I'm sure the wheel to wheel would've been great but I couldn't get enough motivation to get out there in the car since I didn't really enjoy driving it. I enjoy TT because it is pretty easy and mostly because I love driving the S2000. While the competition in Spec Miata is awesome, I was just kinda meh about the car.

 

Did you have a nationally competitive Spec Miata or a home build? Did you try any other racing class, such as Spec Racer Ford? Did you try racing the S2000, although the racing classes there seem pretty meager in turnout?

Having other drivers, especially lots of other drivers, in basically the same car on the same track provides insights into your own driving skills and points the way to improving them. For example, how often have you spun or gotten at least 2 wheels off on the race track? In F1, where drivers have been pre-selected to be the best in the world, spins are common in practice and continue through qualifying and sometimes the race.

 

I've been on track since 2005 so I have had my fair share of offs. I did a little Chump racing a few years ago. I'll get into W2W a little later when I have more time to commit to it.

 

Just spent a good time reading this thread; lot's of great information. Thanks!
I think I might have breifly run into you at a CDC event way back; I had a RYP AP2 S2000, and if it is you, I ran into a well prepped white S2000 with recaros and a hard top.
I have since moved onto a C5 Z06, but I keep coming back to the S2000, I've had 2 so far. After a few HPDE events, as I think about diving into the hobby more and prepping a track car, I am torn between getting back into an S2000 or staying with the z06. Unfortunately I only have autox experience with the S2000 but I am VERY curious on how it would do on the track vs the z06. I miss the "agile" feeling the S2000 offered, but I also really like what the z06 offers.
I see you mentioned briefly that the C5 Z06 was a contender for your choice of track car. Just looking for any opinions on track experience between the 2, and any opinions on if you had to do it over would the answer still be S2000? Thanks!

 

Yes, the S2000 reliability and operations cost is top notch and the car is just a blast to drive. The C5Z is a great track car but consumable cost are high. Between pads, rotors, wheel bearings ($1600 for SFK hubs), and the required upgraded P/S setup, trans/diff cooler, radiator, and engine oil cooler its just more then I want to deal with in a C5 to make it equally reliable as my very minimally modded S2000 is.

 

I haven’t updated this in a while because I thought people stopped reading it but I guess they are. After the Lightning event at NJMP I ran Tbolt. We had a huge turn out of S2000s there but not enough for a full TT5 class so a few of us jumped over to TT4. Our buddy Jose was running his HC1 S2000 in TT4 and he was hard to keep up with. His car is about 2600lbs and 224WHP to my 3030lbs and 214WHP. On top of that he is a very fast driver in a properly built car. I finished the weekend in 2ndboth days and had a great time.



I posted about this is another thread but I’ll include it here. My POS 949 Racing 6ULs with the Hoosiers bent, all 4 out of 4. I never went off with them. I sold all my shitty 949’s (with full disclosure of course) and changed my setup to 17x9 Weds TC105 and 17x9.5 Weds SA72R wheels. The customer service from 949 was shit and seems consistent with accounts from people online. The Weds look much nicer and hopefully will hold up much better then the 6ULs.

 

Dominion Raceway is a new road course not far from Northern VA where I live. We all had high hopes for this place but the track turned out to be a real shithole and none of the major organizations race there. I didn’t feel like signing up for a full weekend there so I tried a SCCA Track Night in America just to see how the track was in person. After seeing videos from this place I was skeptical about it and driving it first hand confirmed my thoughts. The track is poorly laid out, dangerous, has terrible pavement, and even more terrible curbing (jumps). My evening there ended up with a spin that resulted in my high sided on a curb with my front wheels off the ground and unable to move. I’ll never go back there and recommend others stay away.

On a positive note, the guy I sold my K24 Miata to is enjoying it and I saw him at the track.

 

After every event I put my car up on the quickjack and pull all the wheels off and inspect for any signs of fatigue and damage. Luckily my off at Dominion only knocked the alignment off. I check all the seals, back of the hubs, pads, rotors, shocks etc. I also clean all the components and make sure everything is in good working order.

 

The summer was very busy with parental care and my new boat. Lots of time in the hospital and on the water didn’t leave much time for tracking. I took a 3 month break and was very excited to get to the track. I ran VIR last weekend and had a blast. I was nervous going out the first session and felt a little rusty but things came back fast. We had a full class both days in TT5 and I had some great competition. Charlie was keeping me on my toes the whole weekend in his TT5 Sebring S2000 and really made me earn my win. I set the new TT5 VIR Lap Record this weekend with a 2:09.3 and walked away with a new set of Hoosier, ST47 Raybestos Race Pads, stock rotors, and a $75 winding road credit so it was a nice contingency grab.

The car felt incredible even with the 19 heat cycle R7s I had on there. I was able to also beat my old personal best with a 2:11.9 on RC1s. This is my 3rdweekend at VIR and I know I will get faster with some more time. I’m going back to VIR in 5 weeks with fresh Hoosiers and some more experience. I know a 2:08 will be possible with a potential 2:07 with the right conditions and driving. I think with time we will see TT5 cars take down old TTC records. While the .7 A arm modifier is annoying it hasn’t stopped most of us from going faster and faster. NASA is changing it to a .8 modifier next year and I don’t think it will have any impact.

 

Just read through the whole thing, what a great build! Really has inspired me to get a few jobs done on mine and to get it on track