95jersey

And after going through my checklist 1000's times, what did I forget?? The camera of course (and a chair). It never fails, no matter how many times I do these track events, I always forget something. I had my new tent, fold up table, food, and no chair to sit in Super long drive from Jersey (never do that again), approx 9 strait hours.

Anyway, seemed like a very good group to run with. They had a club race in conjunction with the DE event over 3 days, and there were some high priced Porsche cup cars floating around. I still can't figure out how amatuers with no or little sponsorship can afford their own private 18 wheelers, full pit crew, and (2 or 3) $150k+ cup cars. I guess all you can say is God bless America!!

I always wanted to try Mid Ohio given the history and I can finally say I gave it a shot. But only after a day, I was getting bored of the track. It is very tight (too tight) and busy. You are constantly setting up for the next turn and going back and forth. There are a few good turns...Turn one is fast and tricky, going into the chicane at speed is fun and the last turn before the pit entry was fun, but otherwise I felt like I was torturing my tires and going nowhere fast. I am glad I went, but would not go back anytime soon. For those on the east coast looking to make the trip...just go to WG or VIR (or even NJMP) instead.

This was my first real track test of the Wilwood W6A's on a C6Z. After installing some spindal ducts I had some problem with clearence as the tolerances compared to OEM are SOOOO tight. This combo uses a custom mount and OEM rotors. I used H pads in the front and Carbotech XP8's in the rear OEM caliper. A shout out to Mike at ECS for doing everything it took to get my car on the road at the last minute! We had to grind down some spacers to get the thick H pads to fit. Mid Ohio is not a hard braking track (except for 2 places), but the W6A's held up fine and provided better modulation and pedal feel than OEM calipers with similiar pads. I was confident in each corner and didn't have to mash the pedal as with the OEM calipers...the initial bite was much stronger and it took some practice getting the b@lls to try and brake later and later.

HERE'S THE BEST PART for you C6Z owners (or C5). I did almost 2 days and the pads are still close to brand new. I maybe took off only a couple mm worth of material. I can see these things lasting much longer than any pads using the OEM caliper. OEM rotors for C6Z have come down in price big time ($83) per rotor and you don't need to buy one left and one right (one fits all). Also, the H pads are less than $200 a set (compared to $350-400 one piece C6Z pads). I will continue to test these at other harder braking tracks, but so far these are turning out to be a good economical alternative to OEM brakes. Pad changes took less than 5 minutes and the clips are not nearly as bad as they are made out to be (they work and are super fast). You can get a base kit for something like $1395 and still use your OEM rotors. I am so glad I don't have expensive 2 piece rings to replace.

http://www.tceperformanceproducts.co...s.pl?record=29

ScaryFast

You're probably the first person on earth to say that.

Bummer you didn't enjoy yourself more, I'm very surprised by that comment. I guess they don't call themselves "most challenging in the US" for nuthin'.

stairman

You gotta be kidding me. You did not even drive it long enough to find out what was fast.

Dont anyone else take this as a recomendation.

95jersey

I am just comparing it to my usual haunts (WG, NJMP, Summit). It is a completely different track. Not saying it doesn't have sections that aren't a blast, very technical, or extremely challenging...just overall I personally found it too busy and lacking the natural momentum that a course like WG or NJMP Lightning has (everyone has their own opinion). I also am getting a bit bored at HPDE in general, so to be fair, this may have something to do with it. I am just saying in my personal opinion compared to the east coast tracks, I personally preffered it less.

It was an advanced driver only PCA event and my Z was definately one of, if not the fastest car in the HPDE portion of the event, so by the second and 3rd session, I was passing guys (in the turns) that had been running there for years, so I think I got a good feel of the course.

But sorry, that was not really the intent of the post, just wanted to share how well the W6A's worked on the car.

fastrash

L98Terror

Are we talking about the Mid Ohio in Lexington OH

I wish you had video so we could be sure we are all talking about the same track, Mid Ohio is a very tough track to master.

Now that you're HPDE Champion it maybe time to step up to something like NASA TT

Mid Ohio requires that you have almost every corner right or you just won't be fast and it won't feel right, I'm not sure how going under the Honda Bridge and down into Thunder Valley and exiting into the carousel doesn't flow

95jersey

It seems that I have pissed off a bunch of mid-ohio folks (not my intent). I was just simply trying to state that compared to the other courses I frequent, it was not at the top of my list. Also, I never stated that I mastered it in one weekend by attending a single PCA event. Maybe my opinion would change with more time, but that was just my initial observation. Common, a guy is allowed to have an opinion. If you came to NJMP and said it sucked, I wouldn't break your b@lls about it (I really wouldn't care). Yes, of course I did forget the camera...

L98Terror

I was only kidding about the HPDE Champion thing, although I did laugh to myself.

The track isn't for everyone, but my guess is if you were held up in traffic right from the get go then you wouldn't get a real feel for the track. There is a reason it's one of the hardest tracks in the country to pass on, because if you have to go off line it just doesn't work.

There is a big diffence on how the track feels at a low 1:30 and a low 1:40, it is a boring track in traffic

It's all good BTW I thought you were going this coming monday with three *****, I was hoping to get the chance to show you around.

BuckeyeZ06

I know several people who absolutely HATE Mid Ohio, but they also don't vote like I do and root against my Buckeyes, so what do they know?

I was there Friday evening shaking out the car. I was in a red Viper Coupe that had a blakc hood on it, maybe you saw me? I did two sessions and put the car in the trailer, although I did stay until 9 PM as my daughter had the tow vehicle and was late picking me up.

Getting back to Mid Ohio...I have been told you need at least 10 days at the track to really get a good feel to it. This was told to me by both Don Knowles and John Heinricy, who know a bit about the track. So don't give up on it so fast, it's a great track.

drivinhard

Guess us out of towners have a lot of traveling to do in the next 16 months

stairman

come on up in August, I know they are trying to get a large ST turn out for that event.

95jersey

I did not get there until Saturday AM, just missed you. I think any course you need several days (Mid Ohio especially). If I lived close, I would go to Mid-Ohio a few times a year, but really being on the extreme east coast...it is too far, and that was more my comment for guys who live an extreme distance and are on the fence. In retrospect, I'd perfer a day at the Glen, but that is just my $0.02.

L98Terror, I was throwing around a few dates, but because I had to lose a complete day of travel each way (9 hour drive). I choose a weekend event so I didn't need to eat several days of my vacation time for a single event. That is what kept me from coming out for so long. Hard to justify taking 2 days off just for travel on top of the event itself. Fortunately most of the tracks by NJ (WG, NJMP, Lime Rock, Summit, Monticello) can all be done either that morning or a few hours the night before from my location.

I have to admit that 9 hour drive all alone SUCKED, and I don't see myself every doing it again. Next long trip is up to Mosport, but I am stopping with the family to Niagra Falls, so it won't be a continuous 9 hours...maybe my 6 year old can drive for a couple hundred miles

John Shiels

Never been there but how does this get boring? I like high speed tracks & big straights but tight turns and many of them are track you work at every second which I never would be bored of. Pocono South is short and tight and the worst track for may car with heat and brakes or Pocono East. Both not high speed but you work your tail off. Mid-Ohio I have seen races at so I know for me it would be challenge as I see it on TV.

I do agree 9 hours for one day does suck!

DOUG @ ECS

Great write up on the brakes Matt.

95jersey

I actually prefer Pocono East. I think it really flows. I don't mind tight turns, but not 10 of them in a row, one after another without a break. This was one of my complaints about Monticello. I like to open the motor up and get into some upper gears after a couple turns.

Think of it like this...Auto-x is probably more competive, demanding, and technically difficult than road racing. To get another second on a short auto-x course really says a lot. If you look at a video of an auto-x driver on a very twisty competitive auto-x course, they are working their car harder than ANYONE...blippin and throwing the car around like crazy for that last 1/10th of a second. Truly a gifted skill.

But for me in a Corvette with a 427, I don't find that fun at all, even though it may be harder and more challenging. I know it is a passion for some and I applaud that!

Keep in mind, I still hit 150's on the back strait, so I was still going very fast, but a lot of the course reminded me of an auto-x more than a typical wide open road race track. At Mid-Ohio you are getting through the corners fast just to get through the corners fast vs. WG you are getting through the corners fast simply to set yourself up for the highest possible exit speed down the next strait.

I found at Mid Ohio if you messed up a corner, you could make up for it by executing the next sucession of corners very well if your competitor took less than a perfect line. You are constantly slowing for corners so catching someone is not as hard. At WG if you mess a corner, you might NEVER catch the car in front of you for another 2 laps without your absolute 110% concentration and balance.

I think for a wheel to wheel race in such tight confines, it would be absolutely EXHILARATING, but at HPDE less so.

John Shiels

Matt I think your getting old and want to lye back on a long straight now!

Track the miles you get on track. Good option without remortgaging the house.

L98Terror

IMO Pro course is much better.

ScaryFast

Ask Jesse, Dave, and the rest of us how easy it should have been to get the extra 0.4 seconds it would have taken to catch Ken (L98) for the national championship...

Sounds like you have too much car. If you feel that you can correct mistakes with HP then you're not learning to drive your monster (that's what she said). Have you run with other experienced drivers in cars as fast / powerful as yours? I'm not busting your *****, just asking. Getting bored by being the fast guy in HPDE means it's time to move up to TT (assuming you're not looking to race). Then you find out if you're as fast as you thought you were. I ran 1:43's at Mid-O and thought I was blazin' fast because I passed everyone in the "fast" group. Then I started competing and had to lose 8 seconds to win. 8 SECONDS between HPDE wins and competition wins.

Sure, for you 9 hours might not be worth the drive. I don't know how many times I'd drive there if it were that far for me. But dismissing the track after one day seems a bit premature...

You will love Mosport. Easy to learn, fast as hell. Bring your brass ones and you'll have a good time there for sure.

95jersey

First, I don't take any offense to your or others comments. I am just being honest about my thoughts (whether they are right or wrong). I don't think it is that strange for someone to say they don't like a particular course. I mean come on...so you (and everyone else here) can honestly say you loved every race track you been to? I can name about 2-3 that I can't stand. Mid Ohio is fortunate to have such die hard fans for sure. I also think Lime Rock sucks, but it doesn't mean I have mastered it or are the fastest recorded driver there...I just think it sucks.

Also, I didn't say I was correcting mistakes with HP (you said that). I said I was able to catch other cars quickly if I made a mistake in the previous corner and if they made a mistake in the next sucession of corners. This has little to do with HP, but is a factor of a short tight course vs. a longer wide open course. Also, it was an advanced driver only day for PCA with guys that have been running at mid ohio for years, and had to have extensive experience in an open passing event to attend.

Regarding TT, I have been competing in time trials for years. While I have only entered about 8 TT's over that time period, I have fortunately outright won about 5-6 of them. I remember running 58's at Pocono North in a relatively stock C5Z back in 2004 (when that time was rare) and last year ran a 1:12 at NJMP Lighting (which is as fast or faster than the TTU times posted by SCCA/NASA/CART). This is also a full weight street car with full interior (stock motor) on used R6's and stock bushings (no race car here or A6's), so I know what it takes to win outside HPDE (got several useless plaques hanging on the wall). I never pursued a TT championship (regional or national) because I don't have the time & $$$$ to travel to each event and spend the money it takes to be competitive each time.

Kubs

I actually laughed out loud when I read that!

I have not been on Mid-Ohio but I have heard so many good things about it I want to give it a try. I would agree though that a 9 hour drive is a bit much for something you dont like.