I was reading the cover story on the Autobacs ASM S2000 and the Dent Sport 240RS MAXI...

When I got to the part about the lap times at VIR I was STUNNED... those are some shitty lap times for such highly prepared cars...
What happened??? novice drivers??? never seen a race track before...???

I run an EASY 2:26 at VIR full in my shitty little, totally street legal, BSP 240Z...
My car has it's original L24, 4 speed, open diff, sport springs, tokico blues, ST sway bars, stock upper mounts, too little camber, not enough caster, 15x7" wheels with relatively small 225/50/15 RA1 tires...

I can easily get down to 2:24 with track temps above freezing... I could loose yet another second with better alignment and some real race slicks...

Here is some vid to prove it.. My transponder times are available through Tarheel Sports Car Clubs time trials website...




I can stomp both of those cars with less money than those bozos spent on their tire and wheel packages... LOL!!!!

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Ohhh yea.. I forgot to mention.. I have DRUM BRAKES on the rears!!!! lol....  

Well.. I was really hoping to get something back on this...

It was not a drag race or an autocross with lots of uncontrollable factors or driver errors greatly affecting times...

A Time Attack(Time Trials East Coast) gives you lots of opportunities to run the course...

I am going on the assumption that the slow times posted in the article are due in large part to the drivers being unfamiliar with the course... There are a lot of reasons this can happen... especially when you diddle away all day Saturday screwing around with the car and then you get rain all day Sunday... My answer to that is... BUILD THE CAR AT HOME!!! Drive it at the track... don't dickaround with alignment and damper settings... or trying to get the engine in tune... drive the *** car and learn the course... No matter what level of preparation went into the cars in the article... those times can be beaten by a whole lot of showroom stock cars(and my rusty old Datsun)


There is also an High Performance Driver's Education event(HPDE) associated with most Time Trials events...
This gives any driver ample opportunities to learn the course...
Sign up for the HPDE!!!!





I would give the guys who run those cars in the article some advice:

1: Get friendly with the locals when you show up on site... We are nice here on the East Coast... You can get someone who knows the course to ride along and help quicken the learning curve...

2:  Whe you sign up for tracktime... Make sure you sign up for an HPDE group with an instructor... Sign up early and ask for an instructor with a specific request for an someone who knows the course well(and can break it down for an experienced driver)...
I can understand if some drivers have a problem with English as a second language... We(HPDE instructors) can deal with it with enough advance warning...

3: ALWAYS request an instructor when you are attending an event at a new course... I see soo many drivers in red group who have never run at that track before... red group is SOLO group.. NO instructors... no guidance except the flag stations... That is silly for a driver who is new to the course...

When you show on site for a Time Trial... You should have planned the entire event to allow for MAXIMUM SEAT TIME... That means sorting the car out AT HOME... and signing up for, and running in, the ENTIRE EVENT... High Performance Driver's Education event included...  

i was wondering about that I know a few runs were in the rain but i think they got a few dry runs. I don't know, those cars should be able to take you car.  

I'm sorry budy, but you kinda hacked your way out of the turns there. And you were taking them alittle wide. I think you need to practice more, not acting like an expert here just from my perception, but it looked like you were not putting the car, but yourself to its limits.  I think it was turn two or 3? You went too wide and tried to swoop back into the inside. The double apex kinda seemed rough. Thats all. I take winding roads at top speed and since here in New mexico only have dirt tracks of nascar style. Not critizicing, but just what I noticed.