Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Thing About Road Courses

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • The Thing About Road Courses

    Got a taste of a road course, so nothing else would do except I had to get big brakes and big tires to go on Red to go back and do that better the next time, because nothing else better would do. And all of the tools and all of the, well, that's how it goes, preaching to the choir from the back row of the church here on the forum.

    Went much faster than the much slower folks in the rain at Road Atlanta and didn't think a thing about it while I was doing it. That was slow. But it was fast. And I was all big balls until I got back home and watched the dash video of it. Damn. Then I got scared, and that was SLOW.

    I propose, and this is open for great debate....I propose that if you're going to get really good at running road courses, you absolutely HAVE to wreck one time. You have to wreck one time (but I didn't). If you're really going to find out how fast you can go you MUST wreck one time to find out how fast is too fast.

    That logic might be wrong, but I propose it to be true. You HAVE to wreck once in a curve. You have to. If you want to find out how fast you can really go. I'm glad I didn't (wreck) but since I didn't wreck I have no idea how close I was to actually wrecking the whole time I was doing it. So I didn't know how much faster I could go. And I've still got Red in one large piece. And it was fun, but I won't be doing that again.
    Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

  • #2
    Smash it up on the track, or have it destroyed by hail in the driveway.
    Your choice.
    Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by studemax View Post
      Smash it up on the track, or have it destroyed by hail in the driveway.
      Your choice.
      That doesn't make any sense to me Stude. If it gets destroyed by hail in the driveway, I'm not in it. And deceleration trauma doesn't come into play.

      Don't know how many or if all of y'all have been to Road Atlanta, or maybe even driven the track, OMG, that's fear-fun. If you fk up coming under the bridge and down into that completely awesome drop into Turn 12 to the start/finish line, you'll hit both walls on the main straight before you're through. A dude in a zillion dollar Corvette did exactly that the weekend I was there. Rollback fodder. And a short ambulance ride to the infield care center. Yeah he was hurt, only his feelings were anyhow, thanks to safety equipment in the car. Explain that to the wife.
      Last edited by pdub; May 22, 2014, 09:42 PM.
      Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

      Comment


      • #4
        got to be willing to take that risk...not everyone crashes but the possibility is there...the issue is...is it an acceptable risk? For me....hell yeah it is.
        If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

        Comment


        • #5
          That doesn't make any sense to me Stude. If it gets destroyed by hail in the driveway, I'm not in it. And deceleration trauma doesn't come into play..
          Oh. Forgot about the driver.
          I stand corrected.
          Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

          Comment


          • #6
            The crazy French-Canadian F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve had a similar theory ... during testing he would often spin off the circuit, because he didn't believe in "working up" to the limit of traction. He would go what he figured might be too quick, then work down from that, with the idea being if you tried to work up to the limit you might never actually find it.


            cheers
            Ed
            Ed Nicholson - Caledon Ontario - a bit NW of Toronto
            07 Mustang GT with some stuff
            88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe 5-speed

            Comment


            • #7
              Professional racecar drivers intentionally reach beyond the cars capability to find the exact limits. Their is significant money and prestige to do so. Yet they still try to make sure not to crash the car.

              It would be foolhardy for an amateur to use their street car in the same way. You win nothing, you are paying to be on the track, nothing you do increases the value of your car.

              Dropping a wheel is one thing, crashing a car is far different. Drive within yourself. The car is typically far more capable than the driver.
              I'm still learning

              Comment


              • #8
                I say you modify your street car to a point , but once your reach just short of the ragged edge, you need to find a base body of your cool z28,.GTA , mach 1 , or what ever with out all the stuff that makes your street car functional . That way you don't loose a fortune by wreaking a rare or highly desirable car.
                Previously HoosierL98GTA

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by HoosierL98GTA View Post
                  I say you modify your street car to a point , but once your reach just short of the ragged edge, you need to find a base body of your cool z28,.GTA , mach 1 , or what ever with out all the stuff that makes your street car functional . That way you don't loose a fortune by wreaking a rare or highly desirable car.

                  so you're saying that because I own a Jeep Rubicon, I shouldn't wheel it because it's a cool package and someday might be collectible?
                  Doing it all wrong since 1966

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Now don' t go putting words in my mouth. It's not a car. But in the same context , is say mod it but somewhere before ruining it with mods or wheeling it, find SAR 6. :-)
                    Previously HoosierL98GTA

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      You guys.....ya'll are running me down a dirt road. Lemme see...I get a hull of Chevrolet or a Ford from the junkyard and then....lemme see. Our Leave it to Beaver suburbia two-car garage won't hold two cars and a welding machine that I don't know how to use, and a lift. So I do all of that and build a car that's a basic throwaway, sans time and effort, and then I take it out there and hit a wall at 120 MPH with it, and all we want to talk about is the car? Oh, and a trailer to queen the car to the track, tugging behind Bubba the Truck. Where am I going to put all of that shit? Sure can't hide it all from Unit.

                      Hey. Hello?
                      Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I don't hide it from Pam... Kinda hard to miss me working 5 feet from the front door which is how far the garage door is from the front door.. ... Plus that 1937 Century just buzzes and jumps and makes everything flicker......

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Pee Wee, surely you know how this all works by now. One step at a time. Seriously though I'm not trying to get you there. You really seem afraid to die . Not that most of us are in a hurry to do it , but not out right terrified . Besides most people that crash don't die. Of course those that don't hit walls have a statistically better chance to live longer. My biggest fear is loosing my mind and laying in bed till my days are over on earth. That removes a lot of fear of death.
                          Previously HoosierL98GTA

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The racecar I built because I didn't want to crash my street car only cost twice as much as the street car.
                            I'm still learning

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by HoosierL98GTA View Post
                              You really seem afraid to die .
                              In my early 20's, I frequented a redneck hangout outside of town in South Carolina. The owner actually let me and a few other poor music players hang out there trying to play live music and trying to attract a bigger crowd. A bigger crowd of bikers. There were guns there, hidden from view.

                              All of that's fine, but one night after we'd played Motherless Children and Statesboro Blues and a whole lot of other things that the crowd was totally not interested in, they were all screaming "I WANNA HEAR SOME COUNTRY," the whole time they were waving Budweiser cans and sort of keeping their handguns at bay. I said, "That's it boys," and we unplugged and gave up. Another failed garage band.

                              So I went up to the bar and hung my head over a beer and one of the biggest meanest-looking bikers of all came over to me and pulled up a bar stool right beside me. Close, real close.

                              Totally unsolicited, and totally off subject at the time, he was real drunk, it must have been something he thought about a whole lot, he offered to me...."You know WHAT?"

                              I said I sure don't know what the hell what. He said, "You know what scares me the most?"

                              I didn't know where this was going. I asked what. Now I'm getting a little scared myself.

                              He said, "What scares me the most is wrecking my bike and not getting killed all the way. Like getting paralyzed and stuff. That's what scares me."

                              I stared at my beer and he staggered away. No harm done, but a point well made in my opinion.







                              Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X