Focus on fun

jstein77 wrote: I was pretty lucky with mine, taking delivery only 4 months after placing the order. That sounds crazy, but most RS owners had to wait a lot longer than that.

Yep, ordered in February and received in October, so 8 months. I was initially told it should have only taken a couple of months, 4 at the most. I lost an entire spring/summer of racing and road trips prior to the baby arriving. Others have waited upwards of 12 months. Ford screwed the pooch and they are still pretty tone deaf about it all.

Time for an update!

Survived the first track day in 90 degree heat. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZS4JMlChMGY Sorry for the poor audio, the only case I had for the camera was the waterproof one, so you'll have to turn the volume up. I'm looking for some editing software to try and improve that a bit more.

My Dad gifted me a Track Night in America event, so we signed up to run at our home track, Portland International Raceway.

The RS was a little squirrely under braking and the back straight is a bit more, um, curved than I remember from previous trackdays and ChumpCar events. I suspect a bit more precise alignment and more air pressure could help those issues (I didn't get a chance to up the air pressure per the manual stated, just ran out of time before the event).

I can definitely say the car is much, much faster than I am. I've been away from high performance driving for way too long, so my skills have atrophied a bit. On the plus side, I've been going to and around this track since I was a baby, so its started to come back a bit in each consecutive session.

I ran all of the sessions in Sport mode, which left the traction control on, but sped up the throttle response and opened the exhaust (pops and bangs are just fun). The trick rear diff and the software allows you to tuck the nose in a bit in the middle of the corner with a touch of the brakes. Pretty nifty and something that one has to get used to, even if the front tires aren't too happy about that.

I got to chase an E36 M3 a bit for one of the sessions. The front tires were really unhappy after that, so I had to back off.

I can't wait to do this again and next time I'll be a bit better prepared :)

Not much to report since the last update.  Mostly just commuting in it from time to time.  I took it in for the headgasket recall, didn't seem to run any better or worse afterward, but the test indicated it was only seeping a little.

I did add a short shifter bracket and solid shift cable and bracket bushings.  I'm not sure I like the shortened shifter throw as much as I thought I would.  The extra effort in gear changes is quite noticeable and caused me some consternation at the last TNiA I attended, but I may have tightened the cable ends a bit too much.  I might try loosening them up a little more before I install the interior parts.

I ordered a Euro console insert to replace the US spec one, it should fit our various drink holders, etc. better than the existing piece.

My wife surprised me with a Track Night in America at Portland International Raceway, so Dad and I took part.

My daughter kept pointing at the track and saying that she wanted to go over there.  Then she would take my hand to help her get into Dad's Miata.  He said, he'll leave it to her in his will ;)

Here's the videos I put together of my sessions. I only did two as I managed to cook the brakes (running in Sport, not Race.  It is my daily afterall) and I didn't want to push it.  I'll work on the fluid and pad compounds before I hit the track again.