[Sleeks]

I posted this in the track thread too, but not sure how many people look at that, so I thought I would start a thread here too.

Ran at Road America Saturday with Northwoods Shelby. Being this was my first ever track day, I don't have anything to compare them to, but I thought this was a well run event. I was assigned a great instructor and they really wanted to make sure everyone was safe and had fun.

This was my first track event ever....No previous autocross, road courses, etc. I have a lot to learn, but gained confidence as the day went on to push the car harder. I have a bunch of room to grow. Had an instructor for the first three sessions of the day, ran by myself the last two sessions.

This is the final session. It was cold (around 40 with a wind chill of 33) so the tires took forever to come up in pressure/temp. You can see the traction control light is on in every corner and even on the straight. Watch the first few laps as I get to the crest of the uphill on the front straight...it lights up there. I switched to sport 1 once I got some heat in the tires and that helped. I know I missed my marks on some of these laps, as this was my first lap really pushing for higher top speeds. As I was getting faster, I was re-learning my braking points.

Spent the entire session chasing a GT350 with the track pack. It wasn't an R. He had previous track experience. Considering the 70+ HP he had on me, I thought I did a good job staying with him. There was another mustang on my rear bumper during the warm up lap, but he was a spec in my rear-view by the time we finished the first lap and after that, saw no one behind us.

Big thanks to Todd my instructor and especially to Alex at Performance Eurowerks. I came from an E46 M3 and they did all my major work on that car, and he is very experienced when it comes to HPDEs. I must have asked him about 100 questions leading up to Saturday and he was super patient with me.

I can't wait to drive here on a warm day when the tires actually have some grip...

[meyouand987.2]

40 degrees is cold for these tires for sure! Glad you had fun and remember seat time is the best mod for the track. As far as the nannies go, it seems these cars (c6) can only run hard with LOTS of interference. Just be careful if you exclusively learn to track in this car and then in the future switch to something different.....You might get a nasty surprise if they (nannies) are not there to "save" you. The camaro is not the worst offender in the nanny dept though, the GTR is.

[Sleeks]

Originally Posted by meyouand987.2

40 degrees is cold for these tires for sure! Glad you had fun and remember seat time is the best mod for the track. As far as the nannies go, it seems these cars (c6) can only run hard with LOTS of interference. Just be careful if you exclusively learn to track in this car and then in the future switch to something different.....You might get a nasty surprise if they (nannies) are not there to "save" you. The camaro is not the worst offender in the nanny dept though, the GTR is.

good advice. Thanks!!

[Mr. Meh]

I was going to be up there this weekend. When it was MFBA running it. Once they canceled out, i decided to not run.

Though, did have to re explain to the hotel Saturday morning that I'd canceled months back.

Still got 900mi to go on the Zl1 before I can track. So, I'm hoping to get to Cheeseheads on Track in October there.

How did you like the carousel, turn 5 and coming down hot in to Canada corner?

[Mr. Meh]

Also, for your first track day on such a track and in those temps you did very well. I've seen complete knobs get out there and endanger themselves and others, and some even hitting a wall and shutting it down for us all..

[Sleeks]

Originally Posted by Mr. Meh

I was going to be up there this weekend. When it was MFBA running it. Once they canceled out, i decided to not run.

Though, did have to re explain to the hotel Saturday morning that I'd canceled months back.

Still got 900mi to go on the Zl1 before I can track. So, I'm hoping to get to Cheeseheads on Track in October there.

How did you like the carousel, turn 5 and coming down hot in to Canada corner?

Originally Posted by Mr. Meh

Also, for your first track day on such a track and in those temps you did very well. I've seen complete knobs get out there and endanger themselves and others, and some even hitting a wall and shutting it down for us all..

Thank you! Wish the temperature would have been 20 degrees warmer, but I was happy the rain held off.

The carousel was a blast. Started the day going through there in the mid to upper 60 MPH range. The last session I was pushing upper 70s. So much fun going through there at speed.

Turn 5 is great! And coming in to Canada so fast is a blast.

I also really enjoy coming off 6 - through 7 - and down to 8.

After being a spectator there for so many IMSA, Indy, SCCA races, it was great to drive it.

[glebulon]

I am very curious to hear more as you do more track days, things like running with traction control completely off, how does the car feel mid corner whether it feels neutral and does a 4 wheel drift or if it understeers/oversteers under maintenance throttle.

How is the turn in, is it crisp?

[Sleeks]

Originally Posted by glebulon

I am very curious to hear more as you do more track days, things like running with traction control completely off, how does the car feel mid corner whether it feels neutral and does a 4 wheel drift or if it understeers/oversteers under maintenance throttle.

How is the turn in, is it crisp?

Turn in was crisp. I had more grip than I thought I would considering the temperatures.

Early in the day, I just ran in track mode. The last two sessions I started playing with PTM.

If you watch the video, I start off in Dry and end up in Sport 1. Being so new, I didn't want to progress to sport 2 or Race yet. However, as the tires warmed and came up to pressure, I did want to try Sport 1. You can watch the traction control indicator is on A LOT in Dry mode. In Sport 1, it is less so.

You can jump fully on the gas and if the car doesn't think you have the grip, it will hold back power. You can feel and hear the engine doing it. It isn't as noticeable in the video, but the engine makes a different sound when it is holding back power. Then as you unwind the wheel, it feeds you power.

[slowman]

Awesome! What brake pads were you running?

My first track day (in the 1LE) is in June and I can't wait. I'm going to run the stock pads with a brake fluid change. Just curious which pads you were running and how you found their performance to be.

[Sleeks]

Originally Posted by slowman

Awesome! What brake pads were you running?

My first track day (in the 1LE) is in June and I can't wait. I'm going to run the stock pads with a brake fluid change. Just curious which pads you were running and how you found their performance to be.

I have a set of Brembo TS20 on order. Unfortunately shipping got hung up and they didn't arrive so I was on stock pads. I did a fluid change on Thursday. I didn't have any fade or problems all day. They did well.

[Vintage]

Sleeks - great job! I bet you are hooked now. As you continue to develop your skills, the 350R will be a good benchmark. My experience is that the 1LE is quicker through the technical stuff and the 350R has a little more go in the straights. So, very evenly matched if drivers are of similar levels.

[Sleeks]

Originally Posted by Vintage

Sleeks - great job! I bet you are hooked now. As you continue to develop your skills, the 350R will be a good benchmark. My experience is that the 1LE is quicker through the technical stuff and the 350R has a little more go in the straights. So, very evenly matched if drivers are of similar levels.

Yes, I am hooked. Working now on figuring out how to substantially make more money to support this habit. Why can't I enjoy something inexpensive....LOL.

[Ryephile]

Congrats on a successful 1st track day! Cheers to many more.

[Sleeks]

The worst part of the track day, was leaving the track 1/2 way through the day to get gas. Was driving behind a guy wondering why he was so slow, only to realize he was doing 15 MPH over. Then I wondered why my car was so loud...duh, helmet is off.

LOL.