Just completed my 14th and 15th driving days at Watkins Glen. Track time completed with Tracquest. 2 days of pure uninhibited speed.
Every time I take the 318 out on track, the car just gets better and better. That said, my off season mods were without question.. successful. They did not take away from the car, but added to it.
One of the best mods I made has got the be the Magnaflow exhaust.....The exhaust is so loud on track, that my ears ring after 10 minutes out. The M42 with this exhaust sounds like a race car. Combined with my home grown CAI, my throttle response in instantaneous. While I was out sharing the track with a 996 cup car, the exhaust sounded very similar with the only difference being the volume. The car just roars.
The car ran flawlessly...and fast.
Ran the "blue- intermediate, fast intermediate" group the first day, whored some rides with instructors driving full blown 911 race cars and a friends M Coupe for a total of 1 hour of passenger side track time.
Personally I got 1:40 of seat time driving the 318.
2 hours and 40 minutes of track time for the first day...not too shabby.
Until Monday, its been a year since I had last driven the Glen. The first few runs out were a bit...rusty. I was also nervous about the suspension changes I made over the winter. Will the car feel the same... My confidence was also a bit low due to the fact that I ended my season last year with an off track excursion at Summit Point.
At any rate, after a few shake down runs Monday morning I was as fast as last year. Passing a few P-cars made the first few runs very gratifying. Monday I got back into the groove. Tuesday I was in it.
Everyhting came together yesterday. Confidence was at all time high. The car is definately MUCH faster than last year. The car can brake deeper, accelerate sooner. In one session, a friend timed me running laps in the 2:30-2:35 range. I am just as fast if not a bit faster in the 318 than I was in the M Coupe.
After one "blue" session, the event organizer gave the green for mixed run groups. This is where you really get the seat time with Tracquest. Continuous running. Red (fast / instructor)can run with blue. Blue can run with red and yellow (novice). Yellow can run with blue. If you are in the blue group, you can run indefinately.
I abandoned the blue group and did all my driving with the fast / instructor group. Can you say OPEN PASSING, anywhere on the track!!
After one blue, three red and two instructor ride along sessions I was spent...another 2.5 hours of seat time.
The 318 was so hooked up. I was definately driving at 9/10ths sometimes 10/10ths all day yesterday. Drfiting through turns 9, 10, 11, the esses. Entering and exiting the bus stop in 4th gear (at least 10 mph fater than taking it in 3rd).
A wonderful, wonderful day.
I saved the best for last....
My last ride of the day was in a .......right hand drive street legal (in the UK) Lotus Exige
This car is sex on wheels. This is the PERFECT track car. Balance, acceleration, braking...you name it, it has it. It can outbrake and outcorner any race car, can keep up with most turbo P-cars and just decimate any normally aspirated P-car or any car for that matter. The owner stated that the suspension has not been set up for the track yet - that means that the suspension is still on street settings!!
The car is rough and loud.
Took over 4 hours of in and out of car video, now the task of puting a video together begins. Heres a little teaser....
Another successful hunt (SVT focus) while holding off an Audi S6
Every time I take the 318 out on track, the car just gets better and better. That said, my off season mods were without question.. successful. They did not take away from the car, but added to it.
One of the best mods I made has got the be the Magnaflow exhaust.....The exhaust is so loud on track, that my ears ring after 10 minutes out. The M42 with this exhaust sounds like a race car. Combined with my home grown CAI, my throttle response in instantaneous. While I was out sharing the track with a 996 cup car, the exhaust sounded very similar with the only difference being the volume. The car just roars.
The car ran flawlessly...and fast.
Ran the "blue- intermediate, fast intermediate" group the first day, whored some rides with instructors driving full blown 911 race cars and a friends M Coupe for a total of 1 hour of passenger side track time.
Personally I got 1:40 of seat time driving the 318.
2 hours and 40 minutes of track time for the first day...not too shabby.
Until Monday, its been a year since I had last driven the Glen. The first few runs out were a bit...rusty. I was also nervous about the suspension changes I made over the winter. Will the car feel the same... My confidence was also a bit low due to the fact that I ended my season last year with an off track excursion at Summit Point.
At any rate, after a few shake down runs Monday morning I was as fast as last year. Passing a few P-cars made the first few runs very gratifying. Monday I got back into the groove. Tuesday I was in it.
Everyhting came together yesterday. Confidence was at all time high. The car is definately MUCH faster than last year. The car can brake deeper, accelerate sooner. In one session, a friend timed me running laps in the 2:30-2:35 range. I am just as fast if not a bit faster in the 318 than I was in the M Coupe.
After one "blue" session, the event organizer gave the green for mixed run groups. This is where you really get the seat time with Tracquest. Continuous running. Red (fast / instructor)can run with blue. Blue can run with red and yellow (novice). Yellow can run with blue. If you are in the blue group, you can run indefinately.
I abandoned the blue group and did all my driving with the fast / instructor group. Can you say OPEN PASSING, anywhere on the track!!
After one blue, three red and two instructor ride along sessions I was spent...another 2.5 hours of seat time.
The 318 was so hooked up. I was definately driving at 9/10ths sometimes 10/10ths all day yesterday. Drfiting through turns 9, 10, 11, the esses. Entering and exiting the bus stop in 4th gear (at least 10 mph fater than taking it in 3rd).
A wonderful, wonderful day.
I saved the best for last....
My last ride of the day was in a .......right hand drive street legal (in the UK) Lotus Exige
This car is sex on wheels. This is the PERFECT track car. Balance, acceleration, braking...you name it, it has it. It can outbrake and outcorner any race car, can keep up with most turbo P-cars and just decimate any normally aspirated P-car or any car for that matter. The owner stated that the suspension has not been set up for the track yet - that means that the suspension is still on street settings!!
The car is rough and loud.
Took over 4 hours of in and out of car video, now the task of puting a video together begins. Heres a little teaser....
Another successful hunt (SVT focus) while holding off an Audi S6
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