The Ridge track day. GoPro vids inside

**R/T93** · 01-20-2013, 03:42 PM

Signed up for this earlier this week. All through the winter they have been having 150 dollar days , this is the 2nd one I have been to with this group (Turn2) and the 2nd time I have had a really good time with no issues.

I had a TON of blowout full throttle 4500+ rpm, had to lower boost to only 11 psi :/ Car is much slower at that speed than at 14 psi I normally run. New plugs and wires are in order....

Every downshift is rev matched and heel-toed. Been working on that for a few years and I think I have it down. Rarely took the car to 7k, a couple times in 2nd gear coming out of turn 12. I think my first session was the only time I topped 120 mph, other than that I held off at about 110ish and maintained till the braking zone for Turn one, about 75 mph. The big left hander (turn 6) is where I lose the most time to other cars of my speed. I could only go around that one in the low 50's or I would push wide. Damn skinny 245's. Brakes were superb. Rears lock up occasionally across camber and mild trail braking, guessing the AX6 pads are a bit more aggressive than the XYZ streets, balance is off. Straight line braking was impeccable.

The first few laps were under a yellow, it was 34 degrees and foggy, dew point was 33 degrees and 100% humidity. It was bone chilling. Track wasnt that slippery though, never had any issues with grip and of course none with traction

Please dont just click the embed, go 720p or 1080p, it took me like 14 hours to upload all these at least watch a good quality movie

First time out for the day, about 9:40am

This is the 2nd bit of my first session.

2nd session. Dried up a tiny bit, a little more confident.

2nd part of 2nd session.

I got brave and attached the camera outside the car. I looked in the rear view mirror about a hundred times to make sure it was still there, haha. I didnt go past 110 on the straight for this session.

The batteries died so I didnt get the footage from the rest of this session.

Fourth session I put it on the roof looking back. Drying up much more throughout the day. Could do a lot better through turn 8-10. Was going 90 mph up that hill and across the apex into the braking zone for the slow 2nd gear turn 11.
Check out the Subaru behind me, his windshield seal strip was coming off!! He got black flagged and left the track to go get it fixed, never came back

Thats not a fun way to end your day. Also, as he passed me I got really aggressive and was on his ass for about 2 laps, he never let me pass though :/

5th session was fun

**R/T93** · 01-20-2013, 03:49 PM

The car was wonderful except for the blowout, I was leaving a lot of torque on the table. I was trying to get the car loose in the slow 2nd gear portions later during the day but the power wasnt there

Oil temps never got above 107C, after a cool down lap they were into the low 80's already, 97/98 bumper ftfw. My brake pads hardly wore, tires didnt wear out too bad and wore evenly. First 2 sessions of the day the tire was like 10 degrees above ambient after coming into the pits.... IC's were in the 40's after coming in. Front brakes were 4-500F after a cool down, rears were 6-750... want cooling ducts for rear or EVO X's.

I have no clue what my alignment is, less than 2 degrees in the front and probably less than 1 on the rear. Slight toe in on fronts. I need to raise ride height in the front or get a shorter tire, killing my inner plastics with the stock sized 245/40.

I got several compliments on the car, one guy with a newer TT'd 335i said he had a vr-4 in 1991, lol. Talked about it some, said mine was nothing like his. Everyone loved the brakes and couldnt believe the price when I told them. Car was cleaned up and spotless friday night, it is soooo nasty right now, lol. Could play a dozen games of tic-tac-toe on my rear panels.

MORE PEOPLE NEED TO DO THIS WITH THEIR 3/S's. There is no reason anyone cant do this other than not being able to afford it.

**TurboSinceBirth** · 01-20-2013, 04:18 PM

Looks like fun. I don't think my Stealth would like the abuse. I'd probably have to turn the boost down to 15 psi or below. I'd be worried about all the heat in the oil, brake fluid, coolant, etc with more than 350-400AWHP. I know it becomes an issue. I do fine on the street but at the track heatsoaked something fierce so there's plenty of ducting/cooling to do yet. When I was changing my oil Fri I noticed how much gaps I have with a smaller FMIC core, no crashbar, and no ducting from the previous owner. There were big open areas air could pass through instead of going through the intercooler, oil cooler, or radiator. It's on my to do list.

**R/T93** · 01-20-2013, 04:33 PM

If I had a 500+ awhp 3/S for the road course I would have the biggest SMIC's I could get, dual oil coolers and gigantic brakes. It would be very formidable.

Of course, these values detract nothing from a good street car either.

**green-lantern** · 01-20-2013, 08:15 PM

It must be cold, I hate driving in a jacket.

Sorry if I missed it but what are the plugs gapped at?

**R/T93** · 01-20-2013, 08:52 PM

Rears are crappy bosch platinums I should not have installed. Fronts are NGK's. Plug gap is... unknown, lol. Setting them to .026 ish next week.

**green-lantern** · 01-20-2013, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by R/T93

Rears are crappy bosch platinums I should not have installed. Fronts are NGK's. Plug gap is... unknown, lol. Setting them to .026 ish next week.

I've never had luck out of the bosch. Seems like the electrode can get damaged very easy when adjusting gap. I think I always run .028 NGK's and never have blowout.