Boofster

I have tried both approaches for turn 2. I feel more confident taking it tight and going straight line to wide. The car aligns itself with some gas but I lose time figuring out just the right speed and overdo it often. Mervin insists the wide entry is better but I have issues turning that hard at 120. Maybe the new r-comps will change that.

I have no issues in turn 9. Just makes sense to me and the car practically drives itself through there.

I would like to hear the answer to "when you know you're about to die" question as well.

Also, I came up on this little article today that has some very good points.

--snip--
1. Be smooth. Your car's transmission, its tires, its chassis -- they don't like abrupt inputs. Slamming on the gas throws the car's weight to the rear, unsettling the front tires (hey, you need those to steer). Diving on the brakes hurls the car's weight forward (now your poor front tires are overloaded trying to brake hard and steer, and the suddenly light rear tires just might decide to swing the tail around on you). Driving well is all about weight management, controlling the ever-shifting mass of the car so the tires are never overloaded. That means rolling the steering wheel gracefully into turns, squeezing on the gas and brakes, moving the transmission lever (if you have a manual) as if the shift knob were an egg. I was lucky enough to ride once with three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart in an original Ford GT40. The guy made that clattering old race car move as if it were swimming in Wesson Oil. Even though we were blazing around Laguna Seca, I wasn't being tossed around inside the cockpit. Instead, I was gently pushed from side to side, eased forward and back, as the Maestro conducted a ballet at the wheel. The sensation had much more in common with riding in an expertly driven limousine -- don't spill our champagne, Jeeves -- than with the typical Hollywood portrayal of "expert" driving. Trust me on this: Smoothness at the wheel is the single biggest indicator of driving skill. (Conversely, driving like Rambo is a dead giveaway that you're a wanker.)

2. Turn later. "All God's children turn in early," a racing instructor once told me. And he was right. Watch the car ahead of you on a twisty road sometime. See how he crosses the yellow line when turning left? That's turning too soon. Even when driving briskly, you should always be able to corner within your own lane. Same thing happens when racing students first hit a track. "Why, that turn is coming up so fast and the road is running out so I'd better steer now!" And what happens? They clip the inside of the corner too soon and the resulting arc carries them right off the outside of the turn. Turning later takes practice, but it's key to balancing your car on the road and maximizing speed on a track. In effect, you're slowing down a little earlier, letting the car roll a little father into the turn, smoothly arcing the wheel so the tires can bite and provide you with maximum grip. Most important: Turning later means you can get on the gas earlier. If you turn early, you'll have to back off the throttle to keep the car from arcing off the road. Turn later, and your balanced machine will be ready to glide through the apex and charge toward the exit under power. Given that accelerating is the hardest thing for a car to do, the more time your right foot can be on the gas, the quicker you'll be around the track.

3. Look ahead. Nope, not at the car in front of you. No, not at the car in front of him, either. I want you looking as far down the road as you can. On a mountain road, you're not looking at the corner you're in, you're looking for the next one. On the highway, your eyes are scanning the horizon, often a half-mile or more down the road. On the track, you're always looking where you want to go. Each of us is equipped with an Early Warning System, but too often we don't use it. Get your eyes up, and suddenly you've got advance info. You know what the next corner looks like before you fly into it. You can see that crash ahead before the driver in front of you pounces on his brakes. On the track, your hands and feet will instinctively follow your eyes; look where you want to go, and your car will go there. (Why do so many drivers crash into the only tree around for miles? Because they're looking right at the thing they don't want to hit.) Looking ahead takes practice, but you'll be amazed at how well it works

SPLNDID

Brake to setup, then turn smoothely into Turn 1. You can take either the high, or low side. Whichever course you decide, remember to give some throttle while in 5th to be neutral balance over the transition. Either line is fine. Just don't make any moves in any plane over the transition. Hold the trottle and hold the direction.

CBR2200

You gotta be able to go faster than that. I accidentally ran 98 mph in 3/4 in my bone stock S wearing R comps once when passing a high hp car. I went from half a car width up in the middle of 3/4 to right near the wall where all the scrapes are, within maybe two feet. I just about shit myself but didn't dare come out of it at all. The car was sliding all four tires but no squealing, just pushing towards the wall evenly. I don't go over 95 in 3/4 anymore since I love my car and I have much more fun not scaring myself. Plus I don't care one iota about lap times, I'm just out there having fun going fast, for me.

How bout you try entering 3/4 at the exact same point and add one mph each lap until you push out to within your comfort level of the wall?

j0oftheworld

Nov was my first track day in my car and I was also running 95+ on the oval.. which I felt was a more than safe speed. On street tires.

phoenixR34

are you activating the ABS in every corner? if not, you're not braking hard enough.. you should be in the ABS everytime you brake on that track. only exceptions would be if you trailbrake into turn 2, and that light tap on the brakes before turn 5.

everywhere else is simple at PIR. driving lines are not all they're cracked up to be. if you take turn 2 tight, you save about 100-130 feet of driving distance vs. if you went wide. your exit speed will be lower, but it's not super critical because you're headed into a turn right away.

about the only two places you gain time at PIR are through the oval and into turn 1. turn 1 is tough because it's a sketchy corner to begin with, and without a wing, it's really hard to be confident. summed up, you basically have to push harder and harder and once the car finally gets loose over the bump into 1, you've hit the limit, so back off 1-2mph. but as i said, it takes a bunch of confidence to wanna try and push that hard.

as for the oval, flat out is best.. that way there's no question. i don't see why an S can't go flat out around the oval, if you're in race tires. if you can't go flat, chances are you're either A. in need of a big wing, or B. a big wussy. the S2000 might just be fast enough to require a little help from a wing, but on big sticky tires, i'm guessing it could go flat out fairly easily.

everything else isn't too important.. people work on their driving lines through turns 2-4, 5,6,7.. yeah yeah, that's great, but you'll drop a tenth or two if you hit everything perfectly. and "perfect" is impossible to determine anyways, as i've taken probably ten different lines through each corner and run the exact same time, +-0.2. wide in turn 1, tight in 2, up on the curb around 3.. or within 20' of that line, and you'll run the same time.

get good in the oval and you'll drop a couple seconds. it's the longest corner on the track, the fastest corner on the track and it leads onto the front straight... that's where all the time is. my guess is an S2000 on race tires can go from turn 9 all the way till braking before 1, without lifting.

and then of course, if you're simply not pushing the car hard enough, you're losing time. most people don't turn in hard enough or early enough, don't corner as fast as the car can go.. people drive within their comfort level, which usually isn't enough.

Boofster

When you say flat out in the oval, do you mean as fast as you can go? I can keep it in 4th and get mad speed in the oval. I can also go to 5th and let it power up from lower rpm (not as much hp). Then you look at the extra ~25 hp I have and it's not as black and white. At least not to me. But apparently I'm a big wussy I am not even close to flat out there. Hopefully this will change with my new tires.

phoenixR34

flat out meaning, full throttle and not lifting. it's not something you just want to try one day, you should probably work up to it, as the consequences of F'ing up are going to be pretty severe!

j0oftheworld

haha..

Boofster

Hm. What is there to work up to? You say just floor it and hold steady steering. What is there to f up? Sound pretty straight forward.

9KRDLIN

ivan, i noticed you were only doing between 86-89 on that turn, it felt sick, but i knew it could go more, but even there you were still handing it to that aston martin... but its not a race