ToothDoc

Last Monday was my first day at the track. Unfortunately, my vid cam ran out of memory at 20 minutes or so. Also, I'm a novice in novice class. If anybody wants to watch a boring video of the IS-F in action, click on the link. So, please no comments on the noobie lines. I know I should be using the whole track, and I know I was conservative on the application of the gas. BUT, in real life, I felt like I was going to fly off the track any given moment! I used up all the front brake pads and about 1/2 the tire life and 1 1/2 tanks of gas in the 1 hour 40 minutes (I didn't do the last session).

http://home.comcast.net/~youngsongdmd/trackday.avi

It's almost 900 megabytes. If anybody wants to download it and compress it and upload to youtube or something, please do so. My old computer simply can't handle it.

Thanks for looking - BTW, I passed up a Testarossa, S2000, Phaeton, Camry SE, 550i, a couple of 3 series, GT-R, and serveral others. Not all on that one video.

The single best session was my 5th session. I was trying to keep up with a S2000 cr and for a while, I did well and he even waved me by. However, in my excitement, I went too fast at the very next long straight and went flying off the road. Should've hit the brakes 1/4 second earlier. Fortunately, the track is a safe track in the sense that there are no walls to hit.

hwy1isf

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a fun day.

Were you using the stock pads, and any idea what you are going use for replacement pads? Stock, Ceramic, etc.

ToothDoc

stock everything. The car was awesome. I could tell the car was HOT, but considering that it was a 3.5 mile 22 turn track - mostly 3rd and 4th gear it ran well. The oil temp got to the 5th bar (normally only on 2 or 3 bars) Stock pads. The rotors were almost bluish and the edges were burnt orange and not the usual rusty brown. The ONLY thing that was negative is now my drivers seat creaks a little when I hit a bump - maybe some of the seat bolts need to be tightened.

hwy1isf

iTrader: (1)

I really love this car, but it is a little heavy for a track car. The brakes have to work pretty hard to slow down the 3700 Lbs. Most guys I know buy Miata's strip them down and use them as their track cars. Something I may do later on.

Either way, I love track days, much prefer road courses vs the strip, but it is just my taste. Out here at Willow Springs you can rent the Celica's that they use in the Toyota Celebrity race at the Long Beach GP for $800.00 dollars a day. That is the approach I like to take, you know why not tear up someone elses car.

Enjoy

DRE1615

Sounds like you had an awesome time. Track events are really really addicting. I've been meaning to sign up for one but I don't think I can afford new tires, pads and rotors after I'm done beating the hell out of it.

IS-Fly168

iTrader: (1)

I saw your video and it looks pretty fun, this is my opinion, dont get offended cause Im looking through a video, like you said, it felt like you were ready to go sideways in real life. I noticed that your driving style is a bit over conservative. from the throttle noise, it seems like you are a tad slow in punching it midway to out of the curve, and it seems like you get all shaken up once you take a fast curve and your tires screeches. But then again, its your first time at the track. but all and all, it seemed like you had alot of fun. from your experience now, what would you say you could improve at if you did it again? It just seems like you could have taken the turns a bit faster or at least punch it alot faster once you got a hang of the turn, yeah, your tires were screeching but i bet you could have let it screeched alot louder. lol

t0e

iTrader: (1)

Hahahah! I like how you put, "However, in my excitement, I went too fast at the very next long straight and went flying off the road.!", lol man i love it!



I'll upload the video for you, and post the link later.

t0e

iTrader: (1)

What camera setup do you have? Is the camera mounted on your helmet?

Please let me know, I would like to get the same setuP!

CDNROCKIES

I am soooo jealous.

Wish we had a track around here like that.

ToothDoc

It's the Go PRO camera - the audio is very low even on the sensitive mode because it's encased in a waterproof polycarbonate case. I did have it attached to the helmet and I also have the wide angle one - 170 degrees.

I'm not offended by the comments of my driving one bit. I am fully aware I'm a beginner and that there are MANY things I can do to improve my driving. But once again, it was my first day at the track and the fact that I passed a bunch of people and nobody passed me shows you how good this car is. A lot of guys at the track were having brake issues (fading, boiling brake fluid, etc.) and the only brake issues I was having was wearing out the pads. FWIW, I have 10,000 all suburb/city miles on it (very very little highway).

I felt like a newborn - newborns learn SOOO much in the beginning. Each session, I was learning SOOO much - a noticeable improvement every 20 minutes.

Also, there were like 20-30 cars at the 3 1/2 mile track in each group. I think there were only 4 or 5 complete beginners like myself. The other IS-F (blue one) quit after a couple of sessions. He kept on getting passed and the elderly gentleman (he was probably in his 60s) said he was scared as hell out there. At least he was out there.

Will I do it again? I'm not sure - I've got to order new pads. If the rotors are cheap, I'll just get new rotors too and possibly take the old rotors to some brake job place for grinding and then swap them next time with the next set of pads.

I also had a Racelogic GPS setup so I could monitor my lap times, g-forces, speeds, etc. but I didn't use it because the track guys didn't want anything falling off the car while driving.

ToothDoc

Also, if I did it again, I think I'd get a dedicated set of wheels. Probably go down to 18s and try to get 275s all around. That'll be cheaper than the $400/tire PS2s and I could get them in identical offsets so I could rotate those wheels. PLUS, I noticed more front wear than rear wear.

dkaplan435

Hey Doc, congratulations! I'm jealous. I had a great time driving an F at the Lexus thing on the Autobahn in Joliet. Tons of fun. I miss doing that but I can't afford the tires right now (just moved).

I'll download your video and see if I can compress it.

VSL-F

Congrats on your track day! I want to do the same thing soon. I've never tracked a car before, so I'll be a novice as well. I plan on joining Motorsport Ranch here in Texas this fall, so I hope to get a lot of track experience!!

SilverBull

It is a blast. Everyone should take their car out at least once to get a full idea what it can do. You will learn to drive much better afterwards, I promise. I learned a lot and it humbled me as far as skills go.

CircuitMS

iTrader: (51)

Nice, always fun to really use a car like that.

BTW, let me know if you need new front pads. I would NOT recommend going Ceramic or even HPS if you plan on more track days. Definitely get at least HP+ Hawk pads. OR consider using a different set of pads for trakc duty.

A separate set of wheels with dedicated track rubber would pay dividends as well.