Gville350

iTrader: (10)

If the tech at the tire shop can balance it out when installing the tire, I'd say you would be fine.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the tips, guys. It did balance out, and they didn't notice any leaks or anything, nor have I noticed any vibration on the highway.

Anyways, I'm getting my pre-race inspection done now, so hopefully I'll find out if it's a problem soon... and hopefully it'll be good news. I guess worst case scenario, I still have my OEM wheels that I can spend ~$100 getting re-installed if necessary. Just hope it doesn't come to that. Although it might actually be good for me in one other way -- my rear wheels have an offset that is 15 mm more aggressive than stock, which from what I hear could potentially wreak havoc on my bearings.

One last question -- do you guys who track your car usually change your oil before and/or after track events? Or do you stick to your regular change intervals?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Since we are under the assumption when you track your car you are at WOT most of the time, this obviously shortens the life of an oil/fluid. If I tracked my car hard for an event, the next weekend I'd probably change it. What's $40 to help extend the life of your motor.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

So here's the footage I know you've all been anxiously awaiting. Exclusive video of the young, brown Michael Schumacher... Not surprisingly, the video looks so much slower than it felt behind the wheel, heh. Be sure to watch in HD! I tried a couple different angles with the camera.

Day 1, run 1 (not counting the warm-up run). Xandra's (my car's) maiden voyage into the performance driving world:

Day 2, run 2 (the last run I caught on video before my battery died):

They're somewhat long, I guess, but purty entertaining if you ask me. And I clearly have no reason to be biased or anything... The second video is probably a better watch. I'm [obviously] noticeably worse/slower in the first video as it was my first time, and I did not know the track or the limits of my car very well at all, and I got stuck behind some douche in a Mustang Cobra for half the session because I was not yet comfortable getting close enough to force the pass. Plus, the second video features a C6 Grand Sport spin out, a RUF Porsche spin out, and me going off track for the first time. Woohoo!

Was funny seeing the instructor's transition from "you're not being aggressive enough!" the first day to "you're being too aggressive!" the second day. On that note, unfortunately for you, the camera battery died before my last session, so it wasn't able to capture me spinning out on a checkered flag in the last session of the weekend.

Overall, amazing event. Friendly people, awesome cars, and a damn fun track. And my IS did not disappoint. Had no idea what she was capable of. Plus, mechanically, she held up very well. I'm sure the cool weekend helped, but there was no overheating, no brake fade, no fluid leaks, bearing noises, anything.

I got to get back out there...

And here are the only two pics I took with my crappy cell phone camera.

Xandra breaking a take after a hard day's work:


Pretty sure I had the only Lexus at the event (and was the only Indian person there, too, heh):


I'll have more pics once the photographers at the event upload them, iff'n anyone's interested.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Sweet! Looked like fun! Now, what will you do definitely for the next one?

Slammer1

Great vids and you should be quite proud of yourself! From what I saw, you did quite well, and I'm sure it is much harder and nerve wracking than most people think when watching. I have talked to people that run Road Atl and VIR and was really amazed by the amount of "schooling" that goes into running a road course properly. Don't get me wrong, I've logged thousands of hours on Gran Turismo and understand the principles of braking, proper apex approach and departure and the difference in track times when powering out of turns when using the proper lines, but doing it in real life is much different. Well done! I'm guessing you are hungry for your next run???

SCWB

Looks like a very fun session you had.

What is your suspension setup? Spring or Coilover? Swarbar?

How did they hold up during the session?

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

Do you mean what will I do differently? I just need to follow a better line next time. I've been watching these videos over and over, yelling at myself "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? GET ON THE GAS AND HIT TRACK OUT!!!" or "WHY ARE YOU BRAKING SO LATE!? YOU MISSED THE APEX BY LIKE 10 FEET, MORON!!!" It's like reviewing game tape from a football or basketball game, haha.

In terms of my car, I think I will need to put max performance summers on my front wheels once these RE970AS Pluses wear out, but my all-seasons held up pretty well, at least for my beginner-level driving.

I didn't feel any brake fade or anything, so I think I'll leave my brake setup as is, as long as I'm driving in the winter-ish time frame in the green group... Until I notice brake fade.


Thanks man. I feel like I did alright for my first time, too. Not great, but not bad. I dialed it back a notch in the run after that second video (by which point my camera battery died) since I went off track and thought I should cool it, but I still kept pace decently. I know my line was far from perfect, but hopefully that will improve with experience.

And yeah, the video certainly doesn't do the sense of speed you feel in the car justice. Especially around turns, which can be pretty thrillingly terrifying. Some of those turns look slow, but when you're feeling close to a G pulling you sideways and hearing your tires struggle to hold the road in a way you've never experienced before, it feels anything but slow. I had one of my friends tell me it looked like regular, everyday driving, except around a track. I was like Maybe he just needs to turn his sound up, haha.

But yeah, like I was getting at in my reply to Gville above, I really wanna get back out there and try to take my game to the next level.


Tein CS coilovers and F-Sport sway bars (front and rear). Also have FIGS LCA bushings. You can see my complete setup in my sig or my garage link.

They held up very well. The car felt pretty tight. Between me and the car, I was definitely the weak link, heh. In the right hands, I think she would fly around that track. But I did push the limits in bailing myself out of a few mistakes, haha.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

This has no basis in reality. I track my F and still change the oil every 12k miles, send samples to Blackstone and all is well with Mobil 1 5w-30 even with multiple track weekends on a single OCI.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...-uoa-here.html

If I'd've seen this sooner I would have pointed you here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/roa...d-to-know.html

I know some of it is F specific, but a lot is not. I also have a good friend who just picked up a Z-06 with the track package (carbon brakes, etc) and has done a lot of lapping at MSR. He could have at least pointed you to a good instructor (which is what you really need if you're new to track driving).

XhyDra

iTrader: (8)

I'd have to agree with Lance on this, I do 10-12k oil changes, with absolutely no loss in performance. Although I do top off the oil every 5k with 1qt of oil. The ISx50 line after 100K eats a bit of oil every so many miles.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

I wonder if your friend was there that weekend... There were a loootta Corvettes.

And yeah, my instructor was a cool guy and easy to get along with, but I feel like he wasn't terribly helpful, which you might have been able to tell if you watched the videos. Especially the first video. That was pretty much my first time on the track, and he stayed silent most of the time. In the second vid, you can see me prodding him for info. Next time I go, I want to ask my instructor to drive my car for me in the intermediate or advanced run group while I sit shotgun and watch/record. I hear you can learn a lot that way, and you're always shocked at how fast your car can go in the right hands.

I actually did see your thread before. Got some useful info from there, although some of it ended up not really being too applicable to me since I went during December rather than during the height of summer.

On a loosely related note, I think those FIGS LCA bushings (along with a small toe adjustment) really helped. After ~160 minutes of track time, I noticed no excessive inner tire wear up front... Hopefully it stays that way.

EDIT: Also, is there a reason you use 5w-30 instead of 0w-30? I remember that informative write-up about oil you sent me from that Ferrari owner in Florida, and one of the seemingly best pieces of advice I got out of it was about how if your manufacturer recommends Xw-YY oil, you can just about always benefit from 0w-YY synthetic since it will be the same viscosity at operating temperatures but will be closer to optimal viscosity at cold start. Is it because your engine gets beyond normal operating temperatures on track days?

EDIT 2: One more thing -- is there a way to edit the title of this thread so that I can update people that there are pics and video in post #34? Might as well maximize my attention whoring while I'm here.

I think he's specifically talking about oil changes after high performance driving, though. Not just regular everyday driving (even with a heavy foot).

bonecrushr

As a C6 owner - nice to see you taking your IS out and tracking it.

I've done some laps around a Nascar oval track at top speed, and lots of autocrosses - but I haven't gone to a road course yet.

Car sounds great!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Finally got a chance to view the videos with audio! Uhm, what's that loud piercing high-pitched squeal from the camera? I hope to get a Go-Pro for Christmas and hope to not have a similar issue. Anyhow, I assume by the multiple beeps from car during hard cornering that you had the traction control on? Instructor told you to keep it on or you though it best to keep it on?

Tell you what though, it'll be a whole new world with a dedicated set of track tires/slicks and light-weight wheels. I watched an episode of Top Gear or Fifth Gear that showed that behind racing classes and instructor guidance that the best mod for racing is better tires.

Oh, did you have it in Normal mode? You should try Power mode and see if you like how it changes the attitude of the transmission shifts.

Regardless, you had helluva lotta fun!

SCWB

For the same type of base oil (be it PAO or mineral based), 5W-30 will be harder to breakdown under high-temp-high-shear condition than 0W-30. This is because, in order to make the viscosity range wider (==> 0W-30 has wider viscosity range than 5W-30), the oil manufacturer has to put the additive called Viscosity Index Improver. Bad thing is VI Improver breaks down easily under high-temp-high-shear condition. Broken down oil has very low wear protection property. And this is the reason why you should be looking for the narrowest viscosity range you can find without having to compromise with cold startup engine wear, hence, in your example 5W-30 rather than 0W-30. However 0W-30 has its own goodness under extremely low ambient temp where it flows faster during cold start in winter. You will only need 0W-30 if your area has extreme ambient temperature range, let say -10F in winter but 120F in summer.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

It's strange, you're not the first person to say that you heard some high pitch noise... I don't hear it on any of the three computers I have watched on, nor do most people, but apparently a couple people are hearing something strange. I have no idea what the deal is... but I don't think it's a problem with the camera since i don't hear it, but who knows.

And yeah, race tires will obviously make a huge difference, but I'm not that hardcore yet. Maybe if/when I get my Corvette. I want to get better with this car and this setup before I even think about dropping anymore cash on more performance, though. My wheels, though, are pretty light weight. In total, they are about 26 lbs lighter than the stock wheel weight. It makes it much easier for me to break them loose, actually.

Yes, the 4xBEEP (usually accompanied by screeching tires and a tank slapper) was TCS kicking in and slapping me on the wrist. I left it on both under the instructor's recommendations, and my instincts that it would be a good idea for the first time on the track. I think it was the right call. It saved my *** at least three times that weekend, and I don't think it every really got in the way of my fun. I should have put it in ECT power mode, though. I thought my transmission had learned that I was an aggressive driver, but maybe not. I noticed my trans was being a little finicky, and putting it into PWR mode may have smoothed things out on the track a bit.


I believe you're thinking of dino oils. Synthetic oils do not have VI improvers, and there is no such thing as a dino oil with a 0w-XX rating.

http://www.focfl.com/tech/articles/oil.html