cfbjr
06-24-2002, 04:55 PM
No real pics this time because my picture taker/wife was only there for a few minutes. BUT there was another guy there(Kevin McCormick) with a 99 Pro ES. He's got an intake cam, urethane motor mounts, AEM intake and he was running 14" wheels with Kumho Victoracers on them. PLUS, he's a really good driver. I see him at our local aurtocross events and he kicks butt in his Interga Type-R. He has the much coveted ability to left foot brake. He also has a Miata which he brought to this event. He traded off with his friend that was driving the other car. I was in my MP3 with no mods and running street tires (Kumho Ecsta 712).
When we finally got put on the track within some close relative distance to one another I found that we were very close performance-wise. I had him in the longer sweeping corners though because he would have to back out of it because of the body roll. He was pretty surprised at how flat the MP3 stayed through those corners. He was able to catch me and hang with me through the shorter corners and put enough pressure on me that I let him pass so I could see how he was doing things. I noted the body roll on the sweepers, but I was no faster than him anywhere else on the course. In short the ES is a potent little monster in it's own right. I found it was harder to stay with him than it was to stay with the various Porsche's and BMW's. They would smoke me on the straights but I could easily pressure them through the corners and received a lot of kudos from those drivers about how good the car handled. I'm sure some of them got quite a surprise from Kevin in his ES as well. There was also a session when he drove the Miata and his buddy drove the ES. I felt like I could handg with the Miata a little better, maybe because it has a smaller engine and probably because Kevin had been driving the fwd ES all day and was all of a sudden in different territory with the rwd Miata. Let me underscore that he is a REALLY good driver and it was a lot of fun sharing the track with him.
Everytime I do one of these I feel like going out the next day and installing a turbo on the MP3 so I could really teach those Porsche's a thing or two. It gets a little frustrating to be all over a car through the corners and then you come to the straight, they go into warp drive, and leave you like your standing still. Then within the braking zone and the first couple turns after the staright your back on their bumper again. The rules of the event make it so they have to let me pass them if that is the case, but they have to slow down quite a bit to let me get by on the straight. I had more fun when I was hanging with the cars that were more evenly matched horsepower-wise(Pro ES, MR2, Miata, Subaru, Integra Type-R), because you really get to see what you've got, driving skill wise, on all parts of the track. I had no problem with the Type-R that was out there and never really got in the right spot on grid to be close to the Suby. I took care of the MR2 without much problem but I think he had some mechanical trouble with his brakes. I love making the Porsche and BMW "M" car guys have to give me a point-by. I know it's probably not their cars, it's just the drivers, but I get to feel good about myself for a second or two!
Sidenote: I think it's better to learn how to drive the track in a lower powered, but good suspension, car. The reason being is that I think there is a struggle with the high power cars that you are not only trying to learn how to drive the line, and practice good car control but you're fighting the hosepower and tendancy to overcook it as well. There is a point in the MP3 where I am pushing it as far as it can go and I feel like I can handle a little more power. Mind you, that is just starting to happen so it takes some time to build up that tolerance for speed.
When we finally got put on the track within some close relative distance to one another I found that we were very close performance-wise. I had him in the longer sweeping corners though because he would have to back out of it because of the body roll. He was pretty surprised at how flat the MP3 stayed through those corners. He was able to catch me and hang with me through the shorter corners and put enough pressure on me that I let him pass so I could see how he was doing things. I noted the body roll on the sweepers, but I was no faster than him anywhere else on the course. In short the ES is a potent little monster in it's own right. I found it was harder to stay with him than it was to stay with the various Porsche's and BMW's. They would smoke me on the straights but I could easily pressure them through the corners and received a lot of kudos from those drivers about how good the car handled. I'm sure some of them got quite a surprise from Kevin in his ES as well. There was also a session when he drove the Miata and his buddy drove the ES. I felt like I could handg with the Miata a little better, maybe because it has a smaller engine and probably because Kevin had been driving the fwd ES all day and was all of a sudden in different territory with the rwd Miata. Let me underscore that he is a REALLY good driver and it was a lot of fun sharing the track with him.
Everytime I do one of these I feel like going out the next day and installing a turbo on the MP3 so I could really teach those Porsche's a thing or two. It gets a little frustrating to be all over a car through the corners and then you come to the straight, they go into warp drive, and leave you like your standing still. Then within the braking zone and the first couple turns after the staright your back on their bumper again. The rules of the event make it so they have to let me pass them if that is the case, but they have to slow down quite a bit to let me get by on the straight. I had more fun when I was hanging with the cars that were more evenly matched horsepower-wise(Pro ES, MR2, Miata, Subaru, Integra Type-R), because you really get to see what you've got, driving skill wise, on all parts of the track. I had no problem with the Type-R that was out there and never really got in the right spot on grid to be close to the Suby. I took care of the MR2 without much problem but I think he had some mechanical trouble with his brakes. I love making the Porsche and BMW "M" car guys have to give me a point-by. I know it's probably not their cars, it's just the drivers, but I get to feel good about myself for a second or two!
Sidenote: I think it's better to learn how to drive the track in a lower powered, but good suspension, car. The reason being is that I think there is a struggle with the high power cars that you are not only trying to learn how to drive the line, and practice good car control but you're fighting the hosepower and tendancy to overcook it as well. There is a point in the MP3 where I am pushing it as far as it can go and I feel like I can handle a little more power. Mind you, that is just starting to happen so it takes some time to build up that tolerance for speed.