I thougt I'd share my recent track day at Willow Springs which was over a week ago. The corona virus was just starting to hit the headlines and it dampened turn out which was down about 30% to West Coast Racing Club that hold two events a year. We had about 100 participants.
There are four run groups, Red group are track prepared cars drivers have extensive experience with full safety equipment and unrestricted passing. Blue which are mostly high performance sports and GT licensed street cars with drivers having track experience,(Porsche's, Ferrari's, McLarens, Mustang's, Zo6, Camaro's, Vipers and some vintage race cars). Passing limited front and back straights.
Next is Yellow and Green groups drivers have less track experience or less fast cars or fast cars with novice drivers. I run Blue group as it would be a good barometer against cars I knew were fast.
I elected to drive the 400 miles from Scottsdale AZ to Lancaster CA as a good way to familiarize my self with the NSX. Having heard that it is track ready and no break in required I still had it checked out by my race shop Dyno Comp in Scottsdale AZ which also preformed the tech inspection. I tried to get specs on the Acura heavy duty brake fluid but to no avail. I flushed it and added Motul 660. I usually run Castrol SRF but wanted to see how the Motul performed and save a few bucks.
The long drive was pretty uneventful except for the number of thumbs up I got. Car generates a lot of positive looks. Several people approached me at the gas pumps what is it?
Hit some heavy rain and wow great handling. This would be a primer for my first run session which was in the wet.
So the first session was wet to damp with temps in the high 40s. Turn 2 is an up hill sweeper which I run about 85-90 in the dry with R tires in my AMG GTS. No problem running 75 in the wet. The handling is quite good and no camber dialed in. Very confidence inspiring. Lower speeds in this session didn't allow me to use the brakes hard. The shocks are fantastic. Usually street shock's can't handle the high speed corners but these do. Wow!
Second session track was dry and cold. Pushed the car more in turn two and saw 85 mph! Wow that was great. The visibility is second only to an open wheel car and you can really spot your turn in points. Steering is direct felt like a slot car. I didn't notice the weight people talk about. Turn 8 I could place the car any where on the track and it gripped. If I was a bit off line no problem I could be a little sloppy and still hammer the apex. That is a high speed right hander that generates a huge amount of side force and speeds up to 130 mph. I was prolly only going 120-123. Turn 9 is a decreasing radius turn which causes most drivers to want to turn in early which will send you off the track. Key is wait and dive into the apex and hammer it on to the front straight. A couple of times I noticed a little bit of oversteer coming out of 9 but the all wheel drive saved my bacon. Could have been tire pressures too.
Third session track was dry and 50's but now windy. Got into a duel with an old McLaren race car (67) with big Chevy power. I could catch him on the straights and gain about a car length but the braking zone was cooking my brake pads. I have the iron brakes. I think it needs a better pad for the track. Better to back off then wreck two cars. Car is really fast from turn 5 to 8. Car is faster than a Shelby GT350 and Cayman GT4. Needs a little work in the tire department to stay with a track prepped AMG GTS that have been tuned to 600 hp.
No issues with the car it was bullet proof all day. I was impressed with the stock ContiSport6's. While not an R compound it performed very well. The all wheel driver is incredible as you don't need a lot of camber to get around the corners so you can drive a street alignment and not burn through the tires. I was told it was the first NSX they have ever had at West Coast Racing events. I can't count how many positive comments. Only negative was a guy who told me has a Gen1 and didn't like them but was changing his mind as it's the first Gen2 he's seen in person!
Sunday- rained out so headed home. So I got over hour and a half of track time. Headed home car is dirty but shinny side up.
I thought the fuel tank might be a bit small but averaged 22 mpg on the way back and enough range where it was over 300 miles before sweating to get gas. Seats were great and I mean this is the best combination street track I've ever been in. I noticed that there is no AM band on the radio, just plugged in iPhone and listened to my library.
Jimmy aka sled driver
