More S2000 CR Track Day Fun
02-11-2013, 05:52 AM
#1
Moderator
Thread Starter
More S2000 CR Track Day Fun
Since the gallery is now split into 3 sections and I want to share stuff like this I am posting it in the main gallery, and also updating it in my build/timeline thread which I know does not get much if any traffic since I dont really have a "build" going.
Here is my track day synopsis for those that care
Impressions on the day:
Track was slippery and dirty the entire day! I never saw so many spins, accidents, and off track excursions at a track day before. My first session wound up being about 8min long because of an accident, my second session went the full 20minutes, my third section was maybe 6-7min, then black flagged, then we got back out for a few more laps. So after three sessions I probably had maybe 35-40 minutes of track time. I was exhausted from a long week at work, getting up early, and sitting around the track all day so I skipped my last session of the day which would not have started until 6pm. I think its important to know your limits and call it quits when you feel fatigued. After all the incidents etc I decided to not push my luck. That and my ETD had decided to come unbolted at the end of the session and started banging and rattling around during my cool down lap so I decided my car and I were ready to call it quits
My goals for the day were simple, and I am happy to say I achieved them all.
1. Continue to work on early throttle application
2. Carry more speed into and through corners
3. Use the brakes less, and stop over driving (over braking). Last event I faded my brakes and this event I was good. I tried to use less braking and was not as "hard" on the brakes at times and I was able to keep my brakes strong all session long (not having passengers probably was what really helped though - no extra 180lbs of ballast)
4. Hand positions/movement-
For me I think my driving got to a new point. I am now very comfortable in the car and I let the car do its thing. Meaning, I drove more by the seat of my pants and just guided the car around the track. When the rear of the car wanted to slide or come out, I let it. When the car pushed, I would give it more gas and help drive the car out of corners. So for me it was a good day on track and I learned a lot and continue to learn to trust the car. I think that is the hardest thing to over come when tracking the S2000. Trust and confidence. You know the car can do it, but you have to mentally let yourself give the car the control to do what it wants. Yes, I still have tons to learn as we all do. Driving fast is one of those skills that you can never truly master.
Some pics by Mike and I. Thanks again Mike for taking my camera while I was on track. You took a couple great shots! There are two different CR's in the pics My car is the one that is lowered and I wear a black helmet and have a black license plate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461700989/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461700989/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8463203550/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8463203550/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461702503/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461702503/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462799720/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462799720/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461701355/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461701355/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462800854/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462800854/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
Lastly, I decided that if I wanted to start getting faster I wanted to track lap times and some data to start trying new things while on track. I use my gopro videos to watch after and before events to see what my hands were doing, my lines, and areas that looked like I could gain time. I downloaded the Harry's Lap Timer pro version, bought a suction cup mount for the car and downloaded racerender to overlay my video and data. I watched some old videos from my last time at East and tried to get some timing off those videos to compare to what I did this weekend. I think I ended up almost a full .8 seconds faster this time out. Same car, same settings.
Harry's was easy to use. I was able to select Firebird East from a menu of all North American tracks. I turned the app on while in line waiting to go out for my session. It uses GPS and per-determined sectors and timing points so when I started my laps it automatically just started working. A cool feature is somehow it was synced up with whatever timing and scoring was using at the track because if a yellow flag came out the app would use my GPS and flash a yellow flag warning every time I came up on that section. It was also nice when I settled into a rhythm and had no traffic to watch my lap times and sector times to see how I was doing. The racerender program took awhile to figure out and I had to publish the video a few times and adjust audio to clean it up. It is very easy to use and pretty cool as seen below. I def learned a lot about the app and figured out some tricks, so if anyone starts using it hit me up for tips to save you a lot of time.
Here is my track day synopsis for those that care
Impressions on the day:
Track was slippery and dirty the entire day! I never saw so many spins, accidents, and off track excursions at a track day before. My first session wound up being about 8min long because of an accident, my second session went the full 20minutes, my third section was maybe 6-7min, then black flagged, then we got back out for a few more laps. So after three sessions I probably had maybe 35-40 minutes of track time. I was exhausted from a long week at work, getting up early, and sitting around the track all day so I skipped my last session of the day which would not have started until 6pm. I think its important to know your limits and call it quits when you feel fatigued. After all the incidents etc I decided to not push my luck. That and my ETD had decided to come unbolted at the end of the session and started banging and rattling around during my cool down lap so I decided my car and I were ready to call it quits
My goals for the day were simple, and I am happy to say I achieved them all.
1. Continue to work on early throttle application
2. Carry more speed into and through corners
3. Use the brakes less, and stop over driving (over braking). Last event I faded my brakes and this event I was good. I tried to use less braking and was not as "hard" on the brakes at times and I was able to keep my brakes strong all session long (not having passengers probably was what really helped though - no extra 180lbs of ballast)
4. Hand positions/movement-
For me I think my driving got to a new point. I am now very comfortable in the car and I let the car do its thing. Meaning, I drove more by the seat of my pants and just guided the car around the track. When the rear of the car wanted to slide or come out, I let it. When the car pushed, I would give it more gas and help drive the car out of corners. So for me it was a good day on track and I learned a lot and continue to learn to trust the car. I think that is the hardest thing to over come when tracking the S2000. Trust and confidence. You know the car can do it, but you have to mentally let yourself give the car the control to do what it wants. Yes, I still have tons to learn as we all do. Driving fast is one of those skills that you can never truly master.
Some pics by Mike and I. Thanks again Mike for taking my camera while I was on track. You took a couple great shots! There are two different CR's in the pics
My car is the one that is lowered and I wear a black helmet and have a black license plate.http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461700989/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461700989/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8463203550/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8463203550/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461702503/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461702503/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462799720/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462799720/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461701355/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8461701355/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462800854/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41071623@N03/8462800854/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41071623@N03/, on Flickr
Lastly, I decided that if I wanted to start getting faster I wanted to track lap times and some data to start trying new things while on track. I use my gopro videos to watch after and before events to see what my hands were doing, my lines, and areas that looked like I could gain time. I downloaded the Harry's Lap Timer pro version, bought a suction cup mount for the car and downloaded racerender to overlay my video and data. I watched some old videos from my last time at East and tried to get some timing off those videos to compare to what I did this weekend. I think I ended up almost a full .8 seconds faster this time out. Same car, same settings.
Harry's was easy to use. I was able to select Firebird East from a menu of all North American tracks. I turned the app on while in line waiting to go out for my session. It uses GPS and per-determined sectors and timing points so when I started my laps it automatically just started working. A cool feature is somehow it was synced up with whatever timing and scoring was using at the track because if a yellow flag came out the app would use my GPS and flash a yellow flag warning every time I came up on that section. It was also nice when I settled into a rhythm and had no traffic to watch my lap times and sector times to see how I was doing. The racerender program took awhile to figure out and I had to publish the video a few times and adjust audio to clean it up. It is very easy to use and pretty cool as seen below. I def learned a lot about the app and figured out some tricks, so if anyone starts using it hit me up for tips to save you a lot of time.
02-11-2013, 06:07 AM
#2
Community Organizer
Awesome! 
Trending Topics
02-11-2013, 07:28 PM
#8
looked like a fun time! How many miles do you have on your cr damper/swift setup? Are the dampers still holding up?impressions after another track day? I keep toying with the idea of cr shocks and swift spec rs its crazy!
02-12-2013, 05:46 AM
#10
Moderator
Thread Starter
Thanks. I saw some SBC's in person this weekend and really want to see them on SBC now...
Sure does!
I have had dual adjustable coilovers and a bunch of other mods on my last S2000, and this time around I wanted to not spend as much time modding, and more time working on my own driving. The car is extremely capable in stock/near stock form and its really rewarding learning to drive it at those higher limits. I love pulling off track after a session and having people in my run group come look at my car and ask me whats done to it because they cant believe how fast it can get around the track. They are usually slightly baffled when I tell them its basically stock lol.