My first ever track session on a road course

"Upshift" (Upshift) 08/10/2015 at 19:56 • Filed to: Track, Day, First, Time, Slow, Fast, Calabogie, Motorsports, Park, Ontario, Canada, road, course, Mustang, V6, Manual, Loud, brakes

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So, although I’ve drag raced many times, I’ve never driven on a road course. I had also never dreamed about passing an Aventador at a track either.

Yesterday though, I got to do just that since a local car club organised a lapping day specifically catering to beginners and everyone was invited so long as you had booked a time-slot online. 60$ for 30 minutes of track time with an instructor coaching you the entire time, helmet provided on site. Of course, there was a 15 minute debriefing explaining basics of racing, rules and flags.

My start is pretty sloppy as I didn’t go fast enough thinking we would be fairly slow behind the pace car for the first couple of laps. Not the best performance out there by a long shot I know but at least I got progressively better as time passed.

The big shocker though is that my brakes survived. I have over 58500 miles on the original front disks and pads. The rears had been replaced two years ago. I was SURE I would cook the brakes and get a bunch of fade that would force me to call it quits before even the halfway point. Turns out I was wrong. The brakes performed awesomely and without any noticeable fade. The instructor also commented on how strong the brakes were which surprised me (I mean, he’s used to high-performance machines, right?). The abuse also seemed to have resurfaced my rotors as whatever vibration I had before when stopping from highway speeds is almost completely gone while braking strength is pretty much the same as before. Neat.

My car, by the way, is a 2012 Mustang V6 with a 6-speed manual transmission and the optional 3.31 rear end gearing. Yes yes, I know, everyone and their dog loves to make fun of the rental-engine mustang that’s two-cylinders short of earning the name “Mustang”. But it has 305hp stock and managed to drive an hour and a half to the track, track the car and then drive back home the same distance on half a tank and I have about 155 miles left of fuel. Everyone who has ever driven this car had their doubts about the engine automatically erased and they love the one-two audio punch of my cold air intake and Borla Cat-Backs. So, deal with it. Tires are Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Amazing tires. Everyone loves the PSSs. Matt Farrah praises them in almost every short take video published by The Smoking Tire. The hype is real!

My top speed that I reached on the first straight was 109mph at 7500rpm. yes, I know, the engine redlines at 7000 but the tune from americanmuscle.com’s BAMA devision raises the fuel cutoff to 7500. The shift from 3-4 would waste time and it ends up being a waste for this beginner because It ends up being needed mega close to the braking zone and then I would just have to shift down to 3rd all over again for a burst of speed that would last as long as the gearshifts themselves. So I held 3rd the whole time.

The track, for those wondering, is Calabogie Motorsports Park in Calabogie, Ontario, Canada. We were on the shorter 1.37 mile west loop. Overall a very nice facility and the staff is great!

Enjoy the show! And yes, I know, I suck.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Upshift 08/10/2015 at 20:07

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Very nice! What's funny about that Mustang with the V6 is if a stock fox body pulled up, people would be impressed with the 5.0 V8...and you've got it over that car by 80hp.

Upshift > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 08/10/2015 at 20:14

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Yep! But hurr it’s not a V8! It doesn’t have the rumble!. Meh, gets the job done. 305hp is plenty for the street.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Upshift 08/10/2015 at 20:32

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I’m a big fan of the V6 Mustangs...when I briefly sold Fords, I had a kid come to test drive one with a 6 speed but he didn’t really know how to drive it. So I drove him out to a parking lot, did a few donuts (it was rainy), and then let him mess around with it. Really good car, very comfortable too.

DogonCrook > Upshift 08/10/2015 at 20:38

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http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_bra…

You rebedded your brakes. Under normal driving a hard stop can cause it especially if you trigger abs. It’s hard to find a place to properly bed them in the city, but even if you don’t follow this to a T you can get it close enough they don’t vibrate.

Upshift > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 08/10/2015 at 21:07

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They make for pretty good donut machines even in the dry :P

Upshift > DogonCrook 08/10/2015 at 21:09

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Funny enough, I’ve yet to ever trigger the ABS in this thing even when slamming the anchors to the max. But thanks for the info! Good to know!

DogonCrook > Upshift 08/10/2015 at 21:35

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Yeah I get this issue on my rx8 and its nearly impossible to lock those. I was looking into new rotors but after doing a bunch of research warping rotors is actually really hard to do on a modern car. In fact slotted and drilled rotors perform worse in most situations. Now I make sure I get them hot and do some smooth stops with even pressure every month or so and it hasn’t come back.