RR double drivers school

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wcmcarlos

New member
:026: YAHOO ! It's over and done !
I am now signed off to run regionals.
I was only Neon there, and it all went just too perfect.
:eclipsee_steering:Now I am a race driver, for the first time in 30 years.
My first drivers school was a regional race at an old airport near Kissimmee Florida.
That was in 1961,, yes, I said 1961, the last century!

Back to Roebling, six and a half hours of track time over three days, first hour of track time in pouring rain, on slicks, [kumho 710's] the rest in brilliant sunshine.
No matter, there is one long straight, and the rest of the two miles is constant turning.
So with massive trailing throttle oversteer:o I was trying to keep the front end pointed in the right direction.
Only spun twice, got the clutch in both times, went on.
I need some serious chassis set up work.
at a minit and a half per lap, and six hours of track time,, how many laps did I run?
I need to talk to Chris, see if I can get a little less OVERSTEER if I am to ever run that track in real competition.
Carlos,
P.S.
I stopped at a campgroung about 8 miles from the track Sunday night, and slept 12 hours!
 
Carlos,
Are you going to be at Sebring?? Nigel wasn't sure of your plans. Come play with us.. AS LONG AS YOU DON'T MAKE ME THE SLOWEST NEON OUT THERE .....

As far as handling, I had to lower my rear air-pressure & fill-up the gas tank to tighten-up mine. It was a little hairy for the back-end to jump-out in turn one at Sebring.
 
Carlos, I am glad you made it through with me. We had a good group on track and I had a blast. I probably should have done like you, spent the night and then drove the 7.5+ hours home. Thankfully my crew drove part of the way and I got some rest. I look forward to seeing you on track again!
 
splats said:
As far as handling, I had to lower my rear air-pressure & fill-up the gas tank to tighten-up mine. It was a little hairy for the back-end to jump-out in turn one at Sebring.
Click to expand...

Loose is fast. Totally sideways in 17 was my fastest lap at Sebring.
 
"Loose is fast" ,,,, except when you are side-ways at 80-90 mph facing the inside wall and less than 10 ft away!!!!:eek:!!!!! It took me awhile to get the push out of my Daytona, :eclipsee_steering: but the Neon is not predictable. It's very neutral except when the tank is less than 3/4 & the rear tires are above 30psi. Then the back-end goes where it wants, when it wants & tells you about it later :017:.

Carlos,
I talked to Nigel today & he said the same about your car (full tank of gas & lower rear psi)
 
Thanks to everyone,
yes I was running 38 to 42 pounds in the rears.
yes, it is the first time I have driven a front wheel drive car at speed.
The back end was much more predictible with a full tank of gas.
My chief financial officer has said,,, maybe to the Sebring SARRC.
I hope to be there, 17 cant be more scary than turn nine at Roebling,
but it is the other way,, turning out instead of turning in,,
Carlos
 
Just as a comparison;

I run Hoosiers and my rear tire pressures are 48-50 psi hot. The front pressures are 44-46 hot.

I have not driven a Neon yet that wouldn't understeer when you apply full throttle. If your car steps out in the middle of a corner then apply some throttle.

I have had my car soooo loose that it was hard to drive, but that was with tires that had 15+ heat cycles on them and were totally used up. Keeping good tires under you is key to consistant handling.

I know that heading for the wall at 90 mph can be a bit scary. Seat time in the car is the only way to get used to it. I have found that the Neons are generally very predictable. Not the best handling car in ITA, but it does the same thing every lap.
 
Chris,
I tend to agree with you.
I dont think it would be a very good idea to go changing anything now,
Seat time is paramount.
Having said that,,, I will run full gas tank, as it helped the predictibility.
I weighed 33 pounds light at RR, so my spare tire gets installed this weekend.
I am too new in FWD car to make value judgements other than to take Chris's advise
seriously.
Chris,
did you get the lap time comparisons from Sebring that I sent?
 
Carlos,

I did get the lap sheets. Looks like Kevin, Eddy, and I did pretty good for some old Dodges. :D

Kevin ran a 2.37.9 in Qual which was about 3 tenths faster than my race lap.

Happy Racing!
 
Chris with your tire pressure that high, what pressure are you starting with cold. I have been running 28psi cold in the front and 32 or 33psi cold in the back and coming off the track at pretty close to 38psi hot front and back and tempetures very even accross the tires. I have been considering even dropping all four even more! Car is, or I should say was before I wrecked it in Turn 9 at RR in the SAARC runoffs running very neutral, I needed it to be just a tad looser so I have installed a larger Eibach real sway bar to hopefully get me there.

What are you thought as to my pressures that I am coming off with, should I stay where I am at, should I go lower or go higher. I was told if I could get the fronts and backs even and keep them under 40psi thats great, is that true in your opinion.
 
My starting pressures are 30-34 from and 38-42 rear depending on the track.

If more rotation is what you are after I would make the split between the front and rear pressures larger.

I like the feel and responsiveness of the higher pressures. You may not like them that high, it makes the handling more knife edged.
 
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