I know there are a few of you out there who enjoy HPDE events. This one is July7-8th (2 day event) down near Council Bluffs, IA at MAM. Click on the link or just simply go to the findtheline.com homepage to find out more. It's a fun and safe track, especially for novices. There should be plenty of info out on the findtheline site, or you can ask me and I'll try to either answer or get you answers. Be fun to see a few more folks down there though. http://www.findtheline.com/eventreg/
I have a friend who has been to this event, he's been edging me to go. I haven't really made a decsion about it yet.
Very fun and pretty new track. I've been around it many times on a motorcycle. Decreasing radius turn 3 is FTW. I'd have to upgrade my OBS's brakes before I did anything like this in it, though.
i was planning on going to this, but now im going down to iowa the weekend after that to go watch Rolex protos and GTs at iowa speedway. and 2 weekends in a row down in iowa is out of the question for me. maybe i can hit up one of the fall ones..
Yeah, a few things to think about with MAM involving costs: -First, it's a 5 hour drive there and back...about a tank of gas each way. -Then there's gas for the track...that too will cost you...there's race gas at the track, but at $7+ dollars a gallon, I'll stick with either 91 or 94 octane (94 and 100 can be purchased at the track). -You'll want to bleed your brakes (get some high temp brake fluid) and probably get upgraded pads (it depends on what you have currently...but you'll want to at least have some good pads in the front). I would suggest ATE super blue or Motul RBF for fluid and for pads, well, there's a lot of options out there, but if you want to drive the car to the track with the pads on I'd go with something like the Hawk HP+ or the Carbotech Panther Plus or XP8. -Finally there's lodging and food for the weekend. You can either camp at the track (I think) or get a hotel room. There will be enough folks going that you could probably split the cost with someone. Not trying to scare anyone away, but it's not a cheap hobby. You will, however, have fun and will most likely want to do it again.
I'm thinking staying on the outside throughout the turn and late apex into turn3. Its been awhile, but that looks good on paper. That should help with the understeer. Let me know how things go. LOL :laugh:
how about this for a line? crappy photoshop due to poor mouse control but you get the idea....good line? bad line?
a lot of people that I've watched essentially drive the turn-in for 2 through to the outer edge of 3 as if it were a straight (or in other words, no turning from turn-in on 2 thru to the outer edge of 3), then follow the outside edge of 3 until the turn-in point that you've drawn...so yeah, pretty close to what people tend to do, with a few modifications.
actually, turn two was suppose to be going straight as you mentioned, my mouse control just sucks and it kinda curved in as if you should be turning in that much on turn 2.
LVT you bring up a very good point. This is very intriguing and alot of fun, hopefully others will share their idea's as well. Consider runing turn 3 backwards. Ideally you would want the fastest exit possible if you want to leave others behind and with minimal understeer (STI). The only thing I would change is start tracking out around where the number "3" is at, stay out till you start to apex late, what you end up doing is making an nice arch (increasing radius into U turn). This will hopefully maintain your momentum and get you the throttle hard and quickly. Enjoy!
So, how about 9, 10, 11? I've always tried to late apex 9 and 10 to get setup for 11. Now, I know that I've never fully figured out 11, but should I turn in a little later (near the pit exit) then late apex 11, allowing me to have more speed on the straight following 11? Currently Reading "Speed Secrets" and trying to apply some of my learnings.
IMO-The key to a fast exit on 11 is getting turn 10 correctly, and 10 will depend on 9, you already know that. LOL This is the only slow section of the track. This is where balance and weight transfer will be critical. I remember this section being tight and short. Lets do this again in reverse order. The goal is to maximize your speed coming out of turn 11, in order to do so you will want to staged for it as quickly as possible coming out of 10 (straighten the line). So basically. 1. +late apex on turn 9, (this is a turn you will want to carry just the right amount of speed, enough to keep your momentum, but not enough to where you have to scrub off at 10. Tab on the brakes is good, more than that your carrying too much speed.) 2. In order to setup for 10 you dol not want to track all the way out while exiting 9, because you will want to get right back on the right to setup for 10. 3. +Late apex into 10, what you will want to do is end up on the left side after exit asap to max speed to exit 11. If done right it should feel smooth and just a few small right, left right turns all in the same gear. Like I said it looks good on paper, its been a while since I have been at MAM. Let me know how these idea’s pan out for you. Enjoy! C
My biggest mistake that I make on 9 is that I'll, every so often, go into it really hot and end up out of place for 10...which throws off my entry into 11...causing a slower exit from 11. I think I'll be ready for it this time around...just have to think smooth and make sure I'm just setup correctly for 11.
I am glad to hear your reading "Speed Secrets", bring it with you as there are some really nice foot notes on the back on each book. Goodluck!
Did BIR earlier this year with the my other car. Was invited to MAM but due to costs associated with buying the T-leg, my track days this summer are done. It sucks, too. I drove right past MAM when I was bringing the Legacy back to MN from CO. As for cost: Pads: $200 (HP Plus) ATE Super Blue: $15 Gas: I spent $300 total for BIR. Expect <10MPG Track fees: BIR was $400 for two days Hotel: $60-100/night Unexpected costs: I had to buy $1k in tires, a new Helmet, and installed some brake ducts. My total cost for BIR (with tires, brakes, helmet, gas, registration, lodging, food, etc.) was over $2500. Drop tires, helmet, brake ducts and install (I don't work on my other car, I do all my own work on the Leggy) costs and my one weekend of excessive speed (147MPH) cost me close to $1000. I know my Leggy would be cheaper, and I'm not sure how much admission to MAM is, but you can expect a good weekend of track goodness to run you $500-1000. Looks like a fun track. Have fun.
eeek, you had an expensive outing. Which club did you go to BIR with? There were a few subie's at the BMW event earlier this spring, just wondering if you were there. Anywho, it can be a relatively expensive hobby depending on how involved you want to get. It doesn't help when you go to a track event with a few very competitive buddies with Lotus', M Coupes and Porsche's...you start spending money on things that aren't necessarily in the budget. I'm hooked and will continue to go...just hoping to see a few others out there. My wife hates that I do this, but she'd rather have me doing this in a car than on a motorcycle. So I just tell her I'm thinking about getting another bike, and she comments that I should look for another track event...works for me
I was up there with the BMW guys. I was in the same garage as the two Subaru guys. I SOOO would have swapped rides with them if they'd asked.
I've been looking for a local Subaru board since I bought the Leg. Justin from Grimmspeed stopped by awdpirates.net and pointed me in the right direction. Good to be back in the Subaru family. Thanks.
This is very true, prep is very important and it does cost ALOT of Bling..$$$ This is a great example to inform others there are now more clubs offering ways to get track time. NASA will compensate your volunteer time with some track time if you volunteer for their events. And there is no Registration/track fee if you instruct for Northstarbmw just to name a few. So besides gaining more knowledge about the sport and getting a front row seat, you get to spend the weekend with a bunch of motorhead like yourself. LOL :yumyum:
I'll miss this weekends run..... but I'll do the one in Aug. My suspension comes in tomorrow....then I still have to get brakes...
I'm hoping that I don't have a wedding to go to for the August one...but it's not looking good at this point
Oh my, was it hot this weekend down at MAM. But, it was still fun. My stage 2 didn't really help me much in the heat...but the car was really a champ. I had no overheating whatsoever, when other cars were pretty much done for. I did notice a few misses into 5th gear in the last few laps this afternoon, but other than that all was well. There was an excessive amount of video taken, I'll try to get some up at some point (my lines are getting better, but unfortunately we didn't have cameras running today when we had a few really good sessions). The best part about the weekend was getting to the track this morning and seeing only about 10 cars remaining...made for a free-for-all of track time. Oh, and one of my friends literally picked up his Exige S from a shop in Cali on Wednesday and drove it directly to MAM for the event. Car is up from 200 hp at the wheel to 265 (with go fast parts). He and the GT3 were battling all weekend (GT3 only won by less than a second). Hope to see some of you out on the track later this season. Mike
Mike, I am curious to hear what feed back you have about the course after this weekend. Sounds like the heat drew out the Hardcore drivers. LOL The guys with the hard compound must of had the advantage on fast laps. I'm gonna have to check google videos for some footage.
the guys who were filming are just now getting there footage loaded to a few of the many video sites, so I'll get some links soon. As far as the weekend is concerned. I was still having trouble with 3. I wasn't getting out to the outside of the turn in time to settle the car enough for the turn in...a little understeer through here. I was also not getting 7/8 down very well until following Damian (the organizer) around for a session. They were running a race line that doesn't seem all too intuitive but felt faster. Finally, my biggest problem was my braking. The car had a lot more in it, but I was not optimizing my braking zones until day 2. All in all a great weekend. Heat was a bit much, but I think I ran about 100 laps, so plenty of time on the track. I'll get some links up as soon as the other guys get them loaded.
Here's one video from last weekend. This is my buddy filming in his S60R and me in front of him (after the spin footage). He's obviously rolling on street tires...they're loud I was hoping to see the fire out of the exhaust, but not in this one. This is just a quick vid of a modded mustang getting passed by the GT3 and my buddies Exige S ...slightly modified http://videos.streetfire.net/video/3f4269dc-06c5-4ab7-91e8-99670163f1ea.htm And if you want to see an M Coupe spinning out...this was during a group session in which all 10 or so cars were on the track in the same group jockeying for position and just having a good ole time. This is what happens when you decide to try a new line, but then forget what line you're actually trying to take...ooops.
Great video's keep them coming. Totally jealous! Here is a great example of the many possibilities. The only difference is in setup. Mr. Huerta is a master. http://videobookmark.net/www/Windows/TwinVision/damian_mam_test_lap_4-2007.wmv
It was fun to follow Damian in his street car. Because it's an RX-7 with none of the bells and whistles that his race car has. This allowed me to keep up with him pretty well. It's also funny to watch him in the final sessions throw his rear tire into the grass and then drift through 14...on purpose! I wish I had a camera to show some of the craziness...maybe next year. I, unfortunately won't be able to make the August FTL event or the BMW event next week (in the Boundary Waters next week). I will, however, shoot for the September event. Should be nice cool temps...and maybe I'll even have some new shoes on the car at that point (likely next summer though).
