Helpme

I was at laguna seca again this monday with my TSX. A buddy joined me with his 07 Si coupe.

Great day, nice and sunny, no problems with the track. This was my second trip to Laguna Seca this year, so I had a good feel from the track last time.

Tons of Hondas were at this event! 3 NSXs, 2 Integras, my TSX & my friends Si. Alot of people commented on how Realtime racing uses the TSX for their platform, and is able to win with it.

Performance:

Consistantly overtook many cars in my group, including a market rival, the IS300. By the end of the day, my friend was able to pull away from me in the Si, which was expected.

Pushed the car harder than my last time out, and we were running lap times of around 2:10. Tires still loud as heck, and a bit slippery, but no big change from the previous events. Brakes still exibited fade throughout the day (still haven't worn out the stock pads yet, even after 3 track days).

Car:

Stock 2006 MT, down to the tires and brakes.

The Si was stock as well.

Pictures & Videos to follow soon (I have to rotate and compress the movies, they're 300MB each right now).

edited: Video Link: http://www.iidx.net/traffic.mov

afici0nad0

hurry with the video!

godfather2

you planning to modify?

Helpme

Not planning to modify, other than pads and tires. Fix the driver first, not the car.

Anyway, soon this link will work (hopefully by 9:30 pm PST):

http://www.iidx.net/traffic.mov

It is encoded in H.264, so you'll need Quicktime or quicktime alternative to view it (save space and retain as much quality as possible).

This is the first two laps of a later session. I am following my friend (the red Si).

You'll see us run into traffic at about halfway through the first lap. First time around I try to give myself some room on the straight by not speeding up right away, but didn't wait long enough.

I have some later movies where we free ourselfs by going into the hot pits and coming out, but I'll have to put those up as we go along. Freaking much faster cars in front of us going so slow and not letting us pass...

I thought I had a clip of the IS300 being passed, but looks like I had run out of memory before that time. I'm getting the other clips from my friend in the Si soon (so you can see me from behind), so I can start posting those as well.

fadinglionhart

You've got some nice lines. Good job with the corkscrew too, I heard that thing's a bitch.

I wanna go down there some day.

joerockt

So friggin awesome. I would love to do a few laps around that track. Nice work

cuteguy1414

iTrader: (1)

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Helpme

Personally I think the corkscrew is not very scary at all. Just turn in and give it gas. Some of the other turns are really tricky to be fast in (feels like you're going too fast for the corner, but you're not). Blind turns never really bother me that much, but it is fun to go through that drop!

There are track days pretty frequently at laguna seca, so it shouldn't be hard to find one every month or so. There are plenty of tracks in california, so depending on where you are, there may be several.

savage

great vids... post some more...

what did you use for a camera and camera mount?

Black_6spd

Thanks for sharing. Sounded like a blast.

In regards to your friend's Si, where would attribute his advantage(s)? Stock vs. stock, is he able to pull away on the straights? I wouldn't expect him to.

On the surface, I would expect the Si's track advantages to be in the following areas:
- high RPM powerband - he's able to stay in the K20Z's sweetspot as opposed to the TSX where it's all-or-nothing trying to keep it between 4000-6500 RPM.
- better gearing - although I don't think you use the TSX's flawed 1-2 upshift on the track, 2nd might be too tall for some hairpin turns where the RPMs could drop too low coming out of the turn.
- lightweight - the Si is a few hundred pounds lighter than the TSX

The Grand Am and Realtime TSX is able to level the playing field by "fixing" all of those flaws.

Tsx6363

nicely done, i'd love to take my car to a track but its a 5at =[

subdued

nice going helpme!! the corkscrew looks less scarey in a car....I was at motogp last year and watched from the screw and thought that was insane on the motogpbikes at their speeds. I need to find out more about driving at laguna.

afici0nad0

very nice runs.

i can't wait to track the car...

Helpme

I was just using a pocket cannon camera (SD300) and a window mount that my friend bought for about 20$. I was suprised how steady the final result turned out, and how little wind noise made it into the video.

I was trying to get the 1.6 GB of data from my buddy last night, but it failed mid way. I'll compress and upload one of the other 2 I have from inside my car tonight if I remember.

The TSX isn't a race car, so the gears, while "close", are not really that close. There's a pretty big delay when upshifting. You're never in 1st gear, as it is way too low for the track. The only times I'm in 2nd is at the entrance to the straight, if I feel like blipping twice to get down from 4th (It's alot to think about when slowing from 75 to 35 in a very short distance and approaching a slow corner). there's also a really big gap between 2 and 3, so you're off the power for a while during that shift.

3rd and 4th gear are pretty good for the track, but 3rd gear runs out too soon in a few areas, and 4th doesn't like going up hill if you shortshift from 3rd. The Si had a bit more headroom with the higher RPM limit.

The Si has much less body roll (I think you will be able to see in the vids I haven't posted yet, where he is following me) than the TSX. He's able to turn it quicker & experience less wobbling than me. I have to use trailing brake to make the most of the car. Check out this picture of me from last time... That's some body roll all right



The Si also has much better throttle response than the TSX. The TSX has a bit of a delay when compared to the Si.

Here's a bonus corkscrew pictures from last time as well.

Helpme

Yeah, I'm not signing myself up to drive a motorcycle at speed around the track

On another note, they were driving away boxes of motoGP 2006 shirts, so we made off like bandits!

zidenx

iTrader: (1)

nice video.

i'm moving back to the monterey area again. miss that place.

Helpme

I forgot to mention that the Si also has a limited slip diff...

subdued

helpM, you prob already mentioned this but I missed it....what's the deal with the co-pilot in your pics? instructor? could you PM my info on the laguna seca trackday/school? thanks.

guys, notice how his stock set up looks dropped when he is in the corkscrew?

TodaSi

Awesome, looked like a lot of fun!

P.S. always have at least 1/2 to a full quart of extra oil in it when running on the track if you don't have a baffled oil pan.

Helpme

Yes, the other person in the car is an instructor. They aren't always available depending on which clubs you go with, but if they are, I usually try to grab one for as many sessions as possible. Can't beat free instruction! About half the time I am by myself, however.

There are a number of clubs that go to Laguna Seca and other tracks. If you live in northern california, check out hooked on driving and trackmasters. If you live in southern california, check out speed ventures.

There are many more, but I can't remember all the names right now. You can also check the track's calendars to see what groups will be there. In general, they organize the day into 20-30 minute sessions by driver skill level. You usually get 2-3 hours of track time depending on the group.

minkl81

iTrader: (2)

nice video. its funny that i remember the course from gran turismo.

anTo

the corkscrew is hard to not notice

ItsHersTL

Thats pretty sweet. Id love to take the RX8 I drive out there. I imagine that would be alright, besides the stupid time it takes for that Rotary to sev up..

Helpme

There were 3 beat down and stripped RX-7s out there rippin it up...

Audioserf

I'd say that would have to be suspension compression at work.

And thanks for posting this video, it was a good watch. I'd love to drive Laguna Seca some day. Ever since Gran Turismo 3, that track's been a favorite of mine!

rtlltj

hmm I live like 10 min from laguna seca. You should hear the noise that comes from that track whenever they host the motocycle races. Funny thing is my dad is one of the directors of the sea otter classic and we have a family friend who owns a ford gt. I keep telling him to bring it out there on the track late one night and let me drive it while the track is still theirs.

TSeXaholic

haha i rmember this course from grand turismo as well.. i would love to take my tsx there even though its a 5 speed.. looks like a great experience.. but too bad i live in delaware lol