i_love_cars Posted June 30, 2015 Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 I have a bunch of GoPro footage to edit that I will upload later. I also paid for photography so in 3 weeks or so I should have 75-90 prints of my car from the 7 different turns at Blackhawk, which I will probably upload some of them in the member forum. First off, it was a good day - the rain held off aside from a few sprinkles - storm clouds rolled in literally with 3 minutes remaining in the last session of the day. Lots of sun. I ran in the intermediate group and there was a good array of cars and a good spread between everyone. I definitely felt the pressure from the cars I was up against. Most people in the group were as good as / or better drivers than I was, and they all had cars with modified suspension. There was a brand new Mustang GT with track package which was FAST. My buddy who has a fully track prepped Miata with a mazda crate motor and turbo (240 hp), got passed by him. I got passed by him. A guy I was talking to with a modified Evo got passed by him. Most people got passed by him, lol. Other cars in my group of note were an e92 M3, brand new Audi TT-RS, track prepped S2000, and some crazy fast Subaru Forester that I have on video just BLOWING past me on the straights rofl. It was awesome. I had to de-tune my car for Stage 1 after session 2. I went into limp mode - air temps were too high even with my intercooler (i should really run meth), and so I got boost fault codes for too much target pressure and then a fault for boost controller blocking boost buildup. I noticed it pretty quick on the straights when I hit 5200 rpm or so and the car just fell flat on its face. I mean flat. Like it stopped gaining speed and the RPMs just stood still. Just sat there while I listened to the car constantly trying to dump boost pressure cuz it couldn't hold it. Once I went back to Stage 1 (the tune I ran at BHF last year in September), everything was gravy. Full pulls to redline without a hiccup. Smooth delivery. Also of note is that my new Spec Stage 2+ clutch install went well - the clutch held perfectly at 6k+ rpm all day. No slippage or stuttering. My 135i on stock suspension (springs don't really count lol) is pretty soft. I'm debating still between getting a dedicated track car that's already built - like an old E36 race car or something, or do suspension work on the 135i. It's tough because I already invested in the $1700 LSD for the 135. M3 bits are cheap and direct bolt-in, and if I couple those with some good coilovers I think it would be better and more competent at the track to the point that I'd feel satisfied. I looked at some photos of my car and I could see how much my front tires were getting sucked under in the corners - I really need more negative camber in front and can't do that until I get some plates. The advanced group had some ridiculous cars in it. There was a fully track-built E46 M3 - gutted, caged, an oil cooler the size of a radiator, big brake kit on all 4 wheels, aero, and tons of sponsor stickers. It was crushing everything, including the 2 lotus exige cars that were there. One car in my group lost a wheel due to lugs backing out from the heat. There was a hush-hush incident with a silver m3 getting clipped in the rear quarter by an s2k on the kink when he went to pass. There was a dumb broad in the novice group who crashed her 350z into the wall and busted her passenger side. Several people went off track so nothing abnormal there. For future events I will be getting an external mic for my car that I can run on the intake side of the engine bay to capture sound without all the wind noise. The full sample set of photos that the photographer took can be seen on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1060041297348142.1073742039.255525924466354&type=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsbimmer1 Posted June 30, 2015 Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 Nice! I can't wait to see the go pro footage! I must say though, I have never heard of lug nuts completely backing off due to heat... They can "adjust" once you drive a vehicle which is why you should perform a retorque after 50 miles. I couldn't tell you how many seminars I have sat through and investigations I have been a part of discussing loose wheels and wheel-off's and there's typically only 2 factors that will cause the issue. It was either installation error or mechanical failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_love_cars Posted June 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 pat i agree. Everyone in my group was freaking out and re-torquing their wheels and I was like "meh". *shockingly* my wheels were sturdy as can be when I got home last night. I've seen hundreds of people track all day and never seen this happen before. The usual suspect in these types of situations is installer error. Especially considering this was literally at the start of session 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungCR Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Neat shots, also in for the footage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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