NASA DE review: Willow

[sushinav]

A few folks asked me to throw down my impressions of a NASA event I attended this weekend. I've done several DEs with PCA and other organizations. My overall impression of NASA: 2 thumbs up for the price.

I initially expected a fairly empty track, but there were spec Miata, RX-7, BMW, American Iron race groups there in addition to a night enduro event. This made for a paddock full of a huge variety of race and street prepped cars. I honestly expected a lot larger showing from the ricer crowd (I own a Civic too), but there were only 2 in our group. Throw in a few Vipers, Minis, Bimmers, a Modena, a Lightning, a few Acuras, and Mustangs in our run group,and you have a really diverse group to chase around at ludicrous speed. Nice.

The sessions were 20 minutes, 4 a day, for 2 days. Instructors were a little short, but covered the newbies easily, and had some time for us folks that were new to Willow. In between were classroom debriefs and instruction that were fairly informal, but based around a few key concepts that had been scheduled. $225 for the weekend, not bad at all!

I think NASA did a fine job of teaching track etiquette and controlling the drivers within their experience groups, in addition to keeping a relaxed atmosphere with as few rules as were needed. This is not to say that we ran amock. They just did a good job of laying the ground rules and enforcing them.

So anyone looking to get on a track and maybe not pay the sometimes higher prices involved with other groups, and don't mind a little bit of diversity and a relaxed atmosphere, give a NASA event a look.

Now about Willow. I was driving a beat 87 Carrera with 2 friends who had a 98 M3 and a 93 RSA. Needless to say, I did a lot of following, but I sure as heck tried to keep up. I honestly tried several lines through turn 8 (the apex and the constant turn), and couldn't get over 115ish on the straight. As ugly as it is, I honestly know that it's not my car, it's the size of my huevos and my skill. That track is sooo fast! Of course speed isn't everything. Lifting slightly into turn 5 for a squeeling rear end slide was memorable. But yeah, it was hotter than Hades. Thank god the gift shop doesn't mind folks hanging out in front of the air conditioner.

So go for it!

[Rob Channell]

Great post. I'm glad you had a good time. Try the track with the POC sometime. They are a good bunch to run with also.

I'll second NASA being an OK group to run with. I ran Sears Point with them once several years ago. A gentleman came over to inquire about the strange little Porsche with the Alabama tag and offered to show me the line around the track since I had never been there before. It turned out to be Hank Watts. He was a friendly fellow enthusiast. I can still hear him telling me where the apexes for certain corners should be and he didn't care if I hit them going sideways I was going to hit every apex every time. I enjoyed the opportunity to pass in the corners later in the weekend with my rungroup (3 or 4, I forget). It was good practice for watching your mirrors, communicating with other drivers, and otherwise trying to create safe passing situations.

I love driving Willow Springs. It is such a fun track. Wish I could do it all again....... As for turn 8 at Willow, it can be pretty intimidating. I went to a couple of events before I finally got to the point of leaving my foot on the floor for the whole corner. I found that turning in and then hugging the inside(even though it's bumpier) seemed to get me through the corner the fastest and give me a little extra room for speed on the exit along with a straight line braking path for the entrance into 9. A good start out of 6 is crucial to get full speed.

I have a 911SC with modified bodywork and suspension and a Motronic 3.2 Carrera motor with headers and a stock chip. If I came out of 6 right I could hit 125 going into 8 and around 130 coming out of it. For comparison, my best laptimes were 1:37s (I figured this wasn't too bad for a car I had to drive to the track and then drive home again) and I had a small suspension setup problem(worn front swaybar attachments that provided no roll stiffness on turn-in that created turn-in oversteer ). I think with my suspension in better shape and more practice I could get my time down to 1:35s. The fast guys in similar cars were getting 1:31s. Maybe we could talk one of them into giving us a tutorial on fast lines through 8 and 9.

How about it Ross,Steve?

Rob

Obligatory pictures of me in my car at Willow Springs:

During my first ever race before mods:



#define SHAMELESS_SPONSOR_PLUG
After a few mods by Dwayne at Vision Motorsports:



My car allongside a couple of similar cars that had way faster drivers.

[sushinav]

I'd love to hear from any other folks on their lines around Willow! Especially if there car is close to stock, or they remember when it was.

And Dwayne is still there. I think his 1:20.5 in the TT is the lap record there now, not sure. He's a friend of a friend, and is always there with his crew and a garage full of cars.

Looks like you're car gets around pretty quick. I can't believe I was thinking I was fast hitting 8 at 90mph. My car is a stock 87 with only Bilstein shocks as an upgrade. I'm trying to lighten the car as much as I can, and we'll see where I can take it from there on my budget. I think I'd like to try the Streets next. Sounds like fun.

POC or PCA event will probably be next, whatever fits my schedule.