Streets of Willow Track Day Speed Ventures 12/04/11

So back to Streets. This time with NON-broken motor mounts and a completely refreshed front end. Speed Ventures was hosting this time. I had a good time with Speed Ventures. I liked their approach a little more than Speed Trials, but they are definitely more laid back than NASA. If you want more strict and controlled track day situation I would say NASA has that down. There were some times with Speed Ventures where I thought it could be a little more strict, but luckily nothing happend out on the track.

In a nutshell NASA has a system to verify to run level skill more accountably than Speed Ventures or Speed Trials where they sort of just "trust" you. And since everyone classes themselves up one level of where they actually are, you have to figure out which group makes the most sense for you once you get out there. I like NASA but sometimes I prefer the latter, it just depends on what track I want to go to and who's hosting when my car is running. :)

I arrived at the track around 7:00 in the morning to a nice and crisp 19º. Already quite a difference from the 100º+ track temps I experienced this summer. 

The temp got up around the mid 50s for the rest of the day. The track orientation was CCW which was opposite of last time but everyone I asked said they're times CCW were slightly higher taking into account you're going up hill.

I had originally signed up for intermediate class but I ended up running with the JMP Auto private group after meeting and being introduced by Ryan Castro, the fellow e36 enthusiast shown below with the Avus M3.

And under the hood of this Avus M3 was this.

Hello. LS1 swap originally preformed by Tim Philips of European Concepts in PA. Ryan also runs Motorsport Hardware, a good place to get your race studs at a good price. 

JMP Auto had a lot of BMWs, most of them being swapped e30s, but there was a pretty raced out e46 m3 and a couple e36 m3s. The swapped e30s had some of the fastest times in the group.

So after a brief drivers meeting I hit the track. Everything felt right and tight and then BAM. The rear hanger on my exhaust decides enough is enough.

I was on the track hearing a lot of scraping noises and getting a lot of meatball flags before I pulled in. I looked down and saw the muffler pretty much on the ground. Nothing better to do but remove it and get back out there! With about 50 lbs of weight saving and maybe 2 or 3 more hp the car felt great! Sounded good too.

First couple times around the track got me used to opposite orientation. The Z3 rack felt great and the most noticeable difference on handling came from the delrin control arm bushings. It makes the car very pointy and turn in is extra sensitive. It takes a bit to get used to, but the feel is more direct with the road. 

The solid mounts were also most appreciated on down shifts and heel toe. Upshifting was more responsive as well, but not as awesome of a difference as downshifting. 

The extra front camber was also making things a little more bearable with my, "not exactly the best," Nitto INVOs. The skid pad turn was where I was experiencing the most push and tire chunking. This time around the car felt flat with a tad of oversteer which felt good to me. Front tires were not screaming for traction like before.

So what's all this mean in terms of numbers? My times 6 months ago in the CW direction were around 1:35 - 1:37 with my best time a 1:34. My times in the CCW direction with the changes were constantly around 1:34-1:35 with my fastest time at 1:32. While this is good enough for me, I have to believe CCW has higher times as well so maybe equating to 1:31 in a CW direction. :D

In my run group there were about 18-20 cars. In the 3rd and 4th sessions of the day I was 5th fastest after an e46 M3, a s2k, a swapped S50 e30, and one M30 e30 which was super quick. I don't care what anyone says, nothing wrong with an M30 swap. The times at the top in my group were around 1:22 - 1:30. For Streets of Willow the lighter the car the betters. I'm running full interior with 0 weight reduction.

So here I am at the end of the day with my muffler in the trunk. I was pleased at how everything turned out. Everything replaced worked out and there was no crazy surprises with anything. I might just keep the car as is for a minute to get some more track time in next year before hitting the complete rear end suspension. Once I do that I probably won't have a car for a couple months. ;)