Wonderful experience

I had my 'turn-over' day(s) for my SR10 with Radical Northwest over the last two days at Laguna Seca.  I have never had the luxury of a full support team in an arrive-and-drive setting.  It was wonderful.  Stephen Cameron Racing provides the mechanics, support, maintenance and transport personnel while Anthony Ward manages the sales and storage side of the business.  

As a newbie to driving a Radical there was a lot to learn. 

Driver Position

Stephen's team had already previously fitted me for the car, adjusting the halo height and peddles when I took delivery.  I did not get a bead formed seat and instead went with the seat inserts since I new friends would be driving the car. 

I put my helmet on before getting into the car.  This was the easiest for me since I wear prescription glasses and getting the temple loops past your ears with a full face helmet is a bit of a trick.  Getting in and reaching for the shoulder harnesses is cumbersome.  It is also difficult to look down and see the camlock since you are in a reclined position.  The support team helped adjust the shoulder belts making sure they were setting properly over the Hans. I found putting gloves on last was easiest after re-attaching the steering wheel.  After the first day Tim Ryan, the team lead, added about 1" of foam under my rump raising me up which I really liked.  

Breaking in process

Tim had me follow the owner's manual explicitly.  I came in after each of 1, 3, 5, and 10 laps. The brakes got properly bedded in, there were no leaks and everything stayed tight.  There were very few cars at the event so it was a perfect opportunity for me to learn the car.  Upon my return to the paddock Tim would always ask how it felt, how I was doing and what the next steps were.  This was unique for me since I had always taken street cars to the track without any formal support.

One of the biggest bug-a-boos for me was letting the clutch out to get moving.  I stalled the car endless times.  Eventually I started to get the hang of it but it was tough to find the sweet spot in the throw on the clutch peddle while applying throttle.  Eventually the starting and stopping became pretty straight forward. 

Any unevenness in the pavement in the paddock or track entrance/exit was met with a clunk on the bottom of the car so I learned to crawl very slowly during the transitions.  I also found that when exiting the track in 3rd or 4th gear, it felt better to clutch-in to down shift rather than using just the paddles.  The car just felt strange to downshift at low RPMs because it wants to blip the throttle.  In addition, a slow speed in the pits felt better in 2nd rather than 1st since the revs 'pulse' when the car is in 1st.

On track experience

Although Laguna is my home track the Radical was a whole new thing.  Tim gradually raised the throttle and engine performance up a notch after each session.  Half way through the 2nd day the settings were set to max performance.  I continued to like the power steering set to 3 (midway).  The exhaust is mind blowing and loud.  Going down the front straight and winding 2-5 over turn one (the kink) the car is settled and very stable.  The brakes are awesome.  I was able to brake way later than usual.  Track out on turn exit was incredible - the car just glides.  The grip was endless but I was not pushing it.  The corner turn-in is exact.  I found little to no under or oversteer.  Stephen had set the car up as neutral.  

Acceleration is everything you could want it to be.  You may not have 800 hp to play with but it feels just as good given the reduction it weight.  I was very careful to roll on the throttle at turn exit until the car was straight, then wham!  Upshifts and downshifts were smooth and I really enjoyed the 6 speed sequential.  The extra shift lights mounted above the steering wheel makes them easy to see since I only glanced down at the wheel to see the gear.  Tim had configured the display to have the largest gear indicator lettering in the center.

By the end of the 2nd day, I was feeling way more comfortable in the car.  There was only 1 other car in the last session but the sun was low in the sky and blinding in turn 9, 10 and 11.  I literally had to hold one hand up over my visor while steering with the other.  Not the best of scenarios so to say least so the lap times didn't improve but it was still a great way to end the weekend.

A few changes

Tim is going to move the footrest next to the clutch peddle further away to match the distance of the clutch peddle.  It felt awkward having more of a bend in my left leg versus right.  Note, I only drive with one foot for throttle and brake.

The second is to add a Laguna downturn pipe.  It was a 103 decibel day and they were being very exact if you exceeded it.  I blew sound at 104, another friend with an SR10 that I was with exceed 105.  Tim's team installed a quiet exhaust on that car and that knocked it down to 98 on a soundcheck.  The Laguna pipe should knock the standard exhaust down by 2 db so I should fine for all the 103 and 105 db days, which are my preference.

I could not be more thrilled with my choice of a Radical.  As a friend said, it is hard to go back to taking a street car to the track.  I think those days may be over.

Phil