NSXPO at PR??? WTF?

[EDRNSX1]

Ok, it MUST BE cost...cause PR is SOOOO BAD of a track now a days...sorry but we race there 8 times a year (about total of 30+ days on the track actually) and the grip is almost 0 nowadays! If it rains (ALWAYS does at PR..i swear it in a vortex or such) im OUT...no way in hell am i doing the "front death shute" (Hence the name!)

Seriously, the NSXPO is IN PORTLAND, Portland has one of the best tracks around, VERY SMOOTH, BRAND NEW PAVEMENT, and TONS of run off.

Im confused why we would drive 2 hours north to a POS when we have one here???

TIA

 

[BLKDMD]

Phillip Morris booked the track for ten days before nsxca could? Bummer!

 

[EDRNSX1]

damn it! Next time, hit me up, i would put Mark Wiginton in a head lock for everyone (he runs PIR).

Oh well, PRAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY FOR DRY TRACK!!!

(oh and soften up your coil overs fella's...picture a BEAUTIFULLY laid out country like road, lots of cool layout, but rougher than a NJ freeway!)

 

[C-speed]

Ok, it MUST BE cost...cause PR is SOOOO BAD of a track now a days...sorry but we race there 8 times a year (about total of 30+ days on the track actually) and the grip is almost 0 nowadays! If it rains (ALWAYS does at PR..i swear it in a vortex or such) im OUT...no way in hell am i doing the "front death shute" (Hence the name!)

Seriously, the NSXPO is IN PORTLAND, Portland has one of the best tracks around, VERY SMOOTH, BRAND NEW PAVEMENT, and TONS of run off.

Im confused why we would drive 2 hours north to a POS when we have one here???

TIA

I assume you race at PR on 2 wheels by your avatar?

Its not as bad as you make it out to be.. Grip is just fine. I race there as well. Its not any different than any of the other local tracks in the NW - grip wise. Yes, it get hairy when it rains, but only because PR is tighter and has 0 tolerance for error into 3A and through 5A-B (esp. in the rain).

But I wouldn't hesitate at all to hit it up on a track day. Keep in mind, track days you're not going NEARLY as fast as on a race weekend (For the non-racers, I hope you're not anyways , we sometimes do as we use those days for testing).

 

[NSXDreamer2]

been tracking there for last 5 years, and i really don't think it's getting worse over years... As Cspeed says, driving in 4 wheels not as hairy as on 2 wheels. It's actually quite fun in rain... you will find the traction "line" or "spots" quite quickly, and then you will be way faster on the dry.

Hope to see you there.

 

[4mulacar]

I assume you race at PR on 2 wheels by your avatar?

Its not as bad as you make it out to be.. Grip is just fine. I race there as well. Its not any different than any of the other local tracks in the NW - grip wise. Yes, it get hairy when it rains, but only because PR is tighter and has 0 tolerance for error into 3A and through 5A-B (esp. in the rain).

But I wouldn't hesitate at all to hit it up on a track day. Keep in mind, track days you're not going NEARLY as fast as on a race weekend (For the non-racers, I hope you're not anyways , we sometimes do as we use those days for testing).

I have to agree with the guys PR is not that bad and I have driven some bad tracks! I understand Portland was repaved this year and the festival turn have been made tighter and I will get a first hand look on the NXSPO weekend as the ICSCC race is held the weekend of 9/13-14/08 held by Cascade Sports Car Club and they have probably booked 2009 already which is standard for all of the clubs SCCA or ICSCC. I will not get to the NSXPO event as I'm running my avatar that weekend "Reynard Formula Atlantic" after a two year hiatus from racing. PR is being redone soon I hope as I cannot stand the detour through the old hot pits but at least i have a great undulating home track!

 

[EDRNSX1]

ROFL! YOU GUYS FOR REAL???? ITS HORRIBLE! I personally LOVE the WEEDS/GRASS growing thru the cracks coming up T8 to T9!

SERIOUSLY guys, i VERY excited to run the NSX at PR, but you guys are SO wrong! Bikes DEFINITELY notice the grip a BUNCH MORE but PIR (Portland) with its BRAND NEW pavement is like SUPER GLUE! ZERO BUMPS! and WAY LESS WALLS!

If you have drove on both tracks THIS year, there is NO WAY IN HELL at a REAL pace you can compare the two. sorry guys.

Also, what are times for FAST nsx (DONT worry, i am a PUXXY in my car!) im just curious...we do at PR 1.24 last round (Mike Sullivan on a GSXR1000) and at PIR my rider/bike Dan Wilson (again on a GSXR1000) has it on the "new" track of 1:06.9 (old pir he had it too at a 1:06.3) PIR is with NO chicane of course..

again, i dont care since ill be doing like 3:00 lap times at PR...but you CANNOT compare that track to PIR, Thill, or any others...hell Miller, Atlanta, Laguna, VIR, Mid Ohio are WORLDS ahead.

It will be nice when the Faritos (sp?) STEP UP AND $$$ to re do the track but its all going to the new drag strip for now.

See ya all there...honk when ya lap me..lol

 

[4mulacar]

Yes I'm for real I have driven a formula car at SIR,PR since 1989 before that in a suspensionless road racing kart! When Rockstad (SIR)messed up turn nine by installing a concrete patch the clubs warned him he was asking for trouble for the bike racers and you are correct for bikes but you cannot compare any track that gets paved almost every year like PIR to any other track that doesn't! Good times for an NSX I would not know because my track car is a formula car (nothing against tracking your NSX I actually think this is the safest place to go fast) and if I'm not mistaken the overall track record is under 60 seconds held by an CART methanol powered monster.

 

[EDRNSX1]

Yes I'm for real I have driven a formula car at SIR,PR since 1989 before that in a suspensionless road racing kart! When Rockstad (SIR)messed up turn nine by installing a concrete patch the clubs warned him he was asking for trouble for the bike racers and you are correct for bikes but you cannot compare any track that gets paved almost every year like PIR to any other track that doesn't! Good times for an NSX I would not know because my track car is a formula car (nothing against tracking your NSX I actually think this is the safest place to go fast) and if I'm not mistaken the overall track record is under 60 seconds held by an CART methanol powered monster.

HUH? PIR was reconfigured and paved this last winter....thats the FIRST time in OVER 12 years...i think it might have been 15years ago. Not an every year thing.

Its fine we could ping pong all week. I am at almost every track in the country every year, about 15-18tracks a year and PR is definitely the worst shape. Sorry, just facts when you account for pavement quality, run off (or lack of) room, and grip.

Now really wanna start controversy? lets talk about SPOKANE Raceway! THAT track ROCKED for grip and layout, but the run off was SCARY and i loved all the old fridges, buses, etc inside the track....haha...but good times.

 

[4mulacar]

Are you talking about the track next to the prison what is it named Airway heights? What about Hallet for bumps and lack of grip? Or When I was in college the road course at Phoenix was terrible on the back straight coming into the oval some idiot ran a bulldover on the track and made that section almost unusable from 1974 until I left in in 1978!

 

[NSXDreamer2]

don't know about you guys, PR especially in spring time and early summer is great!!! i saw the drift guys running it backwards on internet, I was like, ummm, how about that?

I really can't say I'm the fast guy as i have ZERO racing experience. And I'm just the lapping this same track for 5 yrs. I got to 1:49 in stock trim. then next yr. I got some mods, and advance to 1:42; 3rd adn 4th year I got into 1:39. Last year I found myself starting to ignore all the cones (I got more reference points than merely seeing the cones.) and I cracked myself into 1:38.

This year with the nice suspension I got myself into 1:36.7, and last event I got myself into 1:36.2 and I've been running into traffic all day long... My setup isn't fully optimized for the track yet, and you could see there's a few spot I'm way under VTEC powerband. I only used NT01 tires so if I put a set of Hoosiers and maybe short gears/ 6 speed conversion, I would have 3-4 seconds :wink:

When Shad's car, Factor X or others from CA coming out, they will show me how slow I am, I'm sure...

 

[4mulacar]

Those are darn good times for a street car with anyone driving! A good formula ford driver at PR is in the 1:28 along with some of our wild and crazy club ford guys who are amoung the fastest in the nation! My best time in my Reynard formula ford was 1:27 on a good day with dense air before the shift to the hot pits. My best time in my Atlantic at PR is 1:23 but i do not have much testing time in the Atlantic at PR. My best time at PIR is 1:04:55 with about 100 miles of testing and a recalcitrant gearbox. We have fixed the box and I have not driven the car since but will get out this year on the NSXPO weekend hence my absence from these events. Arnon sent me a PM and told me you were flying out there he was very proud of you:wink:. I also read your meessage to him and Bill about a possible joining of the conference club and coming to the dark side with me. I looking forward to that and to see you guys track your NSX. As I told Arnon and Bill I will be at your disposal and to get started and to help you along and pass off knowledge and technical support through my many friends and contacts. My friend and crew chief Mike Demski will handle my car on the NSX weekend so I can concentrate on driving. Arnon is looking to get new shocks or maybe just rebuild his so I will lend a hand at that over the winter as this is something we open wheelers have to be able to do at a moments notice. With my car you only race tracks you test on because it was not designed as a hobby car as the formula fords and two liter fords were, but you can make the Atlantic a fun ride if you enjoy doing the work and have the tools.

 

[nicholas421]

When I saw the thread title, I thought NSXPO was going to be in Puerto Rico.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

thanks for the warm welcome, yeah, after last track day, it's ever clear that I need to go racing. (I used to have a few good fast guys from B.C. and couple freinds over doing lapping days together.) Instead of getting more $$ spent on my nsx and getting more blk flags.

wait a minute: 1 min 4 seconds... I know how it felt... it's like racing GT4 with modified cars and then jump into F1 cars... Any clips?? Arnon, Bill and other guys should gather around over dinner and see what we could do. Oh I would love to learn more in racing. Looking forward to meet you soon.

 

[4mulacar]

No at that time I wasn't doing videos, but you have a point it could actually be a good critique tool! My buddy Mike says I never lie to him about how the car handles so we still haven't put a data acquistion system in the car which is funny considering one of my work duties is to capture vibration and current signature data on high speed machine tool spindles for a living. So in this off season I will interface a data system into my car also you might benefit from a few books I asked Arnon to buy one is "Drive to Win and the other is Prepare to Win" both written by Carrol Smith a fantastic race engineer and coach when he was alive. The "Drive to Win" explains driving from a vehicle dynamics point of view to help you learn to accelerate through turns instead of coasting in at maximum entrance speed and how to keep the car balanced under braking including some strategies for racing to the pointy end of the grid, where everyone works hard so the effort level not necessarily the money is key. You have good seat time already and that is 75% of the battle seat time and calibration of your mass accelerometer (your butt) to your ride is crucial.
Oh I forgot to add, man are you right going form my two liter ford and shifting at 7K RPM's to the Atlantic and shifting at 9.8-10K was fantastic. My first day on the engine dyno with my engine with Arnie Loyning in Portland was jaw dropping, Rick he said shift at 9.5KRPM'S and this engine will go 1.5-2K miles between rebuilds, shift at 10KRPM's and it will go 1K miles shift at 11KRPM's and you will see me every weekend. So shift at 10KRPM's and if you set your car up well you will be in the thick of it with your peers, there is no more real power left above here, but you will know that because you are here to witness your run and pick my brain and that is the way to learn to go fast. Arnie is a monster driver also with a few SCCA driving championships under his belt along with hundreds of Pro Atlantic engine building wins and still building winners today!

 

[EDRNSX1]

nice input. I figure i'll do about a 4 min lap time...lol! Its funny the fiance laughs when we are out "in middle of nowhere" and i take car up to say "115mph" im like 'Holy crap i dont feel comfortable at that speed" she looks over and say "yeah but your bikes do that in 2nd gear! How can you do 170mph on a bike and feel ok, but not 120 in a car?"

I have no anwser, its very different thou..bike feels "safer" to me...go figure

Can't wait to drive the track...wedding sunday night in seattle...monday on the track :biggrin:

 

[4mulacar]

Don't sell your skills short you've experienced a few tank slappers in your time and you've learned to recover from those I'm sure. The only real difference is the contact patch is postage stamp size on a bike and the feedback is from a camber thrust type of machine. Quite a few bike racers have made the succesful transition and you will be no different (Mike Hailwood) as an example. If you're surround by car racers feeding you input you will relate it to areas of expertise from the bike world and just adapt your approach to four wheels, the understanding of lines on dry pavement and lines on wet pavement is the same "stay out of the normal rubberized line as it is the slipperiest" you all ready know this stuff it just boils down to how you approach the dynamics of driving a car. Find your self a safe place to spin your car, left then right and see how it responds to your inputs so that when you actually get in a spin you have prior knowledge of what to expect. This has been the hardest for me to relinquish my car to someone else to set up and maintain because to go fast you have to feel confident in how the machine will react to your steering input. My first test session with Mike I ran the car full tilt down the straight and stood on the brakes hands off the steering wheel it stopped straight and true without any pulling in any direction. This is how I set my karts, formula fords and F2000 cars up and Mike and I talked at length about my approach to driving and I explained this is the feel I needed. When I tested the setup from him, I verified and developed a confidence in his ability to give me what I need to be confident to drive the snot out of the car without this no one can go fast! So take the skills you already have and test and confirm what is going on with your car so that you can maximize it, I really don't think you will be as slow as you alude!

 

[NSXDreamer2]

yeap, many good race car drivers rode and racing on 2 wheels in their young age. There are quite a few riders tranformed into 4 wheels racing after they retired.

Can't see many 4 wheel racers going the other way.

I know I can't even qualify as a Squid. :biggrin: