I had a great time at the track and I have to thank Sal for letting me drive his S2000... Not many people will let you do that...
But I have been to track a couple of times now and feel pretty comfortable on the course...
I took off the night before (thursday night) and got a motel room so I could wake up early and be at the track on time...
After the drivers meeting, the runs began pretty quickly...
Since it was a friday there was barely anyone there... That's good and bad...
Good if you know the course and are comfortable but it's bad if you are beginner because there were very few cars to chase(and steal their lines... Or just to work off of their lines)...
The weather was perfect and the configuration we were running was 1 Counter Clockwise... My first time on this course in that direction...
Most of my experience has been going clockwise with configuration 13 (the Time Attack config) which is similar in their mapping but a complete different course to drive backwards... It was like learning the course all over again...
On the first session I was learning everything about how the car acted... From accelerating, to turning, to braking... I went off the course pretty bad once at about 90 MPH while exiting the esses but the car just slid in the dirt and eventually came to a stop... One more offcourse excursion going over Lost Hill frustrated me as well...
The second session I slowed down about 10MPH and focused on lines... A much better run and I never went offcourse...
The third session I sped it up a little and went off course a couple of times... Once while chasing 2 silver Corvettes for a solid two laps... That was a lot of fun... That session ended up with me having to talk to the instructor because they felt that I wasn't understanding how to drive...
I explained to them that it was first time in the car and first time on this configuration but they asked me to talk to Aaron, the guy who runs Speed Ventures...
I spoke to Aaron, who knows me from my 240SX anyways, and explained to him that I'm going off course more than I should... He decided to go with me on my next session to see what I was doing...
The next session Aaron rode with me and critiqued my driving... He said I was doing about 10 things wrong and I recorded all of it on my camera... I'll post that up in a bit... It wasn't a fair analysis of my driving being in that car and especially after I had been put on "probation" for going off course so many times...
The less cars on the course, the faster the course is, and the more likely you are to go off course...
Then Aaron drove the car and after one lap he said that the alignment setting were completely "whacked out" and he told me I wouldn't get a fast time out of the car... He said to just have fun on the final run...
So on the final run, I pulled the top down and my chick joined me for the final session and that was fun... 80 MPH with the top down going through Riverside is a blast and you feel so open... But at the same time you feel like you could be ejected if I really messed up... But I didn't and was taking the course about 10 MPH slower like I did during the second session...
My impression of the S2000 is that it is an amazing car that challenges the drive to "squeeze" every little bit out of it... The motor has no torque but revving up to 9000 RPM really gets you pumped up/excited... The motor doesn't throw the balance of the car off at all and the transmission is one of the nicest shifting trannies I have ever been in... The seating position is low and far back and you can never forget that you are in a roadster. The car rotates very differently from my 240SX, It feels like you are sitting on top of the rear wheels and that's where the car pivots every time you turn... The brakes were OK but I wasn't impressed... I am used to non ABS S13 brakes where you have to find the right pedal pressure and just hold it there... I'm sure this car can brake better than my 240SX but I never got a hang of how to use the ABS correctly... The chassis is incredibly stiff and the steering response is instant...
But the rear of the car was twitchy... It didn't slide progressively like my S13 does... When the rear slides it just kinda snaps left and right when you try and save it... I didn't like that and my other S2000 friends said it had to do more with alignment and setup than the car...
S2000 forces you to be a good driver... The motor has no torque so you have to rev it... The rear is twitchy so you need to find it's sweet spot but not much more than that... And the chassis is so rigid that you feel like you are in a big go cart... Especially with the top down...
I really believe that if you learn how to drive an S2000, you can drive anything... It's just a really "intense" car to drive...
Majority of the people with S2000s and other $30K ish cars were running times in the 2:25 range with a range of setups and different tires... Everything from R comp tires to stock suspension...
I ran 2:33 and was pretty consistent during the day... Not a spectacular time but I had fun... I run much better times with my 240SX...
Sal ran a 2:31 in the same car...
The Radicals were running in the 2:10 range so I felt like the course was about 10 seconds slower than the 13 clockwise configuration...
I went for a ride in a new Z06 that was running 2:15s and that was a blast... On Hoosiers he ran 2:06 earlier in the day... My first time in an American car at the track and I was impressed... But I'm not converting any time soon...
I enjoyed driving the S2000 and would love to do it again... But I'm really craving my 240SX again...
I've got some videos being edited but here are some pictures...
Clean S2000... At least before the first session...
Our little pitting area...
These guys all ran between 2:22 and 2:25...
I had a fun time chasing these Corvettes...
The Z06 I went for a ride in... Amazing...
Known for going off course as well... Haha...
Plenty of Radicals buzzing around...
Where we check our times...
Scion factory race car... Was running 2:06...
Race car interior setup...
They are required to run a "Toyota" factory setup so the supercharger was the only choice... About 250WHP if I remember correctly...