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Aug
06

Shelby Mini Nats @ Sonoma

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Hey Guys and gals, I’ll be there (#38 car).

It’s been a while since I’ve been on track so I went with the Purple (or C) group. Not looking for PB’s but just to be out again.

If you see me, come say hi!
 
2,198
1,061
Bay Area
It really was a great time. Met @Tri-bar and I upgraded to green. There were only 10-12 cars and it was an open track. I dint get my PB but that was an undocumented 152.xx. Although I got my documented PB at 153.23. I had a good time chasing and being chased and finally got my heel/toe to work. Saturday morning my right foot just didn't want to work with me.
 
741
1,075
TX
I did 1:55.2. If you guys have 2 minutes to watch the video and let me know where I can go faster, I would welcome the coaching!

What tires are you on?

It's been a while since I was at Sonoma (and I was on street car trim - stock seats, tires, etc.) - so I am going to let the locals give specific turn advice. However, I can see you're at the point in your driver development journey where you're really leaning on mechanical grip still at corner entry/mid corner and not letting the car rotate for you. I know, I know - it feels like if you try to go faster on entry, you'll understeer/oversteer off the track. This all comes back to how you're setting the car up on corner entry and the application of throttle/wheel unwind at exit. There's a lot more momentum you can carry if you can allow the car to rotate a bit on entry and then use throttle/steering to slow the rotation through mid corner and exit.

My recommendation is to pick a few safe corners at a track you're comfortable at and work on carrying a lot more (say 5-7 mph more) into it and learning what you need to do with the car to make it work. This will help you learn to understand what the car is telling you and teach you how to make those micro adjustments to throttle, steering, and braking to get through the corner with more momentum.
 
51
47
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Francisco
Thanks @honeybadger!
I am running Goodyear SC3Rs.
Your advice is helpful. I have worked on consistency and smoothness (still more to do) and you're spot on that weight transfer is a development area. I use trail braking to rotate the car sometimes but I wouldn't say I'm to the point where it's an intentional and consistent part of every lap for specific corners.
 
Thanks @honeybadger!
I am running Goodyear SC3Rs.
Your advice is helpful. I have worked on consistency and smoothness (still more to do) and you're spot on that weight transfer is a development area. I use trail braking to rotate the car sometimes but I wouldn't say I'm to the point where it's an intentional and consistent part of every lap for specific corners.
How do you like the SC3R? How would you compare to the SC2?

What is your typical wear rate like?

TIA
 
51
47
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Francisco
How do you like the SC3R? How would you compare to the SC2?

What is your typical wear rate like?

TIA
They are faster than the SC2 FP (which are a little less sticky than the normal SC2) but they seem to be wearing faster. I got 5 days or 30 heat cycles out of my SC2 FP. I’ve done 2 days on my SC3R and I will probably get 1.5 more.

I can get the SC3R for $1300 with my USAA discount so if I can get 3 days out of them they’re cheaper per day than the SC2 at $2000. I’d buy them again.

I’ve heard the SC3 is the sweet spot for amateur HPDE drivers, but I didn’t see them in stock when I was buying tires.
 
They are faster than the SC2 FP (which are a little less sticky than the normal SC2) but they seem to be wearing faster. I got 5 days or 30 heat cycles out of my SC2 FP. I’ve done 2 days on my SC3R and I will probably get 1.5 more.

I can get the SC3R for $1300 with my USAA discount so if I can get 3 days out of them they’re cheaper per day than the SC2 at $2000. I’d buy them again.

I’ve heard the SC3 is the sweet spot for amateur HPDE drivers, but I didn’t see them in stock when I was buying tires.

Awesome thanks man. Ben trying to figure out what my next move is from a tire perspective after I burn through all my SC2's.

-Todd
 
741
1,075
TX
Thanks @honeybadger!
I am running Goodyear SC3Rs.
Your advice is helpful. I have worked on consistency and smoothness (still more to do) and you're spot on that weight transfer is a development area. I use trail braking to rotate the car sometimes but I wouldn't say I'm to the point where it's an intentional and consistent part of every lap for specific corners.
I can tell you’ve worked on those - you're nice and smooth and at a great place to step it up a bit. Fortunately, I don’t see any bad habits that you’ll fight as you step it up.

it’s really just about trial and error to learn how to handle the car with increasingly more speed. At COTA, I did this by bombing into the eases as fast I could bare to hold it and then just doing whatever it took to keep the car on the track. After a few laps, I had a new entry speed and a much better idea of what I needed to do. Then I chose a low speed corner that requires trail braking and picked a brake zone and then moved it 5ft deeper every lap after I successfully made the corner. Eventually I shortened some brake zones by 25m and was carrying a lot more speed in. Just remember, it’s not about how late you braked, it’s about how much speed you carried through mid corner.
 
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2,198
1,061
Bay Area
They are faster than the SC2 FP (which are a little less sticky than the normal SC2) but they seem to be wearing faster. I got 5 days or 30 heat cycles out of my SC2 FP. I’ve done 2 days on my SC3R and I will probably get 1.5 more.

I can get the SC3R for $1300 with my USAA discount so if I can get 3 days out of them they’re cheaper per day than the SC2 at $2000. I’d buy them again.

I’ve heard the SC3 is the sweet spot for amateur HPDE drivers, but I didn’t see them in stock when I was buying tires.
WHAAATTT!!You get them for 1300 with USAA? My USAA is 1400. WTH. If you'd like to meet up at Sonoma and we run different groups id be more. that happy to ride with you and visa-versa. I have had some season track rats follow me and ride. with em and they really helped me put Sonoma together. DM me if you want to chat offline. I live in Redwood City so we cant be t hat far from each other.
 
51
47
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Francisco
WHAAATTT!!You get them for 1300 with USAA? My USAA is 1400. WTH. If you'd like to meet up at Sonoma and we run different groups id be more. that happy to ride with you and visa-versa. I have had some season track rats follow me and ride. with em and they really helped me put Sonoma together. DM me if you want to chat offline. I live in Redwood City so we cant be t hat far from each other.
We have the same deal - it was $1,398.15 installed last time. They had a $75 rebate, which brought it down to $1,323.15.
If you have the Goodyear Credit Card, the rebate is doubled to $150 right now and you can pay over 6 months with no interest. I'll probably do that next time if I'm going to be spending $3K-$5K a year on tires.
 
2,198
1,061
Bay Area
We have the same deal - it was $1,398.15 installed last time. They had a $75 rebate, which brought it down to $1,323.15.
If you have the Goodyear Credit Card, the rebate is doubled to $150 right now and you can pay over 6 months with no interest. I'll probably do that next time if I'm going to be spending $3K-$5K a year on tires
Thats awesome I guess Im getting a GY CC cause I spend a a lot on tires.
 
2
6
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Bay Area
I did 1:55.2. If you guys have 2 minutes to watch the video and let me know where I can go faster, I would welcome the coaching!


Thanks for sharing this video and thanks everyone for the answers here.
Last Sunday was my second day on a track in the US (both days in Sonoma). This is super helpful info here :)
 
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