Overall a fun event. It is always a good time finding out just how much liberty I can take throwing the new car around. I kinda wish I would have bothered to really put in a clean afternoon run, but I think I learned more by just trying to force the car to do things.

Here was my fastest raw time of the day a 48.9+1, I have no idea where the cone was.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSovS2mTCVQ&feature=related[/media]

Here was Thomas' fastest raw time in my car a 48.9+1, I think we both thought that run was clean, so I don't know where the cone was from either.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3OyFvVar1A[/media]

I love the S2000 more and more every time I get to drive it. Mike you know I would be totally in support of setting up an STR class for NTAXS events.

 

Also here are some things not to do on your last two runs when you actually need to drive properly.

Yes, I am a fan of the TV show Archer, if you get the reference in the second part of the video.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjyenESbnXs[/media]

 

And now for some slow-motion autox footage with an "emerging" driver (lol) and a cheap iphone mount on the trunk (lots of wind noise) of a bone stock (including alignment) s2000 with fading oem front tires and surprisingly sticky Continental Extreme Contact DW's (255) on the rear. Any and all input on this pathetic 53.1 sec run would be much appreciated I need to get faster ... fast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3_-giAx548

 

OZMDD - NTAXS could hold a winter survival school out there in the middle of spring! It definitely was more slick than I thought it would be and my bad driving didn't help. I guess the RA1s spoiled me. The only other time I drove TMS was at the BMW school and the first BMW event. I definitely need more seat time and drive better and smarter. I over-drove the car out of frustration and lost so much time drifting and hitting cones. I'll just have to experiment with tire pressure for now until I get it right. Suspension wise, I can't do much since it's stock. I want to improve my driving before I take that step. I'm pretty sure 90% of the issues is my lack of seat time.

CosmosMpower - I'm hoping that is the issue. Driving on them around since the auto x, I think they do feel better. I'll find out at the next event. I wanted to keep the RA1s or get new NT01s, but I wanted to run in the S2000 class and Y class with BMW. The RA1s were awesome though

 

Fun event, beautiful weather. It was nice to get some driving in again finally. Now I just need to burn off these OEM tires so I can get something stickier on the CS... the Apex DE next weekend should help. After driving a Cayman R, I also have a strong desire for some thicker sways as it made me think, "oh yeah, this feels like the lack of body roll I used to have in the S2000".

 

I ran a set of NT05s on the RX-8 last year and used them a couple of times down at Harris Hill Road. They're just as good as any of the current top crop of street tires (Star Specs, RS-3s, R1-Rs, etc.). The only reason the SCCA crowd doesn't have much data on them is because they weren't legal for STR last season (molded at 7/32nds when legal limit was 8/32nds).

FWIW, I was actually a few tenths faster at HHR on the NT05s than I was on RA-1s - same setup, same tire size, etc. They are also very heat tolerant, so they should work well through our hot summer here in Texas.

As for setup - the bus lot is a unique surface. If you don't have any previous experience there it is very easy to overdrive the car.