Further tales of two 'Vettes!

This weekend we will not be at Buttonwillow, after all. A family illness necessitated our return to our home in Boulder, Colorado, where we will be spending the next couple of weeks, and we have no chance of a quick dash back to participate in NASA’s HPDE event at what has quickly developed into our favorite track. We hear this weekend the cars will be circulating in a counter-clockwise direction, whereas the previous time it had been clockwise. Check out the post of April 30, ’09: Are we humans? Or are we dancers?

Perhaps the saddest sight to see is both of our cars sitting in the garage hooked up to battery charges, as pictured above, where they will remain until much later in July. With the arrival of the July 4th weekend we head to Copenhagen for a much-anticipated cruise around the Baltic that will take us to a number of Eastern European cities, including St Petersburg, Russia, Tallinn, Estonia, and Gdynia, Poland. In the meantime, it try not to think about the Corvette (and the Infiniti, of course) locked away in a garage, some 1,000 miles away from Colorado, in our other home in Simi Valley, California. And look for a post on this adventure next month – but I am digressing.

While walking along the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder a few nights ago, Margo and I ventured into a notorious T-Shirt store: it has some of the funniest ones I’ve ever seen. And I came across one that illustrated my digressions: it said “Of course I don’t have ADD. Look, there’s a rabbit!”

Simi Valley has developed into quite the Mecca for Corvettes, and there’s been barely a day go by without seeing one a little out of the ordinary. There’s a very active Simi Valley Corvette club that regularly meets at a little Italian restaurant nearby and whenever they gather in the car park, there’s always a lot of well turned-out Corvettes to look at.

This is also the neighborhood where Margo and I first met our good friends Brian and Jan – they too drive a C6 Corvette that they take to the track, so it was pretty easy to form a friendship on this basis. They also track a BMW 328 coupe, just as we track the Infiniti G37S coupe, so there’s always something to be discussed each time we get together – over apple-tini’s! (Brian and Jan introduced us to this amazing drink, which when served at Maestro’s together with a touch of dry ice, looks like a witch’s brew, but tastes fabulous!)

While waiting for a latte at the local Starbucks, only the other week, in pulled a beautifully restored 1966 C2 Corvette with a big-block 427! The driver owns a custom motorcycle shop but, his custom cruisers aside, this Corvette is very much his pride and joy and the picture here is of it parked right outside the café. In between business transactions that he was actively pursuing at the time, we were able to exchange a few pleasantries as we both waited for our coffees.

But this is not the end of the story. The next day as I walked across to Starbucks, on my “morning tea” break, I spotted what I thought was the same red C2 Corvette parked by the café again. This time however, I am really taken by surprise. As the photo below suggests, it is not the same Corvette but something equally as special. The license says it all – it’s a 64 Z06! While many Corvette owners know that the C5 and C6 models included a Z06 performance option, the original Z06 performance option came out with the introduction of the 1963 C2 – but I wasn’t sure about a ’64! Seeing the license plate really made me curious!

We may be far away from our C6 Corvette and missing the opportunity to be Buttonwillow, but we shouldn't be expecting to get too much sympathy as we have a 2003 C5 Corvette Z06 in the garage of our Boulder home. This is our back-up car and while recently we were tempted to take it out for a track session at a new circuit just opened to the East of Denver, we hesitated. With two cars spending time at the track, do we really want to take another car onto the track? The Z06 is very special for us, as it was our first Corvette. It is not something we are likely to sell, or trade, anytime soon. But owning a Z06 has given me the opportunity to come to appreciate the heritage of the Z06. For a picture, check the earlier Looking back on '08

As I walked closer to the car claiming to be a 64 Z06, it certainly didn’t look like a typical C2 restoration – for starters, it had modern C6 wheels and, clearly visible through the spokes, what looked suspiciously like Z06 brakes. And the suspension appeared to be modern as well. As I walked alongside the car, sure enough, there on the right fender was a current C6 Z06 “505hp” badge. Look closely at the photo I have included below. The car was a hybrid put together by Greg Thurmond, owner of GTS Customs – check out his site http://www.gtscustoms.com/

Well, I quickly sent him an email – his wife had driven the car that morning to Starbucks – and later that day I dropped by his shop located, imaginatively enough, on Simi Valley’s Easy Street! Who knew! What Greg basically does is accepts pretty distressed C2s (and C1s for that matter) and then takes a highly modified C4 frame that he chops around a bit, before dropping in C6 engine, including today’s latest LS7. There are other power-plant options, and when I suggested installing a Supercharged LS3 “Stroker” I seemed to recall Greg even knew my friend Andy Green out at A&A Corvette Performance.

The last time we attended a NASA weekend at Buttonwillow we were able to get up close to Corvette’s of a completely different ilk. We came across a team competing with a Factory Five GTM Supercar. For those who may not be familiar with this car, Factory Five has set about creating a Corvette for the track that’s done pretty much about right! The big difference from any other Corvette that circulates the track is that this is a mid-engine set-up, with the beauty of the LS7 fully visible underneath the rear window, a la Ferrari. For more information, check out the Factory Five web site: http://www.factoryfive.com/gtmhome.html

There has been a lot of discussions of late on blogs and in online forums about the failures of both Chrysler and Chevrolet. And a lot of it had to do with their respective performance cars – would FIAT even bother to continue producing the Viper, for instance. And would the new GM even want to have the Corvette remain part of Chevrolet – or would they be looking for a buyer for this product as well? Or, are there already enough “models” in the ‘Vette family that could sustain it as a separate “marque” alongside of Chevrolet and Cadillac?

Chrysler is out of Chapter 11 and FIAT management is in place – and to the surprise of many I suspect, the first plant put back in operation was the small shop that produces the Viper. So perhaps it’s not all that bad for America’s super cars, and perhaps we will continue to see both cars developed even further. And while there is discussion on the blogs as to whether Corvette needs a mid-engine “racer”, or even a four-door model (as Porsche, Aston Martin, and even Lamborghini are planning to produce) to sustain it as a stand-alone marque – the consensus, as of today, is no it does not need anything additional. The basic C6, the optional C6- Z51 (as a junior track car), the C6-Z06 (as “the” track car), and now the C6-ZR1 “Supercar” give the marque a substantial product lineup, better than nearly anything else from the more famous manufacturers.

While Buttonewillow is not the best track for the big American torque cars like the Viper and the “Vette, every time you hear one blast down the main straight, it still sends shivers up my back. There’s absolutely nothing like the sound of the current crop of large displacement, high-revving, big-iron (mostly alloys, of course, these days) engines! But for Margo and I, this track will continue to remain the venue for which we think the Infiniti G37S coupe is the best option. We simply have learned so much more about the track from the driver’s seat of this car, than in all previous outings in the “Vette.

But our Supercharged C6 ‘Vette will be making a comeback. Even if it’s early next year! The hidden lesson for us both is that nothing comes for free, and with all the enjoyment we have had to date from participating in NASA HPDE events, the cars have taken a beating. Right now, the ‘Vette is facing new rotors and brake pads (with a change of fluids), and new tires. The Infiniti, too, will probably need new brake pads after the next weekend outing – which, according to the calendar, will see us return to Cal Speedway and that’s a track that typically is pretty heavy on everything, including brakes! It’s all become a case of managing the “variables” of the two cars – and looking to make sure we do invest any additional money in only what we need!

I have already begun the email exchange with Andy at A&A Corvette Performance and I will let him “freshen-up” the Vette in a month or two’s time, once we are back in Simi Valley. Andy can easily do the brakes and perhaps we will change the tires as well. Maybe even add an anti-sway bar that is a little stronger – and adjustable. Oops - that’s probably an example of “not really needed!” May have to cross that out! And maybe it’s even worth considering changing out the rear-end for one of Andy’s taller units 3.1:1 perhaps? Oops – maybe a bit extreme and not really necessary at this time! The ‘Vette has the standard rear-end that comes with all automatics (around 2.4:1), and getting more torque to the pavement may have advantages at tracks like Willow Springs! Yes, definitely, that’s what we need – more torque to the pavement! Ah, but the list is growing.

In one of our more-recent L.A. freeway drives, we must have run over something, (most likely rubber that had separated from a truck tire), that rebounded underneath the car. When we last had the ‘Vette up on the lift, it had a large piece of an underbody panel missing, with a substantial hole revealing the inner-workings of the windshield washer receptacle and its associated plumbing –probably not an ideal situation for future track outings. But Andy knows what will be required and it will be included in the list as well. So it’s not just being on the track that generates all the maintenance items on our check-list, but being Margo’s daily drive the ‘Vette comes with a price!

Logic dictates that there’s little sense in messing up two cars as we continue with NASA’s HPDE program – and looking at both the Infiniti and the ‘Vette, it’s the ‘Vette we really love to drive. The Infiniti is serving a wonderful interim job in helping us learn the tracks – and the ease with which a “momentum” car, like the Infiniti coupe, gets around the track lessens the distractions that otherwise arise from a big torque car where throttle management becomes so critical. And ‘Vettes belong on the track –their history is liberally sprinkled with success from every corner of the planet. Even when the prettier examples are restored, as Greg does so well, they still need to perform as well as they look!

Having experienced tracks with a few less cylinders has had its advantages and definitely improved our relationship with the organizers, yet Margo and I do so miss “Frankenstein”. And if what we have learnt from the Infiniti translates to better management of the beast when it is next out on the track – then the lessons have been well worth it. Already, 2010 doesn’t seem all that far away and the next three or four outings will only help in better preparing us for the inevitable return of the ‘Vette. After all, there’s only so many times I can look at the photo at the top of this posting without cringing and being overcome with remorse – life on battery feeders is no life for a car, engineered to deliver in a way only the ‘Vette can!

A tale of two ‘Vettes!

The weekend at Willow Springs International Raceway (WSIR) proved to be a great experience for Margo and me. We had been looking forward to it and the circuit didn’t disappoint. Our first outing onto a race track back in 2008 had been at Willow Springs and now we consider it to be our “home track.” At the same time, we always associate Big Willow with our ‘Vette and it seemed a little odd to arrive, early Saturday morning, driving something other than the big fella!

The ‘Vette remains Margo’s daily drive and there’s rarely a weekend in Southern California when we can’t be found driving along the coast or up through the canyons. The photo above is of a recent drive along Mulholland Highway where the resident photographer from “RockStorePhotos.com” happened to snap us on a descent into the local watering hole. The ‘Vette is limping a little these days, battered from six weekends of track duty but as we arrived at the track, fate would intervene and the ‘Vette wouldn’t be left out, finding its way back into the weekend’s activities.

For those reading the NASA Forums, and checking out the postings for HPDE, they will have read of how Margo and I have been considering different ways to approach weekend sessions sharing the one car. We first went with me driving all four sessions on Saturday and then Margo having all the session on Sunday. We then tried alternating sessions across the whole weekend. But now we are back to driving for the full day – all four sessions – and I have to admit, driving all four sessions back to back to back to back really helped with our education, and particularly for Margo who improved out of site.

But a lot of this had to do with not only the encouragement and support the NASA leadership provided but with the access we were given to “passenger seats” alongside Fulton Haight who heads the HPDE 1 and 2. On Saturday, Margo had several outings as Fulton drove his Mustang, as well as John Matthew’s M3 and, on Sunday, I was given the same treatment as well. The was an unexpected bonus that we both appreciated.

On Saturday, as we waited to take to the track for the first session of the weekend, I was alongside a BMW B7, the Alpina-modified 750 limousine with a supercharged 4.4-liter V8 churning out 500+ horsepower. Behind the Alpina was an Ultimate radical powered by a Corvette LS7 engine that also churned out 500+ horsepower. Perhaps my complaint that the Infiniti G37S was a “momentum” car wasn’t too far from the mark after all. And the photo below is of this eclectic mix of cars.

My instructor for the day? Well, there was a last minute change and in jumped John Matthews – NASA SoCal’s HPDE Director with oversight for all HPDE programs. “So, let’s see how well you drive, Richard. I will be looking at how you use your hands, and where your eyes move as we lap the circuit,” John announces over the earpiece I now have wedged into my helmet. Was I nervous? My first session was the worst of the day and definitely a step backwards from my previous outing at the Big Willow. I don’t think I hit a single apex and I didn’t take advantage of the full width of the track with any corner exit I completed. And the speed I was able to carry suffered accordingly. So much for home track advantage!

Yes, it was an experience alright – but I had little time to dwell on it as the next session started shortly after the first session’s download completed. But this time, John modified his approach and gave me time to drive a few laps before he provided further input. And with each session, I improved. Due to scheduling conflicts, as John was also participating in Time Trials, he missed my third session but the instructor who stood in for John again let me work on my lines with only brief interruptions as he helped me find better lines.

During these early sessions, I had seen Fulton in his Mustang Cobra closing in on me as he paid close attention to how I was driving. And I could see Margo sitting alongside him. Fulton would lead the HPDE 2 drivers out, drive the right line, and watch as the students emulated his moves. He would then wave on by two or three cars and watch the next group – this proved to be an effective way to monitor the progress of the slightly more experienced HPDE 2 drivers. Then he would be off chasing down any other car with ease – he was clearly enjoying himself in the role of teacher! But I was encouraged to see him paying some attention to me.

My final outing of the day saw me under John’s tutelage once again. The position of my hands had been fine but John did teach me to look much further up the track as I approached turn 3, and to look for the exit out of turn 9 and I improved significantly. It did make a big difference. Unfortunately, in the G37 coupe, there were enough differences in geometry that I just didn’t nail turn 1 as well as I had been when in the ‘Vette last time out. I turned in too late, and never quite managed to get it right – even though I knew what I needed to do.

Pressure? Well that arrived in a hurry during that final session. For a couple of laps with John, I had Fulton driving John’s M3 (with Margo as a passenger) pressing me so closely that it looked like it was old-school NASCAR drafting. No, I couldn’t see the plates on the front of the M3. Once I caught the back of my car, as it tried to come around, exiting turn 3. Yes, I was trying, and yes, I continued to miss the turn-in to turn 1 but otherwise, I was happy with the way I was handling the situation and after a few more laps, I waved Fulton by and he went after other drivers. These were good times, after all!

That night we caught up with our good friends Brian and Jan who joined us at our hotel. Jan brought her BMW Dinan 3, a “tuned” 328, while Brian brought his C6 ‘Vette. Relatively new to NASA, having participated only once before, Brian would be joining other intermediate level drivers in HPDE 3 that is led by Mike “Mad Dog” Peters. This would be the first time I would be seeing him drive among a highly competitive group of drivers – HPDE 3 has provided more than its fair share of excitement over the years – and I was interested in seeing how it turned out for Brian.

The picture above is of the pre-grid for HPDE 1 and 2 early Sunday morning. I am about to jump into Fulton’s Mustang as Margo is joined at the front by Jan in her BMW coupe. While we waited for the session to start, I was able to watch Brian up close, and he impressed the heck out of me – he was running the big ‘Vette on wider, super-sticky, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires, and he was one of the quickest cars in HPDE 3. There’s still no substitute for a big American V8 unleashed in anger! And Brian had a ‘Vette that simply bellowed, and watching him and knowing there was another one locked away for the weekend, made me just a little envious! Brian’s session ended, and HPDE 1 and 2 drivers turned into the hot pits and headed out onto the track.

The G37 coupe was running well and Margo was having fun. With each lap it was easy to see that she was picking up speed and her lines looked pretty good. She wasn’t having the same trouble I had had with turn 1, and I could see her confidence growing. As for Jan, from the moment she drove onto the track it was clear that this was familiar territory! Turns out that Jan has been to Willow Springs many times before, and Big Willow is one of her favorite circuits. Watching her pull away from the others in her group, she demonstrated a degree of smoothness that I could only hope to replicate on some future outing. She was good!

During Brian’s first HPDE 3 outing, Jan had worked the pit for him – reading tire temperatures as he came into the hot pits halfway through his session. But this was a distraction for Jan, so I volunteered to perform the same duty during his second session. While Margo and Jan headed for their cars, I was standing by the pit wall as Brian’s group completed the warm-up lap. But it was very different this time – there was a pace car leading a small group of drivers that had separated from the rest of the pack. And Brian was leading that group. As the pace car left the track, the green flag dropped, and they were off.

I watched as the big ‘Vette out-accelerated the other cars, and continued on deep into the braking zone. Brian had just installed racing pads and he was using them well – braking late and hard before rolling onto the gas and driving through turn 1. This turn exits behind a small grandstand so the cars are momentarily out of sight. The next thing I saw was a large cloud of dust – someone had left the track. I looked as cars come out of turn 2, but Brian was no longer with the leaders!

He appeared a little later well back in the second group – it was his ‘Vette that had slid from the track. Black flagged, he exited the track quickly and headed for the black flag station where the car was checked. The news wasn’t good. Even though nothing looked wrong with the tires, a low tire pressure warning message appeared on Brian’s console screen. Air was escaping from a rupture somewhere.

There are two things that are problematic with these particular Michelin tires – they need heat before they become effective. Unfortunately, following a slow warm-up lap behind the pace car, they hadn’t come up to temperature. Brian had simply asked too much from tires that were still relatively cool. The other issue with these tires is the thickness of their sidewalls – and, as Brian went off, a stone had punctured the sidewall of his right rear tire with disastrous and un-repairable results. This we later discovered as we had the tires checked at the trackside tire shop. Times were now not looking good for Brian.

While he talked to the tire folks, I had a good view of Margo coming off her warm-up lap and I saw her pass two cars a few yards before the braking zone leading into turn 1. After completing the pass she quickly pulled back onto the line, braked hard, accelerated through turn 1, and was gone. It was just so good to see that I shouted and tried to get Brian’s attention. But Brian did need to get to his download session or Mike would have been less than impressed. He gave me the keys to the ‘Vette as and headed off to catch Mike, so I put some air back into the tire and drove it as gently as I could back to the entrance of the track where I parked it alongside the gatehouse.

The sessions continued and Margo kept on improving. The picture above is of Jan and Margo on pre-grid where, this time, Jan was at the head of the line of HPDE 2 drivers. And I was to be, once again, Fulton’s passenger, where I would enjoy a great view of them both – close enough to hear every gear change and to see every steering input. The third session of the day has been notorious for “offs” as it comes late in the day, after everyone has relaxed over a good lunch. But there was little to talk about at the end of the session with no major incidents of note – everyone communicated well. And once again, Margo had been a little quicker than on previous outings. And Jan wasn’t passed by anyone other than Fulton who watched her for a few laps before letting her go.

With the close of the last session, Fulton turned up with a new set of Simpson Driving Gloves in his hand. “To the most improved driver in the field today,” he began, “I have this gift and it goes to Margo! She progressed to where she had entered turn 8 at more than 100mph! And I can recall when she had barely been able to maintain 60 mph!” And the driver of a Honda Civic SI turned to me and said “I have been trying to pass your wife all day, and hadn’t managed to do so once. She can really drive!”

“These were the best of times. These were the worst of times,” so wrote Dickens as he began his Tale of Two Cities. And the news from Brian wasn’t good – he now had no way to get the Vette home as there just weren’t any spare Michelin’s to be had. Not in the size he needed – and the last picture here is of our blue ‘Vette, back in Simi Valley, with its rear wheels being removed.

Brian had left his ‘Vette back at the track and had come around to “borrow” the rear wheels from our ‘Vette so that he could swap his “holy” tire for something he could drive home on. We hadn’t planned on involving our ‘Vette in any way – but now it was helping get another ‘Vette home.

I am still in awe of the ‘Vettes, and while we will continue to lay down many more laps in the G37 Coupe, there will come a time when the ‘Vette makes it back. A number of folks came up to me and asked me when the ‘Vette would be back and, I have to admit, I sorely miss Frankenstein. But then again, the next time it does make it to the track, Margo and I will be better prepared to enjoy it, and to wring the best out of it!

Until then, it’s the G37 Coupe that will rack up the miles as we continue to figure out this sport involving cars … should we stiffen the sway bar? Would a better wheel and tire combination help? Should we consider a wheel alignment more suited to the track? A little negative camber and a small amount of toe-in? Oh yes, come these better times and there’s no end to what could be done!

Are we humans? Or are we dancers?

Well after the adventures of the previous month at Cal Speedway (Auto Club Speedway) it was good to be making a fresh start. We had talked about it for many nights and remain convinced we did the right thing in not turning any laps when we weren’t fully focused. We had heard so many stories of cars going backwards into the high-speed walls of the big oval that not taking any chances seemed to make a lot of sense to us.

The picture above is of Margo alongside the new car early Saturday morning and just after we had been through Tech Inspect. Our plans for the past few weeks did change and we ended up driving back to our Boulder home in the Escallade but we did decide to start a new chapter and to take the Infiniti G37S to the track. Our “momentum” car – and every time we make that comment we can see a wry smile spreading across our head instructor Fulton’s face. “You guys,” he would start and then walk away!

Consistent with starting a new chapter, and as forecasted in the previous blog posting, The G37S carries the #2 signage as #1 will always be the ‘Vette. Frankenstein is now in the garage, on a tickle feed, and in need of new shoes and socks! In the downtime since Cal Speedway, I took another look at the tires, brake pads and rotors. And they are in worse shape than at first thought – wear bars showing through on the Pirelli’s, the perimeter lip on the rotor’s very pronounced, and the pads worn all the way to where the sensors will begin to tell me to change! So probably, a couple of sessions on the high-speed, banked Cal Speedway circuit may have done us in – we may have indeed dodged another bullet. At the very least, the return trip home on LA’s freeways may have been very difficult.

The big question among our fellow drivers was all about whether we would even return. I had posted some comments on the NASA HPDE Forum – and many of the answers were anything but encouraging. But they weren’t altogether far off the mark either, and I took some time to address the main points. In the words of a couple of the contributors, yes, I did “suck it all in” and showed up for another crack at it. Key among the concerns? Wanting to have the same instructor across a weekend, and splitting time in the car each day!

The picture below is of Margo with our instructor Steve, lined up and prepared to take to the track for the start of Saturday’s second session. I had completed the first session an hour earlier and I was pretty anxious to see how well Margo faired. I had been very pleased with Steve and had found my way around the track from the time the session opened. Yes, I was going to spend some time that weekend looking at my lines through the sweeper before the esses, and there was always time to explore other lines through the buttonhook. Ryan had called for all sessions to be clockwise on ButtonWillow course #13 and I have to admit, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite courses.

What had always impressed me with this relatively short course have been the variations a driver has had to face. Depending on how you count turns, and everyone seems to have a different opinion on this topic, there are more than 12 and as many as 30+ turns. And when you get them right, there’s a flow to the track that is akin to the movements of a dancer where - so much is communicated from only a few minor inputs. Indeed, after completing one session, Steve was quick to point out that we truly danced our way around the track!

The point remains, however, that ButtonWillow is a very technical track that highly rewards those with the patience to find their own line around it. Some turn sequences – those following Cotton Corners, for instance – can be completed with a single steering input. And when you get it just right, the rewards are indeed tangible as you carry more speed to the Bus Stop that leads you into the fabulous high-speed turn that is Talladega. Perhaps not of the caliber of Big Willows turns 7, 8 and 9 but all the same, generating the same kind of excitement.

Saturday finished with Pizza and Beer – and a chance to catch up with a couple of the other drivers. Margo had experienced trouble focusing during her second session but Steve managed to work with her to sort it out and her last session of the day was terrific. Much improved too, she was looking forward to Sunday. I had tried to sort out my lines and in the end, was pretty happy with what I had achieved.

Before my first session Sunday morning, I enjoyed two separate outings with instructors. First up, it was an opportunity to observe the most advanced HPDE4 / TT group, and in a race-prepared Mustang driven by my previous day’s instructor, Steve. Unfortunately, after two laps, he broke the drive shaft. But it was enough to open my eyes about the right line to drive, and I was able to later apply what I had seen when it came to my time on the circuit. Seemed like I was cursed - this was now the third time out with the more experienced drivers when something went wrong.

This failure had followed one back in late ’08 at Willow Springs with Fulton in his Mustang, when he had been forced to a halt with fuel problems. Then earlier this year, and again at Willow Springs I had been with Carlos in his ‘Vette, only to spin off the track after three or four laps. Two laps with Steve on Saturday certainly didn’t give me any confidence to ask others to take me out – but Fulton stepped in and asked if I would like to be his passenger in a “borrowed” M3. No way would he leave me thinking I was only ever going to experience a handful of laps!

And can Fulton drive - coming as soon as it did after the laps in Steve’s Mustang, I could see the subtle shifts and adjustments he made with his lines (and finding ways to be quick, completely off the line, as he passed). Steffen, who I have mentioned in earlier blog postings and who had started out with us in HPDE 1 last year, was doing his first laps in HPDE 3 and Fulton stuck to the tail of Steffen’s BMW barely inches from his bumper – but Steffen never lost his cool. That was impressive, too!

I took to the track myself only a few minutes after the ride with Fulton, and left the pits in third (Margo had pre-gridded the car in my absence) and, for some reason, they had waved the HPDE 1 cars out onto the track ahead of the more experienced HPDE 2. Cautious during the warm up lap, as I had just been in two very fast cars and had seen the consequences of others being too aggressive after being a passenger, I watched the track, found the line, and for the first time (and thanks to the Infiniti), got into a rhythm.

With the warm-up lap completed, and with the session flagged open, I passed Mark’s Nissan 350Z and then, on the second lap pulled up alongside the Porsche Carrera of my fellow student Charlie, who pointed me by. The track opened up in front of me, and for the rest of the session I went very well finishing the twenty minute session by catching the tail end of the slower cars that had started behind me. I had been worried about Dave in his Civic SI as well Joe in his Z06 ‘Vette, but I didn’t see anyone. The question from Charlie, after we had pulled off the track, was about who had been driving the Infiniti! His instructor had told him, “Richard's instructor is probably driving the car, so let him go, see if you can stay with him, and watch his lines! But no, I had no chance.” Perhaps the best complement ever!

As the day progressed I began to work on a couple of different lines - and during the third session, I lost it completely as I missed an apex (by about 2 feet) and wide enough to get me out of shape for the following sequence of turns. For readers who are familiar with driving ButtonWillow clockwise, I had the rear brake away from under me as I tried to pinch the turn that leads to the Bus Stop. Oh well, lots of dirt came to rest in Charlie’s Porsche, as he slowed when he couldn't see the track! Again, it’s all about focus and I had lifted my eyes, only for a fraction of a second, to check my rear view mirror and to see how close Charlie was, but it was enough for me to miss the line through the apex that led to my undoing.

The picture below is of the Infiniti after a session completed and as we head for our parking. Attentive eyes may recognize the Factory Five GTM Supercar in the background – brought out to compete in the HPDE 4 / TT events. A relatively new car from Factory Five it caught our attention from the first time we saw it – a well sorted-out lightweight body on what was all Corvette underneath, but with a mid-engine set up visible beneath the rear hatch’s Perspex covering. Now that’s a track Corvette done right!

While Sunday had been very productive for me, Margo had struggled to regain her focus. While she had enjoyed her last session with Steve, our instructor for Sunday had been Scott, another accomplished racer. Finding herself in the middle of an aggressive group of drivers and as courteous as ever, Margo had spent most of her time providing point by’s and had left herself with very few laps with which to work. It sometimes happens, but it then becomes very hard to retain focus – something that is essential for tackling the turns of ButtonWillow.

We left the circuit pretty pleased with our selves after what had happened the previous month. The Infiniti? What a surprise - the body rolls, the tires squeal the whole time, but turn off the electronic aids (DVC Off) and put the auto transmission into sport mode (DS - but don't touch the paddles) and the characteristics of the car changes - the computer recognizes you are at the track, and begins to downshift as you brake hard and puts you into a gear better suited for exiting the corner all rather magically. It was fun!

We will be taking the Infiniti to Willow Springs. The advantage it has over the ‘Vette is that you stop worrying about the car, and focus on learning the track. While we are pretty comfortable with the Willow Springs circuit, having driven it a number of times, we are still far from being smooth, or fast, and taking the Infiniti will certainly help us to do that.

The only thing that we will miss this time is the dancing we did at Buttonwillow, particularly through the esses, as well as between the Eastern and Western loops. It really is that light feeling you get when you move with grace. An experience very few of us ever get to enjoy, and we are so happy to have experienced it – even if we captured it only for a moment.

Will we continue to split the sessions? And will we continue to work with different instructors? Yes, we will continue to stick with the plan. It will mean our progress may not come as quickly as for others but heck, we have no intentions of becoming racers, and this does ensure we will continue to have fun! And for us, that continues to remain our sole focus.

Best laid plans ...

Margo and I spent a short time Friday walking along the beach at Point Dume. It wasn’t what we originally had planned to do that day but it was sunny enough, and it gave us a chance to relax. And the picture above is of us framed by the coastal scenery of this popular spot along the Malibu coastline.

As regular readers of this blog may recall, this was the weekend we were to be at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. In fact, in the final paragraph of the posting of March 13, 2009 Preparation? Just Drive! I had expressed just how excited I was to be even thinking about driving on that track, suggesting that there would be “lot’s of film to watch, as we have never been to this circuit.” I closed with “but if the turn of events of the past weekend are anything to go by, I have a much better feel for all the preparation I have to do. And the car will be just fine, thank you very much!”

The lead up to the weekend’s planned event had been quite exciting. A friendship that we had developed over coffee at Starbucks next to our condo with Brian and his wife Jan - fellow Corvette owners (actually Jan owns a BMW, but Brian is the Corvette fanatic)- had generated their interest in participating with us in the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) program. I had mentioned Brian in the blog posting of March 1, 2009 “Sunday, March 1, 2009 Preparation! Preparation! Preparation! as it was Brian who advised me to take a closer look at the suspension and wheel alignment that led to our visit with Dave up at North Star Corvettes.

The Southern California region conducts High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) events and we had often talked about this with Brian and Jan, and for this outing they had decided to register as well. The photo below is of our Corvettes parked side by side outside Starbucks on Wednesday afternoon. Brian had only just returned from West Coast Corvettes where he had installed new wheels and tires – upgrading to wider Michelin Pilot Sports Cup tires, a much softer and stickier tire well suited to the track. Brian also had added new adjustable sway to help counter the impact from tires providing a lot more grip.


Before heading to the track Thursday night, I had the car back up on the hoist for a thorough safety inspection and followed up with both Dave at North Star (there was some minor fluid seepage around two of the new braided metal brake lines, and that turned out to be OK), as well as with Andy at A&A Corvette Performance (we found a large hole in the interior panel behind the supercharger, and that turned out to be simple road damage). The timely responses from both Dave and Andy were impressive and I continue to turn to them whenever I have concerns.

We drove from our hotel to the Auto Club Speedway early Friday morning, and headed straight for the technical inspection area to be checked and stamped before we would be let out on the tack. While waiting in line we were able to catch up with fellow drivers Steffen and Carlos and they were just as eager as we were to get out onto the track for the first time.

As the tech inspect "pass" decal was applied, nothing could have prepared us for what was to follow. And for those readers who may have caught my most recent business blog posting of April 1, 2009 Prepared, body and soul! they would have read of how “this weekend didn’t go to plan. While nothing on the car failed, and there were no incidents, I never made it out onto the circuit itself. Even though the car was prepared mechanically, it turned out that I wasn’t prepared emotionally.”

Well, although this was not a part of the original plan we had for Saturday we whiled away the time driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, and the picture below is of Margo, captured a little later, walking along Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, checking out the shops. And the Yellow Rolls Royce convertible that she is passing is parked outside this shop every weekend – whether you like the yellow livery or not, it makes quite a statement. You can always count on seeing great cars while walking this street and the day didn’t fail to deliver the usual mix of Ferraris , Maseratis , Aston Martins which routinely distracted me from any further viewing of the window displays.


After all the preparation we had undertaken for the car, we were just not prepared for a change to our plan and to not take turns driving on all three days. At Willow Springs only a month earlier, we had begun to talk about the goals for the coming year. When we attended our first weekend with NASA I was so pleased that we made it through to the Sunday afternoon without an incident and as we headed home we were already talking excitedly about the next outing. At that time, just being comfortable with being on the track, lapping with our fellow drivers and not holding up anyone, was about as aggressive a goal as we had set for ourselves.

But with the conclusion of the first weekend of 2009 I began to talk about moving up – and not just up from the novice “Group 1” drivers to join the beginners in “Group 2”, but to see if I could graduate to the intermediate “Group 3” under the watchful eye of “Mad Dog” Mike. This came as a surprise to Margo, who thought we are just enjoying a weekend outing on the track, with no intentions to become racecars drivers. Yeah, my “competitive gene” emerged … and this idea about my advancing to the next level had unfolded in a discussion with our instructor, Tom. He proposed that, as Margo and I wanted to track just the one car, by separating us into these two different groups, Margo would get a lot more track time and have the opportunity to advance as well.

What we did not know at the time was that Tom and Fulton (who shares the leadership of Groups 1 and 2 with John), had talked about change in our goals and, in proposing the new plan – entirely for our benefit - only ended up really surprising both of us. Fulton strongly recommended we take to the track with a different instructor, as well as strongly encouraging us to really reconsider spending a full day in the car rather than alternating sessions each day.

The enthusiasm with which Fulton embraced the pursuit of our new goals only managed to completely unsettle us and in the subsequent dialogue between Margo and I, our communication broke down completely. We became an unhappy couple! Something I take full responsibility for. As I wrote in my business blog “Prepared, body and soul!” you simply cannot drive “onto a racetrack when not in synch with everyone (as it) is never a good idea."

The unexpected turn of events got to me in ways I hadn’t imagined and experiencing a track that included a NASCAR-style oval with high-speed banked corners, just couldn’t be considered without our complete attention. This was a very serious track where the big torque cars like Mustangs, ‘Vettes, and Vipers accelerate well past 160 mph! Not for the timid or faint of heart is driving a lap of this track. Certainly, not for anyone as distracted as I was, or as badly bent out of shape as I had become.

Sunday is a good day to spend at car dealerships. While others may avoid walking onto car lots until they have to – I view it as a perfectly fine recreational pastime. Waking late Sunday morning I headed down to the local Mercedes Benz dealer where I knew they had new SL’s on the floor. Sure enough – I found the car I was looking for, an AMG SL 6.5 BiTurbo.

The picture below is of me checking it out as the salesman opened it up for us. At some of our recent outings with NASA, the instructors had been less than impressed with our newly supercharged eight-cylinder Corvette, and was strongly recommending that we loose four cylinders. This was an attempt to encourage us to learn how to drive in a less powerful car.


What then would be a better time than now, I thought, to turn up with four more cylinders and not with one supercharger but two turbochargers – but no, perhaps my sense of humor wouldn’t go over too well. Still it was worth the thought. But as we both looked at the Benzes, we realized that we were still not old enough to contemplate driving them – even down Rodeo Drive!

We have had a number of conversations with NASA SoCal volunteers and I think both sides have come to better understand each other. While it was pretty easy to talk about moving to more advanced groups, as I had been doing, I still need to spend more time on the track learning the circuits and improving my skills. I am comfortable driving in Group 2 on some circuits – ButtonWillow and Willow Springs are both tracks where, after a “refresher” ride with an instructor, I am at ease in Group 2. I can see myself easily staying in this group for the remainder of the year, and revisiting my goals to go beyond that only after the full year is behind us.

After all, Margo and I are only doing this to have fun and to go fast – not to develop the skills of racers! Our friend Brian had a great time. Sitting down with him this week it was clear that he had enjoyed himself immensely. We had really been looking forward to seeing him drive just as we were hoping he would see us both out on the track.

When Brian registered for the weekend, and in recognition that he had driven the track several times last year and had completed three days of instruction at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain, Nevada, he was welcomed into Group 3. We were really pleased to hear the next time we caught up for coffee of how in one session he had recorded equal fastest time!

Will we be deterred by the events of the past weekend? Will we call it a day and move onto something else? When we drove into the garage early Friday afternoon, I went back to work and didn’t even unpack the car. It wasn’t till much later that weekend before I unpacked the luggage, tools, and icebox and the Corvette has looked a little unloved as it sits to one side.

But we will be returning to the program and today I completed registration for the upcoming April weekend at ButtonWillow – perhaps our least favorite track. There is still so much more improvement we would like to make. The next three weekends will see us covering a lot of miles – and all of them in the Infiniti G37S (pictured above) that has become our daily drive. Perhaps, with all this time in the coupe, it’s time to consider taking it to the track in April. Relative to what else we have in the garage, a venerable momentum car!

And possibly, the Infinity is a much better platform in which to develop our skills. The Corvette is definitely the car that gives us the most fun and we will continue to run it at tracks like Willow Springs and Auto Club Speedway – but for Button Willow, perhaps it is time to turn the page and begin Chapter 2. We haven’t completely settled on doing this but we have a lot of time to talk about it.

I closed out the previous posting with “if the turn of events of the past weekend are anything to go by, I have a much better feel for all the preparation I have to do.” Looking back, I can now reflect on how this applies equally to us as humans as it does to the car. And I am the better prepared now for having been through the experience. Let’s enjoy the track – having fun (safely) and going fast!

Preparation? Just Drive!

It really doesn’t matter how well you prepare for a weekend at the track, it’s not until you roll out of the hot pits and onto the track for the first session before you can tell whether the preparation was worth it. You can watch a lot of videos of other drivers, and feel as prepared as you can be, but there’s never any substitute for getting in the car and just “having a go” by yourself.

It is the first weekend of the new calendar year and the setting was the main track at Willow Springs – better known as Big Willow - just a little to the west of Rosamond, CA. It’s on the edge of the Mojave Desert and with spring still weeks away, the daytime temperatures were on the chilly side – perfect for any “forced-air induction” engines. And the C6 ‘Vette we take to the track has a very big forced-air induction engine. Conditions couldn’t be better!

The picture at the top of the page is of cars in pre-grid prior to one of the afternoon races and it was the first time I could recall seeing so many NASCAR-style cars, although I was to later find out that they were participating in the American Stockcar Challenge (ASC), an event our association, National Auto Sport Association (NASA), is supporting. The association organizes events for racers, as well as for students participating in their High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) program.

Margo and I were students in a combination class of HPDE Groups 1 and 2, catering to Novices and Beginners, with instructors to help us out. After all, this was part of a program that would let us take our street cars safely onto race tracks, and to have fun experiencing the exhilaration that comes from driving more rapidly than we would ever consider doing on public roads. But it wasn’t just about going fast – it was about understanding how our car respond to the inputs we provide, with the objective of becoming better and more knowledgeable drivers.

In my previous blog posting on March 1st, ’09 “Preparation! Preparation! Preparation!” I gave a complete rundown on all the work we did following the last event of ’08. The week before the event we did change the engine, transmission, and differential oils. We also took the car back to Andy at A&A Corvette Performance for a routine check of the programming, and to give the engine bay one final inspection.

After all, it had been four months since we were last out on a track. Yes, the car was as well prepared as we could make it. And the picture below is of the ‘Vette about to leave the garage for the track with the growing collection of specialty oils and fluids clearly visible behind it. And then it was time to roll out onto the track for the first time, Group 1 students following their slightly more experienced colleagues in Group 2.

The warm-up lap was uneventful – I was the first car from Group 1 out on the track and I let a little separation open up between myself and the last of the Group 2 cars. The Flag Marshall waved the green “session open” flag, and as usual, everyone jumped on the gas. The track was cold, but on street tires, we were OK – but all the same, I felt the rear-end step out a little as I stepped harder on the gas leaving turn 3. It was easy to catch and I corrected without any second thoughts, and for the next couple of laps, managed to pass a few of the Group 2 tail-enders.

By mid distance I could see that I was catching the BMW ahead of me – so as I exited turn 5, I let the momentum push me out to my left, and I set myself up for a pass as soon as I was through turn 6 – a slight crest with a blind apex and exit. After a couple of laps, I had become familiar with this sequence of turns and didn’t think anything more about them as I focused on the BMW just ahead. Unfortunately, I had drifted a little off-line. I was turning as the ‘Vette crested the small rise so that, as I eased on the gas, and the suspension began to settle with the weight of the car mostly over the rear wheels, the car now pointed towards the infield. And that’s exactly where I went.

A few seconds before the agricultural excursion began, I could hear my instructor Tom suggesting something – but I couldn’t quite make it out (later, Tom told me that he was telling me to take it easy; from the time I approached the crest, Tom knew that I was going off the track)! We were both a bit surprised when all that happened was a brief spell of good old Aussie back-road driving. I kept the car straight, controlled it as it settled and then, with no other cars bearing down on me, returned to the track.

In the driver “download” classroom session that immediately followed the outing, it was a simple “off” to explain. Driver exuberance! And while I caught it, I really wasn’t prepared to be in the dirt that early in the day – while watching the film the week prior to the event I had become aware of other cars leaving the track but it never really prepared me for such an eventuality. As I headed back to our make-shift pits, it was all I could do to put the memory behind me.

The next track session saw Margo take her turn – and what a revelation. After the warm-up lap she immediately began to move up the field. As a spectator watching from behind the pit wall, I saw her pass a car on the back straight, then another on the main straight and continued passing other cars for the next few laps. She was really enjoying herself and she was driving smoothly and, with confidence, going a lot faster than in any other previous outing. At one point I watched her pull out going down the main straight, three wide, and pass two Porsche 944’s that had been chasing each other! The fuzzy picture I have included below is of Margo exiting turn 9 and coming up to speed on the main straight.

It wasn’t until after the session completed that she told me she couldn’t read any information on the ‘Vette’s heads-up display (HUD). She didn’t know what speed she had been doing - when she had been able read the display, every time she approached 100 mph she had backed-off. Well there was no evidence of her backing off this weekend and she really enjoyed herself. High horsepower car and all!

And it wasn’t only about how fast she was driving, she was taking some corners a lot better than I was able to – Margo was going about as fast as I was but she wasn’t standing on the brakes as hard. It looked to me like she was carrying more speed through the corners and the ‘Vette wasn’t hampering her development as a driver. A good friend of ours, and a racer in another NASA series, emailed me after the event to say:

“There is truth to the remark that it is harder to learn to do everything right in a high horsepower car. Lots of high horsepower drivers will over brake at corner entry because they know that they can roll on tons of power at corner exit, etc.”

And after watching Margo drive, I realized that I had been doing just that – accelerating hard, driving deep into the braking zone and braking hard, scrubbing off a lot of speed as I looked for the exit, only to then accelerate just as hard as I could. The problem with this approach was that I was unsettling the car, and not giving it any chance to be smooth. Margo, in comparison, was driving a little less aggressively but was hitting her braking zones, turning in for the corner better and, as a consequence, was driving through some of the more difficult parts of the track a lot better than I had been doing. Perhaps, afer all, she may end up being number 1!

Sharing the car, as we were doing, meant we were only driving for half the time of other drivers. But in so doing, we stayed mentally fresh and neither of us had to face being a spectator for a full day. Late last year we had entered two cars for one weekend, but we didn’t go on with it, preferring to continuing to share the one car. We were still treating these weekends as fun and even if it meant taking twice as long for us to progress through the ranks, it was worth it. As our good friend went on to add:

“I wouldn't let any of this bother you guys in the least. You should be in absolutely no hurry to advance. And advancing is not a carrot of any kind, really. The track is exactly the same in group 1 as it is in group 4.”

All the same, I still wanted to see what it was like to participate in a Group 3 session. So late in the day Sunday, I was invited to ride with a friend who had been in Group 1 sessions with us last year, and to see for myself what it was like in Group 3. He drove a C6 ‘Vette with some engine and chassis modifications, and he was running the same size rims as I was, but shod with slightly better tires. I had watched him on several occasions and could see that he really get around the track quickly.

I was very curious as to what it would be like but, I am not ashamed to say, I wasn’t anywhere near prepared for the intensity of a session like this – yes, I had been watching film of Group 3 and 4 cars, but it helped very little in communicating how much better the drivers were than we faced in the Group 1 and 2 sessions.

For me it further reinforced how poorly I had been taking turns 1, 5 through 7, and 9. It wasn’t as if my friend wasn’t braking as hard as I had been, as he was coming in much “hotter” than I was, but about the amount of speed he carried to the apex and how this launched him into the exit and onto the straight. As our Group 1 and 2 instructors kept reminding us, a couple of extra mph out of the corner often translates into 15 to 20 at the end of the straight! After this ride, I had no quarrel with that calculation,.

My instructor Tom had suggested that, for the coming year and on tracks I have already driven, I could consider starting with the Group 2 drivers. Depending on how well I went, I could possibly even consider starting in Group 3 later in the year. So, as I left my friends ‘Vette and went across to thank Mike, the Group 3 lead instructor, I told him how I thought I may be “graduating” into his group, come end of the season!

“No way!” came the response from our Group 1 and 2 chief instructor, John. “Get rid of four cylinders, and you might stand a chance!” responded our other lead instructor, Fulton. Both of these instructors have been very supportive and I was unprepared for what they said. “Look at buying an older BMW 325 and you will do a lot better,” they both suggested. But our instructor Tom then quietly told us that we were doing fine. I was about 80% there, and Margo was about 60% - and no, we shouldn’t give up on the ‘Vette. And our good friend finished his email exchange with us by pointing out that:

“There is a school of instruction that believes you need to start with 4 cylinder momentum cars. Namely, some people advocate:
Low powered karting -> higher powered karting -> 4 cylinder formula cars without aeros -> 4 cyl formula cars with wings -> .....
The counter thought is drive what you ultimately want to drive … look at all those transitions above and all the relearning that goes on with each transition!”

We had approached the weekend by making sure the ‘Vette was well-prepared. We had invested time and money in making sure the car would drive exactly as it was meant to and that we could be sure that it accelerated, turned, and braked as good as any other high horsepower car on the track. But what I hadn’t been prepared for was the poor grades I rated for the effort I put in on the track. There’s so much more I have to do, clearly, before there’s any further thought of advancing.

One thing I am considering doing next time is to turn off the HUD. Having seen how well Margo performed, when she couldn’t see it, made me wonder how much time I spent glancing at the instruments and checking the displays. I had been told that driving quicker was all about making incremental adjustments – inching up a few mph, for instance, every time through a turn – but what I was doing was spending more time checking than looking down the track. No wonder I was sacrificing smoothness, and missing my turn-in points.

So perhaps John and Fulton were not too far from the mark after all. As unprepared for their outburst as I was, perhaps I did need a bit of a wake-up call. Perhaps it really wasn’t about changing vehicles, and of stepping away from a high horsepower car! Could it be just a case of me taking time to prepare myself?

Over the last year I have been given so many suggestions and so much advice – was it time to just put it all aside and concentrate on driving? In the months ahead, I am certainly going to stop trying to balance everything I read and hear with what I am doing in the car – backing off the speed a little and just focusing on driving smoothly. It’s certainly worth a shot and who knows, maybe what car I am driving will not matter in the least.

And now it’s on to the next event at the very fast California Speedway; lot’s of film to watch, as we have never been to this circuit. But if the turn of events of the past weekend are anything to go by, I have a much better feel for all the preparation I have to do.

And the car will be just fine, thank you very much!

Preparation! Preparation! Preparation!

When one year’s program comes to an end and there’s a break between the last event of year that’s ended and the first outing of the New Year, there’s scarcely a time when you are not thinking about your car, and about your own capabilities as a driver. Will the experience gained in one season automatically carry into the next? When you return to the track, even a familiar one, will lessons learnt be forgotten or will it just be a case of picking up where you left off the year before? I sure hope it will be just like with riding a bicycle: somehow it all comes back to me each time I pick one up!

If it were only that easy! I suspect that with just one year of experience under our belts, and with so much more to learn, it will be slow going for the first couple of sessions. There’s a reason why the High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) program conducted by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) starts with a Novice program (HPDE 1) before you move on up to the Beginners program (HPDE 2) and I am certain that I will need a couple of outings back in HPDE 1 before I venture up the next rung of the ladder. But will it be that straightforward? I need a lot more lap time, and a lot more seat time (in the ‘Vette) - but will ’09 see any improvements? After almost destroying the ‘Vette in the last event of the ’08 – will I still have the confidence to even try to improve? Or will I be watching everyone else move past me?

Since that last outing at Buttonwillow in early November ‘08, the winter months had us discussing our expectations for ’09 – Margo and I have spent a lot of time in the car commuting between Southern California and our home in Colorado. We also squeezed in a number of excursions up into the Bay area. These talks gave us an opportunity to look back on the year. And to talk of the times spent in crummy hotels, and the hours spent in MacDonalds!

Our conversations frequently drifted into opinions as to what to expect in ’09 – whether this year would be our last with NASA as we move on to do other things, whether we just participate in car club outings, or whether we immerse ourselves more deeply into the sport. And it hasn’t solely been all talk, there were some actions with the ‘Vette as well with time spent in the “shop”. The picture at the top of the page is of the ‘Vette, one cold and wet winter’s morning, outside of North Star Corvettes in Mountain View, California.

As well as spending time touring the Western States, I have spent evenings emailing good friends who are already successful racers. And I have been watching film of the tracks – spending one weekend watching the NASCAR race form the California Speedway in Fontana, California. Watching TV, as part of “research,” is always a good story! But the advice that I received, and the film and TV I watched, all confirmed that all I needed to do to the ‘Vette was a little minor “tweaking” in the months before the events of ’09 started in earnest.

As last year ended, you may recall how I remarked in my final post of ‘08 that I had “always enjoyed modifying vehicles – but I now have reservations about doing anything more to the ‘Vette until we get deep into the ’09 program.” And for once, I decided to follow my own advice as we went about sorting out a number of smaller, “manageable” items. The priority was to get the car to a “baseline” for consistent, repeatable, track times – in other words, simply check out the four key areas to do with engine and drivetrain; chassis, suspension and brakes; wheels and tires; and safety. And just “tweak” what really required attention, and nothing more.

I was most concerned about smoothing the torque delivery, not that the car was delivering so much more – something like 470 lb-ft at the rear wheels. By way of comparison, the magazine Vette, in its August 2008 issue, had put the latest Z06 Vette on the dyno and only managed to record 419.05 lb-ft at the rear wheels – and that made it the most powerful Z06 they had ever tested. We were producing another 50+ lb-ft and this was getting into ZR1 territory. And all the time, we were sending this power to the rear wheels through the standard GM automatic transmission! With every up-shift, the “torque shock” we felt through the drivetrain and the impact it had – stepping out the back-end each time - definitely was a “tweak” we needed to do. I wanted to see if we could rework the programming to settle the car down so that it could be driven a lot more smoothly.

We took the ‘Vette back to Andy of A&A Corvette Performance and he worked on the engine management software. By reworking a selection of the tables used to determine the fuel and air mix needed Andy reduced the torque shock transmitted through the drivetrain. And after several high-speed runs on the freeway, it may have just done the trick! Our first track outing will be the ultimate test, however, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the work Andy did will help overcome the anxieties we have had.

Winter mornings are pretty bleak – even in Southern California. And when not commuting across the West, we found ourselves at the local Starbucks most mornings where we have developed camaraderie with a local contractor, Brian. Running a successful general and electrical contracting business has allowed Brian to pursue his love of Corvettes as well, and last year he took his C6 LS3-powered Vette to a number of track days. Brian had asked us “have we corner weighed our car? Have we lowered it to factory-low specifications?” Unclear of the implications, we polled out our friends as to whether this was necessary and whether we should include it among the “tweaks” being contemplated. After all, it did fall into the category of “chassis, suspension and brakes!” “A good performance alignment (like this) can do wonders, although you typically have to compromise a little for the street,” was the response in an email from Robert, a former racer and instructor.

I had a brief email exchange with our friend Hal – he campaigns a Mustang in NASA’s American Iron series and was instrumental in bringing us to NASA’s program – before eventually deciding to go with his recommendation to drop the car off with Dave Bonar of North Star Corvettes in Mountain View, California. With the understanding that the ‘Vette would continue as Margo’s “daily drive” he took a look at the brakes, the chassis height, and the wheel alignment.

The picture above is of the car after stainless steel brake lines were installed. “You talked of a spongy brake pedal as important (first step),” Dave reminded me as they swapped out the old lines and the photo above is of the new stainless steel lines installed. After completing the installation of the lines, in went Motul DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid to better withstand the temperatures generated during track sessions. He then lowered the ‘Vette to factory-low settings. When this was completed the ride height was 25+” Front (25 ¾” Left; 25 ½” Right) and about 28” Rear (27 7/8” Left; 28 1/8’ Right). I had also asked Dave if he was corner-weighing the car – something I had heard other ‘Vette owners say that they have had done.

The picture above is of the car still in the maintenance bay, prior to it getting a custom four-wheel “track” alignment. “Your alignment is more on the conservative side … give the car at least two days of track runs to improve your driving skills, Dave began before we do anything more, and then adding “(perhaps) I did not emphasize, (but) the "Delta" weight change was about 60 lbs.” When I reviewed the computer results, we had more positive castor, a small amount of negative camber, and just the slightest toe-in. Conservative, as Dave had told me, but enough all the same to provide a more responsive turn–in than before. The picture below is of the car up on the lift undergoing the four wheel alignment.

I went back to Starbucks and caught up with Brian. I showed him the charts and we agreed that this was a good beginning. “What about wheels and tires? Have you anything else in mind?” asked Brian. For sure, having the car’s brakes, chassis and suspension looked at and tuned for very moderate track use was a great start –should I be doing even more? Shouldn’t I really throw on the big wheels and perhaps a DOT-rated track tires, a set of Hoosiers, perhaps? As I was leaving North Star Corvettes Dave had shown me a great set of forged wheels with street legal (barely) Hoosiers and I had been greatly tempted. Ahhhh, perhaps another time!

Last year I had mounted a set of Pirelli P Zero Rosso tires to the stock rims and we run them for all five weekends. While I wasn’t completely sure the Pirelli’s hadn’t hardened-up on us (yes, there’s plenty of tread left but if the tire has hardened, that’s of little value) – I would like to make it through another two or three weekends before I do anything more. Given all the mods we had done to the brakes, ride height, and alignment, this really wouldn’t have been in keeping with the manageable changes I had contemplated, so I am going to defer doing anything until we have a lot more information. And I am loath to swap out the rear fenders to accommodate wider wheels and tires – Margo and I just like the look of the stock appearance of the C6.

As I went over my logic with Brian, he came back with “and what about safety?” The first time we participated in a NASA event it was at Willow Springs. Just before lunch we had stood horrified as a Mini Cooper S misjudged the entry onto the main straight and had speared across the track and onto the infield. The Mini hit an irrigation ditch and flipped many times. When it came to rest, it was a flattened twisty cue of metal bearing no resemblance to the Mini we had watched only moments earlier. Driving on a race track, even when it is part of a driver education program, will always have its risks and the thought of destroying the ‘Vette during the session often crosses our minds.

But the one lesson we learnt from the terrible accident we witnessed at Willow Springs was to approach safety improvements very cautiously. Unless you put the complete package in place – roll cage, seat, and harness – you may run the risk of compromising you safety and this is not something I would want to do. For the degree of competitiveness I experience in the sessions I participate, I am happy with the standard ‘Vette package for now. This may change in the future, but I am happy with what the ‘Vette provide right off the showroom floor.

The program in ‘08 showed us how much fun it is to take a street car to a high performance driving school. It taught us so much about the impact every driver input can have on their car – and it developed a better appreciation of the skilled race drivers like Hal and Robert really are. As I was about to leave Mountain View, Dave told me that he attended Northern California NASA events. How did he do? Turns out he routinely wins the events he enters: after all, it’s his business. “No serious ‘Vette owner would come to a specialist shop, like North Star Corvette, if the shop’s car came 6th, or 25th, or last he remarked. “Would you?”

And he had a point – it’s nice to know you have been well looked after and I think we will be going into ’09 with valuable lessons behind us - none more so than the continuing appreciation Margo and I have that it’s all about having fun. And of enjoying ourselves, as safely as we can!

On to ’09 and may we have one heck of a time!

Looking back on '08

We have been in Boulder, Colorado for almost three weeks and first thing tomorrow morning, we will head back to Southern California. The picture above is of Margo alongside the other ‘Vette – the C5 Z06 that is our “other car” when in Colorado – but no longer playing the part of an “umbrella girl”, having swapped the T Shirt in favor of something much warmer!

For some time we have been contemplating driving the Z06 back to Southern California, and taking it to the track for ’09. We had been reconsidering whether to continue our driver education in the C6 Z51 ‘Vette, or to try the Z06, as the Z06 chassis is pretty good and the 6-speed manual affords a lot more control over power delivery to the rear wheels. All we would need to do is to replace the tires (still the original tires from 2003), upgrade the brake pads and swap out the brake fluids for something with higher temperature tolerances. Could be the way to go!

From our first outing, under the tutelage of the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) High Performance Driver Education (HDPE) program, we were “hooked” and even with the crazy business schedules that we both maintained, we found time to participate in five weekend events in 2008. Starting as raw rookies, with no previous track experience whatsoever, we found the HPDE track sessions really helped develop our driving skills.

Looking back to that first outing at Willow Springs, it was all about learning how to remain informed while out on the track and about communicating with the other students. Everyone wanted to go fast – after all, as we were often reminded, all participants in each session were going in the same direction, there were no speed limits, and we were all out to have fun! But still, there was a need to be safe and to be aware of what was going on around us. We quickly learnt that going fast meant coming to terms with the track, understanding the mechanics of cornering, and working as hard as we could to eliminate errors. And for “newbies” like us, this proved difficult as so much was going on with inputs arriving rapidly from many sources.

If the first weekend at Willow Springs was about communication, the following weekend at Buttonwillow was all about the pursuit of smooth lines. For the weekend, all sessions were run counter-clockwise. But developing a smooth approach, whether changing direction or accelerating / braking, that is consistent and can be repeated lap after lap, leads to faster laps and we both saw our track skills show their first signs of improvement. We also came to terms with corners where maintaining the correct racing line just had to be sacrificed so that the car would be in the right place on the track to capitalize on a following straight.

Our return to Willow Springs a month later gave us the opportunity to look for “cues” around the track to further help us with braking and turn-in. Some of them were tiny and demanded precision on our part. And we really came to rely on our peripheral vision. But we also learnt two other important lessons – at any track, the way to improve was to do so gradually and with small, manageable adjustments. And we learnt how important the brakes were – the only car control that, on most cars, affects all four wheels.

Early in the morning sessions, we were hitting 75 mph and couldn’t see anyway to lift our speeds to 90 mph or even 100 mph. No way! But by increasing our speed slowly and in small 3 to 5 mph increments while keeping in our comfort zone, we were able to realize much higher speeds by the end of the day’s last sessions. And as we drove home after that third weekend of track sessions, we shared a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that we were making progress.

NASA’s HPDE program has four levels – an intro level for novices that is aimed at drivers new to the track and unfamiliar with the demands the track will make; a beginners level for those with some prior track experience and no longer needing an instructor but still working on being smooth and predictable; an intermediate level where passing opportunities become a lot more are generous; and finally an advanced level where passing is allowed everywhere on the track!. At this advanced level, according to NASA’s web site you will be “now experiencing the joys of doing it right in a safe environment! You can now enjoy high performance driving at its finest.”

But after three weekends, all we could see were many more sessions as novices. There were still many more laps to be completed before either of us could consider moving on up to beginner status! But we were having so much fun it didn’t seem to matter, and we felt comfortable driving among familiar faces some of whom were progressing about as quickly as we were. It was encouraging to watch as a few of these drivers moved on to the beginners group sometimes only after a couple of weekends on the track.

Our first three events spanned the months of May through July and we weren’t to participate again until October. The effects of the economy with the run-up on gas prices led to the cancellation of the August weekend and although NASA eventually put together a one-day event, by the time we heard about it we had already made alternate plans.

With the break in the program, we took another look at the C6 ‘Vette and decided to supercharge the LS2 engine. After the upgrade we had very close to 500 rear-wheel horsepower, with 465+ lb-ft of rear-wheel torque, courtesy of A&A Corvette Performance in Oxnard, California. Check out http://www.aacorvette.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=41. And we upgraded the brakes with higher tolerance brake fluids and stronger pads courtesy of HAWK.

For our return engagement starting in October, it was back to Buttonwillow for something completely different. On Saturday all sessions were held run clockwise around the track and on Sunday, counterclockwise. And Buttonwillow is an extremely tough circuit to learn. Unlike Willow Springs 9 corners, Buttonwillow has, depending on who you talk to, more than 30! Frequently, even with our eyes firmly elevated and looking well through approaching corners, we “lost our way” and were unsure of where exactly were we on the track.

But we learnt the very important lesson of working backwards through the corners – looking at the corner’s exit we then began to work out apex’s, turn-in, and breaking points. We also learnt that there’s practically no right way through any corner and that what we were all trying to accomplish was to minimize our time in them. Races were never won in the corners – sometimes lost I have to believe – but on the straights. It was on the return visit to Buttonwillow early in November where this message was really driven home.

“The quickest driver goes as straight as possible (for as long as possible) and never lifts (off the gas)! Pro-drivers are either at, or transitioning to, full throttle / brake (at all times).” The return visit to Buttonwillow saw all sessions run clockwise and my instructor gave me the OK to run as part of Group 2. And of course, as has become the pattern with first-time Group 2 (and even Group 3) participants, I had my first big spin. But I survived and as we drove home, we were already talking about planning weekends in ’09 around NASA events.

I have emphasized some of these points in the previous blog postings related to each event. But none of this would have happened without a lot of help and encouragement along the way. And I would like to recognize the many friends and business colleagues who have helped out.

Our colleague Chris had first raised the topic after he told us about his own adventures on the track in his Porsche 911 Turbo. But it was over a lengthy lunch with another business friend Hal, where we learnt about NASA and of the “novice-friendly” approach they provided. Chris and Hal have both continued to provide moral support, as has Simon who works with me here at GoldenGate and races a Miata. Robert, too, who has had the opportunity to teach racers as well, has been always quick to provide insight and advice each time I asked him.

Once we joined NASA we received considerably help and advice from Jerry Kunzman of Northern California and Ryan Flaherty of Southern California – even stepping in to help us complete our first online event registration. We are now enjoying our time with the Southern California region of NASA.

But special thanks need to go to the instructors – John, Fulton, and Tom. They all provided the leadership, and Tom was in the car with us for most of the weekends and without Tom, I am not sure we would have made it through all five weekends. We are glad John provided us with links to film he had made of sessions at the tracks – and viewing the film really helped us both. It has also been John who has helped provide me with critiques of many of these blog postings and for that, I am very appreciative as well.

Hal, and Andy of A&A Corvette Performance, continue to provide us with technical assistance and have been of enormous help to us both. Andy has put in many hours of programming effort – much of it going well beyond what I had expected as part of the supercharging upgrade and for that, we are extremely grateful. And Hal has been quick to educate us whenever we have emailed him with a question – we look forward to watching Hal race in ’09, and wish him all the best in the American Iron series.

What’s next for the C6 ‘Vette? We have talked about a number of things – do we change the wheels and tires and upgrade to something a lot wider? Surely, more rubber to the ground will help getting the power down and improve traction! Do we change body panels to accommodate these changes? Do we upgrade the brakes – swapping out the current rotors and calipers and go with bigger six-piston calipers on the front? Surely, beefier brakes can only help! What about safety? After the big spin at Buttonwillow should we add a harness bar and upgrade to a six-point harness and throw in a racing seat?

I have always enjoyed modifying vehicles – the “cruiser” motorcycles we ride in Boulder have been substantially modified. But I now have reservations about doing anything more to the ‘Vette until we get deep into the ’09 program. We have still many outings to go before we can say we have the C6 sorted out. And with cars, it’s making small, measurable changes that are important – changing everything all at once is probably not a smart move. We were told, tactfully, that it would be pretty stupid. Perhaps taking the smaller, lighter Z06 could be the best option after all.

It’s now New Years day and we are to drive back to Simi Valley. But the weather forecast for our trip through the Rockies has been anything but promising. Oh well! So much for the plans for the Z06. We will wrap the Z06 in its dust cover, and leave it in the garage – it will be a return trip in the SUV again. I had really been looking forward to taking the Z06 on the long drive to the coast.


When 2010 rolls around, we may again consider taking the Z06 to California. For this coming year however, it will be a full calendar of events for the C6 Supercharged LS2 ‘Vette. It may not be the perfect car to use for learning and the wheels and tires may require changing anyway, but then again, this is all about the driver and it will be the source of a lot of fun as we head back to the track! Yes, we want to go faster and yes, we enjoy it. But even more importantly, we want to become better drivers and we enjoy the atmosphere and camaraderie of the race track.

See you all at Willow Springs in March …