August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Registered, and have a garage reserved.

Setup with be a ROVAL. Never driven on one before so am very excited to experience it

Clubregistration.net Link

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

~3 weeks out :)

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

I bet you cannot wait for this, especially with the "improved" GT3 :)

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

I won't be pushing, by any stretch, but yeah, I can't wait to get back out on track with it.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

I'd like to see the track...please post a vid. I haven't run any banked corners so I am looking forward to hearing about it.

Drive well and have fun!!!

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

I haven't done a full write up yet, but here is my video compilation of a few good laps. I know 130s are slow, but it took me afew sessions to find the line and gain confidence; lots of steel and concrete around the track. Still, I had a great time!

The banked turns are very interesting; I experienced Gs like I never had before in the car, and knowing where to look when in the backed turn was very new.

I was told the car would stick going into T3 & 4 at much higher speeds, but I had nothing to prove and that wall looked hungry. :D One other Club Racer GT3 put it into the wall coming out of 4 on Sunday.

Fatih, the vimeo embedding isn't working?

http://vimeo.com/27750021

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Wow...interesting track! There's a lot going on....was it difficult to focus on a line? Does the car feel stable braking on the banked surface?

I haven't run any banked tracks and look forward to reading your write up.

Btw, did you and a couple of buddies rent the track? Where are the other cars?

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bman (Post 2977) Wow...interesting track! There's a lot going on....was it difficult to focus on a line? Does the car feel stable braking on the banked surface?

It was a difficult track to get a read on, at least for me; very segmented; hard to get good site lines with the undulation and turns. It was also hard to get good site lines when my vision was always attracted to the ginormious concrete blocks, walls, and steel barriers! :D It was not a track for me as a first timer that encouraged risk taking.

The videos I watched for prep just don't communicate the banks and elevation changes. On the orientation laps, I felt like I was going to fall out my window; I was giggling.

I didn’t do much braking on 3 and 4, just a light pressure. The AIM brake channel is 0 or 1, so it may look like I am full on the brakes at points, but its not totally accurate. In fact, you don’t use much brakes anywhere at all except for turn in into the infield.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bman (Post 2977) Btw, did you and a couple of buddies rent the track? Where are the other cars?

Ha, no. It was in fact a tri-region PCA DE, but we only had ~72 cars sign up, so the run groups (4) were pretty small, and the pit marshall spaced us out at the beginning of the session, so lots of pretty much open track.

Not much more of a write up really I’m afraid. Had a garage, which was nice; it wasn’t terribly hot, but it was nice to be out of the sun, and the pass-through setup allowed for nice breezes. Sunday I was struggling to find the line and confidence until really my last session where it came together for me. Picture taking was difficult because in the infield you’re kind of in a bowl / depression with lots of fences. I’ll try to get a few posted this week.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Watching the video I found the tall, thin, black scoreboard distracting. It looks like you track out to the base of it when you turn in for the infield and then you see it again when you're heading back out. Also, seeing the other cars wiss by on the banking, in the opposite direction, while you're runninig the infield caught my attention too. :eek:

Would you run it again?

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

What are the allowable cracking specs for solid (non-drilled) rotors?

In the car, I bet your focus would not be on the pole or the other cars. :)

Its only a ~2.25hr tow for me, but not sure if i will do it again, unless I was really jonesing for some track time, the cost was low, and had some friends going. The high speed banks are new / fun, but after a weekend, I think I have had my fill for a while.

There's not a lot of run off anywhere, so even if I became more familiar, there's not much room for error, at least IMO.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Not sure.....

I have a set of 1 1/2yr old AP's that have a lot of surface cracking but nothing that's reached the outer edge. And none that are opening up....I saw a crack in a solid rotor at Mid Ohio earlier this year that concerned me. It wasn't very long and wasn't near the edge but was opening up. I pointed it out to the owner and sure enough it split wide open, all the way to edge, the next session.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

It is very interesting to see how you run through those banked turns; I have never run on such a course, not counting Shenandoah, it does not even come close to compare. So where do you look? To the inside line?

I am not sure what the issue was, but its fixed now.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

When in the banked turns, I was actually looking more UP, than I was lookking left; just odd. Also, Its pretty much a single input, and the only correction (for me at least) was if the rear end started to come around, was, 'turn down!' 'turn down!' 'turn down!' :D

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Some pics

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3634.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3635.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3648.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3650.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3654.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3677.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3680.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3682.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3688.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3690.JPG

http://www.digitalsimple.com/GT3/08....b_DSC_3691.JPG

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Nice!!! I wish VIR or Summit would have garages :(

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

WOW, what a nice facility!!

Did you guys pick up your PFC08 pads from Apex?
Super nice guy and the best price I've found!

Randy (Izzone) ran day 11!! toda at Sebring. 1 solid hour on track, no change.
I really think we found a winner. Other CUP driver asked what he did to his car because his brakes went to crap after 15 minutes. He runs Pagid R29, like we used to do.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

I am running 06s in front, 01s in the rear; yep; I buy from Apex.

I really like the setup; I have a new set of 06s still in the box. I'm not very fast, and hence don't use as much brakes as others; my fronts with 996 Cup ducts and SRF have lasted me 15 days. I might finish them off at my next 3-day DE in a few weeks which is know to be hard on brakes.

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

I am worried about you :-((.....it's been so long since you've been on track you forgot VIR has garages. :)

They're just not as nice as those. Wow impressive facilities!

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

Well, that's true, it has 'few' garages, but not for general public, you gotta pay for them. I never used one of those, so I did not remember they have them :D Yeah, I am worried about myself too. I am so focused on other stuff nowadays that I don't even know when my next track event is. I haven't even taken the wheels off yet :D

Re: August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

We had to pay for the garages. My next event is in a couple weeks; I cleaned up the GT3, but left the track pads, wheels on, etc.