New car....New driver

Zeke · 08-13-2002, 09:07 PM

I have a bit of a dilema and I seek the board's advice. Little ahead of myself here, but here's the skinny. When my car is done, I'll have to do some DE events to get the proper license. But the car will have zero time on it meaning I will need to bed the brakes, break in the motor, shake it down and sort it out. How can I do that and go to school? Even if I had a license, that's a lot of work usually reserved for a test day. Where can I go to get the car ready to drive? My car is NOT street legal. What do people do with new race cars.

BTW, I am familiar with most of my local tracks, albiet with a little different perspective. About an inch off the ground in a laydown enduro kart. I have about 30 hours track time a t Willow Springs alone. But that and a buck will get me a cup of coffee. I'm sure POC, PCA, any of these race organizations ae not going to let me go out on my own regardless of my past experience. So where can I test my car?

Brad Roberts · 08-13-2002, 09:49 PM

Private run groups.

We rent Thunderhill and all the other tracks in NorCal.

My groups normally consist of 30 or so cars and runs each person about 185$.

I highly suggest you find a open run group and beg and plead to be let in. Watch your pees and ques' and dont screw up while at the track (reserve that for your second event with them)

B

campbellcj · 08-14-2002, 11:29 AM

Even if you can't find/afford a lot in a private track session, some of the tracks (Willow included I believe) have "open test days". Usually you have to pay some kind of membership/subscription kind of fee for a year's pass, plus the daily gate fee.

You could search the archives here - I think Jack Olsen and others have used these sessions for car shake-down/tuning.

One caveat - you will be out there with the hardcore "near-pro" level guys with big trailer rigs and so forth. As B says, be very courteous on track and in the pits and be sure to ASK if you aren't sure about something....you don't want to piss off the regulars on your first day out.

Zeke · 08-14-2002, 02:24 PM

Maybe I'll just give Jack O. the keys. Bet he doesn't return the favor though.

campbellcj · 08-14-2002, 09:04 PM

Milt,

Here's the link re. WSIR open test days (any free Fridays, I think):

http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/rentalrates.html

$75/yr 'membership' plus $75/day driving; that's damn cheap for hours and hours of relatively non-crowded test time. Of course, you have to ditch work, but that ain't so bad is it?

Brad Roberts · 08-14-2002, 09:08 PM

Milt,

I suggest you plan this with another 914 guy/racer so you have some help. If you want to run Buttonwillow in the next few months, let me know. I can arrange to be there and help you out. I think we have an event there before the end of the year. A open track day that is.

B

campbellcj · 08-14-2002, 09:08 PM

Oh yeah...

Another not-so-crazy thought - go ahead and sign up for a POC short-track event or something similar (i.e. SOW or something not intimidatingly fast), and request an experienced 914 racer for an instructor. Have them drive your car for a session or two and make setup recommendations. Certain tweaks, i.e. swaybars and tire pressures, can be fiddled with in the cold pits on the same day, and then you can go back out for more...

Some guys are understandably very uptight about having other people drive their cars. I kind of am myself. But if you specifically track down somebody who's been competing 914's for years, the 'risk vs reward' is very favorable. They are highly unlikely to punish your car, and very likely to have some helpful info to share.

Another approach is to request ride-alongs with 914 instructors in their cars...then pay careful attention to their car setup, lines, braking points, etc. I learned a lot from a couple of the POC instructors I had during my initial rookie period.

Zeke · 08-15-2002, 05:51 PM

Thanks to both Chris and Brad. Buttonwillow is only 2 hours from here (my mother was born in buttonwillow) and Willow Springs is 1 hour 45 min. I never got the chance to drive BW, but I've been there. Both situations sound good. Brad, you sound like a 6 foot tall or so driver, same as me, so my car should be a good fit. Let me know about the BW day and I'll give you the key. (It doesn't actually have a key, just switches on dash: ignition, fuel pump & start).

Chris, as mentioned, I can drive Big Willow in my sleep, so it would be comfortable in a strange car knowing how to stay off the fast line when traffic approaches. I was once out there in a club Ford years and years ago when an Indy car was testing. You talk about speed differential, this guy just about picked up the Ford and threw it off going by.

And one more, karts don't have mirrors (usless with all the vibration) so you kinda have to know what's behind you by looking over to the other side (like over to 3 going into 5) to see what might be coming up. Driving a 100cc in practice with 250 shifters on the track that can hit 145 mph definately teaches you to "leave a little extra room" because these guys come out of nowhere, are along side in a turn for a second, and gone. You don't even hear them behind you like someone following. It can sometimes shake you up a bit.

campbellcj · 08-15-2002, 07:47 PM

Lemme know if anybody's going out testing at WSIR or BW. My car still needs suspension, cooler and cage work (Hi Brad) so I won't be ready very soon, but I am determined to get it out at least a few times before year end. I can get to Willow in about 1:15 from here, but BW is quite a bit farther. Only been there once but I think it was ~2:30 or so (?).

Zeke · 08-16-2002, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by campbellcj
Lemme know if anybody's going out testing at WSIR or BW. My car still needs suspension, cooler and cage work (Hi Brad) so I won't be ready very soon, but I am determined to get it out at least a few times before year end. I can get to Willow in about 1:15 from here, but BW is quite a bit farther. Only been there once but I think it was ~2:30 or so (?).

No way! You're thinking of Thunderhill. BW is about as far as Bakersfield. It's about an hour from Magic Mountain.

campbellcj · 08-16-2002, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zeke914

No way! You're thinking of Thunderhill. BW is about as far as Bakersfield. It's about an hour from Magic Mountain.

Oh, at the time I went to BW last summer, I lived in West LA. Traffic hell, even on weekends.

From my new place, it's 136 miles according to Mapquest, so you're absolutely right, should be doable in ~2 hrs w/o traffic.