Took the NSX to the track. Some video! (Mid America Motorplex)

[enigma]

Finally had the opportunity to take the old girl out to the track. First time I've tracked my NSX, but I have tracked several different cars previously.

Not sure if anyone is familiar with the venue, but I took it up to Mid America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, IA. It's a 2.23 mile road course that really makes you comfortable to push as hard as you'd like because it's very wide and has a ton of runoff space. Below is a track map:

And here's one of the videos I took during one of the later sessions... any feedback is welcome!

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The car performed great! Mild understeer, but I was pretty happy with the way she handled... tons of traction, easy to handle, and a ton of feedback through the wheel. I put on Carbotech XP8s for the track and I absolutely LOVE them. MAM isn't really a brake-intensive track, but I experienced zero fade and they provided great bite throughout the entire afternoon. Between myself and a friend, we put in 41 laps in the NSX without major issue.

Mods on the car are as follows: BC Coilovers, NSX-R front sway bar, Cantrell AIS + Unifilter, AP-X Exhaust, Comptech Headers, Carbotech XP8 Pads, SS Lines, and Work Emotion CR Kai's 17x8 and 18x9.5 with 215/40R17 275/35R18 Falken Azenis RT-615s.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

unrelated to your driving, I would suggest you go to your local hardware store, go find the window moldings foam (usually $2-5) cut a little piece out and put over your cam corder microphone... it works great for eliminating most of the wind noise so I can listen to that beautiful exhaust.

other than that, have fun, looks like a great track with lots of run off.

oh maybe you should try to put 235 front or 245/255 rear with your 215 front if you want to minimize the understeer.

 

[TURBO2GO]

If I shuffled my hands around on the wheel like that my instructors would kill me. My hands stay on the same 9/3 spots on almost every track and never move around on the wheel. I am shocked your instructor hasn't said anything about that? Thanks for the video. Looks like my kind of track... safe... lol

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Never have tracked my car. Probably never will in fear of oil starvation around a corner since I have no accusump... but the advantage of not "shuffling" your hands is?

I'm going to guess if you lose control it's quicker to not shuffle and it's more accurate as well?

Stephen

 

[CL65 Captain]

Never have tracked my car. Probably never will in fear of oil starvation around a corner since I have no accusump... but the advantage of not "shuffling" your hands is?

I'm going to guess if you lose control it's quicker to not shuffle and it's more accurate as well?

Stephen

If you are not running on R comps or slicks and not running on a banked track you don't really have anything to worry about. The Accusump is just $300 insurance for those of us who push extra hard and want the piece of mind.

 

[enigma]

Never have tracked my car. Probably never will in fear of oil starvation around a corner since I have no accusump... but the advantage of not "shuffling" your hands is?

I'm going to guess if you lose control it's quicker to not shuffle and it's more accurate as well?

Stephen

The whole idea about the shuffle steer thing is that if you start to slide, you'll have a more difficult time finding where the "center" is because you're constantly shifting your hands around.

I'm going back to the track next month and am going to make an honest effort to break the nasty habit... 6-7 years of autocrossing will do that do you I guess.

 

[Ponyboy]

The whole idea about the shuffle steer thing is that if you start to slide, you'll have a more difficult time finding where the "center" is because you're constantly shifting your hands around.

I'm going back to the track next month and am going to make an honest effort to break the nasty habit... 6-7 years of autocrossing will do that do you I guess.

Add to that complete loss of control. Don't beat yourself up too bad, the sharp turns of AX require hand shuffling most of the time. It's funny, I did the same on occasion but saw, by looking back at video footage, that I unconsciously stopped doing it the harder I pushed.

Looks like you were having a great time. Congrats!

 

[nsx2tall]

Blend line violation...

 

[enigma]

Add to that complete loss of control. Don't beat yourself up too bad, the sharp turns of AX require hand shuffling most of the time. It's funny, I did the same on occasion but saw, by looking back at video footage, that I unconsciously stopped doing it the harder I pushed.

Looks like you were having a great time. Congrats!

Yeah, I imagine that to be the case. I should be heading back on Sept 3 for another track day there for Midwest Z Fest (Still a faithful zedhead, despite not having the Z32TT anymore). My goals are really to get rid of the shuffle steer first and foremost, but to post a laptime in the 1:4X's. A friend of mine with a supercharged Elise (~320 rwhp) on R Comps was doing 1:46s or so... so I'd be pretty happy with myself if I could sneak into the 1:49s.

 

[Ponyboy]

I'm sure you'll be getting close to your Elise buddy. Just remember to focus on mastering the basics. The lap times will come down as you do.

Be sure to take some vid from that event as well!

 

[enigma]

I'm sure you'll be getting close to your Elise buddy. Just remember to focus on mastering the basics. The lap times will come down as you do.

Be sure to take some vid from that event as well!

Definitely! Thanks for the encouragement! I'm going to try to find a way to reduce the wind noise as well. Probably also going to bring my Go Pro AND the SD card this time... haha.

 

[stuntman]

Yeah, I imagine that to be the case. I should be heading back on Sept 3 for another track day there for Midwest Z Fest (Still a faithful zedhead, despite not having the Z32TT anymore). My goals are really to get rid of the shuffle steer first and foremost, but to post a laptime in the 1:4X's. A friend of mine with a supercharged Elise (~320 rwhp) on R Comps was doing 1:46s or so... so I'd be pretty happy with myself if I could sneak into the 1:49s.

You're steering looked fine. I would not put any effort into changing it and continue working on your craft and balancing the car at the limit (hearing light and consistent tire noise through the entire corner).

The NSX's steering rack is pretty unresponsive for the first 45* or so in either direction. You steering inputs took up the slack and made the car 'work' and rotate when you wanted it to -just like how you should do it. Everything looked fine. Besides, Skip Barber Racing School teaches and promotes shuffle-steering and many racecar drivers went through their program.

Like others have said, work on yourself and speed will be a byproduct.

You look like you're wheeling the car quite well. If you have the finances and time, investing in a baffled oil pan might be easier and less continuous work than an Accusump.


I shuffle steer...


0.02

 

[tstruyk]

pretty clean lines for MAM! Ive only been there on a motorcycle so take this for what its worth... you dont have to set up as wide for T2. I get to about mid track after T1 and stay in the gas until I brake for T3 and pitch it in. Also in the classes I have raced there (650 twins and 600 I4's) you really dont need get out of the gas through T4. Lastly T10 I think it is (right after the grandstands the fast right hander) on the bikes you dont grab the brakes, just off the gas and turn in. that may vary ALOT with the nsx transferring more weight to the front tires with a little brake but I think you can find some time there as well.

Just out of curiosity what are some of the laptimes you were running? for the bikes I was able to run in the low 1:40's on the twin and mid 36's on the I4. fast guys hit low 30's... i'm not fast

 

[Nukem]

I live like 15 mins away from MAM. Would have came out and watched.

 

[enigma]

You're steering looked fine. I would not put any effort into changing it and continue working on your craft and balancing the car at the limit (hearing light and consistent tire noise through the entire corner).

The NSX's steering rack is pretty unresponsive for the first 45* or so in either direction. You steering inputs took up the slack and made the car 'work' and rotate when you wanted it to -just like how you should do it. Everything looked fine. Besides, Skip Barber Racing School teaches and promotes shuffle-steering and many racecar drivers went through their program.

Like others have said, work on yourself and speed will be a byproduct.

You look like you're wheeling the car quite well. If you have the finances and time, investing in a baffled oil pan might be easier and less continuous work than an Accusump.


I shuffle steer...


0.02

Thanks for the feedback Billy! Coming from autocross, the shuffle steer bit feels super natural, but I've just gotten a lot of flack about it 'on track,' and never seen many people do it in the videos that you see online. Good to know that someone of your skill level and speed shuffles steers as well. I've thought about a baffled oil pan and very well may pick one up if I continue to hit the track as often as I would like.

pretty clean lines for MAM! Ive only been there on a motorcycle so take this for what its worth... you dont have to set up as wide for T2. I get to about mid track after T1 and stay in the gas until I brake for T3 and pitch it in. Also in the classes I have raced there (650 twins and 600 I4's) you really dont need get out of the gas through T4. Lastly T10 I think it is (right after the grandstands the fast right hander) on the bikes you dont grab the brakes, just off the gas and turn in. that may vary ALOT with the nsx transferring more weight to the front tires with a little brake but I think you can find some time there as well.

Just out of curiosity what are some of the laptimes you were running? for the bikes I was able to run in the low 1:40's on the twin and mid 36's on the I4. fast guys hit low 30's... i'm not fast

Thanks for the feedback! T4 is flat out in the NSX as well. Going unto T12 (in front of the grandstands), I breathe on the brakes a bit, but do think that I could've been a bit more brave through that section for sure.

As far as laptimes go, I ended my day with a 1:52.0. A friend of mine drove my car as well and did manage a 1:51.7. I wasn't pushing as hard as I probably could've though. I felt reasonably happy with my braking points as I felt I was waiting fairly late, but I definitely could've pushed more through the corners and I never once hit redline--I limited myself to about 7400 rpm tops, usually closer to 6800-7000. When I head back on Sept 3rd (hopefully, work permitting), I do want to put in a few flying laps just to get a real indication of what sort of laptimes I'd put down in the car. Really hoping for a 1:4X.

I live like 15 mins away from MAM. Would have came out and watched.

PM me your # or something! As I said above, I'm really hoping to hit the Z Club event there on Sept 3rd. You should come out and hop in for a ride!

 

[stuntman]

Thanks for the feedback Billy! Coming from autocross, the shuffle steer bit feels super natural, but I've just gotten a lot of flack about it 'on track,' and never seen many people do it in the videos that you see online. Good to know that someone of your skill level and speed shuffles steers as well. I've thought about a baffled oil pan and very well may pick one up if I continue to hit the track as often as I would like.

Your steering inputs looked perfectly fine IMO. The main thing to avoid is hand-over-hand inputs, but shuffling is perfectly acceptable, its taught at Skip Barber, and practiced by many professionals. Its perfectly fine for others to disagree and their will always be disagreement about many theories or practices. This is my 0.02 so for what it's worth, don't worry about shuffle steering -I do it too

 

[TURBO2GO]

Your steering inputs looked perfectly fine IMO. The main thing to avoid is hand-over-hand inputs, but shuffling is perfectly acceptable, its taught at Skip Barber, and practiced by many professionals. Its perfectly fine for others to disagree and their will always be disagreement about many theories or practices. This is my 0.02 so for what it's worth, don't worry about shuffle steering -I do it too

I think you need to learn how to drive before you start doling out advice to others. Last I checked you wrecked your ride.... :biggrin: