Thank you Charlie

Exactly what I’ve been doing - downloading and reading.

i appreciate the offer - expect calls. Lol

Richard, you mentionedd that you were having challenges getting the seat in the right position.  I wanted to make sure that you know that the pedals are also easily adjusted so you can get some added relief there.

Charley

Posted by: CharleyH

Richard, you mentionedd that you were having challenges getting the seat in the right position.  I wanted to make sure that you know that the pedals are also easily adjusted so you can get some added relief there.

Charley

Looked at them yesterday. They need to move back. What’s the process?  Unscrew them and lengthen in the stalks?

Been out twice now.  

First session was sketchy. New experience, new machine.  Stalled it at least half a dozen times in staging and managed to spin in a slow left handed (Mazda turn) due to abrupt pedal input.

Second session was much better.  Found some booster seat pads, starting to get a feeling, starting to trust that it really will stick as well as it does.  Getting ready for round 3.

WOO HOO!

Don't worry that you stalled the car.  It is tricky to keep that from happening.  When I test drove my car the guy that was introducing me to the cars was the European champion....and he stalled the car 3 or 4 times.

Regarding spinning the car.  These cars are very sensitive to front/rear balance and until you get a feel for it you will experience spins.  You will quickly learn how to keep the car in balance....but until you do, be very careful around walls and other immovable objects.  The car will stick amazingly well....IF the front/rear balance is right.  Don't push too hard until you have really got it right.  Spend the weekend getting used to the car, you are transitioning from a street based car to a rocket ship and there are differences.  A good tool for expanding the your comfort level is to down load the data from your Aim dash and make a color map showing lateral G force.  It clearly shows how many G's you are pulling in each corner which is very helpful in re-calibrating your brain.  Also, every time you go from the throttle to the brakes, consciously think about moving your foot all the way over until it hits the steering column before you hit the brakes.  The peddles are close in this car and it is possible to hit the gas and the brake at the same time.  When this happens the car does not stop and it takes your brain a while to figure out what is going on.  So if you hit the brakes and the car isn't stopping, briefly release the brakes and move your foot further to the left. Take it slow for the first weekend...  

Regarding the pedals, there is a lock nut on the clutch and brake pedal.  once you break those loose you can spin the pedals out to adjust them.

Have fun. 

Charley

 I’ll definitely be doing a moulded seat insert.  I’m admittedly picky about ergonomics and have chased them throughout the day.  Finally found a decent combo of cushions that sits me up and forward a bit.  That made a huge difference. I’ll look at the pedals tomorrow.

Overall I’m really comfortable driving it.  I’ve stepped the back out a couple of times and it’s surprisingly easy to catch to a point.  I did spin it again in the 4th session braking into the right hander at the end of the straight.  It’s bumpy (car twitches) so I was adjusting my line.  I screwed up, went in with a really bad line and tossed it.  I’d been playing with different entry speeds and lines and found one that didn’t work.   ?  

I left foot brake so trying to get my foot on the clutch pedal as I go backwards has proven to be tricky.

I’ve been really diligent about tire warm up.  Three laps of slowly upping the pace and they really tell you when they’re happy.  The tires were recommended to be run at 24.5 psi hot and each session I’ve had to let about .75 lbs out of all four each time as my speed increases.  They are staying very consistent across the board which says I’m not overdriving either end - keeping the car balanced.  It feels quite neutral.

Brakes are interesting - I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if they were cold this morning.  The pedal was very stiff, moved minimally and had no throw or feeling.  By the end of the day (we started out at around 50-55F, ended around 75) I had great pedal movement, feel and modulation.  I think the carbon/ceramics need heat in them to work well and Buttonwillow isn’t a brake heavy place.

Dennis, no I’ve not.  Hadn’t even seen the place until yesterday afternoon. 

I have been watching videos but they never really click with me.  I have to experience it to get it - fortunately I’m able to mentally map tracks pretty quickly.  During the 3rd and 4th sessions I got to chase a couple of full on Cayman GT race cars running 2:02 laps in the ccw direction and had a blast. We knocked out half a dozen of them and man it was fun!

They're turning the track around tomorrow so I’ll start out with a cold car (warmed to operating temps, of course) on a new cold track.  I’ll take the first session riding shotgun with one of the Audi instructors like I did this morning to familiarize myself with the place.

One last comical thing: I’ve stalled the car at least dozen times off the staging line yet the last three times I’ve pulled away from my pit I’ve just cruised off like I know what I’m doing.  Go figure!

Did I mention how much fun I’m having? ?

It sounds like you are well down the path of taming that beast.  Glad to hear you are having a lot of fun.  You will discover that a Radical smile is hard to get off of your face.

One last comment on spinning... you likely already know this, but with Radicals ( I know it is the case for SR3s and believe it is the same for SR8s) it is essential to get the clutch in very quickly when you spin.  If the rear tires rotate backwards (without the clutch in) the starte will engage and burst.... ending your day.  

Glad to hear you are having a great time in that beautiful new beast.  

Enjoy,

Charley

Day two is done.

Never stalled, didn’t spin.  Yay!  Got pretty out of shape once (got it on video) but saved it.

I don’t like the track running clockwise as much as I did yesterday running ccw.  It doesn’t flow as well.

Getting more and more comfortable with each session and realizing that I need to make a couple small changes.  It searches very badly over bumps and in braking zones. There is a very small window right at center steering where the wheel gets very light and the car is “darty”.  I want to check and see if it has any toe out - has that sort of feeling.

The previous owner said the car was set up by someone that knew what they were doing but for whom?  That’s like telling me a pro rider designed a motocross track “so it should be fine” - yeah, for the pro rider, not the rest of us.

I’ll play tomorrow and then head home and start documenting everything.  I want to get my base line (present setup) on paper and then start tuning from there for my driving style.

Glad to hear you had a great day.  It sounds like your alignment needs some adjustment.  It shouldn’t feel darty.  What tires does it have?  The alignment is considerably different for the different tires.

Charley