FormerHangie
En-Route
Back in April I bought a 2017 VW GTI to use as a combination grocery getter and track rat. When I bought it, it had some worn looking brake rotors and stock pads, and also some lovely Sentury all season tires, neither of which were suitable for track duty. I bought a set of Centric high carbon rotors and EBC Bluestuff pads, and got a set of Continental ExtremeContact Sport summer tires on closeout from tire rack. I did the brake job weekend before last, and also did a brake flush with Motul RBF 600. This was my first experience with a pressure bleeder,and I now wonder why I waited so long to buy one. So, with the good stuff in place, off I went.
The last time I drove at Road A was in 1997, which for me was B.C. (before children),so I put myself in the novice group. The novice group gets a 15 minute paced session in addition to the three 20 minute sessions that all three groups get, very helpful to those of us who either haven't driven RA before, or for those of us who haven't seen it in a while. While this session was paced, it wasn't all that slow. In our first two unpaced sessions, we had a brief stoppage to pick up broken cars, a Mazda 3 in the first one and an RX-8 in the second one. At Track Night, all passes are to be made with a point by, and toward the end of session 2, I was getting blocked by an older Camaro who wasn't giving point bys, and ducked into pit lane to get some separation. The officials must have had a chat with that car's driver, because he started giving point bys in the third session.
We went out for the third session a little after 8 PM, after having been delayed a few minute while a crunched Mustang (what else) was brought back to the paddock on a rollback truck. This one had no interruptions and was glorious. In all four sessions the car ran flawlessly. The water temperature stayed at 195 degrees the whole time, oil temp was between 220 and 250 depending on how hard I was pushing. The brakes were solid through all four sessions. There were a couple of times going into turn 10 at the end of the straight, where it seemed like the brakes were growling. For some reason it didn't hit me until an hour later that I was into the antilock. At this point, I'm very much liking the brake setup and the tires, and the car itself is wonderful, it's easy to drive and forgives little mistakes, and turns in like no other front drive car I've ever driven.
That was the most fun I've had in a long time. I'll be back in July.
The last time I drove at Road A was in 1997, which for me was B.C. (before children),so I put myself in the novice group. The novice group gets a 15 minute paced session in addition to the three 20 minute sessions that all three groups get, very helpful to those of us who either haven't driven RA before, or for those of us who haven't seen it in a while. While this session was paced, it wasn't all that slow. In our first two unpaced sessions, we had a brief stoppage to pick up broken cars, a Mazda 3 in the first one and an RX-8 in the second one. At Track Night, all passes are to be made with a point by, and toward the end of session 2, I was getting blocked by an older Camaro who wasn't giving point bys, and ducked into pit lane to get some separation. The officials must have had a chat with that car's driver, because he started giving point bys in the third session.
We went out for the third session a little after 8 PM, after having been delayed a few minute while a crunched Mustang (what else) was brought back to the paddock on a rollback truck. This one had no interruptions and was glorious. In all four sessions the car ran flawlessly. The water temperature stayed at 195 degrees the whole time, oil temp was between 220 and 250 depending on how hard I was pushing. The brakes were solid through all four sessions. There were a couple of times going into turn 10 at the end of the straight, where it seemed like the brakes were growling. For some reason it didn't hit me until an hour later that I was into the antilock. At this point, I'm very much liking the brake setup and the tires, and the car itself is wonderful, it's easy to drive and forgives little mistakes, and turns in like no other front drive car I've ever driven.
That was the most fun I've had in a long time. I'll be back in July.
