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Could not ask for any better weather this past weekend at VIR. The Golden Session Sunday morning was indeed a good one as I was able to reset the TT6 record to 2:18.844. There were only two of us in class as TT6 in Mid-Atlantic is unfortunately pretty light, but I was still very happy with the car's performance. The clear open track in the TT timed sessions is SO much better than HPDE haha. I'll work on getting some video together later today if I can.
2021 season officially wrapped up following the Fall Finale at Summit Point. I managed a new PB of 1:28.66, which is right at 1.0 second off the current TT6 lap record. I unfortunately was not able to better my time as a high speed spin while going wide exiting turn 9 flat spotted all my tires and I had to go back to my 40+ heat cycle R888Rs to finish out the weekend. Video of fast lap at end of post, but lots to talk about first!
All in all it has been a very fun jump into TT. The clear track is soooooooo much better than anything HPDE had to offer. I feel like I can work on my own development so much better without everyone constantly coming up on me. The goal for next year is to keep the car as-is as it has proven to be reliable and I want to focus on driver development as the car does not need any more major setup changes. Hopefully there will be some better participation in TT6 next year, but I will also be looking to start expanding out of region to start trying some new tracks. I do need to invest in some sort of rain tire setup as this weekend started out very cold and wet and so I pretty much couldn't do anything until the track dried mid-Saturday afternoon.
So, current plans moving into the future (subject to change, as always haha):
- 2021-2022 off-season - no major setup changes for the car. All off-season money going toward a sim racing setup to keep fresh over the off-season and to work on driver development and track knowledge. Already purchased a new gaming desktop and some monitors, will be buying Fanatec wheel, pedals, and shifter soon. Still researching the cockpit portion, whether DIY or buying one off-the-shelf.
- 2022 season - stay in TT6 and keep getting faster. Try new tracks up and down the East Coast as schedule and budget allow. Develop a wet weather setup.
- 2022-2023 off-season - mild BP4W power bump and add aero to move to TT5? Seems to be better competition in most regions compared to TT6. Dan has proven the lightweight BP formula can still be competitive, and I certainly don't plan on being at the pointy end of things like he is any time soon.
- 2023 season - develop driving with aero, get chassis 100% sorted
- 2023-2024 off-season - more power baby? K24Z3 would be TT4 eligible. K24A2 would be TT3 due to subframe swap. MA currently has a decently deep TT3 field, usually competing with TT5 for highest car counts. 6 and 4 are usually the lowest. A buddy of mine is currently in 3 and I could probably convince another buddy to do 3 as well.
Anyway, we shall see what happens. I'm sure my plans will change again as they usually do. Though, it does seem to keep coming back around to ultimately K-swapping...
Unfortunately, the time spent at the track was the end of the fun for the weekend and it all went downhill from there. On the way home my truck decided it didn't want to move under it's own power anymore and left me stranded three hours from home. This was literally the final trip I needed the truck for and it was scheduled to be sold this week. But, instead, the transmission decided it was done and so it was unceremoniously sent off on a flat bed to an auto auction. It was a solid truck for my almost six years of ownership, right up until the last trip home. My new truck is currently scheduled for production the week of November 15, so I'm hoping to see it by Christmas as long as there are no more supply delays.
That's it for now. Thanks to everyone who still follows along. Pics and video below.
Sunday morning with beautiful weather.
An expensive mistake for sure. 90 MPH slide due to pushing too hard and going wide exiting turn 9. Left rear clipped a spot of wet painted curbing and I have slow hands haha.
The truck's final resting place.
And a fateful goodbye.
And a surprise podium finish in TT4 on Sunday! Haha.
The cool thing is a lightweight/low power 5 car is that it is just a 6 car with all the ballast pulled out and aero added(assuming a near theoretical max effort 2450-2550lb 6 car using ~200lbs of ballast).
You could just add power and run BTM aero in TT/ST6 until you want to spring for splitter/wing, and maybe doors if needed to get down to 2250lbs in 5. Spreads the spending out a bit.
My lightweight/aero 5 car is the most fun to drive car ive ever driven. Its like an Elise/Exige but much easier to keep on the limit.
- 2021-2022 off-season - no major setup changes for the car. All off-season money going toward a sim racing setup to keep fresh over the off-season and to work on driver development and track knowledge. Already purchased a new gaming desktop and some monitors, will be buying Fanatec wheel, pedals, and shifter soon. Still researching the cockpit portion, whether DIY or buying one off-the-shelf.
If you have the ability, fab it yourself. That way you can duplicate Miata ergonomics.
I have an OTS setup I bought years ago, and it's absolutely been worth the money I spent on it, but I'm to the point where the difference in driving position is a hindrance. I've been planning on building a new setup, but haven't had the time.
I have a fanatec DD2 etc. I have not been able to get any of the sim racing stuff to translate to actual driving. It just doesn't visually look anything like real life so its hard for me to be competent.
The cool thing is a lightweight/low power 5 car is that it is just a 6 car with all the ballast pulled out and aero added(assuming a near theoretical max effort 2450-2550lb 6 car using ~200lbs of ballast).
You could just add power and run BTM aero in TT/ST6 until you want to spring for splitter/wing, and maybe doors if needed to get down to 2250lbs in 5. Spreads the spending out a bit.
My lightweight/aero 5 car is the most fun to drive car ive ever driven. Its like an Elise/Exige but much easier to keep on the limit.
That's exactly the draw to doing it that way. The car is already sorted, minimal money can go to a slight power bump (I need a tunable ECU for example) and then just add aero and make sure the chassis is squared away while enjoying a lightweight car, Your experiences and willingness to share them has made this seem to be easily the most viable option for the near future. I currently have 140 lbs of ballast in the car to get up to 2400 lbs, so I can get down to 2260 as is. Once I add the wing and splitter I'll start looking for more weight to pull out, as there's definitely some there that can be removed.
Originally Posted by Roda
If you have the ability, fab it yourself. That way you can duplicate Miata ergonomics.
I have an OTS setup I bought years ago, and it's absolutely been worth the money I spent on it, but I'm to the point where the difference in driving position is a hindrance. I've been planning on building a new setup, but haven't had the time.
Duplicating Miata ergonomics is definitely the plan. The only reason I would consider buying is because the aluminum profile ones now-a-days are so modular and adjustable that it MIGHT be worth the money to save the time coming up with something from scratch. I will be using my old Sparco Pro2000 seat to build around and planning on the Fanatec inverted pedals to ensure everything is as Miata-esque as possible.
Originally Posted by icantlearn
I have a fanatec DD2 etc. I have not been able to get any of the sim racing stuff to translate to actual driving. It just doesn't visually look anything like real life so its hard for me to be competent.
I have had this in the back of my mind as well. While I know that it will not visually compare to driving in real life, my main goal was more so to try new things that I'm scared to on the track and also to learn the corner complexes of new tracks prior to actually driving them. So for example, I am absolutely terrible at left foot braking and it's a skill I would like to learn. I've tried it a few times and am too scared to use it in high commitment areas until I get more comfortable. I'm hoping that I can use the sim to at least dial in 80% of the left foot brake feeling on tracks I'm familiar with and know where I want to use it. Then once I at least have some feel for it I will move the skill over to driving in real life. Additionally, it is sometimes very difficult for me to get off of work to attend events, so traveling outside the region could be rare. I want to make the best use of my time at a new track that I might not be able to go to again for a few years. Instead of watching videos to learn a new track and the upcoming corner complexes, I'm hoping the sim will at least get some muscle memory started and get my brain ready to anticipate elevation, blind apexes, etc. Video is great, but your brain can only retain so much information from the visual alone. And finally, my track weekends usually begin very timidly as the Miata only gets driven once a month at most and the cockpit/pedal box is drastically different than my Mazdaspeed3 or truck. So I always have to "re-learn" the car and take a few sessions to get comfortable. I also only remember late in the weekend that I can be more violent with the steering instead of letting the car kind of steer for me. I'm hoping that with the sim I can get some of the timidness shaken off prior to arriving at the track so that fist session out I can ramp right up to driving more violently and expedite my comfort level at that particular track. My best example is turn 4 at Summit Point from the video above. It's a uphill blind apex that I used to just leisurely turn into, but after a few sessions I remember that the camber is such that I can really just toss the car in hard and let the elevation keep me on line. It's a very fun feeling. I'm hoping the sim will at least remind me of that during my practice leading up to the event so that from session 1 I can remember to be more aggressive there instead of waiting for that "oh yeah" moment on track during the weekend.
For me, left foot braking doesn't translate well. I am VERY good at it on the sim. But as soon as you hop in a car it's just so different. The bite/feel of a brake pedal in a sim is nowhere near what it feels like in an actual car, so nothing actually translates in my case. Braking is all about modulation, and I just have a hard time modulating a pedal with no feel/feedback.
Layout wise, all the tracks look vastly different. I used iracing to prep for my GLTC race at COTA, and the time in the sim just didn't help at the end of the day.
Asseto Corsa Competizione (ACC) is the only sim that actually feels right. The cars feel like actual cars, the graphics are good, you have a sense of speed from motion blur. It just feels so much better than iracing overall. I was actually able to race people and apply race craft using this, and that was the most value I got out of it.
For me, left foot braking doesn't translate well. I am VERY good at it on the sim. But as soon as you hop in a car it's just so different. The bite/feel of a brake pedal in a sim is nowhere near what it feels like in an actual car, so nothing actually translates in my case. Braking is all about modulation, and I just have a hard time modulating a pedal with no feel/feedback.
Layout wise, all the tracks look vastly different. I used iracing to prep for my GLTC race at COTA, and the time in the sim just didn't help at the end of the day.
Asseto Corsa Competizione (ACC) is the only sim that actually feels right. The cars feel like actual cars, the graphics are good, you have a sense of speed from motion blur. It just feels so much better than iracing overall. I was actually able to race people and apply race craft using this, and that was the most value I got out of it.
Just my subjective opinion.
What pedals do you have? I know some of them offer a much larger range of adjustment than others regarding load cell pressures and also hydraulic damping. My goal is to set up the positioning to as closely match the Miata pedal box as I can.
I certainly appreciate you sharing your experiences. I am well aware it's not going to be a definitive solution to better on track driving, but I'm still hopeful some things will translate over. Even with the tracks looking and feeling different than in real life, being able to better anticipate the elevation and arrangement of corners where I can be proactive instead of reactive my first time at a new track will be worth it IMO, even if that only translates to 20% faster learning of the track. I'm excited to give it a try either way, I've always been intrigued by sim racing.
Ordered all the Fanatec stuff for the sim. Unfortunately the wheel base is on backorder until January, so I won't get any "driving" time until then. Oh well. Gives me time to get the car looked over before then. Mostly focusing on maintenance this off-season, so plenty of time to get it all done.
Still waiting on the Mid-Atlantic schedule to be released, but other regions have already gotten theirs out. Right now nothing is playing nice with my work schedule except for Lime Rock park in July. I might make that my first out of region bucket list track as I have family in CT and might also stay up for the next weekend as well when the IMSA race will be there.
2022 NASA TT6 Competition Schedule:
March 19-20 - VIR (tentative until I know I can get off work)
April 15-16 - Summit Point Main
May 13-15 - VIR
July 8-9 - Lime Rock Park with NASA NE (first time trying LRP)
August 20-21 - VIR
October 22-23 - VIR
November 12-13 - Summit Point Main
December 3-4 = Road Atlanta with NASA SE (first time trying RA)
With the new rules I picked up a new set of RRs to replace the flat spotted set from Summit Halloween weekend. I'll be able to drop to 2372 lbs with the new throttle body modifier as well. Power is locked at 131 avg HP due to stock ECU. Adjusted W:P will be right at 19.01:1.
Pulled the dash out of the car yesterday to clean up some wiring and see why some things have stopped working over the course of last season. Also need to finally get CoolSuit, rain light, and battery cutoff installed. Otherwise it's just maintenance this off-season. I need to cut out one of the front caliper slide pins due to the threads being stripped...
Sim Lab P1-X was delivered and I have everything from Fanatec except for the CSL DD wheel base. I'm hoping to have everything put together this month so that as soon as the wheel base shows up I'll have an outlet more than just watching track videos on YouTube all off-season. iRacing already sitting ready to go along with a new computer and both triple monitors and Oculus VR to play around with.
New truck has been pushed back a few more times with tentative build week of next week, 12/13. Fingers crossed this date actually holds so I can get the truck sometime in January.
My dad had his 2021 f150 build date pushed back from december of last year until we took delivery end of march. So I feel your pain, the anticipation kills. I am about to secure an allocation for the new tundra for myself to the wait is starting all over again for me. Fingers crossed it will be worth it.
Interested to hear your thoughts on the VR/SIM setup when you get it all dialed in.
The sim rig is fully up and going! Still working on figuring out iRacing settings to get everything dialed in, but so far it's been fairly enjoyable just toying around a bit. The NC Cup car definitely feels pretty close to what my NB feels like on track except that it has more power. So it's already been fun to run around Summit Point and VIR to see how it goes. I haven't tried VR yet, want to get accustomed to the screens first and get everything dialed in. Steering feel and brake pedal feel are what I'm still trying to get closer to what I'm used to, but I think I'm getting there.
Overall I'm excited to have this thing and see how it helps with driver development through the season (and to have some fun racing with some other classes of cars along the way).
That's badass. I've really been wanting to get a sim rig as well. Do you have a simple build list? Anything you would change as of right now?
Chassis is Sim Lab P1-X (imported and was very expensive, but is infinitely adjustable and seemed to be better quality than some of the cheaper options)
Controllers are all Fanatec
- CSL DD wheel base
- Clubsport V3 inverted pedals
- Clubsport shifter
- Clubsport 330mm wheel with universal/Xbox wheel hub
Monitors are 27" 1920x1080 144hz <1ms refresh rate from Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-ultr...?skuId=6433229
Monitor stand also from Sim Lab
Computer is a "cheap" pre-built from Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypow...?skuId=6477963
I added Sparco sliders under the seat and pedals for more adjustability
Sound is from a cheap Logitech 2.1 system and I also have a nice pair of wireless gaming headphones for when my wife is trying to sleep in the next room haha
I'm a little disappointed in how miserable the set up of the chassis was, but now that it's done I'm happy with it. The instructions were pretty terrible and I ended up having to flip the pedal box brackets upside down to get the pedals low enough relative to my seat for it to actually feel like I was driving a car. For being almost unanimously considered "the best 80/20 rig you can buy" by the top sim racers on YouTube and other platforms, it really was a pain working through some of the issues. Some bolts were missing, others were the wrong length, and it was just generally annoying to assemble. With all that said, however, now that it is done and working I couldn't be happier. It's rock solid and is as ergonomically identical to my Miata as I could feasibly get it, which was the whole intent. I don't have enough seat time in it yet to say whether it was all truly worth it or not, but after 30 or so laps at Summit and five at VIR I think I will get the hang of it. Still so many settings in iRacing to dial in.
I will definitely update with my thoughts as I get some time with it, but I do think that overall it'll help with getting warmed up for a weekend so I can hit the first session hard upon actually arriving at the track. Not sure I have enough time yet to know if I would change anything.
In more exciting news, I finally took delivery of my new truck on Friday. Towing should be a much more pleasant experience now and I will definitely start branching out further and further. This thing is by far the nicest thing I've ever owned.
10-04-2021, 09:20 AM
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