, as well as overall improving everything. Very surprising to Both Jay and myself!

The time on track was amazing. Thanks again Jay for all the info and help. I really felt I learned a LOT today about my car. Probably more so than the fist time I autocrossed, although auto-x has given me a lot more info on what to look for, etc.

Only downsides to the day? Well, Alex ran outta gas (haha! I had 4 gallons left!), and after Jay took the car out the first 2 laps of the day, I thought I had cought a burnt electronics smell in the car as we pulled into pits so I could change seats.

Yep, second set of coils are fried. *sigh*

Oh well, Time to call Rosenthal I guess. SO anyway, if you have access to a local HPDE event? Go for it. It is money well spent towards your driving abilities, and in a fun car like this, you really should know what your doing eh?

Zoom zoom!

P.S.

I'll try to find some pics and vids I saw people getting. There where 2 Porsche GT3's, a GT2 or 2, 3 ferrari's. Man! there was some AWESOME cars to be oogled at, drooled over and generally impressed. Poor 911 Turbo that went into the wall...

Yeah, Yeah... Out of gas. I must've used it getting by you ;)


You forgot to mention the absolute coolest part. YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN THE FIREBALLS COMING FROM BOTH YURI'S AND MY CAR! OMG!!! :D

That is true! When the car gets hot they are some MONSTER fireballs! When Alex passed me they were a good foot and a half across. Very impressive.

And those fireballs did wonders for cleaning the soot from my tail pipes.

They are now nice and white :)

guess what I got?

Yep Pro Photographer Michel Fortier sent me the pics of all of us :D




...Of course somehow there are more pictures of my instructor driving my car than of me driving it :mad: Next time I'm going to tell the instructor to buy his own damn RX8 ;)

edit: This one IS me :p

Bruce almighty :D

Yuri!!! ;)

Jay gunning down my car...



...of course I wasn't driving it ;)

edit: that didn't work... Here's just one

Yuri:

You forgot to tell what it was like to ride with me. Even with setup problems (massive understeer) I think you learned what can be done with these cars when pushed. One must learn throtle steering. I had to lift off throttle mid corner to rotate car. Trail braking also helped in spots. Yuri also got a chance to see what real brakes can do. I was running Hawk Blues with slotted rotors. I wound up braking too damn early many times due to great stopping power.

Alex: Nice photo of me pushing your instructor around. I think it took me one lap to say goodbuy and motor away.

It was good to see three new students get hooked or hopefully get hooked on drivers schools. Check your insurance policies to make sure you are covered. I am, but many now exclude High Performance Driving Schools or events. As you know, one Porsche was badly damaged. Shit happens fast on a track.

Also, to all - get rid of sneakers and get driving shoes. Much better feel of pedals.

Thats all for now. - Keep the sunny side up and the Shady side down.

Jay Goldfarb
(the faster rx8 at homestead)

Like Jay said...

www.piloti.com

That's what I was wearing.

It's amazing how deep you can brake with these cars. I was slapping down Turbo Porsches and even a 360 Modena had looks of horror when they couldn't keep me out of their rear view mirrors turn after turn. They kept using the straights to power off and I kept catching them in the corners and then after passing them they were just a memory :D .

Some more Teasers

Yuri!!! again. ;)

Bruce again

Jay telling Yuri where to go

me telling my instructor "Hey, ya think I can drive now?"

Jay stuck in traffic (didn't last too long ;) )

Jay: That is true.


My final session, that I also think was my best, was after riding in the Jay'scar with him driving. The 8's brakes, especially with the pads that Jay had on, stops like a motha! Really helped me understand just how weak was my braking before. I know I still didnt push it all the way, but it was better. Also the control Jay had over the car was amazing. I also got a better understanding of how much slowing down is good for the turns, and started to use the entire track a lot more.

Like I said, well worth the money spent on improving driving abilities. I will definitely be doing more of these as time and money allows :D

hopefully video will be available soon :D

pictures are up on the PDC site incase anyone wants to see what else was running :D


http://www.performance-drivers-club....omestead061204

just found a great site for buying "cheaper" driving shoes and ordered myself a pair for auto X. The Piloti shoes are great, but that reinforced right foot gets tiresome when standing around.

These are not fireproof, but again they are for Auto X

http://store.yahoo.com/classicsportshoes/pum-68662.html

Where'd you get the pads and rotors??? I talked to Hawk the other day and they told me they only offer a street compound application for the -8, no Black or Blue yet...oh, and I find my old boxing shoes from college to be a good fit for auto-x as well...

http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/
;)

you can thank Jay for that :D

edit:
Actually, I'm not sure where Jay got the slotted rotors. My guess would be Petit Racing. Jay?

re-edit: We both got the pads from porterfield though

you guys got a part number for the pads from porterfield? thanks for that by the way...it'll be fun to order all kinds of parts to be waiting for me when i get back from Iraq :D

Nope, no part numbers... I ordered the R4-S that are good for street and strip use. The R4 and the Hawk Blues are better suited for the track only. Talk to Wendy, she'll know what pads you need.