Now that was fun (Laguna Seca content)

Just got back from the Miatas at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca event. Loved it, even though I couldn't make the first day. Car wasn't ready in time and taking an untested car to the track that far away from home wasn't too smart given that it has some inevitable teething problems.

I was a little scared of the track at first, given how often I tend to fly off in a corner when driving it in iRacing so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much easier in real life. Of course having the wife in the car with me - her first time actually being in a car on the track rather than watching through the fence - most likely prevented me from doing really stupid stuff anyway.

Oh, and mucho thanks to Keith for talking to me about my minor suspension/handling questions while being rather busy on the Targa Miata. Hope I didn't take up too much of your time.

As Arnold said, A'll be back

Forgot about that event. I was racing my Miata at Thunderhill instead.

Laguna Seca is a great track to drive in real life, I don't know why it's such a nightmare in video games but I've had the same experience as you with not being able to stay on the track. Once you've got the Corkscrew figured out it's actually a lot of fun, and there are turns that are much harder to deal with. (The dip in the middle of 6, getting the most out of 9, convincing yourself to brake later into 2, among other things.)

That Miata event looked cool, I saw Mazda post it on their FB earlier and spotted a few friends' cars in the pictures. I'd love if they did a similar event for the FWD Mazdas so I could bring the 2.

If you want a FWD event to happen, make it happen. This event wasn't Mazda's doing, it was Rick Weldon deciding to do it and getting Mazda on board.

A pretty long weekend for me. My car used to be like an anvil, but it's become quite troublesome in the last month. I spent almost all of Saturday parked with clutch hydraulic problems and then dramatically lost a wheel in the middle of turn 9 on Sunday when the hub failed. That ended as well as it could have, but I still have a lot of work to do to put the car back together.

Turn 6 is fun. Turn 2 is just boring - at least, unless you're battling for a position.

Wow. Was it giving you any noise/vibes warning before the hub punched out?

@Keith, I saw your car come in on a flatbed and hoped it wasn't too serious. Glad to hear you're OK.

Mine was fortunately running like the usual clockwork (although I seem to have misplaced another few psi's worth of oil pressure at this event), but it does seem to want to shake itself to pieces at certain speeds. It feels like there is a slight imbalance in one of the rear wheels and if I hit the right sort of speed on the right sort of surface - between and indicated 65-70 on a smooth surface - I hit some sort of harmonic resonance that start shaking the whole car. Got to look at this/get it looked at before I get myself to the track again. It happens on the road, too, so the drive to and back from the track wasn't too much fun 'cos I got stuck cruising at 60.

I was in heaven just walking down the corkscrew. You drove it. Color me green with envy.

From my experience in sims I always thought the dip in turn 6 was the hardest part of Laguna Seca - there's A LOT of time to be saved there by taking chances with the curbs, plenty of incentive to disrespect the corner.

The corkscrew's not a scary corner unless you're in a scary car. Braking late into turn 2 can be scary.

GameboyRMH wrote: From my experience in sims I always thought the dip in turn 6 was the hardest part of Laguna Seca - there's A LOT of time to be saved there by taking chances with the curbs, plenty of incentive to disrespect the corner. The corkscrew's not a scary corner unless you're in a scary car. Braking late into turn 2 can be scary.

Turn 6 has some serious consequences to getting it wrong (not a lot of runoff) and leads onto a long uphill straight, so yeah, it's both important and risky. :)

Turn 2's not that scary, but turn 1 can be... interesting in a high power car. In a stock-motor Miata it's not really a turn at all, but doing 110+ over the crest of that hill while turning makes the back end in my car get kinda light.

Unlike in previous years (coolant & head gasket issues in 2009, stripped 3rd gear in 2012), my car ran great. I corded my RA1s in turn 11 on the first session, but fortunately I had a backup set in the truck, so all was not lost.

It was definitely fun. I drove conservatively (i.e. slow) all weekend, but I drove the car home Sunday with no damage. I saw a few bent cars come in a flatbed that were clearly not going to drive anywhere without a lot of work.

Last year I bent a control arm when I turned in too early at turn 6 and hit the red curb on the inside of the corner. This year I was a lot more tentative. I think got turn 6 right maybe 5 times in two days of track time.

I am really grateful to Rick Weldon, Keith, Mazda and everyone else that worked hard to create a great event.

Type Q wrote: It was definitely fun. I drove conservatively (i.e. slow) all weekend, but I drove the car home Sunday with no damage. I saw a few bent cars come in a flatbed that were clearly not going to drive anywhere without a lot of work.

Yeah, I was trying to be careful, too, not only because I had my wife in the car but also because she didn't seem too thrilled when I answered her question "how do we get home if something goes wrong" with "Hertz"...

OK, I'm also a slow driver but that doesn't mean I'm slow with the excuses. If you were in group C I apologise for being in the way.

Type Q wrote: I am really grateful to Rick Weldon, Keith, Mazda and everyone else that worked hard to create a great event.

Me too, and we're looking forward to attending the event again next year. Although I'm seriously considering buying a truck and trailering the car down next year, I really don't like being "that guy" who has to bum tools off other people because there was no space in the car to take anything but the torque wrench for the wheels and a tire gauge, plus it's not exactly a comfy ride for the six-or-so hours it takes us to get to Monterey. Especially over the wonderful Cali roads. I must be getting old, or I need a more comfortable race seat.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

I was B group watching my mirrors carefully. A nearly stock 1.6 on street tires makes for a pretty big speed differential when the Targa Miata or any of the other high HP competition cars behind you.

I think I may change to C group next year. I have driven the event three times in "B". There have always been very fast cars and drivers in the group. The proportion of full on really fast track cars seems to be getting bigger each year.

From my video camera. That's my right rear brake rotor completing turn 9 while I start my second spin. To answer the question, there was absolutely no warning or vibration. Just BANG.

Interesting comment, Q. I like to think of the run groups as being indicative of experience level. If you're able to deal with a wider variety of speeds, then you can deal with B - and you're less likely to end up frustrated and stuck behind someone slower with restricted passing zones. All the B drivers should be comfortable with passing, so if someone fast does show up then you (hopefully) will find they also don't do anything oddball passing you. If I spooked you in the Targa, I apologize.

The V8 sure is fun going up the hill. I was hitting 5th gear about the time I went by the flagger past turn 6...

In reply to Type Q:

Your Miata wouldn't have been a red one and you also had a white Toyota "support vehicle"? In that case, Ann says hi.

BoxheadTim wrote: In reply to Type Q: Your Miata wouldn't have been a red one and you also had a white Toyota "support vehicle"? In that case, Ann says hi.

Tell Ann that Mari and I say "Hi" as well. .

Keith Tanner wrote: From my video camera. That's my right rear brake rotor completing turn 9 while I start my second spin. To answer the question, there was absolutely no warning or vibration. Just BANG.

OMG

You have that video posted anywhere yet?

Not yet, I have a couple of people I want to show it to first.

Keith Tanner wrote: Interesting comment, Q. I like to think of the run groups as being indicative of experience level. If you're able to deal with a wider variety of speeds, then you can deal with B - and you're less likely to end up frustrated and stuck behind someone slower with restricted passing zones. All the B drivers should be comfortable with passing, so if someone fast does show up then you (hopefully) will find they also don't do anything oddball passing you. If I spooked you in the Targa, I apologize.

Keith,

You didn't spook me at all. When I saw the Targa Miata in the mirrors, I knew that you would pass me cleanly with no drama.

Saturday, I encountered passes very late in braking zones and was passed at least twice in corners. I wasn't really expecting it in B and I was on edge all day. I saw the worst offenders black flagged and talked to. Late Saturday and Sunday, it calmed down and I had much more fun.

That's good feedback, thanks. The corner workers are watching for this sort of thing and it sounds as if they caught at least some of it. We have such a huge range of speeds and abilities at the event that it's getting harder each year to split everyone into four groups. Sunday is not as busy, so it's always less of a problem with traffic.

We keep the vendor cars out of C and D because of the spook effect. Even with clean passes and good manners, seeing a full-on race car with a 4' wing and a massive closing speed show up in the mirrors does tend to make the novices jumpy.

The V8 does make passing pretty easy. I call it the vaporizer

Crash video: http://youtu.be/3k2u2zaIA3c

The cause? I'd had to borrow hubs from another car for this event. They're an upgraded part from V8Roadsters, but there had been a design change several years back to increase strength. Well, the car I borrowed the parts from hadn't been updated.

BoxheadTim, did you get the understeer sorted out?

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I did get part of it sorted out by driving the car harder. Funny how that works . The tires still show more load on the fronts than the rears - the fronts have rubber snakes forming, the rears don't - so I'm getting the impression that I might want to get the car onto the local dyno to find out just how tired the hamster under the hood is. Normally I used to be able to load up both ends of the car pretty equally (judged by looking at the tire wear) but that didn't seem to be the case this time.

I'll try some more of your suggestions once I got the shaking sorted out as that severely limits my ability to use the car on the track at the moment.

I've spun off the track before but never while watching a rear wheel bounce up the road. Looks like a lucky escape and again, I'm glad everybody walked away from it. How's the damage on the car?

Let's hear it for rally cars. I spent a fair bit of time sliding on pavement, and all of the abrasion was handled by the skid plates under the car. It saved the diff and at least one shock. The rear skid plate looks pretty bad, but I am just fine with that!

The tub is not really damaged. The wheel went out through the back of the wheel well, so the steel that forms the back of the wheel well is all crumpled, but that is of no concern. The exhaust took some damage but I know a guy :) I lost two wheels as well, a front one got dented when we exited the track and there's a fair bit of scarring inside the runaway so it's being retired.

Watching the video, I am very glad you didn't roll. :-)

David