Gainesville test and tune day - 7/18/09
Temps close to 100 degrees and rained most of the day - most cars were 1 to 2 second off best times, with rain times off 3 to 4 seconds.
World Challenge SRT-4
2nd track day running this car, the brake bias issue is fixed, i.e. I learned to read the Motec display and adjusted accordingly. I am still not sure what this car is capable of, but I am still thinking 54 to 55 sec range. This was the first time I have practiced heel-toe downshifts and left foot braking. Next event I plan to work on improving corner exits that lead onto the 3 major straights on the track.
Gainesville test and tune day - 7/18/09
Temps close to 100 degrees and rained most of the day - most cars were 1 to 2 second off best times, with rain times off 3 to 4 seconds.
World Challenge SRT-4
2nd track day running this car, the brake bias issue is fixed, i.e. I learned to read the Motec display and adjusted accordingly. I am still not sure what this car is capable of, but I am still thinking 54 to 55 sec range. This was the first time I have practiced heel-toe downshifts and left foot braking. Next event I plan to work on improving corner exits that lead onto the 3 major straights on the track.
nice run ... get your foot off the brake pedal at apex you shouldnt need it anymore. you are really over torquing the tires on exit... add more oversteer (stiffen the ass up .. prolly the middle or even the stiff rear bar) this will help you rotate. You are having to add TONS more steering after apex. You shouldnt have to add any ... we should be starting to unwind. But I'm betting you are feeling the front get light and the car feel like it won't make it. It will, but instead of adding steering, modulate 1mm on the throttle OR better yet trust the car. Don't ever let the car coast ( unless coming up on traffic but even then maintenance is better than coasting). There is only 3 settings on the throttle: OFF, WOT and maintenance. On corner exit it takes a bit of time to get to WOT but thats the only time you want to be making huge adjustments on the throttle. Remember if you feel the ass get light ADD GAS and unwind and add more at the pause. I was gonna bitch about you running in a race car without a fire suit and a hans device. Check the leading edge of the fuel cell 'box' under the car. look at 2 things: 1) distance from the exhaust tip and where the front of the fuel cell is..... 2) look at all the rivets that keeps the front of the box from falling against the road...... Then reconsider the firesuit. Hans device is manditory.. there is no real crumple zones with that cage in there. I understand the track you were at was pretty forgiving with no real walls .. but keeping your head attached to your body is pretty important. get one and start getting used to it. Lastly
quit with the left foot braking, for now anyways. get smoother with the car then try to get the car to flatten out with the left foot later.. once you have gotten smoother.
Overall though it was a great run, good luck!
Oh and one more thing .... use the freaking brakes.. you are using probably 15% of the brakes that car has. From WOT to full brakes should be milliseconds tops. =] Yah i know its raining... still man =]
This is the only track that I do not wear my HANS and firesuit at. The HANS is easy to add to the mix, I would be glad I was wearing it if I found a way to hit a tree. I really need to get a coolsuit because wearing a firesuit in 100 degree heat seems difficult, but I guess not nearly as bad as 3rd degree burns.
So on corner entry you want oversteer to get the car rotated and then add gas, similar to the turn I spun out in? This course is techincal and apparently this car requires a different driving style to go fast than I am using. For reference here is a lap I drove in our Viper at 54.5 sec(about 3 seconds faster than the WC SRT-4 lap, and considered a very fast time for this track). I think I am trying to drive the SRT-4 car with a smooth sweep around the corners and it does not seem to be working well? I know the Viper does not like to be thrown around the track, but maybe when the course get tights the SRT-4 needs more corner oversteer? Also for reference I have run a 57.3 sec time in our street based SRT-4 so I know I am well off the pace this car is capable of, do you have any video of a WC SRT-4 on a tight course showing the oversteer and driving style?
well you are babying the car around the corners and picking up the gas a little hard. then you are having to *drive* the car to exit. try to make the corner one steering input then modulate the throttle application to get the car to increase/decrease the radius. force yourself to start slow and practice ONE input .. no more adding steering mid corner or paying with the steering to get it to stick cause you are getting a push. The key on that course is gonna be corner entry. you are gonna have to slow the car in a straight line get back to maintenance make your input and *squeeze* the throttle while unwinding after apex. On the tighter corners, instead of left foot braking ( for now ) pretend its a heel/toe brakes release brakes as you apply throttle (clutch out) rolling rt. foot from brakes to WOT. later when you are good at that you may not need to left foot brake. I find it more fluid with our Tilton brake pedals. you are using the brakes to get the ass to lighten up and using the throttle to drag your ass (brakes have loaded front with traction) around the corner. should force a 4 wheel dance if you get it right. too much brake and you go around too much throttle and you push off into the dirt. I think if you set the car up a wee bit more ass happy you will be able to get that to work well. My video camera has been broken ( its huge old and not on my list of priorities to replace ) But I will be getting a little one here soon and I will post up.
The problem I have had is pre-brassing things down south to trust the car at a higher entrance speed. Its amazing when you find ou have been over slowing the car SIGNIFICANTLLY on the faster corners. The downforce added by the wing and splitter is very impressive once you get your speeds high enough to realize it.
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World Challenge SRT-4 track report 7-18-09
2005 Black SRT-4 
Linear Mode
