gtred

motorsportreg.com has an open track day offered by Tom Prichett at the ridge. The weather looks to hold; cold and clear; just great for a turbo...

First event of the year for me, and it's my first time around the Ridge.

jmann

I was thinking of it, but after talking to Fred lsat night I am going to pass. He says it stays foggy until noon or so and along with the cold, no thanks. I am getting antsy though. Well maybe it well warm some in a couple more weeks. Have fun.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Car is on jackstands getting Big Gripped. And new cam seals. Have a good time.

mr_hyde

iTrader: (4)

This is my car as of yesterday...


Wish I could, but there is a lot to do. I'm shooting for a shakedown around the end of March...

gtred

Yeah, it was a little cold! ... I've never had to drive wearing long johns and glove liners before. People were wearing their helmets around in the paddock just to keep their ears form getting frosty. By the afternoon it warmed up to the high 30's.

Still, it was a blast! Even though the track surface was cold, it was dry. I dropped the air pressures to 24# to help build tire temps and was able to find plenty of grip. I've never found a track that worked so well for my 6-speed... it seemed that I was always in the right gear... 6th for the front straight and 4-5 for most of the rest of the track.

Turn-2-Lapping was a friendly and relaxed program. Two run-groups allowed for lots of tracktime; 30min sessions starting at the top and the bottom of the hour; all day; open passing with a point by... the group were all safety conscious; mostly PCA and Mustangs... and then some barney with a Lambo...

For those that haven't been to this new venue, I'll go thru it:

The first set of corners is left hand uphill coming off a 120mph or so straight. You'll get lots of practice with your trail braking as you build grip in the uphill... the compression is very confidence building. Just as you crest the hill the course transitions right... and you get light. This is where you might adjust a little softer on the rear rebound... and be cautious not to lift here! The next set of corners puts you into a long left-hander, maybe 180 degrees. The next set drops you into a fast downhill, with then a little rise allowing you to practice your late braking without worries of overshooting it; then a right-hander shoots you over a rise and into a sharp left hander... which is a lot like the chicane at PIR. You line up track right; brake hard; turn tight left clipping the apex curb and you accelerate, tracking out until you hit the dirt... and you are on your way to the next set of corners. This set looks a lot like the corkscrew at laguna. The turn in comes up on you fast and is hidden by a dip. It's kinda slow and is so wide that there are lots of ways of getting thru it... no one line stood out as being better than the other, or gave you a better lead in to the rt/lt jog leading to the straight. The problem that I had was with tire spin at the exit onto the front straight. When trying to throttle up early, this little right/left jog was enough to unsettle my car and more often than not, would cause a bobble at the entrance to the straight. Maybe I'll try setting the rear tires a little more upright in my next go at this...

I'd highly recommend this course for a t-miata. The busy corners keep the miata well matched to most trackday enthusiasts.

mr_hyde

iTrader: (4)

Glad you liked it. What gears do you have in the car? My 4:10s are a little busy for my taste.

jmann

Yeh The Ridge is one of my favorite tracks, glad you liked it. You should raise your tire presures though on a cool track to help get the tire surface heated up, lower as the day warms.

gtred

Apparently Turn-2-Lapping is doing these "winter track days" on a regular basis; weather permitting. $150 gets you all day on an open track complete with turn workers and ambulance coverage. A great deal for those wanting to learn the line at a new venue like the Ridge.

jmann

Yes all you have to do is go to their site and email or call Tom and give him your email address and he well put you on his email list for winter trackdays. He sends out an email to everyone on the list asking if they would be interested if the weather looks good for that day 5 days in advance. Turn2 Lapping inc. - Home Great track and group and price.

gtred

The ridge is on for this weekend 2-9-13 as well. Any takers?

Jmann: about the tire pressure thing; Yeah I get your advice that the tire pressures should be increased a little for a cold track, thinking that the overall air pressures would be lower and that you'd get sub-optimal tread surface contact due to the center of the tire bowing in... but, think about my strategy: Drop the air pressure to induce flex in the casing and a smaller contact patch along the edge; all in an attempt to build up heat in the rubber. To put it another way: I'd rather have 4" of rubber that is heated-up, than a 9" contact patch that is cool. Remember the old physics experiment with the brick? Push it on it's narrow side and then push it on it's wide face and you get nearly the same resistance? This showed us that the coefficient of friction was more important than the width of the surface.

I've been using this strategy for cold tracks and rain races for many years. I don't know if it's the right; but lower tire pressures have always worked for me.

Why don't we test this on Sat? I'll have low pressures, you have high... Line-em-up!

jmann

It's still a little to cold for me, the 50's is better. You want higher pressures because the tire SURFACE has an optimol temperture range for traction and the harder that surface is pressed against the track surface [otherwards internal air pressure] the more friction well be created between the two surfaces [tire surface and track surface] and on a colder track you have a harder time getting it to temp as the tire won't build as much heat to create the friction needed to heat the tire surface to it optomal temp. As the track heats up the tire temps need to be lowered to keep the tire temps from getting to high and crowning the tire and creating high center surface temps and cooller outer temps. And the opposite is true for low track temps, the tire won't heat up enough to get good readings across the surface, the outers well be hot and the center cool. Also the tire well want to roll under on corners. In the rain especially you want higher temps to help heat the tire surface and also to punch through the wet surface and help keep from hydra planing. The cars would have to be identical to test your theory out and they aren't, but you can get yourself a tire pyrometer and see what you get for temps both ways. Anyway this is the way I've been doing it for 40 plus years and everyone I've ever raced with does it. Have fun Sat.

gtred

Yep, a hot strip at the edge is all I need to beat your axx!

Come to the ridge... I've got a pyrometer... we' ll run em!